D-Wave Offers Free Real-Time Quantum Computing For All
Baratz said that, “anybody with an email address, basic Python programming know-how, familiarity with Ocean (open source software suite) and a desire to play around with the future of computing can sign up for the program.”
“Everything we do in the tools arena is open source because we want developers helping us to enhance and evolve and improve the tools in addition to the work that we continue to do,” he added.
D-Wave senior vice president of marketing Jennifer Houston emphasized the importance of “the learning and teaching tools and … the community and help.” “When you add all those things together, you start actually getting this robust environment for quantum applications,” she said.
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/d-wave-offers-free-real-time-quantum-computing-for-all/#more-132787
and here: https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/04/d-wave-takes-quantum-computers-mainstream-with-leap/
Penn State – NSF funds three-year study of virtual-reality engineering simulations
The VR environment, which will include concepts that are taught in a variety of courses, will move Penn State’s industrial engineering program toward a truly integrated curriculum, with a continuing theme, or story, that will reinforce key concepts as students progress through the program.
The National Science Foundation is supporting the project with a three-year grant of nearly $300,000.
“Mechanical engineering students often have physical projects that they can take from one class to another. That allows them to see many engineering concepts in the same object as they advance through the curriculum,” said Omar Ashour, assistant professor of industrial engineering at Penn State Behrend. “We can’t do that in industrial engineering. We can’t bring an entire manufacturing system into a classroom.”
See the full story here: https://news.psu.edu/story/540335/2018/10/05/research/nsf-funds-three-year-study-virtual-reality-engineering-simulations
“Jurassic World” Hits On Formula For VR Arcade Success
[by my buddy David Bloom]
Recipe No. 1 may be the bronto-sized hit Jurassic World VR Expedition, which landed in June at more than 100 Dave & Buster's restaurants in the United States and Canada.
Augmented Reality Growth Fueled by Chinese Investments
One of the new realities of augmented reality is this: the technology is attracting more investment from China than from sources in North America. This trend happens as activity around AR heats up, with major players in the digital economy apparently positioning themselves to profit as the retail-friendly tech move every closer to mainstream popularity.According Digi-Capital, which tracks AR investments, China-based funding for augmented reality and computer vision technologies hit $3.9 billion over the last 12 months, surging ahead of North American investment.
There was no immediate apples-to-apples comparison for North America, but the company’s managing director, Tim Merel, wrote that “North American augmented and virtual reality investment fell from nearly $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 to less than $120 million in the third quarter of 2018. At the same time, VC sentiment on virtual reality softened significantly.”
Investment Shift
The numbers describing those investments came about 10 months after Digi-Capital identified what Merel called “a fundamental shift from early stage North American (virtual reality) investment to later-stage Chinese computer vision/AR investment.
See the full story here: https://www.pymnts.com/innovation/2018/augmented-reality-chinese-investment-computer-vision-technology/
Facebook’s Oculus Looking to Invest in Location-Based Virtual Reality
Oculus has long supported the development of VR games and experiences with significant investments, with industry insiders telling Variety that the company in the past struck seven-figure deals with some game developers to premiere their titles exclusively on its headsets. However, up until now, these investments have all been for titles that premiered on the company’s consumer VR hardware, not in VR centers.
A new focus on location-based experiences could be explained by the lagging sales of VR headsets. Many consumers have thus far avoided high-end VR systems because of costs and complexity associated with the technology. VR arcades and location-based VR centers on the other hand have a much lower barrier of entry, and have been a way for many consumers to get a first glimpse of the technology.
See the full story here: https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/facebook-oculus-location-based-virtual-reality-1202969418/
Why One Size Does NOT Fit All in Virtual Reality
I think the PC ecosystem and its support and promotion of the Oculus brand will continue to be extremely important – even for the Quest, and the best way to achieve this is to have content that justifiably needs the high-performing hardware it’s running on. Even though the Quest is a standalone HMD, the PC and its ecosystem is still an important umbilical cord for Oculus, and it benefits them greatly to do their all to maintain that.
Epilog
With the advent of AMD providing their custom APUs for the Microsoft and Sony consoles (plus two new Chinese consoles), the game developers can develop once and introduce a new game to all platforms at the same time. They’ve been doing this since 2015, and instead of trying to scale up a console version, they now scale down a higher quality PC version. Also, the game developers have also woken up to the fact that Gaming PCs outsell consoles almost three-to-one.
See the full story here: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/NeilSchneider/20181003/327702/Why_One_Size_Does_NOT_Fit_All_in_Virtual_Reality.php
8 Augmented Reality Companies Changing the Digital Workplace
7. Smart Reality
In the construction sector, the SmartReality app, developed by JBKnowledge, enables engineers and architects to see their 2D designs and plans projected as 3D models through smartphones or tablets. Mortenson Construction, one of the companies that used the app, stated that the app helps architects get a “better feel of spatial recognition” of the final product before construction commences.
8. AccuVein
In the medical sector, AccuVein is an AR handheld device that allows nurses and doctors to scan a patient’s body to make a vein appear visible. According to a study presented at the Infusion Nurses Society Conference, there was a 45 percent reduction in escalation calls following the deployment of the AR device. Plus, 81 percent of nurses reported that using AccuVein resulted in an improved ability to cannulate (the procedure to introduce a thin tube into a vein).
See the full story here: https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/8-augmented-reality-companies-changing-the-digital-workplace/