The Immersive Wire - 18 July 2021 (Sunday edition)

The Immersive Wire - 18 July 2021 (Sunday edition)

July 18, 2021

SUNDAY READ EDITIONCurated VR/AR analysis every Wednesday and Sunday

// 18 July 2021

I'm reminded that time and measurement are artificial constructions when, yesterday, I stepped over The Meridian Line while munching on a doughnut.

 

Let's talk about how VR needs 'an iPhone moment.' Personally, I never liked the term. VR headsets are nothing like iPhones, and cannot be discussed in such reductive terms.

As we explore the language of progress, we typically use previous terms to help illustrate our current cases - hence why we compare the potential of VR to the realised explosion of success with the iPhone. And it goes broader as well; other companies want to provide the ‘Netflix of VR’ with its software. While it is easy to do, and a great way to convey our thoughts, it is mostly untrue and betrays the truth of its development.

On its own, VR will progress in a very different way. The barriers that face VR are different from mobile phones, revolving around accessibility and control inputs. The challenges VR faces are different from the smartphone, and the ease of access the iPhone had won't come to VR anytime soon.

I suggest we should use the term ‘friction’ from now onwards

. The less there is, the more likely someone will use VR. And the best steps for its development will likely lower it further, via lower price points, and better hardware. Neural connectivity, where our thoughts influence devices, will be the start of an entirely frictionless experience for Oculus (for better or worse).

Take the timeline of VR development over the last few years.

The biggest jumps in adoption connect to the ease with which users access VR content. When the Oculus Rift launched in 2016, a small but lively group adopted the headset as it was much easier to play VR games. The headset came with an online store, quality games, and at lower prices – all vital to lower the friction of entry. The same goes for the PlayStation VR, which only required users to have a PlayStation 4 in their living rooms. And with the recent Oculus Quest 2, the ease of access has never been easier.

Language is imperfect, and using certain phrases can provide a useful shorthand for conveying ideas. But when it starts to mislead people on the progress of an industry, then language obscures rather than clarifies.

iPhones are very different from VR, and comparing the two is not useful for discussions. Photo credit: Apple.

News: This week, the Looking Glass Factory released their new beautiful family of Gen2

 

displays!From your personal hologram display, to your second 3D monitor, to the stunning 8K designed for presenting 3D content to larger groups, these three displays combined with Holoxica’s suite of holographic software make the perfect platform for all

experiences. As their Value Added Reseller, we say: 'Welcome to the holo-future, goodbye to flat 2D-land!'

Pierre-Francois Gerard, PhD, VRchitect, and Research Lead at Musemio.

What is your background?15+ years in Architecture and 3D Visualisation, and PhD in computing, looking at the effect of virtual environment on cognitive performance. Built 5 VR applications.

What are you working on, and what’s a key learning that you’ve had from it?I've just led the development of a Unity plugin to help VR developers evaluate learners' cognitive abilities based on their movement patterns. The project was granted by XR4All.

I am also the co-founder of Metaxu.studio, a design practice helping people take advantage of immersive technology and webXR. As a self-described VRchitect, I take pride in designing meaningful virtual experiences which enhance people’s spatial abilities to learn and communicate in the Metaverse.

If you had to give one piece of advice, what would you give?The days of thinking in 2D are over. We can now use immersive technologies not only to improve human-computer interaction but to enhance people’s spatial abilities. A human-centered and spatial design approach is necessary to develop all sorts of useful and playful interactions and experiences. For instance, I enjoy meeting someone in VR, with headset and controllers so we can see people’s movement, rather than on a video call. And actually, you can still bring a video feed into VR.

If you want to know more about Pierre-Francois, go to his personal page here and follow @metaxustudio on Instagram.

Jobs board

NEW ROLE

: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN DIGITAL MEDIA, UK. We are looking to appoint a dynamic and adaptable course director for our BA (Hons) in Digital Media to lead and deliver teaching, learning and assessment on the BA Digital Media and steer its next phase of growth. As well as a track record of academic leadership you will have extensive practical experience in digital media such as immersive storytelling (AR/VR/XR), modelling and animation, creative media design / production, or web / mobile app design and development.

SENIOR IMMERSIVE LEARNING DESIGNER, UK. Make Real is looking to expand our digital learning team with a Senior Immersive Learning Designer. Your role will be to consult with clients in order to create exciting and imaginative design solutions. Your designs will affect behaviour change in order to deliver on specific learning outcomes, while being achievable within a set budget and timeline.

SENIOR UNITY DEVELOPER, UK. As a growing and exciting business, we are looking for full-time talented multi-disciplinary Unity developers to join our expert team in central Brighton. Our ideal candidates will have a broad range of technical experience with a proven track record of delivering interactive Virtual & Augmented Reality projects across a range of HMD & mobile hardware. Working as part of our existing team of designers and artists, the roles will primarily involve the delivery of VR/AR projects for our global clients.

EU ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE. Avatour is the remote collaboration platform for site meetings. Our cloud service enables full-motion 360° real-time communication, experienced via a web browser or optional VR headset. We are looking for an Account Executive to expand the Avatour business in the European Union. You’ll be initially our only salesperson in the EU, and directly responsible for the expansion and preservation of our customer base in the region. The ideal candidate will have a track record of success selling an Enterprise SaaS product, and experience in customer success as well.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, UK. Rock Paper Reality is hiring an ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE who has experience in immersive technology. Ideal candidate can manage the entire sales cycle from finding a client to securing a deal to maintaining the relationship post-sale. Experience in enterprise sales, C-level presentations, and marketing desired.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for three full-time B2B Sales Managers who are excited about technology advancements, and able to sell to CxO/Director level within enterprise accounts.

HEAD OF MARKETING, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Head of Marketing capable of taking VRtuoso to the next level. We’re looking to make the leap to working with enterprise level companies at scale and we hope you’re the one to help us accomplish this.

CHANNEL SALES MANAGER, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Channel Sales Manager to lead the channel and reseller programmes. The role is primarily responsible for onboarding new partners, serving as the primary liaison for new partners, growing the sales of existing partners, and assisting with sales/marketing initiatives for our reseller channel as a whole.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Director of Engineering to lead our engineering department and help us build, deliver, and maintain the leading VRtuoso Virtual Reality products for the enterprise market.

Display your vacancy in front of thousands of talented VR/AR professionals in just a few clicks. Click here for more info.

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That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) virtualperceptions (dot) com. Have an excellent day!