Knowledge

ENHANCING TEXTURE PERCEPTION IN VIRTUAL REALITY USING 3D-PRINTED HAIR STRUCTURES

In: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI-2019) May 4-9 Glasgow United Kingdom CHI ’19 ISBN 978-1-4503-5970-2/19/05 ACM 2019.

Donald Degraen, André Zenner, Antonio Krüger

Abstrakt

Experiencing materials in virtual reality (VR) is enhanced by combining visual and haptic feedback. While VR easily allows changes to visual appearances, modifying haptic impressions remains challenging. Existing passive haptic techniques require access to a large set of tangible proxies. To reduce the number of physical representations, we look towards fabrication to create more versatile counterparts. In a user study, 3D-printed hairs with length varying in steps of 2.5 mm were used to influence the feeling of roughness and hardness. By overlaying fabricated hair with visual textures, the resolution of the user’s haptic perception increased. As changing haptic sensations are able to elicit perceptual switches, our approach can extend a limited set of textures to a much broader set of material impressions. Our results give insights into the effectiveness of 3D-printed hair for enhancing texture perception in VR.

Projekte

DISTRO – Distributed 3D Object Design

Weitere Links

http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/3290605.3300479,
http://umtl.cs.uni-saarland.de/paper_preprints/degraen-chi2019-enhancing.pdf

Quelle:

https://www.dfki.de/web/forschung/projekte-publikationen/publikationen/publikation/10218/

27. Februar 2019 0 comment

Examples Knowledge Software/Apps

Weltweit erstes Virtual Reality CMS für den Ladenbau bei Jegen im Einsatz

Mit der neuen Software HEGIAS holt sich die Jegen AG ein innovatives Entwicklungs- und Visualisierungs-Tool ins Haus. Die speziell für den Ladenbau ausgelegte Version des weltweit ersten browserbasierten und automatisierten Virtual Reality Content Management Systems für die Bau- und Immobilienbranche revolutioniert die Entwicklung, Visualisierung wie auch die Beratung und birgt auch in der Marktforschung und im Online-Shopping grosses Potential.

Der Bau- und Planungsbranche stehen spannende Zeiten bevor. Wie die meisten Branchen werden auch sie durch die Möglichkeiten der Digitalisierung derzeit komplett umgestaltet. Eines der stärksten Schlagwörter ist dabei die Virtual Reality (VR). Sie ermöglicht in einer neuen Dimension die fast reale Begehung von Projekten und lässt demnach schon eine Beurteilung zu, noch bevor die Pläne kostspielig in die Tat umgesetzt werden.

Beindruckendes Pilotprojekt mit neuem Migros-Ladenformat

Bis vor kurzem war die Produktion einer solchen VR-Anwendung ebenfalls mit hohen Kosten verbunden und nur auf VR spezialisierte Agenturen konnten virtuelle Welten entstehen lassen. Mit HEGIAS ändert sich das im grossen Stil.

So arbeitet Jegen AG als erster Kunde mit der auf den Ladenbau spezialisierten Version von HEGIAS. Das Pilotprojekt mit dem neuen Migros-Ladenformat «Daily» an der Zollstrasse beim HB in Zürich erntet bereits sehr gutes Feedback. Reto Jegen zu dem ersten Demo-Termin mit der Migros: «Die Leute von der Migros-Ladenplanung waren beeindruckt. Sie haben gemäss deren Aussage noch kein System gesehen, das so echt einen Laden in 3D darstellt.»

HEGIAS revolutioniert Planung und Kundenberatung

Das Spezielle an HEGIAS ist nicht nur die Realitätstreue, sondern vor allem auch die Automatisierung, welche die Geschwindigkeit in der Entwicklung erhöht und vor allem auch die Kosten stark senkt. Auch ungeübte VR-Anwender können mit dem Content Management System (CMS) ganz einfach Veränderungen vornehmen wie zum Beispiel das Verändern von Materialien, Farben oder das Umplatzieren, Hinzufügen und Entfernen von Objekten.

Mit der Software von HEGIAS zieht Jegen seine 3D-Modelle aus dem CAD per «drag n’ drop» in einen Browser und kann diese nicht nur virtuell begehen, sondern auch zu jedem Zeitpunkt der Planungsphase in Echtzeit direkt in der virtuellen Welt verändern.

HEGIAS ist zudem multiuserfähig und ermöglicht es Jegen, direkt mit dem Kunden den geplanten Laden gemeinsam virtuell zu begehen, verschiedene Varianten zu zeigen und in Echtzeit Änderungen zu machen. Dazu müssen diese in der Realität nicht im gleichen Raum/Ort sein. Nebst der so viel effizienteren Besprechung von Ladenbaukonzepten und -Plänen mit dem Kunden, können auch Missverständnisse in der Planung ausgeschlossen werden.

