Thanks T! With Augmented Reality, interacting with the world is going to be better. On a normal day I see half a dozen people I've seen and met before but can't remember a name, or where I've seen them before. Having a memory aid that can also recognize a face could be an astonishing social enhancement. Not to mention that AR can help you do stuff, make things, remember, fix things and will enhance your abilities. But when you put on a headset that replaces the world. That isolates you from everyone in it.
Turns out that the best “content” is other people. When people get together in online games they may fight dragons or shoot lasers — but they are being entertained primarily by the other players. Even single-player titles beg to be talked about with others, so chat rooms, blogs and podcasts pop up around them.
When tech companies suddenly have a big hit, it’s often because they got the social part right by accident. If we look at the most popular games of recent years — “World of Warcraft,” “League of Legends,” “Pokémon Go” — they are each a sparkly excuse for playing with and being around others. You can find better graphics and better stories in their genres, but they aren’t as much fun.
As a species, we’re still basically social monkeys. Without others, we grow bored, restless, frustrated and sad. There’s a reason that solitary confinement is such cruel punishment. So as new technologies emerge, the central question to ask is this: Does it help us enjoy one another, or get in the way? If you’re looking for a basic test of which technologies will go big or fall flat, that’s it.
So, we have been watching Microvision for Hololens, but they're going to support augmented reality with their software to support other companies devices as well. These -- according to TheStreet will arrive in the first Quarter of 2017 Augmented Reality is already being used -- and there is demand already from Industry -- which is HUGE. The price will come down to $300 from $3000-- (Lenovo and Dell). When Windows Holographic OS arrives... this year. And -- working on software to combine projection along with near eye displays. (yes, the video uses a fixed projector, but in the wild it would need to be attached to the wearable devices. I'm counting three times Microvision could be included in the same device. Future is looking good to me.
Holodeck closer to reality Why Microsoft is betting on AR -- The Street In Q1, Microsoft partners Asus, Acer, HP (HPQ) ,Lenovo and Dell plan to launch a line of $300 Windows 10 headsets that will enable both virtual reality and mixed reality experiences and run on PCs costing as little as $500. At the other end of the spectrum are devices such as Microsoft's $3,000 HoloLens Development Edition goggles, which are for companies and software developers to test and build apps for.
The key to Microsoft's approach is its launch sometime in 2017 (the company has not said exactly when) of Windows Holographic, a version of Windows 10 built for mixed reality applications, via a free online update (it's available right now, though, on the HoloLens Development Edition). Companies such as Volvo and Thyssenkrupp Elevators, and institutions such as Case Western Reserve University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are actively using HoloLens.
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Cincotta said developers can target mixed reality experiences destined for a range of VR, AR and mixed reality devices, and not just for the HoloLens.
According to Alexis Macklin, VR analyst at research firm Greenlight Insights, Microsoft's approach is different from what top VR and AR companies are doing. Microsoft is starting to position its VR and AR product suites as business tools that help deliver digital transformation for enterprises.
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Microsoft will be in a unique position when Windows 10 headsets begin shipping because those devices will support the full spectrum of mixed reality. Cincotta said it's up to each company how it designs its headset to take advantage of these emerging technologies. The headsets are expected to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week, when consumer launch dates will also be revealed.
A nice list of specific use cases. This is getting to be on the radar of more and more people (most still don't know.) And there are drivers for its adoption. And Microvision has a great AR patent portfolio.
Augmented reality not only makes life easier for customer support staff of any organization, but it also helps them work smarter, and increase overall productivity. Perfect for the retail sector, augmented reality helps retailers create their own products, thus allowing customers to experience their favorite products by themselves. For example, a sales representative at a spectacles counter can utilize AR glasses to assist customers select the spectacles that best suit their appearance and style.
Visualizing Objects
Visualizing objects through augmented reality can help professionals interact with virtual 3D models in the real world. Through the ability of visualization, augmented reality allows users to get a better sense of the finished products, rather than flat image on the screen. Instead of waiting to see your vision transform from paper, with AR, an automotive engineer drawing a plan for a new car can use an AR viewer to view 3D virtual parts, based on which they can easily manipulate and refine the parts to get the right design.
