So what I have now starting to do is not think about something as VR, AR, HUD or whatever R, but instead of levels of immersion. By thinking of the application of XR, I think we get away from the traps of which XR we want to use.  You have fully-immersive, as with VR, semi-immersive like AR and MR and non-immersive like various AR and HUD systems.  By thinking about it in this way, we do not worry about which of the XR’s we are talking about, but instead what is the immersive quality of the simulation and how does that affect the users experience?

For example; pain aversion.  It does not matter if its AR or VR, what matters is if the patient’s attention is sufficiently redirected to reduce pain and anxiety. A pilot does not care if you call the advanced helmet display a HUD or AR, but instead, does the pilot understand the information in context to the landing and how the weather is affecting the aircraft’s approach vector.  Also how does one interact with the content?  Do we need deep haptic immersion or is simply viewing with an HMD or even holding a display, like a phone, good enough?

When thinking about which of the various R’s in XR we want to explore, we need to start with the use case.  What is it we are trying to achieve? Far too often I hear people talk about using VR for this or that and I have to keep asking; WHY?  What are you gaining from going into a VR simulation when looking at that same content on a screen is actually better HCI. “Here is the idea; you can see excel data as dots in VR!”  ‘Great, but I still need to read the numbers…’  “Oh you just gaze over dot by bot and you can get the numbers.” Sigh. This was an actual conversation BTW.  If we were talking about thousands of values, perhaps, but it was any excel sheet.

When exploring any XR technology, lets not be a hammer looking for a nail.  Instead lets ask, How would immersion improve the experience?  Then when we have that answer, we should ask, what level of immersion is best suited to that task.  THEN we can determine which of the many XR’s we should employ.

For those of you who have yet to try the Daydream, its mostly a really nice Cardboard with a higher spec phone for better rendering and head-tracking.  (I talk about this in my previous post)  But what is really different, and IMOP better, is the controller. Its not the design of the controller is all that great, its the fact that its there! Having this sense of presence both from the haptics of my hand as well as my head movement greatly improves immersion and enjoyment.  The presence of a controller my not seem like a big deal, but it is.

What is really great about the Google Daydream is the commitment of a controller.  When you buy a headset, it comes with one.  Thus app devs can always rely on the fact a controller will be there. This certainty is what we are missing today.  And Samsung and other other headset makers can take cue and make it a requirement for their systems as well.  Unfortunately, as I understand it the Daydream controller will NOT work on other systems, but look for others to fill this market.

Also coming is the mobile stand-alone headset.  I do not expect to see anything beyond POC at CES2017, but I fully expect that towards the end of 2017, we should see a few come out.  These devices will have controllers as well, allowing devs to leverage previous work on the Daydream and GearVR systems into the new stand alone systems.

Also watch for 6DOF controllers as well..  This will be a bit harder to crack.  

Technical

The obvious thing is technically what they pulled off.  Using multiple xbox sensors (I’m not sure how many) they are able to do full body tracking.  Because the user’s vision is completely obscured by the HMD, they can place the xbox sensors and light it to provide the maximum effectiveness for body tracking. Hand and head position most likely are sent via closed wifi to the gear.  From there its rendered in (Unity?). As you can see in some of the shots, not only is head positional tracking going on, you can see your hands on the rope as you walk across!

This is great. Now add wind, cold air and sound (notice there we saw no headphones so the sound was most likely piped in), and you have a very deep immersive experience,  Because the Gear VR is wireless, the user is not restricted by cables.  In fact, once you are immersed, and given all the other sensory input, your brain can have a real fight deciding what is real and what is VR.

Even better is the fact that you put on the HMD outside the room, (again as best I can tell) the user never saw the real bridge that was constructed, so the bran has no other cognitive interpretation of what is going on except for what they see. BTW, don’t misunderstand me, with exception to perhaps one person, they KNOW its a simulation and short of flinching and perhaps lowering one’s body, they are enjoying it for what it is.

Marketing

I would guess most people who watch this video, especially those in the VR world would mostly be thinking about how great of an immersive simulation this is, and move on. But what really caught my attention, and what I like and admire just as much about this concept, is how well this works from a marketing point of view. Remember, they are releasing a (new?) instant latte. The sell point for this product is you can enjoy a cafe quality latte anytime, simply by using a microwave.  Ok, so what are the customer scenario where they may want this?   Most likely at home and perhaps the office.  I think most offices offer coffee and if not, typically there is a cafe near most large office complexes.  But at home, not so much.

In the experience we saw in the video, you are asked to cross this long dangerous bridge on a distant exotic mountain top in a blizzard!  Many dangers face you on your trek to get to the other side where a microwave waits for you.  Each step on this old decrepit bridge becomes more dangerous as the winds increase, and rocks start to fall all round you!  Somehow, through perseverance and a bit of luck, you make it to the end where, you find a microwave, (yes people do randomly leave microwaves in the Himalayan Mountains, just go with it). You open the door and a wonderful hot beverage is waiting for you to warm you up, body and soul.