Designvalidierung in der virtuellen Welt

Heute werden bei Jegen vor grösseren Roll-outs noch regelmässig diverse Möbel-Prototypen bis hin zu ganzen Mustershops gebaut, um das Design zu prüfen und mit allen Entscheidern zu besichtigen. Mit VR wird dieser Aufwand reduziert. Es ist um einiges effizienter, einen virtuellen Laden – insbesondere auch in Varianten – zu «bauen». Bei jegentotal ist man sich sicher: «Die Kosten für eine Bemusterung werden dank VR signifikant sinken und gleichzeitig wird die Sicherheit gesteigert, dass der Kunde aus den aufgezeigten Varianten, das für ihn effektiv beste Design ausgewählt hat.»

Ausblick: Marktforschung und die Revolution im Online-Handel

Da sich die Anwender fast wie in echt, samt Einkaufswagen oder zum Beispiel auch mit einem Rollstuhl oder Kinderwagen durch den virtuellen Laden bewegen können, werden so auch aufschlussreiche Testkäufe möglich. Mittels Head- und Eye-Tracking lässt sich vereinfacht verfolgen, was die Testkonsumenten anschauen, welche Wege sie durch den Laden wählen und was sie in ihren virtuellen Einkaufskorb packen. Und dies auch, wenn das Geschäft eine Überarbeitung des Layouts bei bereits laufendem Betrieb benötigt.

Ebenfalls wird die Technologie dem stationären Handel die Möglichkeit bieten, ihr digitales und analoges Geschäft 1:1 miteinander zu verbinden. Denn die Online-und Offline-Welt sollten vom Handel definitiv nicht getrennt voneinander gedacht werden. In Zukunft wird die Multiuser-Funktion umso wichtiger, je mehr Personen sich virtuell von einem Verkäufer beraten lassen möchten.

Quelle: MM

Weltweit erstes Virtual Reality CMS für den Ladenbau bei Jegen im Einsatz

26. Februar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

These UK Schools Give You A Degree In AR/VR

Immersive technology is blowing up everywhere, and that includes higher education. As Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Technology (VR) transform the way we shop, play games and even construct military strategies, universities are fielding increased demand from employers and aspiring students to produce graduates with the skillsets to work in this field.

In the UK, the result of this is a growing number of AR/VR courses being offered at the pre-university, undergraduate- and postgraduate-level. From software development to digital art to imaging in engineering, this emerging technology is popping up in a wide range of disciplines.

In the UK, these are the universities offering qualifications in this pioneering industry:

Pre-university

We're here at the Skills Show again today showcasing our Virtual Reality equipment! Come & see us on our open day on Saturday 26th November, 10am-2pm and you can have a go too!

Gepostet von Solihull College & University Centre am Freitag, 18. November 2016

This two-year course aims to prepare students for higher education, a degree apprenticeship, a level 4 apprenticeship or employment in this field. Year one is focused on the learning of the fundamentals of IT, AR/VR, the Internet of Everything, project management, product development, mobile technology and computer systems. Year two follows with classes on topics such as cybersecurity, cognitive computing, cloud technology, application design, games design and prototyping, etc.

Undergraduate

1. BA (Hons) Virtual and Augmented Reality, Solent University

If you have plans to become a designer in the AR/VR industries, this could be the perfect bachelor’s degree for you. Students will learn the “skills required to create VR/AR simulations, games, visualisations and apps”, according to the university’s website. This includes creating 2D and 3D digital artwork, as well as computer animation and sound for VR/AR. There will be collaboration with the school’s BSc Virtual and Augmented Reality (Software Development) programme as it is fundamental for students to see the production ‘pipeline’ in VR/AR development.

2. BSc Virtual and Augmented Reality, University of Portsmouth

Gregorio from Milan Bicocca meets Lemptegy Volcano in virtual reality. 3DTeLC in University of Portsmouth.

Gepostet von Benjamin Vanwykdevries am Dienstag, 24. Juli 2018

Postgraduate

1. MSc Immersive Technology MSc, Royal Holloway, University of London (UoL)

For UoL’s new Master’s programme, the focus is on sensory presentation engineering, as well as the hardware and software needs of immersive technology. Students will learn about “human perception and its practical delivery via virtual reality”, according to UoL’s website. It’s a postgraduate qualification catered to those seeking a career in digital engineering, research or a PhD within the discipline. With Royal Holloway’s close proximity to the South East regional hub of electronics businesses, students can also benefit from links to some of the top UK-based electronics companies.

2. MA Virtual Reality, University of the Arts London

This is the Master’s course for those seeking to “explore and develop the application of VR technologies across filmmaking, visual effects (VFX), animation, games and immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences”. During the one year and three-month long course, students will receive technical resources and specialist guidance needed to test and develop virtual experiences across a range of media platforms, including 3D computer animation, 360-degree filmmaking, games and interactive AR applications.

