A/V — audio/visual

Why IT leaders should pay attention to augmented reality [and so should those in higher ed as well]

On 07/20/2016, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), business, corporate / business world, future, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, IT in HE, learning ecosystem, mobile learning, vendors, wearables, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Why IT leaders should pay attention to augmented reality — from gartner.com by Heather Pemberton Levy

Excerpt:

Business will be a leading use case for AR over the next several years. An example is DHL’s use of wearables and AR in a warehouse pilot program to achieve improvement in the picking process. Other AR apps allow for automatic sign translation, or in a hands-busy environment, technicians can get equipment maintenance instructions through their HMDs while keeping focused on the task at hand.

“Virtual reality (VR) and AR capabilities will merge with the digital mesh to form a more seamless system of devices capable of orchestrating a flow of information that comes to the user as hyperpersonalized and relevant apps and services,” said Mr. Blau. “Integration across multiple mobile, wearable, IoT and sensor-rich environments (the digital mesh) will extend immersive applications beyond isolated and single-person experiences. Rooms and spaces will become active with things, and their connection through the mesh will appear and work in conjunction with immersive virtual worlds. “

From DSC:
I would add those working in higher education to this as well — as well as vendors working on education-related solutions.

The new Google Arts & Culture, on exhibit now’ — from googleblog.blogspot.com

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Just as the world’s precious artworks and monuments need a touch-up to look their best, the home we’ve built to host the world’s cultural treasures online needs a lick of paint every now and then. We’re ready to pull off the dust sheets and introduce the new Google Arts & Culture website and app, by the Google Cultural Institute. The app lets you explore anything from cats in art since 200 BCE to the color red in Abstract Expressionism, and everything in between. Our new tools will help you discover works and artifacts, allowing you to immerse yourself in cultural experiences across art, history and wonders of the world—from more than a thousand museums across 70 countries…

Also see:

Google’s new app isn’t the next best thing to the Louvre. It might be better
Google Arts & Culture turns art from all over the world into a meta museum.

Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality are the 4th Wave of Digital Technology [Merel]

On 07/19/2016, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), business, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, corporate / business world, human-computer interaction (HCI), Mixed Reality (MR), platforms, programming, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality are the 4th Wave of Digital Technology — from uploadvr.com by Tim Merel

Excerpt:

Consumer computing platform changes aren’t straight lines, they’re waves. PC, internet and mobile were the first 3 waves, and each was faster, larger and more disruptive than the last. Now the fourth wave of virtual, augmented and mixed reality is bearing down on us, so let’s dive in. The water’s fine.

From DSC:
As you might suppose, waves are best experienced when riding on top of one — versus getting crushed by one or having to try to swim after a wave once it’s passed you by. Though much of this wave is forthcoming, the point in posting this now is to encourage us to put these Human Computer Interaction (HCI)-related changes on our radars…or, to go with the former analogy, to encourage us to grab our surfboards!

Also relevant/see:

What are the differences among virtual, augmented and mixed reality? — from recode.net by Eric Johnson

From DSC:
I would like to highlight a few items from this month’s Campus Technology magazine:

2016 Campus Technology Innovators Awards
We honor 11 institutions using technology in innovative ways to improve teaching, learning, administration and operations in higher education.

Editorial: CT Innovators Honorable Mentions
Gleaned from this year’s Campus Technology Innovators award nominations, these 8 projects are making strides in virtual reality, synchronous online learning, digital literacy and more.

How blockchain will disrupt the higher education transcript
Blockchain technology could offer a more learner-centered alternative to traditional credentialing.

Pokémon Go — AR’s killer app, at least so far

On 07/12/2016, in A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), society, tools, United States, user experience (UX), vendors, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I posted an item yesterday warning parents of the potential dangers of Pokémon Go. But I don’t want to leave it at that. I’m generally pro-technology and there are many solid, good, positive reasons for using most technologies. So I also want to post some other, more positive items showing the enormous success of this augmented reality (AR)-based app.

