VR in Education

It's interesting that this showed up today

I'd just paused a couple of days as I was really excited about the potential mixed reality, VR & AR have for education. I typed out a bunch of my thoughts, and then thought maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, and should think about it for a while.

So, I thought about language learning. I taught English in Japan for a year. I tried to learn Japanese while I was there. I learned some. I can get around, but I'm not fluent by any stretch of the imagination.

So, I put myself back in Japan. With a pair of glasses. The glasses are connected to a scanner that scans my surroundings. I can set the glasses in various ways: It can scan the area, and each thing the glasses recognize, it can label. There's a car. The glasses highlight the car, show me the character for "car" and I hear it pronounced in my ears. It doesn't intrude on anyone else. 

Anything else I see -- it gets labeled. It can quiz me. when It highlights the car and with no delay I call it out.... it doesn't highlight it anymore... then more and better and better.... without having to sit down and force attention, without memorization, without drills... fluency could be achieved at enormously accelerated levels.

Children who learn the language and everything else the best are those kids whose parents talk to them. They're seeing things and having them labeled, learning little bits -- and learning it constantly.

It can work the same for teaching skills mechanics, technicians, surgeons, and pilots. (What's next... the glasses can highlight the surroundings, and prompt at the right time.)

Imagine learning history, by having it created in front of you, or with something like google street view in History. (Victorian London in Pictures) 

Or, check out the last 8 years in London on Schrewsbury Road use the clock on the street view map, upper left.
(London Street Scene, Google Maps, with History view.)

MVIS will be everywhere.

Thanks to the French Investor.


Virtual Reality Training

Virtual reality hasn't quite changed the world the way we were promised, but that doesn't mean its effects aren't profound. In recent years, VR has even made positive impacts in a somewhat surprising place: the restaurant industry. 

In the midst of high turnover, cook shortages and rising minimum wages, VR training companies have positioned the technology as a potential remedy for many of the issues the industry faces today: more accessible and in-depth training, improved employee retention, targeted advancement of high-performing employees, and, through that, better margins and long-term sustainability. 

Microvision Midrange LiDAR

Time of flight distance measuring technology.

ADAS
Autonomous Vehicles,
Industrial and warehouse automation
SLAM
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Interactive entertainment
Internet of Things

And many others



So, what is SLAM?

More than we can imagine

There are more ways to use cool tools than their inventors will have conjured up. 

That is absolutely going to be true  of PicoP - everywhere that someone wants a little display, and more.

This particular application of Virtual Reality struck me as very compelling -- helping people get over their fear of public speaking.

The reasoning they offer (third paragraph) I find particularly interesting, and the kind of method that lets an investor or any other strategic thinker make great decisions. 

(We may be early to MVIS, but we are not wrong.)


Virtual Reality Public Speaking Simulator

Horror games are often scarier in VR than anywhere else, but start-up Cerevrum is using the technology to help people face a different type of fear: public speaking. Picturing the audience in their underwear doesn't help much, so the company's Gear VR app, Speech Center VR, drops the user in this familiar, uncomfortable setting to help people feel more confident in front of a crowd.

Some of those uncomfortable scenarios include presentations, sales pitches, job interviews, and negotiations, which Speech Center VR reproduces with a host of animated, very Sims-like avatars staring expectantly at you. Pre-set interactive lessons can bring you up to speed on certain areas, or if you're practicing a specific presentation, upload it to the app and test it on a virtual audience first. More detailed feedback can be wrung from an audience full of avatars controlled by other human users.

"We started with public speaking because it is one of the most important soft skills we can learn, and yet, it often requires us to overcome our fears," says Natasha Floksy, CEO of Cerevrum. "VR has the unique ability to closely replicate uncomfortable scenarios, so the more students and professionals practice with Speech Center VR, the more comfortable they become with those scenarios."

Apple Reality Augmentation and MicroVision

This was sent to me a couple of days ago when I was unable to respond to it. 

That Apple has been working on Virtual and Augmented reality devices has been all over the tech press. That MicroVision is listed in those patents about those devices you've learned on a couple of message boards and here.