3. DEng Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisation, University College London (UCL)

This engineering doctorate is run by the UCL Centre in Virtual Environments, Interaction and Visualisation (VEIV). VEIV is a world leader in the science and engineering of computational capture, rendering and simulation in a diverse range of applications. This DEng serves as an alternative to the traditional PhD for students who want a career in industry. For this three-year programme, candidates will undertake a PhD-level research project under the supervision of two academics and complete five Milestones.

Quelle:

Foto
A woman uses a headset to take a 360 degree virtual tour of St Stephen’s Hall at the Palace of Westminster inside the Houses of Parliament. Source: AFP/Ben Stansall

https://vrroom.buzz/vr-news/trends/these-uk-schools-give-you-degree-arvr

26. Februar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Riesiges 3D-Labor in Magdeburg: Für Häusle- und Fabrikbauer

In Magdeburg steht das größte 3D-Mixed-Reality-Labor Europas.

„Elbedome“ nennt es sich und gehört dem Fraunhofer-Institut für Fabrikbetrieb und -automatisierung. Mit einer speziellen Brille versehen, kann man hier in eine riesige, virtuelle Realität eintauchen. Zielgruppe sind zum Beispiel, Forscher, Architekten, Unternehmer. Sie können auf den 400 Quadratmetern etwa im virtuellen Modell eines Haus oder einer ganzen Fabrikanlage herumspazieren, bevor diese überhaupt gebaut sind. Oder auch eine dreidimensionale Tauchfahrt durch die Blutgefäße des menschlichen Körpers ist möglich. Als sogenanntes „Mixed-Reality-Labor“ bietet die Einrichtung einen Mix aus real und virtuell. Das Labor wurde bereits 2006 errichtet, vergangenes Jahr wurde es dann erneuert.

Quelle:

https://de.euronews.com/2019/02/20/riesiges-3d-labor-in-magdeburg-fur-hausle-und-fabrikbauer

25. Februar 2019 0 comment

Hardware Knowledge Software/Apps

Accenture, Qualcomm, and Kellogg team up on eye-tracking mobile VR for retailers

Accenture, Qualcomm, and Kellogg have launched a pilot test that uses eye-tracking technology in a virtual reality headset to determine the best way to stock shelves for retailers.

The companies believe VR has a chance to transform retail merchandising by enabling companies to do market research faster, more affordably, and on a larger scale.

Raffaella Camera, a leader in Accenture’s Extended Reality group, said in an interview with VentureBeat that the VR solution includes a Qualcomm chipset and technology from Tobii, which makes eye-tracking solutions. With such VR headsets, retailers can track where a headset wearer looks when walking down virtual aisles. Camera said that puts to the test theories such as whether people look at the top of a shelf for new products when they are shopping.

Camera said the demo shows the business value of VR, as it has resulted in an 18 percent increase in brand sales during testing with Kellogg’s products.

The Accenture Extended Reality (XR) practice developed the VR merchandising solution utilizing a Qualcomm VR reference design headset, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile VR Platform. The result uses embedded eye-tracking, along with mixed reality software from InContext Solutions and eye-tracking data analytics capabilities from Cognitive3D.

This immerses consumers in a full-scale, simulated store, enabling them to move through the space, shop, pick up products, and place them in carts, and it enables businesses to observe what consumers are looking at, for how long, and why. The mobile solution is designed to allow companies to extend their reach to more geographically dispersed participants and perform market research more effectively.

The solution was tested in collaboration with Kellogg for the launch of its new Pop Tarts Bites product. The mobile VR eye-tracking technology provided far deeper behavioral data than standard testing, which typically relies on online surveys and in-home user tests, Camera said.

“We are packaging up an entire offering and are now talking to a number of companies about the results,” Camera said. “We are concentrating on solutions based on XR to [enable] solutions for different parts of the value chain for different parts of this industry. That is our goal for this year.”

Jenny McDaniels, senior manager of category strategy at Kellogg, said in a statement: “When trying to best assess a future product’s shelf placement, this new methodology provided optimal guidance from both a product and category perspective. This approach provided multiple data outputs, which in turn created a holistic solution that would drive success for both the category and product.”

In fact, this new data led to insights that directly contradicted assumptions reached by traditional methods. Rather than placing Pop Tarts Bites on higher shelves, which conventional testing indicated was where consumers expect to find new products, the VR solution demonstrated that optimal placement for the new product was on lower shelves. This is what led to the aforementioned increase in brand sales of 18 percent during testing.

“XR provides transformative value to the enterprise,” said Patrick Costello, senior director of business development at Qualcomm Technologies, in an interview.

This pilot represents an important step in transforming retail merchandising. Brands spend considerable time, money, and manual effort determining optimal product placement and assortment on store shelves, as well as arriving at a pricing strategy. However, these efforts tend to be limited by the depth and quality of available data.

