Check out:
computerhistory.org/timeline/
For the history of AI and robotics, see:
computerhistory.org/timeline/ai-robotics/
On 09/14/2016,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, internet, media/film, robotics, technologies for your home, technology (general), television, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, TVs,
by Daniel Christian
Below are some interesting thoughts and predictions from CEDIA, the leading global authority in the home technology industry.
CEDIA’s Tech Council Sees the Future, Part 1: In No Particular Order
Prediction 1: Mixed reality rooms will begin to replace home theater.
As Eric Johnson summed up last year in Recode, “to borrow an example from Microsoft’s presentation at the gaming trade show E3, you might be looking at an ordinary table, but see an interactive virtual world from the video game Minecraft sitting on top of it. As you walk around, the virtual landscape holds its position, and when you lean in close, it gets closer in the way a real object would.” Can a “holographic” cinema experience really be that far off? With 3D sound? And Smell-O-Vision?
CEDIA’s Tech Council Sees the Future, Part 2: Wes Anderson’s Favorite Screen
Prediction 13. Full-wall video with multiscreens will appear in the home. Here’s something interesting: The first three predictions in this set of 10 all have an origin in commercial applications. This one — think of it more as digital signage than sports bar — will allow the user to have access to a wall that includes a weather app, a Twitter feed, a Facebook page, the latest episode of Chopped, a Cubs game, and literally anything else a member — or members — of the family are interested in. The unintended consequences: some 13-year-old will one day actually utter the phrase, “MOM! Can you minimize your Snapchat already!?!”
CEDIA’s Tech Council Sees the Future, Part 3: Glass, Moore’s Law, and “Autopilot”
Prediction 22: Intelligent glass will be used as a control interface, entertainment platform, comfort control, and communication screen. Gordon van Zuiden says, “We live in a world of touch, glass-based icons. Obviously the phone is the preeminent example — what if all the glass that’s around you in the house could have some level of projection so that shower doors, windows, and mirrors could be practical interfaces?” Extend that smart concept to surfaces that don’t just respond to touch, but to gesture and voice — and now extend that to surfaces outside the home.
Prediction 28: User-programmable platforms based on interoperable systems will be the new control and integration paradigm. YOU: “Alexa, please find Casablanca on Apple TV and send it to my Android phone. And order up a pizza.”
CEDIA’s Tech Council Sees the Future, Part 4: “Anything That Can Be Hacked, Will Be Hacked”
Prediction 34. Consumer sensors will increase in sensitivity and function. The Internet of Things will become a lot like Santa: “IoT sees you when you’re sleeping/IoT knows when you’re awake/IoT knows if you’ve been bad or good…”
CEDIA’s Tech Council Predicts the Future, Part 5: Getting Older
Prediction 47. Policy and technology will drive the security concerns over internet and voice connected devices. “When you add the complexity of ‘always on, always listening’ connected devices … keeping the consumer’s best interests in mind might not always be top of mind for corporations [producing these devices],” notes Maniscalco. “[A corporation’s] interest is usually in profits.” Maniscalco believes that a consumer push for legislation on the dissemination of the information a company can collect will be the “spark that ignites true security and privacy for the consumer.”
CEDIA’s Tech Council Predicts the Future, Part 6: Lights! Uber! Security!
Prediction 53. The flexible use of the light socket: Lighting becomes more than lighting. Think about the amount of coverage — powered coverage — that the footprint of a home’s network of light sockets provides. Mike Maniscalco of Ihiji has: “You can use that coverage and power to do really interesting things, like integrate sensors into the lighting. Track humidity, people’s movements, change patterns based on what’s happening in that room.”
CEDIA’s Tech Council Predicts the Future, Part 7: Networks, Voice Control, and The Three Laws of Robotics
Prediction 64. Voice and face recognition and authentication services become more ubiquitous. Yes, your front door will recognize your face — other people’s, too. “Joe Smith comes to your door, you get a text message without having to capture video, so that’s a convenience,” notes Jacobson.
On 09/01/2016,
in A/V -- audio/visual, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Google, health, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, journalism, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning preferences, media/film, relationships, society, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
Virtual reality: The hype, the problems and the promise — from bbc.com by Tim Maughan
It’s the technology that is supposed to be 2016’s big thing, but what iteration of VR will actually catch on, and what’s just a fad? Tim Maughan takes an in-depth look.
Excerpt:
For Zec this is one of VR’s most promising potentials – to be able to drop audiences into a situation and force them to react emotionally, in ways that traditional filmmaking or journalism might struggle to do. “We really cannot understand what the people [in Syria and other places] right now are going through, so I thought maybe if we put the viewer inside the shoes of the family, or near them, maybe they can feel more and understand more rather than just reading a headline in a newspaper.”
The aim of Blackout is to challenge assumptions New Yorkers might have about the people around them, by allowing them to tap directly into their thoughts. “You’re given the ability to pick into people’s minds and their motives,” says co-creator Alex Porter. “Through that process you start to realise the ways in which you were wrong about all the people around you, and start to find these kind of exciting stories that they have to tell.”
From DSC:
Virtual Reality could have a significant impact in diversity training. (I don’t like the word diversity too much; as in my experience, everybody in the Fortune 5oo companies where I worked belonged in the realm of diversity except for Christians, but I’ll use it here anyway.)
The point is…when you can put yourself into someone else’s shoes, it could have some positive impact in terms of better being able to relate to what that person is going through.