This is another case of having tomorrow's paper a day early.

It is interesting that they mention the IR projector in this case. This was something demonstrated at the suite at CES - MicroVision has a very cool IR projector that does 3D scanning. My knowledge of it is very limited, but I did see it in action scanning various objects -- I do not know if this patent is referring to the MicroVision projector/scanner or not. ( I know very little about it, except that the kind of technology they showed is going to be required to do Augmented reality and place imagery in the right places.)

Clearly, Apple is well aware of MicroVision -- more so than the general public.


Adaptive Projector 

Abstract Embodiments of the invention provide apparatus and methods for interactive reality augmentation, including a 2-dimensional camera and a 3-dimensional camera, associated depth projector and content projector, and a processor linked to the 3-dimensional camera and the 2-dimensional camera. A depth map of the scene is produced using an output of the 3-dimensional camera, and coordinated with a 2-dimensional image captured by the 2-dimensional camera to identify a 3-dimensional object in the scene that meets predetermined criteria for projection of images thereon. The content projector projects a content image onto the 3-dimensional object responsively to instructions of the processor, which can be mediated by automatic recognition of user gestures

---

Inventors:

Maizels; Aviad; (Ramat Hasharon, IL) ; Shpunt; Alexander; (Portola Valley, CA) ; Berliner; Tamir; (Beit Hashmonay, IL)

Applicant:	Name City State Country Type APPLE INC. Cupertino  CA  US
Family ID:	1000001472634
Appl. No.:	14/922222
Filed:	October 26, 2015

[0031] A suitable unit for use in the system 10 that bundles the 3-D camera 12 and the 2-D camera 14 is the PrimeSensor.TM. Reference Design, available from PrimeSense Corporation, 104 Cambay Ct, Cary N.C., 27513, U.S.A. The content projector 16 may be the PicoP.RTM. display engine, available from MicroVision, Inc., 6222 185th Ave NE Redmond Wash., 98052. In some embodiments, the 3-D camera 12 and the 2-D camera 14 may be integral with the content projector 16 as a modification of the PrimeSensor Reference Design. In one embodiment, the 3-D camera 12 is an integrated module that includes an IR projector, which projects a pattern of spots onto the object and captures an image of the projected pattern. Alternatively, the IR projector, may be embodied as a separate module (not shown). The IR projector may be realized according to the teachings of U.S. Provisional Applications 61/372,729 (filed Aug. 11, 2010) and 61/425,788 (filed Dec. 22, 2010), as well as in PCT International Publication WO 2010/020380, all of which are herein incorporated by reference. These provisional and PCT applications also teach how to reuse the scanning hardware to project both the IR required for depth mapping and the visible content. 


[0074] This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, except a convenient virtual surface is provided for projection of images and for access by the user. Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which illustrates a screen 136, typically of a mobile information device 138, such as a cellular telephone, e.g., a "smart phone" that is projected onto a virtual surface in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Such devices are too small for convenient interaction and media consumption. The screen 136 incorporates a miniature projector 140 and sensing device 142, which have the same functions as the 3-D camera 12 and content projector 16 in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Projectors suitable for this purpose are available, for example, from Microvision. In this embodiment, the projector 140 projects an image onto a virtual projection surface 144, which is enlarged relative to the screen 136. 

Google, VR & AR -- the chicken and the egg

With VR and AR, this is a serious problem. Everyone is talking about Virtual and Augmented Reality, but they have an adoption problem. Even the coolest device has little content, and the greatest content has no device to play it. 

PicoP does NOT have this problem. The ecosystem for PicoP is ready to go. Adoption can be instant. 

Don't think that the OEMS that SONY will be selling components to don't know that. PicoP can immediately increase the utility of a mobile device dramatically. 

One of the many reasons I'm very optimistic.