Now, think about a long snowy winter train ride come where you have to walk the last 3 or 4 blocks.  Not too different eh?  And if you like lattes then knowing you have a nice warm drink waiting for you could be that much better.  So the sell point here is to associate a tough trek with a warm reward.  This experience drives this idea to the customer is a very real and tangible experience. An experience they will not soon forget, and share with their friends, including the idea of the microwave latte and the branding that goes with it.

Execution

I have not experience this but having been doing VR for so long, and having tried everything from the CAVE to the wind bird simulation, its not hard for me to put myself there and have an idea of what this would feel like.  I love the fact that this experience really allows you to ‘walk’ through it.  Yes we have plenty of simulations where you can walk, but typically its flat ground.  But here you have a bridge, you have rope to grab.  As the wind starts to push you back, the IMU on the headset reflects the sublet changes in head position because of it.  As you walk, the scene walks.  With the xbox sensors and the very well lite room, body tracking can be very precise.  I’m sure a dedicated local wifi was running allow the fastest possible update time that can be done with current technology.  Based on the headset graphics it looks like Unity is running this, but again, because of all the various sensors being reinforced with the same cognitive interpretation; you are on a bridge, in a cold wind storm, with the proper sounds, the less than realistic graphics does not matter so much. For some people, its too much!

BTW< this could have been staged, not sure.

A small note here.  Notice no gloves on peoples hands.  They are asked to walk through this cold experience with no gloves.  What that means, and you can tell at the end when people come out, is that they are using the drink to warm themselves.  A GREAT bit a experience detail.  Even after the HMD is off your head, YOU ARE STILL COLD! The experience is still with you, and the reward of the hot latte continues to reinforce the benefits of buying this product.

Appropriateness

So here I want to reinforce something about VR and marketing.  Like I said, I have been around VR for a long time, 20 years plus.  I have seen MANY marking events that try to use a VR experience to create an association of “high tech” or “cutting edge” or “next generation” to a product, some successful, some not so much.  In all cases however the VR experience has little to no association with the value of the product. Further, once the VR experience was over, that was it.  I typically remember what I liked or was annoyed by in the experience, to date I cannot remember a single product from one of those marketing campaigns. This is different.  Even though I did not experience it myself, the whole idea of walking through a blizzard to be rewarded with a hot latte seems to stick.  As the more real the struggle to reward is, the more likely you will have a favorable memory of the reward. What is appropriate about using VR here is that VR has nothing to do with campaign.  It is simply the best tool to achieve the maximum positive reward association with the product. Not trying to be ‘new tech’ or ‘cutting edge’ or ‘cool’.  well ok, a bit cool.  But instead simple marking 101, create a positive association with your product, and VR in this case, was a great choice.

Now, check out the Video.

First the Gear S.  I’ve been using it for 2 weeks as I gave my trusty LG First gen a rest.  Notice I said it was good, not great or I love it.  There are things about the UI that bug me, lack of apps, and I miss my integration with the Android system and Google services. But after a few weeks, the design, size and the key functions the watch does perform have won me over despite its initial size and previous listed issues.  The first thing that really surprised me is the curved screen is way more functional then I expected, but not so much from a UI/UX point of view, but the fact I can easily extend my arm and expose the watch! Such a simple thing.  And when I lower my arm, my shirt sleeve smoothly covers it again.  My LG and the few days with the Apple watch did not do this despite being smaller watches.  Even the round Moto gave me issues.  After a few weeks, what I though was a large clunky looking watch started to grow on me which is even more surprising since I got the white band instead of black like I would normally do.  The second very useful thing was wifi support and taking calls on the watch.  (I did not spring for a sim card).  The sound was clear and I found it was just as easy to take a call on the watch if I was in a quite room.  Basically as an everyday watch, the Gear S form factor is better than I thought.  It’s comfortable, quick to get used to seeing on my arm and my clothes do not get hung up on it.  More importantly, I have plenty of screen real-estate.  It may not happen overnight, but I think we will see this size curved smart watch more and more and people get used to seeing it, just like when the first large phones came out.

The Gear S form factor is just one direction in the second generation of smart watch design.  The LG Urbane will set the tone for the watch as a design artifact.  Not for everyday work, but for going out, special occasions, etc.  In other words, I can see some people owning two watches as people used to when I was young. I have the Pebble Steel with a nice leather band and tend to wear that when I go out.

I will be watching the price on the Urban ( I tend to buy used ) and most likely will use that as my replacement when the price drops enough.  As nice as the Apple watch is, it still looks like a throw back to the first attempt and smart watch design.  Sure Apple is already talking about the Apple 2 watch, but from what I understand, the form factor will be the same.  Old.