Star Trek in VR – Why can’t we do this with VR in education? — from digitalbodies.net by Maya Georgieva
Excerpt:
What if there was a new way to start this journey? What if you walked into the room and boarded a starship instead? What would a school experience be like if we sent our students on a mission, joining a global team to learn and solve our world’s most pressing problems? What if they met in Virtual Reality? For example, literally experiencing the streets of Paris if they were studying French culture or urban planning. Examining first hand the geology of volcanoes or building the next generation transportation? What would happen if they are given a problem they could not answer on their own, a problem that requires collaboration and teamwork with colleagues to find a solution?
Here is how VR and AI can empower the future of learning. The Star Trek: Bridge Crew VR Game gives us a glimpse of how we can engage with our students. Or, as Levar Burton (Geordi La Forge from Engineering) in the video trailer puts it:
There is something different being in a shared virtual environment . . . The team does not succeed unless everybody does their job well.
…
In the true spirit of Star Trek it is through cooperation rather than competition that we learn best. In VR, you can sit on any of the crew chairs and be the captain, engineer, or doctor and experience events from very different point of views. In Star Trek: Bridge Crew, you are flying the ship but have to work collaboratively with your team. You have to work with your crew to reach goals and accomplish the mission as this is virtual reality as a social experience. It demands that you be fully engaged.
Not just for gamers: CSU launching Virtual Reality Initiative — from source.colostate.edu by Lauren Klamm
Excerpt:
Think “virtual reality,” and it’s probably video gaming that comes to mind. CSU is looking to expand the breadth and depth of this emerging technical field with a campus-wide Virtual Reality Initiative, launching this semester.
The initiative will give students and the science community hands-on experience with virtual reality, for research and educational applications.
Virtual reality (VR) is a way of experiencing virtual worlds or objects – the cockpit of a spaceship, an anatomy lesson, a walk through a historical building – through devices like computers, goggles or headsets designed to immerse someone in a simulated environment. VR touches fields ranging from design to art to engineering.
VR Learning: How Virtual Reality Will Democratize Learning — from iamvr.co
Excerpt:
In case you haven’t heard, there is a lot of hype right now about virtual and augmented reality. Three months into 2016, investors have already spent 1.1 billion dollars to get a piece of the action.
Still, I am confident that virtual reality will revolutionize how we learn, and the reason is simple. Virtual reality is not just a technology, it’s a medium. And I’ve seen how powerful that medium can be.
A Chinese surgeon has discovered a practical application for augmented reality in the medical field. Using the same technology by which a Pokemon character is layered onto a real-life setting, two surgical images can be combined into a single view, eliminating the need for surgeons to watch two separate screens simultaneously.
Catherine Chan Po-ling, a surgeon in Hong Kong and co-founder of MedEXO Robotics, says that the use of augmented reality technology in keyhole, or minimally invasive, surgery can solve one of the biggest problems for surgeons performing these procedures.
Currently, surgeons in keyhole procedures must create and view two images simultaneously. In Chan’s example, when checking for cancerous cells in the liver, the surgeon operates a regular camera showing a view of the surface of the liver, and at the same time operates an ultrasound probe to check beneath the surface of the liver.
Stanford Journalism Program’s Guide to Using Virtual Reality for Storytelling — from storybench.org by Geri Migielicz and Janine Zacharia
Excerpt:
Given the explosion of interest in virtual reality among media organizations, we sought in January to establish best practices and ideal scenarios for using the technology in storytelling through our inaugural immersive journalism class at Stanford University.
During the 10-week course, 12 undergraduate and graduate students evaluated a range of virtual reality experiences published by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and others. We compared commercially available virtual reality headsets (Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear/VR and Oculus Rift) for ease and quality as well as virtual reality cameras — the (more expensive but expansive) GoPro and the (more affordable) Ricoh Theta S.
12 ways to use Google Cardboard in your class — from ditchthattextbook.com
Excerpt:
Virtual reality used to be the thing of science fiction books and movies. Now, it’s inexpensive, works with the technology we carry in our pockets, and can transform us to real and imaginary places.
These 5 Incredible HoloLens Videos Will Make You A VR/AR Believer — from uploadvr.com
Upload And Make School Graduate Their First Class Of VR Developers — from uploadvr.com
On 05/19/2016,
in 21st century, Adobe, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), business, digital learning, digital storytelling, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Facebook / Meta Platforms, higher education, immersion, K-12 related, media/film, student-related, trends, user experience (UX), vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, visualizing information,
by Daniel Christian
With thanks to Fred Steube for this resource
Virtual reality facilitates higher ed research and teaches high-risk skills — from edtechmagazine.com by Jacquelyn Bengfort
From neuroscience to ship navigation, virtual environments deliver real-world learning inside the classroom.
Excerpt:
Simulators are an important part of their education. Stepping into one of three full-mission bridge simulators replicates the experience of standing in an ocean liner’s pilothouse and lets students practice their skills in handling a ship — without risk.
“In the simulator, you can push the limits of the environment: increase the amount of current that’s there, go to the limits of the amount of wind that can be handled by the tugs,” says Capt. Victor Schisler, one of Cal Maritime’s simulator instructors.
Oculus Launches Virtual Reality Program in High Schools — from thejournal.com by Sri Ravipati
The new initiative provides students with VR equipment to create short films on social issues.
