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SideQuest, Ethics, and Project Dastaan - The Virtual Perceptions Newsletter

February 03, 2020

Virtual Perceptions Newsletter

Hello everyone, I visited the WaveOptics team in Oxford last week, who makes some components behind the AR glasses we will see in the future. What struck me was the Odin type they made, with a massive FOV. I can see a lot of people being surprised by how much of the lens AR can cover now; it's no longer just a tiny square. Expect some nifty glasses to hit the market in late 2020 / early 2021, and a write-up on this soon. Meanwhile, Project Dastaan reconnects survivors of the 1947 partition to their past communities, backed by Oxford University, Malala Yousafzai, Gabo Arora, William Dalrymple, and Aanchal Malhotra. It's a really interesting project so far. I also approached the CEO of SideQuest to ask about their relationship with Oculus. Surely a third-party store would cause an issue with a massive tech giant? Apparently not, as they have a positive relationship. I'm also resharing a favourite article of mone from a few months ago: ethics in VR and AR. Have a read, and let me know your thoughts. Finally, the jobs board is under construction - if you want to be a part of it, let me know.As always, if you're up for any sort of conversation, hit me up! Best,Tom FfiskeEditor, Virtual Perceptions-

The Oculus Quest store is a walled garden. Inside, great titles thrive under perfect conditions, with consistent promotions and the support of Facebook-owned Oculus. But their entry criteria are exact; not every software title can enter, vetted by employees monitoring for quality. And under these restrictions, SideQuest’s platform where anyone can submit content thrived. The Oculus Store serves casual browsers; people with a VR headset who purchase games on their established storefront. SideQuest is for more hardcore people who have the know-how to ready their Quest. While smaller, it is still a sizable amount.The existence of SideQuest raises a few questions. On the one hand, we have a popular third-party platform where Oculus Quest games are sold. SideQuest doesn’t get a cut of the game sales, but ads and Patreon run the platform itself. On the other, we have a goliath tech company who wants to run a curated apps platform, not open like Steam. Would there be conflict?Click here to read more.-

The project notes that they wish to build towards three values: awareness and empathy; cultural preservation; and peacebuilding. On all three, I can see how the project can be a great success.A few VR projects come into my inbox from time to time, all with great ideas. In this case, Project Dastaan has the groundwork for a potentially great experience, with the backing of some talented team members. Erfan Saadati is one name I trust, after his great work working in Surround Vision some time ago.Click here to read more. -

Like veins in rocks, ethics runs through everything we do in technology. It depends on how we use it, but it can still be used for evil as much as good. Sometimes it is a hard impact. Facebook allows microtargeting which could radicalise people, spurring them towards violence and terrorism. Or it is a more soft, like Instagram giving a generation of young people image problems as they compare themselves to unattainable standards. A fundamental ethical framework on how we use tools can save and improve lives. The same goes for immersive technologies like AR and VR, where communicating in virtual worlds could have drastic effects on people and societies. Take mobile phones. Just a few decades ago, people planned to meet friends, relying on being prompt without ways to communicate. Then friends invest time in each other without distractions, with a lot of meaning as it was rarer to speak. And news came mainly from the well-funded print houses of Fleet Street, with the personnel and time to pursue investigative news stories to inform their readers. That has changed. Friends became laxer with timings, flinging a message if they are late. Once together, friends stick to their phones in fear of missing something important. And journalism? Struggling, as online platforms enabled a deluge of free ways to read the news of varying quality, hitting larger companies hard who can’t pursue the projects they want.

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Jobs board

Virtual Perceptions will soon launch a jobs board, Employers can put up new openings which will then be seen by VR and AR professionals in the UK. If you would like to submit a job or ask for further information, please contact Virtual Perceptions at [email protected].