So this year will be just as good with even cooler prizes. Samsung is giving away a GearVR HMD WITH THE PHONE!! That’s right, win this category and you are set.  Of course, your team will have to figure out who actually gets the device, but that’s your problem.

Unless you have been living under a rock (and given the property values in the Bay Area that just might not be a bad idea), VR is the new hotness and everyone is in the game: Google, Samsung, Facebook (yes, Facebook!) Sony, HTC, etc…  The HMDs are more powerful, cheaper and better than before.  Tools make it easy to create PC or mobile VR games and apps.  Content from 3D video to full worlds is starting to be created.  We are still in the beginning, so VC money is still flowing to start ups that can find their nitch, and this is the time to get a team and try a hack.

Plus, it’s just plain fun.  

Go here to check out the details and get signed up.  There are lots of categories so plenty of ways to win a hack.  And VC’s love hack winners. Oh, and the VR Hackathon is offering free demo space on Friday nighty for anyone in the community who wants to show off their stuff!

Now, there are some questions I have, like how in the heck are you going to render that many polys to really make this work? But given the size of the body vest, I’m going to assuming there is a kick-ass PC in there with the best GPU chips on the planet and serious battery power. So assuming that, all the other tech required is already out there.  They even designed their own HMD for this called the Rapture, but the cartoon rendering tells me they have not made a test version yet.  In fact, nothing in the video looks close to real, but that’s ok, every project needs to start with a vision, and this is a great one. On the site, it seems they have quotes implying that something has been built and tried, but I have a uneasy feeling about it.  But again, its doable. The computing power, HMD resolution and tracking and a specially built building with sensors all over the place could make this happen.  I’m not even sure they needs the Oculus Rift-enabled roller coasters IMHO, just walking through a fully immersed environment would be cheaper to build, take less land and would pull the same customers at the same rate.  I also like this because it will help reduce one of the biggest issues with VR and that is VOR or VR sickness.  By including the body in the VR experience, you will have far greater agreement between your vestibule tubes (part of your ears that deal with balance and movement), full body feedback that synchronize with vestibule inputs and of course the lies your eyes are telling you.  Now this will not be perfect because there are other inputs that a HMD cannot reproduce as well that ‘could’ get more sensitive people sick, but that depth of human vision physiology is not for this post.

Back to the vision.  And it’s a grand vision that they do not seem to be doing alone, partnerships with Optimal Design, and Unity 3D, tells me it may not be total vaporware.

GIF by Beckett Mufson from theVoid video.

Screencaps by Beckett Mufson

Screencaps by Beckett Mufson

OK, now for the ‘downer’ part.  This company is, from what I understand, the same company that was suppose to create Evermore, also in Utah.  They could not raise near the money needed and it was a complete failure before it even started.  Take a look at the comments from this post from the heraldextra.com/

• Ron Richey · Mapleton, Utah

  Not deliberately trying to be the skeptic here, but there are always two reasons for everything. The real reason, and the one that sounds good. Sounds good: The neighbors were bothered by the noise. Real reason: We haven’t raised anywhere near enough capital.

  I want these guys to succeed. I really do. But let’s face it, the project doesn’t make economic sense. Who is going to invest tens (or maybe hundreds) of millions of dollars on a destination theme park in Utah? This is not Southern California. It is not a tourist destination (for this sort of stuff at least), the climate is not conducive to it, and the locals won’t patronize it to the needed degree…

  Evermore, please prove me wrong!

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 13 at 11:59am

• Sean Sullivan · Orem, Utah

  To Ron and Lori, here are some facts as I know them. I used to be employed by Evermore Park and was involved in the Pumpkin Fest. I suppose neither of you were there the night of the concert or you would know that there were maybe a hundred people who turned out. Not enough to wake or disturb anybody. The only ones complaining were the accountants. Ron is right. Economic feasibility. We spent well over $500k and took in $73k. We all got laid off right after without even getting the property completely cleared. The property is now up for sale. I used to work for Disney. I know what it takes. I didn’t see it at Evermore Park.

  Reply · Like · Follow Post · April 24 at 7:59am

Does not fill you with confidence.  But just because one attempt failed does not mean a second one will.  But I have a real problem with looking at this film and thinking about the capital it will take to build this. And in Salt Lake City.  Not exactly a world tourist hub.  And this is important because the number of people you would need to 10x the capital investment would be substantial.  The computing equipment required to make this run would not be cheap either.  If you have even 100 people running through your park at one time, that is 200+ units you need to build to deal with failures. You cannot simply take a HMD in the back, hammer on it a few times to fix it and get it back out on the line. Also the insurance needed for this, ‘furgettaboutit’.