Excerpt:
Oculus has announced a new pilot program for high school students to use virtual reality as a tool for social change.
As part of the VR for Good initiative, the 360 Filmmaker Challenge will connect nine San Francisco Bay Area high schools with professional filmmakers to create three- to five- minute 360 degree films about their communities. Students will receive a Samsung Gear VR, a Galaxy S6, Ricoh Theta S 360 cameras and access to editing software to make their films, according to Oculus.
How Adobe is connecting virtual reality with the world of product placement: 360-degree video mixes atmosphere and ads — from adweek.com by Marty Swant
Excerpt:
Interested in watching the 2015 hit film The Martian from the surface of the moon? Adobe wants you to take you there.
Adobe isn’t entering the latest next-generation space race to compete with SpaceX, Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic anytime soon. But it is for the first time entering the worlds of virtual reality and augmented reality through new Adobe Primetime products.
[On May 17th] Adobe debuted Virtual Cinema, a feature that will allow Primetime clients to develop experiences for users to enter a virtual environment. According to Adobe, users will be able to view traditional video in a custom environment—a cinema, home theater or branded atmosphere—and watch existing TV and motion picture content in a new way. There’s also potential for product placement within the virtual/augmented reality experience.
From Samsung Gear 360 Unboxing and Video Test — from vrscout.com by Jonathan Nafarrete
Could HoloLens’ augmented reality change how we study the human body? — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith
Case Western Reserve University is helping to revolutionize medical-science studies with a new technology from Microsoft.
Excerpt:
While the technology world’s attention is on virtual reality, a team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is fixated on another way to experience the world — augmented reality (AR).
Microsoft’s forthcoming AR headset, HoloLens, is at the forefront of this technology. The company calls it the first holographic computer. In AR, instead of being surrounded by a virtual world, viewers see virtual objects projected on top of reality through a transparent lens.
CWRU was among the first in higher education to begin working with HoloLens, back in 2014. They’ve since discovered new ways the tech could help transform education. One of their current focuses is changing how students experience medical-science courses.
How to make a mixed reality video and livestream from two realities — from uploadvr.com by Ian Hamilton
Excerpt:
Follow these steps to record or stream mixed reality footage with the HTC Vive
A mixed reality video is one of the coolest ways to show people what a virtual environment feels like. A green screen makes it easy for a VR-ready PC to automatically remove everything from a camera’s feed, except for your body movements. Those movements are then seamlessly combined with a view from another camera in a virtual environment. As long as the two cameras are synced, you can seamlessly combine views of two realities into a single video. In essence, mixed reality capture is doing what Hollywood or your weatherman has been doing for years, except at a fraction of the cost and in real-time. The end result is almost magical.
On 05/19/2016,
in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital video, experimentation, faculty/staff, media/film, pedagogy, project-based learning, story, storytelling, teachers, teaching & learning, writing,
by Daniel Christian
Teaching while learning: What I learned when I asked my students to make video essays — from chronicle.com by Janine Utell, Professor of English at Widener University
Excerpt:
This is not exactly a post about how to teach the video essay (or the audiovisual essay, or the essay video, or the scholarly video). At the end I share some resources for those interested in teaching the form: the different ways we might define the form, some of the theoretical/conceptual ideas undergirding the form, how it allows us to make different kinds of arguments, and some elements of design, assignment and otherwise.
What I’m interested in here is reflecting on what this particular teaching moment has taught me. It’s a moment still in progress/process. These reflections might pertain to any teaching moment where you’re trying something new, where you’re learning as the students are learning, where everyone in the room is slightly uncomfortable (in a good, stretching kind of way), where failure is possible but totally okay, and where you’re able to bring in a new interest of your own and share it with the students.
…
Take two: I tried this again in an upper-level narrative film course, and the suggestions made by students in the previous semester paid off. With the additional guidance, students felt comfortable enough being challenged with the task of making the video; a number of them shared that they liked having the opportunity to learn a new skill, and that it was stimulating to have to think about new ways of making choices around what they wanted to say. Every step of realizing their storyboard and outline required some problem-solving, and they were able to articulate the work of critical thinking in surprising ways (I think they themselves were a little surprised, too).
…
Some resources on the video essay/scholarly video:
- “How to Make Video Essays: Resources for Teachers and Students,” by Catherine Grant, The Audiovisual Essay
- “Teaching the Scholarly Video,” by Christian Keathley, Frames Cinema Journal
- “On the Origin of the Video Essay,” by John Bresland, Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and Arts
- “Resources: [in]Transition,” A MediaCommons/Cinema Journal Project
From DSC:
A couple of comments that I wanted to make here include:
- I greatly appreciate Janine’s humility, her wonderful spirit of experimentation, and her willingness to learn something right along with her students. She expressed to her students that she had never done this before and that they all were learning together. She asked them for feedback along the way and incorporated that feedback in subsequent attempts at using this exercise. Students and faculty members need to realize/acknowledge/accept that few people know it all these days — experts are a dying breed in many fields, as the pace of change renders it thus.
.
- Helping students along with their new media literacy skills is critical these days. Janine did a great job in this regard! Unfortunately, she is in an enormous minority. I run a Digital Studio on our campus, and so often I enter the room with dismay…a bit of sorrow creeps back into me again, as too many times our students are not learning some of the skills that will serve them so well once they graduate (not to mention how much they would benefit from being able to craft multimedia-based messages and put such messages online in their studies while in college). Such skills will serve students well in whatever future vocation they go into. Knowing some of the tools of the trade, working with digital audio and video, storyboarding, working with graphics, typography, and more — are excellent skills and knowledge to have in order to powerfully communicate one’s message.