Remote Guidance
Many people, such as engineers, salesman, etc., often spend maximum time working onsite, and at some point in time they face situations where they need a helping hand back from the office. Here is where augmented reality can come in handy and provide professionals with relevant information, like manuals or instructions, which helps them efficiently solve the specific task in front of them. Instead of a salesman visiting door-to-door selling products, they can utilize an AR viewer to help customers understand products and its utility.
Relationship Building
Augmented reality allow businesses the opportunity to develop their own products, improve user engagement, and build a long-lasting relationship with their customers. A viable marketing option, augmented reality helps organizations increase the scope of their business and inculcate a sense of mutual loyalty among the customers. For example, a travel company can make use of AR glasses to help customers experience wonderful places by themselves, and ensure that the experience they are communicating comes to fruition.
Innovative Working Methods
Besides giving a helping hand for remote guidance, augmented reality can also prove to be beneficial in improving work processes of an organization. With the functionality to recognize objects, augmented reality can change the scenario of today’s office culture, making it more productive and appealing. Instead of traveling to a site, an insurance company examining a wrecked car after an accident can make use of an AR headset to easily recognize the damage and the cost estimate for fixing it.
Rooms and Parties are significant steps for the Oculus ecosystem for a few key reasons. The first is that they finally put your friends list to better use. Since launch, the Oculus Home friends list has been evolving toward usefulness. Oculus Rift owners have been giving their buddy list a workout with the addition of more and more multiplayer games, but these two new social experiences are some of the biggest use cases yet for your friends on Gear VR.
It also seems that Oculus and Facebook are in an active state of iteration with their social platforms. Oculus Social released with a few things to do (trivia, social theaters, etc.) but that platform has largely stagnated since release. The feature overlap with Oculus Social and Oculus Rooms leads one to believe that Rooms is the new poster child for pure social interaction on the Oculus platform.
Parties is also the first time Oculus and Facebook are allowing their customers to user a VR platform as a general communications tool. Third party creators like AltspaceVR have been doing this for a while now, but this is the first time that the folks in Menlo Park are taking a similar approach.
Different realms need to come together to make augmented reality useful. Stitching together data from multiple sources is what's going on here, and I'm sure that particular ability will be useful outside the medical field as well. #Datastitching
Bloomberg -- More at the source EchoPixel’s software stitches together data from CT scans, MRI machines, and ultrasounds to generate 3D images that medical professionals and patients can examine and manipulate using 3D glasses and a stylus. Use EchoPixel pitches its technology as a way to diagnose diseases, plan surgeries, and educate patients. For doctors, it can also take the guesswork out of converting 2D scans to 3D actions.
Next Steps “This interactive virtual reality really facilitates understanding,” says Ken Merdan, a senior research and development fellow at medical-device maker Boston Scientific. “When you are looking at something complex—and anatomy is complex and hard to understand—it’s easier to grasp in a short time frame.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved EchoPixel’s system, and the company says it’s working on refinements that will eliminate the need for 3D glasses, letting people view its images on standard mobile devices.
Today Valve Corp. (Bellevue, Wash.) has a VR headset that is "10 generations ahead anything available today", according to McCauley, by using more accurate head tracking by replacing the camera Oculus uses with a rotating motor driven line-laser. The line laser is essentially a gigantic laser housing a motor spinning a curved mirror mounted on the wall across from the user, that scans across head mounted IR detectors to determine how far away the head is by measuring the time between IR sensor intercepts.
At McCauley Labs they will replace the bulky moving laser mechanism, with a MEMS mirror and a line-laser (or alternatively a 2-axis MEMS mirror and a point laser to raster scan in the manner of a one-mirror pico projector) to perform the same kind of head location geometry and calculation as the Valve System, but micro-miniaturized.
The more there are important uses for Augmented Reality -- that can improve productivity, reduce error and make people more efficient, the more pressure there will be to get it going quickly. This is another awesome new use case. It's very different from other use cases I've heard so far.
