“A major aim is to understand how our brains process self-motion cues in general,” Harris noted, “and to provide a quantitative model for how sensory information is combined together to do this.”
31Dec/18Off
The Verge 2018 tech report card: AR and VR
2018 was partly a year of disillusionment. Some prominent AR and VR companies, including Meta, Jaunt, and Starbreeze, either massively downsized or shifted their focus. As the head of CCP Games put it in October, a year after leaving the VR business, “we expected VR to be two to three times as big as it was.”
Especially since this is the first year I’ve covered augmented reality, I’m also deducting points for the industry’s increasingly convoluted terminology. Is a given product augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, extended reality, a heads-up display, smart glasses, an immersive computing device, or possibly something else? Here. Have a chart.
Hearteningly, though, one of VR’s early long shots may have actually paid off. In 2016, location-based VR entertainment startup The Void seemed like an ambitious but risky project. After getting investment from Disney and launching a Star Wars-themed experience last year, though, it’s opened several new locations and is working with more Disney-owned franchises. It’s just one of many VR arcades and theme parks — although those aren’t all doing great either, since IMAX shut down its VR location-based entertainment experiment in 2018.
So against the longer arc of history, I’m not sure how the past year will look. But hey — at least we got Beat Saber out of it.
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18159462/2018-tech-recap-vr-ar-virtual-augmented-reality-beat-saber-oculus-hololens-magic-leap
31Dec/18Off
MIT researchers are now 3D printing glass
[PhilNote; now that 3D printers handle plastic, metal, glass, organic material, ... separately, the next wave of 3D printers will create previously-impossible structures using a variety of materials. Its time to put 3D printers back at the base of the hype cycle.]
While the thought of a machine that can squirt out endless ropes of molten glass is a bit frightening, the folks at MIT have just about perfected the process. In a paper published in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, researchers Chikara Inamura, Michael Stern, Daniel Lizardo, Peter Houk and Neri Oxman describe a system for 3D printing glass that offers far more control over the hot material and the final product.
Their system, called G3DP2, “is a new AM platform for molten glass that combines digitally integrated three-zone thermal control system with four-axis motion control system, introducing industrial-scale production capabilities with enhanced production rate and reliability while ensuring product accuracy and repeatability, all previously unattainable for glass.”
The system uses a closed, heated box that holds the melted glass and another thermally controlled box where it prints the object. A moveable plate drops the object lower and lower as it is being printed and the print head moves above it. The system is interesting because it actually produces clear glass structures that can be used for decoration or building. The researchers take special care to control the glass extrusion system to ensure that it cools down and crystallizes without injecting impurities or structural problems.
See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/31/mit-researchers-are-now-3d-printing-glass/?utm_medium=TCnewsletter
28Dec/18Off
The affordance of virtual reality to enable the sensory representation of multi-dimensional data for immersive analytics: from experience to insight
ABSTRACT: Using the theory of affordance from perceptual psychology and through discussion of literature within visual data mining and immersive analytics, a position for the multi-sensory representation of big data using virtual reality (VR) is developed. While it would seem counter intuitive, information-dense virtual environments are theoretically easier to process than simplified graphic encoding—if there is alignment with human ecological perception of natural environments. Potentially, VR affords insight into patterns and anomalies through dynamic experience of data representations within interactive, kinaesthetic audio-visual virtual environments. To this end we articulate principles that can inform the development of VR applications for immersive analytics: a mimetic approach to data mapping that aligns spatial, aural and kinaesthetic attributes with abstractions of natural environments; layered with constructed features that complement natural structures; the use of cross-modal sensory mapping; a focus on intermediate levels of contrast; and the adaptation of naturally occurring distribution patterns for the granularity and distribution of data. While it appears problematic to directly translate visual data mining techniques to VR, the ecological approach to human perception discussed in this article provides a new framework for big data visualization researchers to consider.
“… we use the concept of affordance to refer to the latent possibilities for action presented by an artefact, tool or environment” [10].
From this definition it would follow that VR tools and environments present different possibilities as compared to computer monitor displays, where data visualizations are based on gestalt perceptual principles.
See the full article here: https://preview-journalofbigdata.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40537-018-0158-z
28Dec/18Off
Feelreal VR mask brings scents to virtual reality experiences
The Feelreal VR mask is something of an oddity, featuring a Darth Vader-like contraption that pairs with an existing VR headset so that it is positioned in front of the wearer’s lower face. Aroma capsules contain various scents that are released to augmented the VR experience.
A VR scene in a coffee shop, for example, may result in a coffee scent being released. Less common scents are also options, including things like burning rubber for a car race scene. On top of that, the mask also uses small heaters and coolers to push temperature-controlled air onto the user’s face, helping provide the illusion of exposure to rain or heat.