On 04/21/2016,
in animation, creativity, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, media/film, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
I’m convinced this virtual reality short is the future of animation — from techinsider.io by Kirsten Acuna
Excerpt:
If there’s one takeaway I’ve gathered from the Tribeca Film Festival, it’s that people are doing some incredible things with VR.
The New York City festival has 18 virtual experiences on display for attendees to check out this year in a Virtual Arcade, and one I kept hearing a lot of chatter about was “Allumette,” a nearly 20-minute animated short from startup Penrose Studios. I heard several people declare it the best VR short of the festival by far.
I agree. It’s excellent.
I checked out “Allumette” (French for Matchstick), which first debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Wednesday evening and was blown away by the experience.
It’s that level of immersion — where you feel like a participant in the actual story — that makes me excited to see what else filmmakers and artists will continue to do in this medium.
On 04/21/2016,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adult learning, art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, convergence, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, economics, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, future, future of higher education, global, heutagogy, higher education, history, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, love of learning, marketplaces, mathematics, media/film, microlearning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, new business models, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, psychology, reinvent, religion, science, second screen apps, social learning / networks, staying relevant, strategy, streams of content, student-related, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telepresence, television, training / L&D, trends, TVs, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, workplace, youth,
by Daniel Christian
- An idea/question from DSC:
Looking at the article below, I wonder…“Why can’t the ‘One Day University‘ come directly into your living room — 24×7?”
![The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV](http://danielschristian.com/learning-ecosystems/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Living-Class-Room-Daniel-S-Christian-July-2012.jpg)
This is why I’m so excited about the “The Living [Class] Room” vision. Because it is through that vision that people of all ages — and from all over the world — will be able to constantly learn, grow, and reinvent themselves (if need be) throughout their lifetimes. They’ll be able to access and share content, communicate and discuss/debate with one another, form communities of practice, go through digital learning playlists (like Lynda.com’s Learning Paths) and more. All from devices that represent the convergence of the television, the telephone, and the computer (and likely converging with the types of devices that are only now coming into view, such as Microsoft’s Hololens).
You won’t just be limited to going back to college for a day — you’ll be able to do that 24×7 for as many days of the year as you want to.
Then when some sophisticated technologies are integrated into this type of platform — such as artificial intelligence, cloud-based learner profiles, algorithms, and the ability to setup exchanges for learning materials — we’ll get some things that will blow our minds in the not too distant future! Heutagogy on steroids!
Want to go back to college? You can, for a day. — from washingtonpost.com by Valerie Strauss
Excerpt:
Have you ever thought about how nice it would be if you could go back to college, just for the sake of learning something new, in a field you don’t know much about, with no tests, homework or studying to worry about? And you won’t need to take the SAT or the ACT to be accepted? You can, at least for a day, with something called One Day University, the brainchild of a man named Steve Schragis, who about a decade ago brought his daughter to Bard College as a freshman and thought that he wanted to stay.
One Day University now financially partners with dozens of newspapers — including The Washington Post — and a few other organizations to bring lectures to people around the country. The vast majority of the attendees are over the age 50 and interested in continuing education, and One Day University offers them only those professors identified by college students as fascinating. As Schragis says, it doesn’t matter if you are famous; you have to be a great teacher. For example, Schragis says that since Bill Gates has never shown to be one, he can’t teach at One Day University.
…
We bring together these professors, usually four at at a time, to cities across the country to create “The Perfect Day of College.” Of course we leave out the homework, exams, and studying! Best if there’s real variety, both male and female profs, four different schools, four different subjects, four different styles, etc. There’s no one single way to be a great professor. We like to show multiple ways to our students.
Most popular classes are history, psychology, music, politics, and film. Least favorite are math and science.
See also:
Addendum:
- LinkedIn makes all Lynda.com courses available on Apple TV — from venturebeat.com
We know the shelf-life of skills are getting shorter and shorter. So whether it’s to brush up on new skills or it’s to stay on top of evolving ones, Lynda.com can help you stay ahead of the latest technologies.
On 04/20/2016,
in 21st century, 3D, Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), Google, health, history, innovation, K-12 related, media/film, Microsoft, Mixed Reality (MR), research, television, trends, vendors, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, visualizing information, web-based collaboration, writing,
by Daniel Christian
One step closer to reality: introducing 360-degree live streaming and spatial audio on YouTube — from youtube.googleblog.com
Excerpt:
We first launched support for 360-degree videos back in March 2015. From musicians to athletes to brands, creators have done some incredible things with this technology. Now, they’ll be able to do even more to bring fans directly into their world, with 360-degree live streaming. And after years of live streaming Coachella for fans around the world who can’t attend the festival, this year we’re bringing you the festival like never before by live streaming select artist performances in 360 degrees this weekend. Starting today, we’re also launching spatial audio for on-demand YouTube videos. Just as watching a concert in 360 degrees can give you an unmatched immersive experience, spatial audio allows you to listen along as you do in real life, where depth, distance and intensity all play a role. Try out this playlist on your Android device.
