From DSC:
Can you imagine this as a virtual reality or a mixed reality-based app!?! Very cool.
This resource is incredible on multiple levels:
From DSC:
As I was putting together a PowerPoint slideshow for our Teaching & Learning Digital Studio, I figured I might as well make it available for others to see and use as well. So here it is as a PowerPoint slideshow (.ppsx file). Alternatively, if this works better for you on that end, here’s a PDF file of that information.
From DSC:
At the Next Generation Learning Spaces Conference, held recently in San Diego, CA, I moderated a panel discussion re: AR, VR, and MR. I started off our panel discussion with some introductory ideas and remarks — meant to make sure that numerous ideas were on the radars at attendees’ organizations. Then Vinay and Carrie did a super job of addressing several topics and questions (Mary was unable to make it that day, as she got stuck in the UK due to transportation-related issues).
That said, I didn’t get a chance to finish the second part of the presentation which I’ve listed below in both 4:3 and 16:9 formats. So I made a recording of these ideas, and I’m relaying it to you in the hopes that it can help you and your organization.
Presentations/recordings:
Audio/video recording (187 MB MP4 file)
Again, I hope you find this information helpful.
Thanks,
Daniel
SXSW Announces Winners for 2017 Accelerator Pitch Event — from prnewswire.com
Pitch competition showcased global startups featuring cutting-edge innovation in 10 technology categories
Excerpt:
The winners of the 2017 SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event are:
The number of VR companies grew 40% in 2016 — from venturebeat.com by Dean Takahashi
Excerpt:
The Venture Reality Fund reported that the landscape of companies it tracks in the virtual reality market grew more than 40 percent in 2016. The largest area of growth was in content companies that create apps for head-mounted VR displays, said Marco DeMiroz, cofounder of The Venture Reality Fund with Tipatat Chennavasin. The fund invests in VR and augmented reality startups. Gaming and entertainment nearly doubled in size, with major players as well as well-funded new companies in both the U.S. and Asia, he said.
Also see:
Also see:
Also see:
From DSC:
Vinay Narayan, from HTC Vive, described 2016 as “ground zero” for VR (i.e., it’s just getting started).
So while there certainly is hype going on (and there often is when we’re talking about potentially-promising emerging technologies), so are the investment dollars. It may take a few years to get there, but I don’t see these new forms of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) going away (here’s another reason why).
From DSC:
Chatbots were another one of the topics I mentioned at the Next Generation Learning Spaces Conference last week. For those of us working within higher education, chatbots need to be on our radars!
An article from today on this:
According to a recent case study, GSU was well aware of the advantages of communicating with students via text messages, but was concerned about the additional workload that text messaging students would place on existing staff. So, the university partnered with AdmitHub, a Boston-based ed tech startup, to test out text-based intervention. AdmitHub works with higher ed institutions to create a virtual “campus coach” that embodies the collective knowledge and unique spirit of a school’s community. It integrates conversational artificial intelligence (AI) with human expertise to guide students to and through college.
One of the slides from my presentation on this:
Video via:
Acer’s Windows Holographic headset will ship to developers this month — from theverge.com by Nick Statt
Summer 2017 Human++ — fromcambridge.nuvustudio.com
Human-Machine Intelligence, Hacking Drones, Bio Fashion, Augmented Video Games, Aerial Filmmaking, Smart Tools, Soft Robotics and more!
Excerpt:
NuVu is a place where young students grow their spirit of innovation. They use their curiosity and creativity to explore new ideas, and make their concepts come to life through our design process. Our model is based on the architecture studio model, and every Summer we use imaginative themes to frame two-week long Studios in which students dive into hands-on design, engineering, science, technology, art and more!
OxSight uses augmented reality to aid the visually impaired — from techcrunch.com by Felicia Williams
Excerpt:
A new startup that spun out of Oxford last year, OxSight, is looking to change that. The company built and is testing augmented reality glasses to help the visually impaired recognize and navigate objects in their environment. Think of it as a hearing aid for the blind.
OxSight is a potential replacement for canes and seeing-eye dogs. Those give you immediate localization of obstacles near you, but don’t give you a sense of awareness of the environment that you are in.
Most of the people who have tested the OxSight previously had some level of sight that has degraded over time. The product uses the sight they still have, whether it’s detection of light, movement or a small amount of shape, and amplifies it inside a pair of augmented reality glasses.
Stryker is using Microsoft’s HoloLens to design operating rooms of the future — from digitaltrends.com by Mark Coppock
Excerpt:
Augmented reality has a number of increasingly important applications in a variety of industries, from engineering to retail to interior design. One of the most exciting applications of AR, and the one that promises perhaps the most immediate impact on our lives, is in medicine, where AR can help educate, diagnose, and even treat disease in new and innovative ways.
Microsoft’s HoloLens AR solution is perhaps the most advanced today in terms of becoming a part of the real world, even while it’s not yet a retail option aimed at consumers. Global medical technology company Stryker, which is using HoloLens to redesign the operating room, provides a clear example of the potential of AR in this setting.