5 Crazy Facts That Prove the Ridiculous Popularity of ‘Pokemon GO’ — from uploadvr.com by David Jagneaux

Excerpts:

Nintendo’s Valuation Increased by $9 Billion
People Are Already Using it As Much as Twitter
It’s Helping People Fight Depression and Anxiety
Businesses Are Changing the Way They Operate
Pokemon GO is Bringing People Closer to Together

The Weekend Pokémon Go Took Over America — from wired.com by Emily Dreyfuss, Brian Barrett, Kevin McFarland, Emma Ellis, Jake Muncy, and Chris Kohler

This Surprising Game Is Driving People To Church — from ministrytech.com

‘Pokemon Go’ Readies for Wider Launch as Nintendo Shares Soar — from uploadvr.com by by Jamie Feltham

Pokemon Go Is Driving Augmented Reality And Geolocation Adoption — from zugara.com by Matthew Szymczyk

What #PokemonGo means for immersive learning — from learningintandem.blogspot.com by Koreen Pagano

Excerpt:

But let’s end with some larger implications for learning, particularly organizational learning.

New hire training: tour facilities with augmented reality or virtual reality. Meet key folks in the organization. See behind the scenes production, or visit HQ virtually.
Skill refinement: once the basics have been taught, present ongoing practice scenarios. Could be internal, customer-facing, or software/equipment training.
Product training: provide the ability to interact with multiple customers and see how the product benefits them differently.
Application in context: how do you navigate a real-life complex environment effectively? Think busy retail, insurance adjusters, combat/disaster zones, crime scenes, etc.
Just in time geographically relevant support: have a question in context? What if an app let you access training and tips relevant to where you are?

Pokémon Go is Improving Thousands of Users’ Mental Health — from interestingengineering.com by Trevor English

“Pokémon Go” May Prove That AR Is More Mainstream Than VR — from fastcompany.com by Daniel Terdiman
Ever seen this many people with VR headsets on at one time? Didn’t think so.

Playing Pokemon Go? You Need the Right Gear — from wired.com by Tim Moynihan

And along the security/safety awareness line:

Pokémon Go can be a huge security risk – here’s how to play privately! — from imore.com by Rene Ritchie Mon
Police Urge Pokémon GO Players to Stay Alert — from pixelkin.org by Nicole Tanner
Pokémon Go shouldn’t have full access to your Gmail, Docs and Google account — but it does — from techcrunch.com by Devin Coldewey

Stanford’s virtual reality lab cultivates empathy for the homeless — from kqed.org by Rachael Myrow

Excerpt:

The burgeoning field of Virtual Reality — or VR as it is commonly known — is a vehicle for telling stories through 360-degree visuals and sound that put you right in the middle of the action, be it at a crowded Syrian refugee camp, or inside the body of an 85-year-old with a bad hip and cataracts. Because of VR’s immersive properties, some people describe the medium as “the ultimate empathy machine.” But can it make people care about something as fraught and multi-faceted as homelessness?

A study in progress at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab explores that question, and I strapped on an Oculus Rift headset (one of the most popular devices people currently use to experience VR) to look for an answer.

A new way of understanding homelessness
The study, called Empathy at Scale, puts participants in a variety of scenes designed to help them imagine the experience of being homeless themselves.

The top 10 companies working on education in virtual reality & augmented reality [Lewis]

On 06/27/2016, in A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), education technology, emerging technologies, learning ecosystem, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, by Daniel Christian

The top 10 companies working on education in virtual reality & augmented reality — from touchstoneresearch.com by Drew Lewis

Excerpt:

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are new technologies which have been making all kinds of waves recently; but VR and AR are not only going to be used for gaming, several companies are exploring applications for VR and AR to be used in education. Around 90% of what we see and do is retained, which is something that has always been missing from education; students do not retain as much information if they are just reading a textbook compared to having more real applications of what they’re learning. Which is why VR and AR in education are so beneficial; these technologies engage students in a completely new way which is more fun and engaging for them, and it increases retention. Several companies are currently working on innovations in this space; and the work we’ve seen so far is surely a good sign of things to come.

Could this new technology be in “screens” of the future? A directional audio speaker that’s made from glass!