Could HoloLens’ augmented reality change how we study the human body? — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith
Case Western Reserve University is helping to revolutionize medical-science studies with a new technology from Microsoft.
Excerpt:
CWRU was among the first in higher education to begin working with HoloLens, back in 2014. They’ve since discovered new ways the tech could help transform education. One of their current focuses is changing how students experience medical-science courses.
“This is a curriculum that hasn’t drastically changed in more than 100 years, because there simply hasn’t been another way,” says Mark Griswold, the faculty director for HoloLens at CWRU. “The mixed-reality of the HoloLens has the potential to revolutionize this education by bringing 3D content into the real world.”
Virtual reality invites a new era of learning to higher education — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith
A team of technology experts at the University of Maryland see an endless horizon of opportunities in education through virtual reality applications.
Excerpt:
“Imagine a physics class where you’re able to show how friction works. Imagine being able to experience gravity on Mars — by moving around virtually,” he says. “VR can make science, technology and art come alive.”
VR will soon become an open canvas for educators to create learning experiences. Eventually, fitting VR into the curriculum will be limited only by an instructor’s imagination and budget, says Christopher Sessums, the program director of research and evaluation at Johns Hopkins School of Education.
NYU Holodeck to be model for year 2041 cyberlearning — from kurzweilai.net
The role of VR and AI in future integrated living, learning, and research environments
Excerpt:
In an open-access paper in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Education, Winslow Burleson, PhD, MSE, associate professor, New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, suggests that “advanced cyberlearning environments that involve VR and AI innovations are needed to solve society’s “wicked challenges*” — entrenched and seemingly intractable societal problems.
Burleson and and co-author Armanda Lewis imagine such technology in a year 2041 Holodeck, which Burleson’s NYU-X Lab is currently developing in prototype form, in collaboration with colleagues at NYU Courant, Tandon, Steinhardt, and Tisch.
“The “Holodeck” will support a broad range of transdisciplinary collaborations, integrated education, research, and innovation by providing a networked software/hardware infrastructure that can synthesize visual, audio, physical, social, and societal components,” said Burleson.
It’s intended as a model for the future of cyberlearning experience, integrating visual, audio, and physical (haptics, objects, real-time fabrication) components, with shared computation, integrated distributed data, immersive visualization, and social interaction to make possible large-scale synthesis of learning, research, and innovation.
Virtual tour honored Shakespeare’s legacy — from thejournal.com by Richard Chang
Excerpt:
…British television presenter Diane-Louise Jordan will guide students on a tour through Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, including his childhood home and school; and the bard’s view of London, including the famous Globe Theatre where his plays were performed. (Shakespeare actually died April 23, which this year falls on a Saturday.)
Also see:
You can register to see the recording on that page as well.
The current selection of Mixed Reality and Virtual Reality related hardware
As of April 2016; from https://www.wired.com/2016/04/magic-leap-vr/
Film Students To Compete in Virtual Reality Production Contest — from campustechnology.com by Michael Hart
One of the first ever competitions involving virtual reality production will challenge college film students to create their own 360-degree films.
Excerpt:
360fly, which produces single-lens cameras to capture 360-degree video, will sponsor the 360 VR (virtual reality) Film Contest for film students at New York University and the Rhode Island School of Design along with Drury Design. The students will use 360fly HD cameras, which they were briefed on during an April 9 presentation on the NYU campus.
HBO and Discovery are partnering with a startup to develop holograms — from theverge.com by Ananya Bhattacharya
Going beyond the TV screen
Excerpt:
HBO and Discovery Communications announced today that they are partnering with 3D-graphics startup OTOY — both companies taking equity stakes. The partnership marks an effort by the two networks to evolve entertainment experiences beyond two dimensional television. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and even holograms were all highlighted as areas OTOY would help its traditional media partners explore.
TV knows it must push toward virtual and augmented reality
Also see the various items re: Augmented & Virtual Reality from:
Rutgers Office of Instructional & Research Technology
Excerpts:
- Virtual Reality vs Augmented Reality: Which is the future?
- When Virtual Reality Meets Education
- How to Transform Your Classroom With Augmented Reality
- Surfing the Future Pedagogies: Augmented Learning
Mark Zuckerberg says augmented reality glasses are ‘what we’re trying to get to’ — from theverge.com
Facebook plans to build augmented reality glasses — from mashable.com
Apple patents new augmented reality technology — from mobilesyrup.com by Rose Behar
Excerpt:
Apple was granted a patent today for a type of live interactive augmented reality (AR) video to be used in future iOS devices, indicating the company may soon enter the AR/VR game. The patent does not appear to be directly related to an AR/VR headset, but is certainly a step in that direction.
The patent describes Apple’s planned augmented reality technology as layered, live AR video that users can interact with via touchscreen. In the live video, objects can be identified and an information layer can be generated for them.
“In some implementations,” the patent text notes, “the information layer can include annotations made by a user through the touch sensitive surface.”
AltspaceVR wants to make VR chat sessions part of everyday life — from by Adi Robertson
/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6296959/AltspaceVR_make_a_VR_call.0.png)
Virtual & Augmented Reality: Blooloop’s Guide to VR and AR — from blooloop.com
Visitor attractions are racing to embrace Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies. But what are the potential opportunities and possible pitfalls of VR and AR?