The new approach focuses on three key areas:

Expanding testing reach to diverse locations. Companies can invite geographically dispersed consumers to use the mobile VR headsets for product testing in their homes, at brick-and-mortar stores, during product road shows, or at any large consumer gatherings.
Improving experience in branded environments. Shoppers can walk through realistic and branded virtual store models, look at shelves at their discretion, pick up and examine products, and place selections directly into their carts.
Increasing the dataset for analytics. During the shopping process, companies can gather data using eye-tracking technology that is built into the VR headset in a manner that does not interrupt the shopping experience. The resulting analytics provide detailed insights into actual consumer behavior, such as which products attract their attention, where they look first or gaze longest, and what helps to trigger buying decisions.

The VR merchandising solution will be on display at MWC 2019 Barcelona from February 25 to 28 in the Accenture booth.

Quelle:

Image Credit: Accenture

Above: Accenture’s plan for virtual retail analysis.

Accenture, Qualcomm, and Kellogg team up on eye-tracking mobile VR for retailers

25. Februar 2019 0 comment

Hardware Knowledge

Hololens 2 – der Arbeitsplatz 4.0 rückt ein wenig näher

Steuerung des eigenen Arbeitsplatzes über Augen, Stimme und Hände ist keine Fiktion mehr. Gestern Abend hat Microsoft die Hololens 2 vorgestellt. Kern der Verbesserungen sind neben vielen technischen Verbesserungen und Erweiterungen auch die Weiterentwicklung der Softwaredienste rund um Azure. Hier z.B. Dynamics 365 Guides zu nennen, hier können Arbeitsprozesse und Schrittabfolgen einfach erstellt und interaktiv visualisiert werden. Kontextsensitive Hilfe und Performance Support lässt grüssen. Auch die Integration in die Cloud über Azure ist zentraler Bestandteil für das live Abbilden und Rendering von 3D-Objekten.

Für mich waren die Funktionen rund um das Thema Collaboration mit anderen Nutzen im virtuellen Raum sehr spannend. Hier werden Hologramme der anderen Personen erzeugt und visualisiert. Auch wird über Dynamics 365 Remote Assist das ganze Thema Wartung/Support in der Industrie in die Standardsoftware der Hololens integriert. Im Lernprozess können hierüber z.B. Experten, Coaches oder Trainer zugeschaltet werden.

Doch kurz zurück zu den Hardwareverbesserungen, die Microsoft Hololens 2 verdoppelt das Sichtfeld, erkennt die Hände und die einzelnen Finger, hat Eye-Tracking, hat eine Laufzeit von ca. 2…3 Stunden und ist leichter und ergonomischer. Insbesondere die Interaktionsmöglichkeiten z.B. das direkte Anfassen von Holographischen Objekten und die neuen Interaktionen z.B. bei holographischen Buttons haben mit sehr gut gefallen. Lerner aktiv einbinden in den Lernprozess und das darstellen interaktiver Elemente sind aus meiner Sicht eines der entscheidenden Faktoren, wenn es um den Erfolg rund um Mixed Reality geht.

Kurzum im Lernen wird sich über Microsoft Hololens 2 einiges neu Umsetzen lassen, dass für die Lerner sich in der Bedienung und Anwendung natürlicher anfühlt. Natürlichen müssen sich die Hardware- und Softwareneuerungen erst in der Umsetzung beweisen, aber das was gezeigt wurde sieht sehr vielversprechend für den Lern- und Trainingsbereich aus. Insbesondere in den 70- und 20-Prozent des 70-20-10-Ansatzes sehr ich hier einen Mehrwert.

Der User stand hier im Mittelpunkt der Überlegungen, diesen Eindruck hatte ich in der Präsentation. Microsoft hat natürlich durch die vielen Pilotprojekten mit Unternehmen hier sehr viel Feedback bekommen und aber dieses anscheinend auch in die Produktentwicklung einfliessen lassen. Ich freue mich, auf die neue ja was eigentlich – auf die nächste Stufe der XR- oder MR- oder Spatial-Brille.

Diese kann in allen Branchen ein guter nächster Schritt werden, neue Interaktionsformen, neue Collaborationszenarien und Visualisierungen zu realisieren, aus diesen Gründen auch für das Lernen/Training sehr spannend. Für Unternehmen ist natürlich die Integrationsfähigkeit in die bestehende Infrastruktur ein wichtiges Thema – verstehe ich.

Nun sind alle gespannt auf die neue Hardware in Live zu testen, ich auch. Her damit.

Dies war ein wichtiger und notwendiger Schritt, damit Mixed Reality im B2B-Umfeld sich weiterentwickeln kann und im Lern- und Trainingsumfeld nächste Anwendungsfelder umgesetzt werden können.