The company’s mask is supposedly compatible with the HTC Vive, Gear VR, Oculus Rift and Go, and PlayStation VR, covering some of the most popular models currently on the market. The device connects wirelessly using Bluetooth and WiFi. The Feelreal mask can run for four hours on a charge and weighs only 7 ounces. The company plans to launch its product on Kickstarter “soon.”
See the full story here: https://www.slashgear.com/feelreal-vr-mask-brings-scents-to-virtual-reality-experiences-27559423/
27Dec/18Off
Virtual Reality May Be Headed to Nev. Casinos
These VR experiences may be fantasy, but the money on the line is real. International Game Technology, or IGT, in Reno has developed what it calls Virtual Zone booths for players to try their hand at archery-themed VR games. The company and casino industry are looking to evolve due to changing gambling habits.
The company initially rolled out a pair of competitive VR booths at two casinos in Las Vegas in the spring. Currently, there are no longer any in Nevada casinos. The game received a variety of mixed feedback.
Officials with IGT say they are refining the product before looking at a mass launch.
See the full story here: https://www.kunr.org/post/virtual-reality-may-be-headed-nev-casinos#stream/0
27Dec/18Off
Astronauts are using VR to study perception in space
Scientists know that astronauts in microgravity often feel like they’re moving if they see another object moving, even when they’re immobile, which is a phenomenon that makes depth perception more difficult. This would especially be a problem when capturing a cargo spacecraft using the robotic Canadarm2.
This is where Saint-Jacques’ experimental challenge came in. Saint-Jacques spent a half hour participating in Vection, a virtual reality experience that will help scientists learn more about how astronauts estimate the size and motion of objects in space. He donned a VR headset and took part in three experiments: estimating the size of an object, “moving” in the virtual world to where he thought the object was placed in a hallway, and determining how he perceives tilt and visual acceleration.
The results of the experiment could be used to enhance the safety of operations aboard the ISS, and also help future astronaut crews working on the moon or on Mars.
There are applications on Earth as well, such as better controlling moving vehicles or assisting people who have trouble with balance, such as the elderly.
See the full story here: https://www.seeker.com/space/astronauts-are-using-virtual-reality-to-study-perception-in-space
27Dec/18Off
Meta’s Optical Expert Delivers AR Reality Check via TED Talk, & Takes a Few Veiled Swipes at Magic Leap
...company's optics engineers, Dr. Barmak Heshmat, ...
"Some businesses are trying to make [lightfield technology] sound as if it's some crazy neurological, quantum physics thing, which it's absolutely not," says Heshmat. "Let me tell you what lightfield is for you as a consumer in 30 seconds. Lightfield means that the light that's coming to your eye from the display is not coming from a single flat plane like [an] IMAX screen. But it's ideally coming from the different optical depth of different objects in the scene. That's it."
Of course, in terms of the hardware, we now know that Magic Leap is using (unremarkable at this point) stacked waveguides (or, in Magic Leap parlance, "photonic lightfield chips"), but Abovitz still makes a point of outlining Magic Leap's approach to the human brain when delivering AR.
"Please, please, don't get too excited about immersion. This is why 3D TVs died. I don't need to get immersed in my emails or in Fox News, for God's sake. I also don't need to augment video games in my living room that already has a 72-inch, high dynamic range, 4K screen for half the price of a headset. I want to get work done. 10 times faster, 10 times easier … think along those lines, real value."
In the meantime, Heshmat's pleas to ignore cool may sound level-headed, but as I pointed out recently, cool might be exactly the strategy AR needs to go from edge technology to full blown mainstream linchpin in the next few years.
See the full story here: https://next.reality.news/news/metas-optical-expert-delivers-ar-reality-check-via-ted-talk-takes-few-veiled-swipes-magic-leap-0191869/
27Dec/18Off
2019 Preview: 4 Event Tech Trends in the New Year
One reason many tech providers will be stuffing the envelope instead of pushing it in the coming year is that buyers and users can't adopt as fast as developers can develop. “There is often disproportionate excitement around things that are shiny and new, but people don’t know what to do with them yet,” explained James Johnson-Miller, director of event technology for the IMEX Group.
Behavior Tracking
For example, the Indoor Lab in Dana Point, California, a provider of indoor foot traffic solutions for events, has recently partnered with Sunnyvale, California’s Quanergy to bring 3-D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) to trade shows and events. In addition to its ability to monitor attendee behavior, LiDAR can detect and classify objects, such as an active shooter or someone leaving an unattended package, allowing security personnel to react quickly to threats.
Portable Office Space Grows
ZenSpace Event Solutions of San Jose, California, builds on-demand portable and private meeting spaces. The company’s “Smart Pods” are Wi-Fi-enabled enclosures outfitted with video displays, smart locks, smart lights, and power and USB outlets, and can be placed anywhere in an event space.
See the full story: https://www.bizbash.com/2019-preview-4-event-tech-trends-in-the-new-year/new-york/story/36633#.XCT6QC2ZMnU