Netherlands First Responders Use Augmented Reality to Stop Crime Scene Contamination
Dutch police are using a system very similar to Pokémon GO on smartphones, but they aren't walking around trying to catch little pocket monsters. The purpose of this system is to give augmented reality help to first responders who may be less qualified to work a fresh crime scene. If successful, the idea of a contaminated crime scene could be a thing of the past.
Generally very good sources. This particular rumor has been swirling around a little, this gives it more credibility. There are plenty of markets for near-eye display and pico projection. Apple isn't the only player, they're usually not first, but they usually do a really good job of things. China is probably ahead of them now. Near-eye displays / Augmented Reality is a place where Microvision is leading.
Watch the whole video. Apple is also working on other ways to enhance the iPhone.
Apple Testing Augmented Reality 'Smart Glasses' That connect to iPhone Apple has contacted potential suppliers about its glasses project and has ordered "small quantities" of near-eye displays, suggesting the project is in the exploratory prototyping phase of development. If work on the glasses progresses, they could be released in 2018.
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The glasses may be Apple's first hardware product targeted directly at AR, one of the people said. Cook has beefed up AR capabilities through acquisitions. In 2013, Apple bought PrimeSense, which developed motion-sensing technology in Microsoft Corp.'s Kinect gaming system. Purchases of software startups in the field, Metaio Inc. and Flyby Media Inc., followed in 2015 and 2016.
* Past rumors have also indicated Apple is exploring a number of virtual and augmented reality projects, including a full VR headset. Apple has a full team dedicated to AR and VR research and how the technologies can be incorporated into future Apple products. Cook recently said that he believes augmented reality would be more useful and interesting to people than virtual reality.
Every so often, however, something big — and potentially transformative — improves and enhances manufacturing processes not in baby steps, but in leaps and bounds. Whether that is a new technology, a new approach, or a new category of innovative tools or practices, these are the true “game-changers,” that could remake the industry in a profound and lasting manner. One area with the promise to drive that kind of transformative innovation is augmented reality, a disruptive suite of systems and technologies that delivers hands-on guidance and instruction with a dynamic, interactive and adaptive set of real-time instructions and integrated audio and visual cues. While augmented reality may sound futuristic, it is far from science-fiction: augmented reality technologies are already being deployed in factory floors around the world, fundamentally changing the way that countless products are manufactured. From automotive to medical device manufacturing and everything in between, augmented reality is now playing a pivotal role in improving safety, reducing errors and enhancing efficiencies.
Some of the most advanced augmented reality systems utilize a digital projection technology that overlays a virtual operating “canvas” onto the work surface. When combined with visual and audio cues, no-faults-forward functionality (a particularly desirable feature at a time when consistency, quality-control and customization challenges challenges can lead to troubling and potentially costly legal liabilities), and specialized tools that work in concert with equipment already in place such as machine vision cameras and torque wrenches, it is easy to see why augmented reality is being adopted so enthusiastically by growing numbers of organizations.
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For the manufacturing industry, augmented reality has a special appeal: it improves the work and efficiency of manufacturing professionals, it does not replace them. At a time when there are justified employment concerns throughout the industry about the implications of more automation, augmented reality is a welcome middle ground. It is far from a compromise, however. The growing popularity of augmented reality is ultimately based on something very simple: it works. Some automotive manufacturers that have integrated augmented reality platforms into their operation have achieved eye-opening results, including a dramatic 80-90 percent reduction in errors, a cycle time that was essentially cut in half, and a bottom-line boost in throughput of around 95 percent.
PrimeSense has been pretty Quiet lately, a couple of years ago they had some patents that mentioned Microvision as a key component of what they'd be doing. After last week's CC -- the news pretty much makes anything possible -- especially with three different engines that are going to have different applications. 3D Sensing is an essential component of workable AR -- (Microvision has this well in hand.) Also required is a near-eye display with a wide field of view. (Microvision has this too.) Whether or not Microvision is working with Apple in AR or not, Microvision will be a force to be reckoned with in the field. Confidence has never been higher. Tim Cook laid out next big thing (Source)
Apple needs a new platform. And Apple CEO Tim Cook knows it. That's why he's been dropping hint after hint that Apple's next major technology initiative is augmented reality — basically, integrating software into the real world.