Wer die ganze Präsentation von gestern sehen will…

Quelle:

Autor: Torsten Fell

Foto – Microsoft HoloLens 2 (Hardware) von Microsoft – Bildquelle: Microsoft

25. Februar 2019 0 comment

Hardware Knowledge Research

BrainRap could change how we see hip-hop–and neuroscience

Micah Brown is using brain research to understand what makes rappers–and rap fans–tick. And that’s just the beginning of his ambitious neuroscience plans.

Micah Brown, a 30-year-old neuroscience entrepreneur from South London, straps on a headset at the MIT Reality Virtually Hackathon as judges gather around him. It’s been a day of dry, technical presentations, but that’s about to change.

Actually, Brown has donned two headsets. The first is Neurable–a neurosentiment technology that places electrodes on the scalp to track electroencephalography (EEG), the electrical signals inside the brain. The second is a Vive VR headset, which transports Brown to a virtual stage in front of a crowd.

As Brown begins to rap, the Neurable tracks his brainwaves to approximate his levels of stress, attention, calm, and fatigue in a performance environment. The idea is to create a training environment where performers can peek inside their minds and hone their craft. Think of it like advanced sports science, but for rappers.

BrainRap wins the hackathon’s People’s Choice Award. The fact that it’s easy for the public to understand what Brown is trying to accomplish is kind of the point. He wants to dream up new, imaginative use cases of neuroscience technology to break it out of the echo chamber of its insular community.

“if a Sony company wants to buy the idea for $8 million, I’m not going to say no to that,” Brown tells me. “But that’s not really who I’m doing it for.”

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON RAP

Brown may not have invented BrainRap with the goal of turning it into a multimillion-dollar venture, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have commercial promise. In fact, Brown headed to the Grammys this past weekend to pitch some artists (he wouldn’t name which ones) on why they should help him take it to a bigger stage.

For many performers, the most compelling immediate use could be a different version of BrainRap that Brown showed off on January 14, at MIT’s AR in Action, a week before he won the MIT Hackathon.

At that contest, Brown hacked an Emotiv headset to create a beautiful visualization of his mind as he freestyled. The headset read various brainwaves (Theta, Alpha, Gamma, Beta) and translated them into flowing visuals. It’s easy to see a particularly cerebral performer (hello, Talib Kweli) wanting to incorporate it into a show.

The Neurable headset Brown wore for the hackathon, however, allows BrainRap to create its VR performance environment, and is a promising neuroscience product in itself. Last year, Neurable built a virtual reality game, called Awakening, that lets you control relatively simple actions (like selection an object) using your thoughts.

The headset is very good at understanding the intent behind the electrical signals in the brain–which Neurable founder Ramses Alcaide likened to picking up a conversation at a cocktail party with many speakers. With BrainRap, the long-term plan is to integrate Neurable’s capabilities more fully into the performance environment.

The third application for BrainRap–and perhaps the most potentially lucrative use case–is to help artists reach the right audience with their music. This is where the neuroscience gets particularly complicated. Essentially, Brown wants to help independent artists find their ideal audience by matching the content of their lyrics to neurosentiment data, compiled from research he conducted at the University of Kansas last year, as well as publicly available EEG data. The idea is to understand how people respond to different words while listening, and then use that data help an artist figure out the true ideal audience for their music.

“You take a Jay-Z, for instance,” Brown explains. “It’s taken him a number of years to be able to start putting out music about what it’s like to be a grown, successful black person. And, if you notice, he’s being very selective about the type of music and image that he puts out now, because he knows his demo is these upper-class black people who are listening to his music. But he’s only able to do that because he’s able to sit down with the dashboards and sit down with the AMRs and sit down with the team, and interpret what they’re saying as a businessman, as well as an artist. A lot of artists aren’t able to do that.”

Brown sees BrainRap, more than anything, as a way to make neuroscience more accessible to people, and as a “social giveaway to independent artists to uplift them.” But it represents only part of his neuroscience-related activities. His main focus is his new venture, Centiment Capital, which provides pre-seed and seed funding ($50,000-$150,000), as well as software and business model development support to neuroscience startups. BrainRap, in many ways, epitomizes the innovative wave of neuroscience applications he sees coming.A big reason Brown and others are bullish on neuroscience is due to the BRAIN initiative, a public-private research initiative launched by the Obama administration in April 2013, in the model of the human genome project. Over the past six years, the initiative has provided more than $400 million in funding to neuroscience initiatives and startups, with the hopes of finding cures for neurogenerative diseases like ALS.

Curing disease is Brown’s ultimate goal as well. He believes that the underlying technology within BrainRap could “cut the number of people with mental illnesses in half” by tracking which memories and traumas have the most profound impact on the brain, and then using the technology to aid the reconciliation and amendment of that memory.