On 04/12/2016,
in A/V -- audio/visual, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, elearning, higher education, K-12 related, media/film, multimedia, productivity / tips and tricks, tools, training / L&D, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
My green screen setup –from learninginhand.com by Tony Vincent
Excerpt:
I’m often asked about the set up I use to film my videos. Here’s a 360 spherical photo that I’ve annotated. Feel free to scroll and zoom around to check out my setup.
On 03/24/2016,
in art, business, corporate / business world, creativity, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interactivity, media/film, usability, user experience (UX), vendors, virtual field trips, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
The promise of virtual reality in higher education — from er.educause.edu by Bryan Sinclair and Glenn Gunhouse
Excerpt:
Just as hypertext, digital publishing, and other digital media have transformed the ways in which we engage with documents and collections, the technologies surrounding virtual reality (VR) may ultimately transform the ways in which we teach, learn, engage with each other, and experience the world writ large. In a not-too-distant future, as VR technologies advance at a steady pace and become embedded in our lives, we may one day look back with a sense of amazement at students once bound to a physical classroom, campus setting, locale, or even place in time.
VR may be seen as the next logical extension of cyberspace.
Five ways virtual reality is reshaping industries — from by Daniel Terdiman
Gaming is only the beginning.
Excerpt:
It’s rare that a consumer technology is a giant leap forward rather than the next iterative step. Virtual reality represents just that kind of leap. With the spring launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, as well as the imminent release of Sony’s PlayStation VR, high-end virtual reality has arrived. Add to that lower-end headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR, Google’s Cardboard, and many other players and it’s clear that 2016 is the year the technology goes mainstream. While none of the hardware makers are promising to sell millions of units this year, estimates peg the VR market—hardware and content—at $30 billion by 2020. It’s not just gaming and entertainment that are poised for transformation. Here are some of the most interesting—and potentially lucrative—ways VR is being deployed.
Why you should try that crazy virtual reality headset — from wsj.com by Joanna Stern
VR isn’t just for gamers—take a journey through the virtual experiences that will make the real world better
Excerpt:
You’re going to own a virtual reality headset one day.
Yes, you’re going to put those funny-looking goggles on your face and your eyes won’t be rolling at me like they are right now.
I’ve been there. My interest in gaming stops at Monopoly. The promise of virtual reality meant little more to me than a funny photo opp.
But the buzz! It’s the future, they say! So I went on a journey to find virtual reality’s practical uses.
You can take a class of fifth-graders across the world without needing permission slips. You can inspect the countertops in that dream house you’ve been eyeing. You can feel your heart pound as you practice your big speech in front of a room of people who aren’t actually there.
John Carmack calls ‘Minecraft’ for Gear VR ‘the best thing’ on Oculus — from uploadvr.com by Ian Tingen
Excerpt:
After a hands-on with Minecraft VR – an in-development title for the Samsung Gear VR – Oculus CTO John Carmack gave a speech where he proclaimed Minecraft VR to be, “the best thing to come out on Oculus…Not just for the Gear VR but everything”.
Virtual reality headsets are roaring in 2016 : What’s your pick? — from unimersiv.com by Sanjay Bojan
Excerpt:
In 2016, although still in their infant stages, VR headsets are advancing thick and fast. On that note, here is a selection of the best VR headsets you could buy at the moment.
How virtual reality will democratize learning — from readwrite.com by Jacob Tempchin
Excerpt:
Still, I am confident that virtual reality will revolutionize how we learn, and the reason is simple. Virtual reality is not just a technology, it’s a medium. And I’ve seen how powerful that medium can be.
Jaunt’s ‘cinematic VR’ tech will take you around the world — from engadget.com by Mariella Moon
First stop: Machu Picchu.
Addendum on 3/25/16:
- Step Inside a Salvador Dali Painting in Virtual Reality — from vrscout.com by Jonathan Nafarrete
. - Academia Tackles Storytelling in Virtual Reality — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith
The University of Southern California’s School for Cinematic Arts is studying how virtual reality can be used to tell stories in the next generation of movies.
. - Virtual Reality Headsets are Roaring in 2016 : What’s your Pick? — from unimersiv.com by Sanjay Bojan
On 03/17/2016,
in art, digital learning, digital storytelling, drama/theater, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, Europe, innovation, media/film, society, story, storytelling, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
The world’s first virtual reality cinema has opened in Amsterdam — from springwise.com
The VR Cinema gives movie-goers an immersive experience via Samsung Gear VR, headphones, and 360 degree chairs.
Excerpt:
At the beginning of this month, the world’s first VR Cinema opened in Amsterdam.
The idea originated as a pop-up cinema touring cities in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. Unlike a traditional cinema, the theatre uses Samsung Gear VR, combined with a Samsung Galaxy S6 and a 360 degree chair to allow people to look around freely through the film. This is combined with immersive headphones to give a full VR experience to those watching the films.
Now showing:
- In Your Face (&samhoud media, 2016)
Barely containing our excitement, we present Europe’s first feature film in virtual reality in world’s first VR cinema! In Your Face is a production of director Jip Samhoud and was written by renowned Dutch author Ronald Giphart. The film explores the moral dilemma that the ongoing refugee crisis brings along: to what extent would you really take action and help? This is the question that award-winning actors Hadewych Minis and Tibor Lukács encounter when a TV show drops off a Syrian refugee unannounced. What would you do?