"It is a visual technology that interprets the world for you," Research Vice President at Gartner Brian Blau told Business Insider. "If you think about augmented reality in that sense, it could be the next big grand computing platform. That has been the long-term promise."
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The end game of augmented reality is a pair of computer glasses or perhaps a contact lens that can superimpose computer graphics into the real world seamlessly.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about augmented reality essentially every time he's been called on to make public remarks recently.
"This is something you know it's coming," Piper Jaffray managing director Gene Munster told Business Insider. "The only other times they've talked like this is before the iPhone came out, they started to indicate they could do something in the phone market. Before the Apple Watch came out they talked about wearables and the wrist being a better option."
"It's pretty rare that Apple has been this clear that something is coming," Munster said.
Here's what Cook is signaling:
Adding key AR building blocks, like the ability for a camera to identify objects, into iPhone software and Apple apps in the near future.
Adding AR-specific hardware to the iPhone, like a 3D sensor. This could come from Primesense, a company Apple bought in 2013, and would allow the device to understand its surroundings even better than a basic camera.
Opening up the platform to developers, so that programmers can make augmented reality apps without dealing with the complicated computer vision and physics algorithms currently being developed by people at Apple and other companies with Ph.Ds.
Releasing an AR-specific product, perhaps a pair of glasses, when the technology is ready. It will be able to take advantage of all the AR apps already developed for iPhone.
"AR is related to all Apple’s current businesses; the key is that AR is an innovative human-machine interface that could be used in various devices & applications," KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a note distributed to clients last week seen by Business Insider. "All of Apple’s past successes were related to human-machine interfaces."
We know nothing about what is going on behind the scenes at Microvision. We don't know what's going on at Sony either, or at Sharp/Foxconn, or wherever else Microvision may be working.
I wouldn't mind the stock price being higher right now, but looking at the big picture I still have all the confidence I had before.
What do we know?
We know that 1.4 billion smart phones were sold last year. (Almost everyone carries a little computer with them.)
We know that everyone who carries a smart phone wants a bigger screen for that smart phone.
We know that large telecoms are focused on video delivery and acquiring and creating assets to do so better, monetize it with advertising, and deliver their video content free to users.
We know that it's great to use PicoP powered projectors.
We know that standalone projectors aren't an optimal use case - Embedded, or with an operating system included will be much better. PicoBit, Qualper and Viewsmart are this category.
There is enthusiasm for the Motorola MotoMod projector. PicoP is far better.
We also know that Augmented Reality is the talk of the tech world and Microvision has a fantastic patent portfolio in this realm. (I was very impressed with Microvision's AR display vs other AR displays featured at CES)
People are pouring money into technology companies like Meta, where everything is still in the prototype stage. Microvision is well beyond that.
Do you invest in a company that can put a six foot screen on every cell phone -- when clearly it works and production has begun?
Put after that a solid and large portfolio of patents in the realm of the latest real buzz in tech? That's what you get with Microvision shares. This is a very undervalued asset. Some people like to say the market knows all, and that among investors, secrets can't be kept.
They're wrong, and the market proves it all the time.
The talk about various businesses already making plans to use Augmented Reality is very inspiring for me.
We know Microvision will be well positioned in the space, although we're not sure where Microvision's display technology will ultimately be used -- or by whom. But this kind of advance promise of adoption -- and by the numbers, is very interesting and bodes very well for the future. Most of us probably never thought that there would be 24,000 elevator technicians working for a single elevator company. And the time they're talking about saving -- that demonstrates the potential value of these devices. FORBES -- More at the source
Now, it is linking with German elevators group ThyssenKrupp to attempt to transform the way that elevators are serviced globally, reducing a job that would normally take one and a half hours to about 20 minutes.
Thyssenkrupp says it has developed an application to use Microsoft HoloLens technology in its elevator service operations worldwide to empower more than 24,000 of its service techniciansto do their jobs more safely and efficiently, and keep people and cities moving better than ever before.
Viewing holograms of lift motors that are linked in real time in the cloud to the controls of the machinery, they will enable remote, hands-free access to technical and expert information when on site, resulting in significant savings in time and stress.