And perhaps most important, Brown wants to use his neurosentiment technology to battle social bias by understanding how different advertising and social messages impact the way people think. He believes he can spread this message, thanks to the different perspective he brings to the industry, and his combination of scientific and entrepreneurial savvy. “I’m really the only person of color in this field. At least at this level. The CEO of Neurable, Ramses, is probably the other guy. I’m definitely the only black person, though. I was at this neuroscience center in Boston, there’s like 30 people, they’re all the top neuroscientists–it’s just me.”

Across music, advertising, and entertainment, he believes that neurosentiment technology could profoundly impact the type of messages that people put into the world.

“The very powerful people who are at the top aren’t understanding what effect they need to have, because it’s not being delivered to them in a visceral-enough package.”

Joe Lazauskas is the head of content strategy at Contently and co-author of The Storytelling Edge, a book about the science of storytelling and how to use it to transform your business.

Quelle:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90306790/brainrap-could-change-how-we-see-hip-hop-and-neuroscience

23. Februar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

10 THEMES FOR AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY IN 2019

AR/VR Improving

The first pair of AR glasses to gain widespread consumer acceptance will have to be lightweight, trendy and robust. The glasses will need a wide field of view (FOV), full-color display, all-day battery life, low price point, and extensive app ecosystem. The first VR headset to be a mainstream hit will, of course, have to be fully standalone and deliver premium content with amazing and natural performance. While it’s unlikely either of those devices arrive this year, AR and VR will continue to improve over 2019 due to experiments in light-field and waveguide tech, advancements in Computer Vision (CV), and developments in sensory tech like spatial audio, haptics, gesture recognition, eye tracking, and even smell in VR. We’re already seeing slimmer and lighter devices, improved resolution and FOV, and more realistic-looking and feeling immersive environments.

Platforms and Tools for Creators

Lack of content is a major hurdle to the mainstream success of both Augmented and Virtual Reality. Without content that can compete with the forms of entertainment we enjoy today, VR headset sales will remain low; and without a killer app, consumer AR glasses won’t take off. The good news is there are now a number of platforms aimed at equipping the next generation of creators with fast and easy tools for building AR/VR experiences without code. Authoring tools like Snap Lens Studio, Amazon Sumerian, Facebook’s Spark AR, Torch AR, and Adobe’s Project Aero are setting the stage for 2019 to be the Year of the Creator; while Unreal and Unity remain the more robust options for VR developers.

AR/VR in the Auto Industry

The Internet of Things is really kicking off in the automotive industry, with the connected car being one of the most tangible and familiar examples of IoT today. In the evolution towards self-driving cars, automobiles are getting increasingly software-driven and immersive technology is showing up in a variety of form factors including the dashboard. It seems that the future of AR/VR in the automotive industry is closely tied to the development of fully autonomous vehicles, helping to design, assemble, service and shop for the cars of tomorrow and eventually becoming the primary form of in-vehicle entertainment when we no longer need to pay attention to the road.

AR Cloud

2018 AR Cloud developments included the launch of the Open AR Cloud Organization at AWE USA 2018, along with the debut of AR Cloud efforts by Magic Leap (Magicverse) and Samsung (Project Whare). The race to build an index of the real world will continue in 2019, with companies working to align digital content with the physical environment on a global scale – essentially making computers spatially aware – in order to enable next-level Augmented Reality. Like a 3D map perfectly overlaid onto the physical world, the AR Cloud will let us pin content to specific locations and have much more powerful shared experiences.

WebXR

Last year, AR came to the web in a big way, with Magic Leap’s Helio, Apple’s AR Quick Look, 8^thWall’s 8^th Wall Web, and Mozilla’s Firefox Reality. At CES 2019 earlier this month, HTC and Mozilla announced that Firefox Reality will be the new default browser for the HTC Vive. Mozilla has taken a lead role in developing WebXR, an API designed to make it easy for developers to create immersive content that works from any browser on any XR-capable device; as has Google, which may release Chrome AR sometime in 2019. Watch this space, for web-based XR content will certainly impact immersive tech adoption and overall use, exposing the masses to AR/VR without having to convince them to download an app.

The next-generation of AR/VR applications are going to require greater bandwidth and lower latency than 4G can deliver. Mobility and capacity requirements for wireless streaming will push 4G past its limits and individual data consumption to the roof. Enter 5G: The future of immersive tech depends upon the rollout of 5G, with its promise of faster speeds and the ability to stream huge amounts of data. In 2018, there were several 5G trials and commitments by carriers and device manufacturers to roll out the infrastructure for 5G. In 2019, there will be more 5G hotspots and demonstrations of 5G-enabled AR experiences, increased enterprise demand for 5G, and maybe even 5G-enabled phones with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon chip. Though widespread 5G isn’t expected until 2020, development is furthest underway in China and the UK.