Addendum on 3/17/16:
- Sky Announces Virtual Reality Production Studio — from vrguru.com by Constantin Sumanariu
Excerpt:
European pay TV giant Sky has launched a Virtual Reality production unit, Sky VR Studio, as it steps up its commitment to VR programming. The first pieces of fully-immersive VR content to be produced by the unit will be released on Friday — two films shot during Formula One testing in Barcelona, which will put viewers in the pit lane, the team garages and out onto the track.
On 01/16/2016,
in 21st century, active learning, Apple, blended learning, change, collaboration, creativity, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, education, education reform, education technology, elearning, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, hybrid learning, internet, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning theories, media/film, Microsoft, multimedia, online learning, organizational change, parents/guardians, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, research, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technology (general), the downsides of how people use tech, tools, trends, United States, web-based collaboration, youth,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
If you can clear up just short of an hour of your time, this piece from PBS entitled, “School Sleuth: The Case of the Wired Classroom” is very well done and worth your time. It’s creative and objective; it offers us some solid research, some stories, and some examples of the positives and negatives of technology in the classroom. It weaves different modes of learning into the discussion — including blended learning, online learning, personalized learning and more. Though it aired back in October of 2015, I just found out about it.
Check it out if you can!
Also see:
- Schools push personalized learning to new heights — from edweek.org
Excerpt:
For most schools, reaching the next level of digitally driven, personalized learning is far from reality. Still, some schools are extending their digital reach in significant and sometimes groundbreaking ways, as the stories in this special report illustrate. They are making moves to integrate a variety of technologies to track how students learn and to use the resulting data to expand the use of hands-on, project-based learning. The goal is to build never-ending feedback loops that ultimately inform the development of curriculum and assessment. Plus, big data and analytics are gradually making their marks in K-12 education. This special report outlines the progress schools are making to use digital tools to personalize learning, but also raises the question: Are they reaching far enough?
. - A Pedagogical Model for the use of iPads for Learning — from higheru.org
On 01/11/2016,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, digital audio, digital video, emerging technologies, future, media/film, music, trends, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables,
by Daniel Christian
Predictions on the future of digital media — from techcrunch.com by Peter Csathy
Excerpt:
It’s pundit time — this time, digital media style. Last year I predicted challenges to YouTube’s dominance in online video, a beginning of cord cutting and the unbundling of video services, and an explosion in short form video content. This year the media landscape will continue to shift as VR grows up and consolidation takes over.
On 12/15/2015,
in attention, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, immersion, innovation, interactivity, internet, languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, media/film, nursing, user experience (UX), Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning,
by Daniel Christian
MIT’s amazing new app lets you program any object — from fastcodesign.com
The Reality Editor is a Minority Report style AR app that makes programming your smart home as easy as connecting the dots.
Take me away! Elderly home residents given virtual reality goggles to help them feel like they are travelling the world — from dailymail.co.uk by Belinda Cleary
- Residents at a Perth nursing home are trialing virtual reality goggles
- The technology will allow them to see the world without leaving their seats
- It’s hoped the trial will bring back lost memories in dementia patients
NASA partners with Microsoft to provide holographic computing in space — from seriouswonder.com by B.J. Murphy
Excerpt:
Partnering with multinational technology company Microsoft, NASA has since been engaging with their astronauts to use HoloLens headsets to help them make complex computations and provide them with virtual aid as they work inside the ISS. Labeled Project Sidekick, this form of space-based holographic computing will help empower astronauts by allowing them to achieve greater autonomy in their work as they explore and connect back home at NASA headquarters.
With the Cygnus delivery of the HoloLens headsets, expect holographic computing to become a crucial facet of future space exploration – one more item to check off of our list on, “How to become more like Star Trek.”
How to try virtual reality today without breaking the bank — from bgr.com by Jacob Siegal
Excerpt:
2016 might be the year that virtual reality finally takes hold in the tech world. Sony, Microsoft and Oculus VR are all planning to launch their own hardware before the end of next year, with tons of developers already hard at work on games, apps and other software to ensure that VR hits the ground running.
But if you don’t want to wait until next year to see what VR has to offer, you can take a sneak peek at the innovations today without putting a strain on your wallet.
Breaking Down Billion-Dollar AR/VR Investment In The Last 12 Months — from techcrunch.com by Tim Merel
Which VR Headset Holds the Pole Position? — from statista.com by Felix Richter
The show goes on in Paris – through augmented-reality glasses — from theguardian.com by Barbara Casassus
If your French doesn’t go beyond bonjour, you can still enjoy a night at a Parisian theatre thanks to new glasses that provide simultaneous translations
Excerpt:
It’s Saturday night at Le Comédia theatre in central Paris and I’m staring at the stage through square plastic glasses. While the actors in the musical Mistinguett, Reine des Années Folles sing boisterously in French, the words appear simultaneously in English on a small screen in the right-hand lens. Though it’s not the same as watching the show unfettered, I find it surprisingly easy to follow the translated dialogue along with the action.
.
Also see Immersive VREducation’s:
ER VR Trailer – Virtual Reality Medical Training Simulation
Virtual-reality lab explores new kinds of immersive learning — from chronicle.com by Ellen Wexler
Excerpt:
That can have implications in distance learning, he said. For students attending class via webcam or video lecture, the video is two-dimensional, and the audio doesn’t sound as it would if they were in a real classroom. Mr. Duraiswami thinks the virtual-reality technology could help the experience feel more immersive. “If all you’re seeing is a bunch of things in front of you, you’re not as immersed,” Mr. Duraiswami said. “You want the instructor to feel as if they’re right in front of you.”
