Virtual Perceptions

By Tom Ffiske // 18 March 2020New to the newsletter? 

Thank you for all the feedback from the previous newsletter! Some iterative changes have been made, and it'll likely evolve until April.

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THE BIG STORY

I wish XR Europe all the best for next year. When will the situation improve? No-one knows for certain. The UK is taking a staggered approach to delaying the progression of the virus, hoping to build their herd immunity. Other countries are locking down, for better or worse. Most governments are taking slightly different ways to handle the pandemic, and we can't know whose approach is best until later this year. For now, get ready to dial in from home.

PEOPLE MOVES

• Max Noir (which is an incredible name) has a new position as Moderator at ARVR Women & Allies. This is alongside her role as Regional Director at FXG.

• Julian Swan is now Chief Executive Officer at PlasmaTrack Ltd. He was previously a Director at SwimAR, a product that provided a HUD for swimmers.

• Jason Cuadrado is now Head Of Content at VR World. He will acquire experiences and partnerships for the organisation.

If your company has a significant move, send me an email and I will add it to the next edition.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS

This can be you! Want to be seen at the forefront of the VR and AR community? Contact me today, and we can talk through how I can best help you. Please email [email protected].

LET'S TALK ABOUT ONLINE CONFERENCES

There is no question that online conferences will surge this year. I've seen chatter from events and SaaS companies regarding a spike in interest, providing a solution to a gap in the market. During this pandemic, the people who profit the most will be the service providers. But perhaps not the attendees themselves.Last week, I also noted that it will set new habits as well. If online conferences and VR meetings can cut carbon emissions and travel costs, then everyone is a winner long after the pandemic.I'm split on the topic. On the one hand, there are many talented people who cannot attend conferences due to travel costs. Anything that lowers the barriers of attendance will mean more talented people from across the world can learn and network. On the other hand, nothing beats the in-person connections made from talking face-to-face. It could become like a class watching a lecturer, not an opportunity to meet someone new. It depends on how the conference is made, and it warrants further investigation.

OTHER STORIES

• Glue Collaboration announced that it has developed the next generation of its VR-first collaboration platform, adding a host of new features as well as support for Oculus Quest headsets. Wow, what good timing.

• BBC Studios with PRELOADED and the BBC Studios Natural History Unit announced BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms, an experience for Magic Leap. The documentary will be narrated by Stephen Fry.

• It is currently Facebook's Game Developers Showcase. Continuing until 19 March, there will be new updates and trailers from games coming to Oculus Quest and the Rift, with special announcements straight from the developer community.

• Matt Ruff of the 88 Names Podcast released a new book. 88 Names combines "a gripping and fast-paced adventure" with a "thoughtful exploration" of the social implications of VR.

• MedVR is bringing together "clinicians, scientists, developers, designers, and other experts" to lead the future of immersive in healthcare. Their goal is to educate, stimulate discussion, identify novel applications, and build cutting-edge prototypes. It will be held at Northeastern University in Boston from June 25th - 28th.

• The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit was a big virtual conference - and carbon emissions were greatly lowered because of it. It featured 170 speakers in over 150 events on 5 different virtual platforms over 6 days; an estimated 6,000 people attended.

JOBS BOARD

Want hundreds of viable candidates to see your job opening? Contact me today, and I will add it to this section. Please email [email protected].

FINAL WORD

I'm currently reading Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. The book explores how difficult it is to predict the future, and though we listen to many experts, most are almost always wrong. I can see how it translates to our immersive industry. Time and time again companies predict what will happen next, and it just doesn't go the way people expect. In the end, I feel that the most successful are the best storytellers; not the most accurate, but the ones that capture the interest of a community that wants their opinions validated. As the author would say, I am an optimistic skeptic. See you all next week!