On 06/21/2016, in A/V -- audio/visual, digital audio, emerging technologies, ideas, innovation, smart/connected TV, tablets, television, by Daniel Christian

Directional audio speakers made from glass introduced — from inavateonthenet.net by Charlotte Ashley

Also see:

Future projections: Pro AV’s next decade — from inavateonthenet.net by Tim Kridel

All of these images link to at PowerPoint Show — a roughly 39MB .ppsx file.

Examples:

Holographic storytelling — from jwtintelligence.com by Jade Perry

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

The stories of Holocaust survivors are brought to life with the help of interactive 3D technologies.

‘New Dimensions in Testimony’ is a new way of preserving history for future generations. The project brings to life the stories of Holocaust survivors with 3D video, revealing raw first-hand accounts that are more interactive than learning through a history book.

Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter, the first subject of the project, was filmed answering over 1000 questions, generating approximately 25 hours of footage. By incorporating natural language processing from Conscience Display, viewers were able to ask Gutter’s holographic image questions that triggered relevant responses.

From DSC:
I wonder…is this an example of a next generation, visually-based chatbot*?

With the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent systems, and new types of human computer interaction (HCI), this type of concept could offer an on-demand learning approach that’s highly engaging — and accessible from face-to-face settings as well as from online-based learning environments. (If it could be made to take in some of the context of a particular learner and where a learner is in the relevant Zone of Proximal Development (via web-based learner profiles/data), it would be even better.)

As an aside, is this how we will obtain
customer service from the businesses of the future? See below.

*The complete beginner’s guide to chatbots — from chatbotsmagazine.com by Matt Schlicht
Everything you need to know.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

What are chatbots? Why are they such a big opportunity? How do they work? How can I build one? How can I meet other people interested in chatbots?

These are the questions we’re going to answer for you right now.
…
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a service, powered by rules and sometimes artificial intelligence, that you interact with via a chat interface. The service could be any number of things, ranging from functional to fun, and it could live in any major chat product (Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Text Messages, etc.).
…

A chatbot is a service, powered by rules and sometimes artificial intelligence, that you interact with via a chat interface.

Examples of chatbots
Weather bot. Get the weather whenever you ask.
Grocery bot. Help me pick out and order groceries for the week.
News bot. Ask it to tell you when ever something interesting happens.
Life advice bot. I’ll tell it my problems and it helps me think of solutions.
Personal finance bot. It helps me manage my money better.
Scheduling bot. Get me a meeting with someone on the Messenger team at Facebook.
A bot that’s your friend. In China there is a bot called Xiaoice, built by Microsoft, that over 20 million people talk to.

Campus Technology Announces 2016 Innovators Award Honorees

On 06/09/2016, in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, higher education, innovation, IT in HE, teaching & learning, technology (general), tools, universities, by Daniel Christian

Campus Technology Announces 2016 Innovators Award Honorees

The categories for the 2016 Campus Technology Innovators include:

Teaching and Learning
Student Systems and Services
Administration
IT Infrastructure and Systems
Education Futurists

From DSC:
As one of the Judges for this year’s awards, I congratulate these award honorees on jobs that were well done! There were some solid submissions this year.

Sony’s canvas redefines the giant display landscape.

The bigger your giant display, the more important viewing angle becomes.
In this example, we’re showing an 8K x 2K (7680 x 2160) screen.

Sony redefines high-end visual display with new canvas for creativity — from blog.sony.com

Excerpt:

The scalable system is made up of multiple display units (each measuring 18 x 16 inches) that can be joined together with no bezels to create a limitless and seamless large-screen display.

Also see:

Sony’s InfoComm introductions include best LED-based video wall EVER — from ravepubs.com by Gary Kayye

Excerpt:
Sony is literally blowing people away with their new Crystal LED technology. Sony’s new Canvas display system is a high-end visual display that re-defines the landscape for large-scale visual entertainment. The new technology, Crystal Light Emitting Diode Integrated Structure (CLEDIS), uses Sony’s ultrafine LEDs in a unique surface mounting structure as its light source to deliver a visual experience not possible with even the highest end conventional LED array. This scalable new type of canvas delivers an unmatched viewing experience, offering 99 percent black surface area, for high contrast, high resolution and immersive visuals.