10 killer media applications enabled by ‘virtual reality’ headsets — from eweek.com by Mike Elgan
Virtual reality headsets can do much more than ‘virtual reality,’ a technical term that is badly defined in most news reports. Here are 10 rapidly developing applications.
Deakin University to launch virtual and augmented reality hub — from cio.com.au by Rebecca Merrett
Industry partners, as well and students and staff, can get their hands on latest virtual/augmented reality tech
Excerpt:
Deakin University will launch an Interactive Digital Centre Hub in Melbourne CBD in the first half of 2016, which will allow industry partners to access the latest virtual and augmented reality technology. Partnering with EON Reality, more than US$10 million has been poured into the facility and will be the first of dedicated centre to virtual and augmented reality in the Asian region. Having a strong group of researchers in virtual reality, Deakin University decided to open a hub to facilitate working with industry and host education programs and courses in this field.
Virtual reality could finally get people to care about climate change — from techinsider.io by Chris Weller
Excerpt:
As the founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson firmly believes that statistics don’t make people care about issues.
Experiences do.
That’s why Bailenson has spent the last few years developing an underwater virtual reality (VR) experience that shows people firsthand how climate change impacts ocean health.
All the data in the world won’t make a problem seem real unless people care about it on an emotional level, he says. According to Bailenson, virtual reality solves that problem without creating new ones.
Virtual reality in 2016: The 10 biggest trends to watch — from techrepublic.com by Erin Carson
2016 promises to be a watershed year for virtual reality as a commercial product. Here’s what to expect.
Revolutionary tech for the real world — from createtomorrow.co.uk
Excerpt (emphasis DSC):
AR is also highly effective for education and training says Ronald Azuma who leads the AR team at Intel Labs. Why? “Because it makes instructions easier to understand by displaying them directly over the real-world objects that require manipulation, thus removing the cognitive load and ambiguity in spatially transforming directions from traditional media like manuals, text, images and videos into the situation at hand.”
Samsung launches Gear VR virtual reality headset in Australia, promises 360-degree web browsing — from news.com.au
AUSTRALIAN phone users will be able to play virtual reality games, watch 360-degree films, and navigate the web using their eyes as Samsung launches its third virtual reality headset.
CES 2016: driverless cars and virtual reality to dominate at world’s biggest technology show — from mirror.co.uk
The world’s biggest technology showcase kicks off in Las Vegas on 6 January 2016. Here’s what we know about what will be happening at the Consumer Electronics Show
Should your institution move into the Augmentarium future? — from ecampusnews.com by Ron Bethke
The University of Maryland, College Park, is leading the way in studying the innovative applications of augmented and virtual reality across a wide range of fields
Excerpt:
The potential applications of virtual and augmented reality in a host of disciplines–including education, science, medicine, the arts, entertainment and industry–are massive, say large institutions like the University of Maryland (UMD), whose Augmentarium serves as a potential instrumental model for innovative research facilities and universities looking to make their impact on the future.
Sundance 2016 dominated by VR, over 30 experiences listed — from vrfocus.com
Excerpt:
This year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah was a surprise hit for virtual reality (VR) technology. It was here that Oculus VR revealed its new film-focused division, Oculus Story Studio, while plenty of other filmmakers and story tellers showcased their own projects using head-mounted displays (HMDs) in the festival’s New Frontier section. That section is set to return for the 2016 edition of the festival from 21st – 31st January, and is this time utterly dominated by VR experiences.
Virtual reality for all, finally — from scientificamerican.com by Larry Greenemeier
Will the new generation of headsets hitting the consumer electronics market deliver enhanced virtual-reality experiences at more affordable prices?
Excerpt:
You can be forgiven for rolling your eyes at the latest round of promises that virtual reality has finally arrived for the masses. Tech companies have been hanging their hats on that one for decades without much success, due to high prices and poorly rendered graphics that have given people headaches—literally.
Despite these missteps, a new generation of virtual-reality tech targeted at consumers has begun to hit the market, most prominently with Samsung’s $100 Gear VR visor released in late November. Both Gear VR and Google Cardboard—which starts at less than $20 and was launched in 2014—rely on a smartphone clipped or slid into their respective visors. The headset’s binocularlike lenses—between the phone and wearer—help deliver a 3-D VR experience. That makes the gadgets a relatively low-risk investment for consumers and enables tech companies to gauge public demand for virtual reality in advance of devices such as ones from Oculus, Sony and HTC slated for next year that feature more sophisticated embedded sensors and displays.
…
Now that VR headsets no longer cost tens of thousands of dollars the door is open for educational and social applications that are true to virtual reality’s roots, allowing people to learn and interact in digital classrooms and playgrounds.
Here’s what virtual reality means for kids stuck in the hospital — from techcrunch.com by Drew Olanoff
Excerpt:
Virtual reality is here to stay and it’s more important than just playing a game or watching a boxing match in a more immersive way. It could, and will, change lives. Imagine this kind of happiness in children’s hospitals everywhere, all of the time. Then think about how doctors can train for surgery virtually. Pretty amazing stuff, eh?
Addendum on 12/20/15:
- The Promise of Virtual Reality is Starting to Look Very Real — from nbcnews.com by Michael Sheetz, Special to CNBC