I think I would be more confident and more excited if they focus on just a built environment where users are walking through, perhaps look at the Lazer Tag business model and build a spreadsheet off that.  Sure this is more expensive to put together than a lazer tag setup but I would pay more for a great experience.  And the great thing about VR, you can change the experience by just changing the programming.  Matrix anyone?

From www.fastcodesign.com

When it comes to the auto industry the future is coming on at full speed.  Although I think its optimistic to think we will have self driving cars in 5 years, because of both technology and legal reasons, but in 10 I think we will see a large percentage of cars that can drive themselves on the road.  And this will have a huge impact on the practicality of the electric car, and will reduce the number of mechanics significantly.  Why?

One of the biggest reasons people do not buy electric cars is because of range and charging time. Even though Musk is make great strides to make it easier to own and operate an electric with his supercharging station and smart ranging software that will be updated in the current Tesla’s, there are still obstetrical in the way.  Currently, if I wanted an electric only car, I would have to live with around 100 mile or less range unless I buy a Tesla.  And even then, where I live I do not have the ability to put in a 220v charging station meaning it could take 8 plus hours to charge the car.

However, once cars are allowed to drive themselves, things will change in a big way.  Imagine your car takes you to work.  Once it drops you off, it will drive off and get charged by itself and then park itself.  The car will also do diagnostics on itself.  If anything on the car is starting to fail, it will take itself to the shop and have it looked at long before it become a larger problem thus reducing the need for more drastic repairs by letting problems fester and make more problems.  Also, as we move away from petrol motors and move to all electric, we will see a reduction in car maintenance as fewer moving parts need to be serviced. Need new tires?  The car will go get it itself. This will be ground breaking.  When you are done the car will come to you from a cheap if not free parking area, fully charged and ready to go.  Do not have 220v at home?  Don’t worry about it.  At night, when power is cheaper, it will drive itself when you sleep to power up.

Once cars are allowed to drive without a human driver, parking, traffic, breakdowns and range anxiety will be a thing of the past. The need to even know how to drive will drop.  Taxis (however taxis will be know by in 10 years) will autonomous and far cheaper then today.  Many people who live in urban area’s may not even bother owning a car in even higher numbers then we see today.

This utopia will not happen all at once.  Soon, laws will be passed that will allow autonomous driving in only certain places, at certain times on certain roads, but in time less restrictions will be imposed until the next level is reached with car can drive themselves, again with certain restrictions.  I can imagine a time in 5 years or sooner where those who work in a large corporate campus will be able to allow employees to have cars drive autonomously and take advantage of new capabilities I outlined above. I’m not sure how Mountain View will feel about this (although it might be a Sacramento decision) but I can see this happening on the Google campus… soon.

A final note about the Gear VR and the lenses fogging up.  Every time I put this one the lens fog up on me.  To fix this I went to a sky shoppe and bought defogging liquid for the lens.  It works great for one use, but once it drys, then you are back to where you started.  This is a first try at a VR HMD for Samsung and they made it clear this is a developers version, so I’ll give it a pass for now.

Oh and use earplugs.  Worth it.  Many of these demos lose something when playing sound through a speaker.

Unlike other sites, I will put the list down here first, then I will create a page per app because each one make the list for a different reason.

10.   Playhead

I was really on the fence with Playhead because it did not appeal to me, but I appreciate the effort and the imagination that went into this effort.   I’m sure this would be higher on other peoples lists.

9.  DarkNet

8. Titans Of Space

7.  Vanguard V  :  Nightitme Terror  : Lunsee

6.  Dreadhalls

5.  Anshar Wars

4  Herobound: First Steps

3. Matterport VR : Gyeonju VR Museum

2.  Esper

1.   360 Video’s .  BTW the NBA videos look good but still wish the video was a bit more HD.  In a few weeks we are suppose to be able to watch the All Stars game.  Not sure if we get to see the whole game, or highlights or what.

Temple VR did not make it because they violate a basic rule in VR, do not move a users point of view too fast.  When you dodge from one side to another you will get VR sickness pretty fast.

VR and AR is finally coming of age.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnqFdSa5p7w

For iOS users.  Right now you cannot download from the Apple store until they do the next javascript update.  If you want it now, set your phone to ‘developer mode‘ and then download the file.  Download NewsSnacker here.

Update 1:  The link finally showed up in the App store.  However, if you search NewsSnacker, it will not find it, but if you search twitter + news it finds it!  Odd eh?

https://apps.getpebble.com/applications/540fa3a2df71d3eb2e000021

Future plans:

• Currently I have 5 news sources; however I may add a few more.
• Offer custom twitter lists for $1.99 a year.  Basically you tell me what you want to see and I’ll code it up.
• Tap on your watch and get the first ~300 words of the story. Expand to ~900 later.
• Click ‘save to read later’.  Not sure how I will go about this yet.
• Thoughts????  Open to suggestions.