This new type of canvas enables limitless flexibility and creativity in public spaces and high-end visual entertainment. It is far more advanced when compared to the technologies currently available for large-scale display, offering a leap forward in depth, contrast, color, resolution and impact.

From DSC:
Leveraging the power of the BYOD phenomenon along with the increased usage of active learning-based classrooms, if students could “upload” their content to such enormous screens, one could easily imagine some highly-engaging discussions — providing students with excellent opportunities to create and share their own content. Numerous windows and applications could be simultaneously displayed on such a video wall, providing/hosting some serious Jigsaw teaching techniques!

HoloAnatomy app previews use of augmented reality in medical schools [medgadget.com]

On 06/07/2016, in 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Augmented Reality (AR), biology, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), Microsoft, Mixed Reality (MR), tools, United States, user experience (UX), by Daniel Christian

HoloAnatomy app previews use of augmented reality in medical schools — from medgadget.com

Excerpt:

The Cleveland Clinic has partnered with Case Western Reserve University to release a Microsoft HoloLens app that allows users to explore the human body using augmented reality technology. The HoloLens is a headset that superimposes computer generated 3D graphics onto a person’s field of view, essentially blending reality with virtual reality.

The HoloAnatomy app lets people explore a virtual human, to walk around it looking at details of different systems of the body, and to select which are showing. Even some sounds are replicated, such as that of the beating heart.

Will “class be in session” soon on tools like Prysm & Bluescape? If so, there will be some serious global interaction, collaboration, & participation here! [Christian]

On 06/04/2016, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, convergence, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, disruption, distance education, education, education reform, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, lifelong learning, love of learning, microlearning, Microsoft, mirroring and/or multiple devices, mobile learning, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online tutoring, participation, platforms, presentations, professional development, second screen apps, smart classrooms, smart/connected TV, social learning / networks, student-related, tablets, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Below are some questions and thoughts that are going through my mind:

Will “class be in session” soon on tools like Prysm & Bluescape?
Will this type of setup be the next platform that we’ll use to meet our need to be lifelong learners? That is, will what we know of today as Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Content Management Systems (CMS) morph into this type of setup?
Via platforms/operating systems like tvOS, will our connected TVs turn into much more collaborative devices, allowing us to contribute content with learners from all over the globe?
Prysm is already available on mobile devices and what we consider a television continues to morph
Will second and third screens be used in such setups? What functionality will be assigned to the main/larger screens? To the mobile devices?
Will colleges and universities innovate into such setups? Or will organizations like LinkedIn.com/Lynda.com lead in this space? Or will it be a bit of both?
How will training, learning and development groups leverage these tools/technologies?
Are there some opportunities for homeschoolers here?

Along these lines, are are some videos/images/links for you:

Also see:

5 Apple TV apps that are actually great on a big screen — from gizmodo.com by David Nield

What are micro-credentials? — from onlineschoolscenter.com

Also see:

T1V announces ThinkHub Q2 software release, focuses on interactive collaboration experience for customers — from t1v.com

Prysm Adds Enterprise-Wide Collaboration with Microsoft Applications — from ravepubs.com by Gary Kayye

Excerpt:

To enhance the Prysm Visual Workplace, Prysm today announced an integration with Microsoft OneDrive for Business and Office 365. Using the OneDrive for Business API from Microsoft, Prysm has made it easy for customers to connect Prysm to their existing OneDrive for Business environments to make it a seamless experience for end users to access, search for, and sync with content from OneDrive for Business. Within a Prysm Visual Workplace project, users may now access, work within and download content from Office 365 using Prysm’s built-in web capabilities.

Learning Ecosystems

Why IT leaders should pay attention to augmented reality [and so should those in higher ed as well]

Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality are the 4th Wave of Digital Technology [Merel]

Highlighting a few items from this month’s Campus Technology Magazine

Pokémon Go — AR’s killer app, at least so far

Stanford’s virtual reality lab cultivates empathy for the homeless [Myrow]

The top 10 companies working on education in virtual reality & augmented reality [Lewis]

Could this new technology be in “screens” of the future? A directional audio speaker that’s made from glass!

Campus Technology Announces 2016 Innovators Award Honorees

HoloAnatomy app previews use of augmented reality in medical schools [medgadget.com]

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