Ads and Marketing

In 2018, AR proved itself by increasing sales for early adopters like Houzz and marketers took advantage of new platform opportunities like ARKit/ARCore and Facebook’s “Try Before You Buy” ads in Messenger. 2019 is going to be another good year for mobile AR ads as well as VR marketing and consumer research campaigns. Snap is introducing programmatic AR advertising, Facebook is opening its News Feed to AR ads, and Unity just launched AR as an ad format. Marketers will soon have USDZ, a new file format for AR applications from Apple and Pixar, and AR Quick Look in iOS 12, with which AR experiences can be launched right from Safari. Two places you can count on interacting with AR: e-commerce and the Super Bowl.

Enterprise & Training

Augmented and virtual reality – mainly assisted reality with a heads-up display or tablet – are now well-established tools providing ROI at companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin (where HoloLens has improved satellite production by over 50%), GE, and Toyota. Expect to see some larger and even full production rollouts of AR/VR in 2019, especially for training workers in manufacturing, aerospace, oil and gas, utilities and other industries with expensive tools and equipment, as well as in healthcare/pharma, retail, supply chain, and even financial services. One rollout we already know of is Walmart, which announced the purchase of 17,000 Oculus Go headsets to train employees. In addition, the U.S. Army recently announced a deal with Microsoft to use the HoloLens in military training.

Gaming, Esports, LBE, and the Arts?

You need to experience a new reality to believe it, which is why immersive gaming, eSports, and Location Based Entertainment (LBE) signal the best way forward for AR/VR at a time when good immersive experiences are too pricey for the average consumer. The huge phenomenon of competitive video games is crossing over to XR (think zero-gravity football): There are already a number of VR esports leagues; and Niantic, which scored a big hit in 2016 with Pokémon Go, is expected to release Wizards Unite, a much-anticipated Harry Potter AR game, this year. Another sign that VR esports are on the rise: HTC and HP have pledged to sponsor Virtuix’s 2019 Omniverse VR Esports tournament series. And despite IMAX shutting down its VR arcade business for good, there are new and planned VR centers (arcades, escape rooms, roller coasters, etc.) all over the world, which, along with LBE AR experiences, should help grow the AR/VR customer base. I’m also hoping to see contemporary artists leverage AR/VR in site-specific exhibits and major shows like the 2019 Whitney Biennial.

Privacy & Ethics

The Internet democratized information. Social media eroded our sense of privacy. Next up? Immersive technologies, which are raising significant issues around access, privacy, consent and harassment. In addition to existential concerns like whether human experience will cease to be the touchstone for reality, VR could become a tool for escapism (social isolation), propaganda, violence, identity theft and more. Today, nearly 50% of women users report that sexual harassment is a regular occurrence in social VR and every bit as disturbing as harassment in the real world. And what about the potential privacy nightmare? What happens when companies can track not just our location and clicks but our gaze, behavior, and emotions? Inclusion is another concern: There must be a conscious effort to include people of all gender identities, sexual orientations, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds in shaping the future of AR/VR.

Quelle:

https://www.awexr.com/48-10-themes-for-augmented-and-virtual-reality-in-201/blog/48-10-themes-for-augmented-and-virtual-reality-in-201

22. Februar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Google Maps To Roll Out AR Navigation Soon

A long-awaited feature is finally arriving to Google Maps (but only to select Local Guides).

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Google Maps will soon be releasing a walking-focused augmented reality (AR) feature — a feature that reporter David Pierce was able to demo firsthand.

The feature will purportedly first be made available to a few select Local Guides (the company’s massive community reviewer program), who will serve as the first testers to help Google refine the product for its public debut.

This follows the Google I/O 2018 keynote, which first formally introduced the AR navigation feature:

As anyone who has used a navigation service can attest, even sans-AR maps are liable to misrepresent location or direction on occasion. This is complicated further with something like AR navigation, which requires an even more precise understanding of the world around the user.

To that end, Google Maps AR will rely first on GPS for location, but augment that with Street View data to align with the exact location of the camera.

In the keynote, the notion of a guide (in the form of a fox) is mentioned, though it’s yet to be seen if that will be rolled out in the current AR functionality.

This also follows the vision originally put forth for Google Glass more than half-a-decade ago:

Pierce notes that AR navigation is best-suited for short-term usage. It prompts you to put the phone down after a while using the feature and displays the traditional map interface at the same time. This saves battery and data (and the collateral risk that a bunch of users following a feed from their phone screen will knock into each other en route to their next locations). Rachel Inman, UX Design Lead for Google Maps explains:

…it’s for those moments like, ‘I’m getting off the subway, where do I go first?’

As to release date, Google only reported that the feature would come to the masses, „only when Google is satisfied that it’s ready.”

While this feature certainly isn’t going to completely replace traditional navigation, it gestures to a world in which headset- and glasses-based AR are commonplace — and is a big first step in facilitating that reality.

Quelle

Foto: Screenshot from Google I/O 2018GOOGLE

https://vrroom.buzz/vr-news/trends/google-maps-roll-out-ar-navigation-soon

21. Februar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Immersive virtual reality therapy shows lasting effect in treatment of phobias in children with autism

New research shows that an immersive virtual reality environment treats 45 percent of children with autism, freeing them from their fears and phobias — and that the treatment lasts.

Immersive virtual reality has been shown to help children with autism with nearly 45% remaining free from their fears and phobias six months after treatment.

A separate study has also shown for the first time that the treatment works for some autistic adults.

The Blue Room, developed by specialists at Newcastle University working alongside innovative technology firm Third Eye NeuroTech, allows the team to create a personalised 360 degree environment involving the fear which may debilitate the person with autism in real life.

Within this virtual environment, which requires no goggles, the person can comfortably investigate and navigate through various scenarios working with a therapist using iPad controls but remain in full control of the situation.

Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the research findings are published in two papers today in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and in Autism in Adulthood.

„For many children and their families, anxiety can rule their lives as they try to avoid the situations which can trigger their child’s fears or phobia,“ says Professor Jeremy Parr, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, who led the studies.

„To be able to offer an NHS treatment that works, and see the children do so well, offers hope to families who have very few treatment options for anxiety available to them.“

Autism can affect a child’s learning and development, often resulting in impaired social and communication skills and many also have fears or phobias which can be very distressing but are often overlooked. It is thought these phobias affect around 25% of children with autism. In the trial phobias included travelling on public transport, school classrooms, dogs and balloons.

The Newcastle University experts describe the randomised controlled trial involving 32 children with autism aged 8 — 14 years. Half received treatment in the Blue Room straight away and half acted as a control group, receiving delayed treatment six months later.

Accompanied by a psychologist they underwent four sessions in a week involving a personalised scenario in the Blue Room. Parents were able to watch the treatment via a video link.

„People with autism can find imagining a scene difficult which is why the Blue Room is so well-received. We are providing the feared situation in a controlled way through virtual reality and we are sitting alongside them to help them learn how to manage their fears,“ explains Dr Morag Maskey, researcher from the Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University.

„It is incredibly rewarding to see the effect it can have for some, overcoming a situation which just a week previously would have been so distressing.“

After receiving the treatment and with the support of their parents, the children were then introduced to the scenario in the real world.

Two weeks after treatment, the research shows that four of the first 16 (25%) had responded to treatment and were able to cope with a specific phobia. This effect remained with a total of six showing improvement after six months (38%), however, one reported a worsening of their phobia. Meanwhile, in the control group, five untreated participants had become worse in the six months.

The control group went on to be treated in the Blue Room after this time. Results showed that overall 40% of children treated showed improvement at 2 weeks, and 45% at 6 months.

This improvement is comparable with other treatments and the team intend to further examine why some don’t respond.

The Blue Room for adults with autism

For the first time, the Blue Room treatment was offered to autistic adults. In a separate publication in Autism in Adulthood by the same team, the VR treatment was shown to work in five out of eight autistic adults.

Aged 18- 57, the adults received four 20 minute sessions in the Blue Room with a personalised computer generated scene. Six months after the sessions, five of the eight participants still had real life day-to-day improvements in relation to their phobia.

Dr Rajesh Nadkarni, Executive Medical Director at Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said: „We are proud to be a partner of the Newcastle Blue Room Treatment which is helping people with autism to manage their anxiety. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust has a strong track record in providing nationally recognised autism services, and we welcome this new research demonstrating the positive effects of this highly innovative treatment.“

Eddie Nelson is Director of Third Eye NeuroTech, the immersive reality technology company based in County Durham which provides the Blue Room facility. He says: „It is rare as a business that we get the chance to help young people and their families in such a dramatic and tangible way. But what we see with the Blue Room is very anxious young people and adults coming in, yet within four of these specialised sessions they come out having combatted their fears.“

Specific phobias which were addressed in the Blue Room treatment included: Dogs, Wasps/bees, lifts, fear of the dark, flying, dolls, balloons, public transport, school, walking into rooms.

Alongside the NHS Service, the Newcastle University team are continuing further research into the effectiveness and lasting effect of the Blue Room.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Newcastle University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal References:

Morag Maskey, Jacqui Rodgers, Victoria Grahame, Magdalena Glod, Emma Honey, Julia Kinnear, Marie Labus, Jenny Milne, Dimitrios Minos, Helen McConachie, Jeremy R. Parr. A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial of Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Specific Phobias in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2019; DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3861-x
Morag Maskey, Jacqui Rodgers, Barry Ingham, Mark Freeston, Gemma Evans, Marie Labus, Jeremy R. Parr. Using Virtual Reality Environments to Augment Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Fears and Phobias in Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 2019; DOI: 10.1089/aut.2018.0019

Quelle:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190214191939.htm

Foto:

This is the Blue Room displaying a bus scenario to help people with autism overcome their fears and phobias.

Credit: Third Eye NeuroTech and Newcastle University

19. Februar 2019 0 comment