Trying to make VR hardware irrelevant

Google is taking on a chicken-and-egg problem common to any company trying to establish itself as the middleman in a new marketplace. Consumers won’t buy into virtual reality unless there’s something to experience; content companies won’t provide it without a ready audience. “The only way to get around it is to subsidize one side of the market,” says Michael Cusumano, a management professor at MIT who has studied how software and consumer electronics companies conjure up new businesses. “Give away 3-D viewers, or pay software developers to create applications or other content.” Facebook is trying to fill the content gap by hosting 360-degree video as YouTube does, partnering with content companies such as Netflix, and building an in-house production effort called Oculus Story Studio. Google is effectively subsidizing both sides of the market. By making handsets more or less for free out of devices we already own, it’s offering its content partners a potentially much larger audience.

Wild ride for Virtual & Augmented Reality - Christmas 2015

MicroVision stock? I'm going to keep holding it. Tight. My shares are NOT for sale.

It won't be long before a LOT more people see what's cooking under the hood.



Time Magazine

It's going to be a wild ride—and it starts this Christmas

In the August 17 cover story of TIME, we take a deep look at the mainstreaming of virtual reality, the long-promised technology that is now becoming widely available to consumers. Headsets from Facebook’s Oculus, Valve, Sony, Microsoft, Google and many others will start going on sale this year, and competition will increase dramatically through 2016. Throughout this year, we set out to try every major in-development headset out there. These devices promise to change not only entertainment, but education, health, and work. Here’s some of what we learned:

3. Silicon Valley is pouring money into the concept like crazy.

Venture capitalist Mike Rothenberg, who runs a VR accelerator, says his firm has already secured enough money to invest in a second round of virtual-reality companies this fall. “It’s hard for people to write checks for virtual reality until they try it. Then, not that hard,” he says. He likens this opportunity to the Internet in 1995. “No one calls a company an ‘Internet company’ anymore. In 10 years, everyone will have VR as part of their company.”



Who leads in Augmented Reality Patents? Microvision. This chart was before Apple Purchased metaio.

Who Leads in Augmented Reality?

MVIS = Takeover Target?

Motley Fool & Augmented Reality

This is a repeat article. Good. Makes me curious when the next article about the topic with new information will hit the press.

Augmented reality is probably going to get mass adoption far faster than we think.

When MVIS gets the attention of Motley Fool, interesting things will start to happen.

I suspect they've seen the chart of Augmented Reality Patents and Augmented and Head Mounted Patents

Apple acquires Metaio (for augmented Reality Patents)

From Motley Fool

The Foolish bottom lineAt the end of the day, we ask ourselves, how can virtual reality add value?

• In the entertainment industry, content is key. Virtual reality offers studios the ability to create better content and have access to wider distribution -- boosting sales of games, movies, or tickets.
• In the corporate world, efficiency is key. More cost-effective communication tools could save on SG&A, but still preserve the meeting-room feel.
• In advertising, data is key. Augmented reality could make life easier for consumers or skilled workers, but also provide feedback on their habits or needs.

We think the adoption of virtual reality can have a big impact on many industries all over the world(s).

Hype? 

The potential for practical application AND entertainment is huge.

Smart helmet on Bloomberg

From MyBroadband

The way we consume information: Imagine going to a library or museum and being able to have a “conversation” with key people throughout history, or instantly transform the world around to you resemble a bygone era.

The fields of product development, marketing and customer engagement: Overlaying new digital services into retail environments opens up a host of new possibilities for organisations to tailor products to their consumers.

Back office/operational functions within the organisation: Companies are already finding ways to use AR in their supply chain, logistics and warehousing environments. Find out, for example, if a particular unit is missing from a shelf.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny at Gamespresso

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney claimed that Virtual Reality is just a niche concept for casual gamers in a recent interview with GamesIndustry. He also went on to state that Augmented Reality will become the next big thing in the developing realm.

“Whereas AR, if you look out a number of years I bet the majority of mankind will have an AR device – it will redefine interaction with computers and replace computer monitors, tablets, televisions and every kind of play technology.” While AR may be a view years out, it’s exciting to think about the endless ways AR could be incorporated not into just video games, but into daily life as well.

Sweeney promises more news within the year and we can only hope to apart of the Augmented Reality Generation.