From DSC:
Microsoft uses the term “mixed reality” when they are discussing their Hololens product:
Using HoloLens and Stryker’s new By Design solution, hospital stakeholders are now able to envision the ideal operating room configuration with the power of holograms and the benefit of mixed reality.
Move over tablets? This tech could be the future of learning — from fastcodesign.com by Katharine Schwab
Fluid dynamics are a lot cooler when you can see them at work with your own eyes.
Excerpt:
Physics can be difficult to grasp—even for adults. So how do you teach the subject’s abstract ideas to middle schoolers?
Show some of the concepts in action. That’s the idea behind Peer, an experimental project from New York-based design firm Moment that uses mixed reality to teach middle schoolers scientific ideas such as aerodynamics, sound waves, gravity, and acceleration. The project, though purely conceptual, is a tantalizing hint at where technology in the classroom could be headed next.
Also see:
The 10 Best Augmented Reality (AR) App Development Companies in the World
Excerpt:
Finding the best way to position and utilise your business when you’re dealing with future technologies like AR can be a difficult proposition. The skill set required is a relatively new thing, and the mobile developers who can do it, and are good at it, are likely to already be seeing offers from other companies. All of this adds up to mean that finding new talent to drive your AR business forward isn’t easy, and this is compounded if you’re new to the game and haven’t established a foothold. In an attempt to make it easier for you, we’ve already covered the top 10 IoT (Internet of Things) developers – and 3 ways to overcome your app backlog before that – and this week we’re looking at AR developers. Using our number crunching based on Alexa rankings, here’s who came out on top.
The example images below were taken from this video clip from eonreality.com
Microsoft Accelerates HoloLens V3 Development, Sidesteps V2 — from thurrott.com by Brad Sams
Excerpt:
Back when the first version of Hololens came out, Microsoft created a roadmap that highlighted several release points for the product. This isn’t unusual, you start with the first device, second generation devices are typically smaller and more affordable and then with version three you introduce new technology that upgrades the experience; this is a standard process path in the technology sector. Microsoft, based on my sources, is sidelining what was going to be version two of HoloLens and is going straight to version three.
…
While some may see this as bad news that a cheaper version of HoloLens will not arrive this year or likely next year, by accelerating the technology that will bring us the expanded field of view with a smaller footprint, the new roadmap allows for a device that is usable in everyday life to arrive sooner.
Microsoft is playing for the long-term with this technology to make sure they are well positioned for the next revolution in computing. By adjusting their path today for HoloLens, they are making sure that they remain the segment leader for years to come.
HarvardX rolls out new adaptive learning feature in online course — from edscoop.com by Corinne Lestch
Students in MOOC adaptive learning experiment scored nearly 20 percent better than students using more traditional learning approaches.
Excerpt:
Online courses at Harvard University are adapting on the fly to students’ needs.
Officials at the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution announced a new adaptive learning technology that was recently rolled out in a HarvardX online course. The feature offers tailored course material that directly correlates with student performance while the student is taking the class, as well as tailored assessment algorithms.
HarvardX is an independent university initiative that was launched in parallel with edX, the online learning platform that was created by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both HarvardX and edX run massive open online courses. The new feature has never before been used in a HarvardX course, and has only been deployed in a small number of edX courses, according to officials.
From DSC:
Given the growth of AI, this is certainly radar worthy — something that’s definitely worth pulse-checking to see where opportunities exist to leverage these types of technologies. What we now know of as adaptive learning will likely take an enormous step forward in the next decade.
IBM’s assertion rings in my mind:
I’m cautiously hopeful that these types of technologies can extend beyond K-12 and help us deal with the current need to be lifelong learners, and the need to constantly reinvent ourselves — while providing us with more choice, more control over our learning. I’m hopeful that learners will be able to pursue their passions, and enlist the help of other learners and/or the (human) subject matter experts as needed.
I don’t see these types of technologies replacing any teachers, professors, or trainers. That said, these types of technologies should be able to help do some of the heavy teaching and learning lifting in order to help someone learn about a new topic.
Again, this is one piece of the Learning from the Living [Class] Room that we see developing.
CES 2017: The year of voice — from J. Walter Thompson Intelligence by Sheperd Laughlin
Improvements in natural language processing have set the stage for a revolution in how we interact with tech.
Excerpt:
Over the past several decades, the proliferation of screens and “screen time” has been practically synonymous technology’s ever-expanding role in our lives. But this year’s CES highlights a shift in how we interact with computers: more and more, we’re bypassing screens altogether through the medium of voice.
Shawn DuBravac, chief economist of the Consumer Technology Association, said that 2017 represented an inflection point in computers’ ability to translate speech into text. When such experiments first began in 1994, he said, their error rate was about 100%. As recently as 2013, computers failed to accurately transcribe 23% of human speech.
But in 2017, they will reach parity with humans, understanding what we say at least 94% of the time. “We’re ushering in an entirely new era of faceless computing,” DuBravac said.
Addendum on 2/23/17:
