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- The Immersive Wire - 23 May 2021 (Sunday edition)
The Immersive Wire - 23 May 2021 (Sunday edition)
The Immersive Wire - 23 May 2021 (Sunday edition)
SUNDAY READ EDITIONCurated VR/AR analysis every Wednesday and Sunday
// 23 May 2021
Sponsoring my first event next week! Consider attending the WebXR Developer Summit next Tuesday.
Let's talk about Snap's Spectacles (but more on the component side). By the time you read this, I don't need to tell you that Snap unveiled their new AR specs, as the first of several technology companies rolling out their new hardware. Or, if I am,
But for me personally, what's really interesting is the hardware behind the glasses. Executives from Facebook have made it clear that its the biggest technological hurdle is to get sophisticated computing power in a very small space. That's partially why the Spectacles look like a square robo frame. So companies like WaveOptics I find super fascinating; they create the waveguides that help to bring the content clearly in front of people's eyeballs. Pretty valuable technology, and they were bought by Snap
; I theorise it's because they know exactly what they are doing, and so they can't work with other partners in the future. In February 2020 I met the team as they unveiled their Katana version,
. Their Oxford offices show cased their technology, and I was wowed by the sophistication of what goes behind their waveguides (and my brain was slightly friend as well). To this day I still don't quite understand it, but if I were to explain it to a five year old, it's a way to bend light so it conveys crisp images on the lens. We're going to see more companies battle it out on the component side in the future, as they harness the technology and brainpower to deploy innovative specs. Snap's version is more of an enthusiast developer edition, a 30-minute-of-battery toy for people to play around with. Acquisitions like WaveOptics is vital to solidify their position, now and into the future.
Looks like a cyberpunk character about to inform you about a new side quest. Photo credit: Snap.
Over the years at Igloo Vision, we've worked with universities around the world. And in our latest white paper, we explore learnings from our first ever education client, University of Brighton, and how its Centre for Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine has made use of Igloo immersive technology.
Q&A with... an interactive education entrepreneur
Steve Hutson, Founder at Young Visions.
What are you up to?[In summary,] Young Visions is an emerging social enterprise developing hard hitting, gritty content for PSHE Education topics including knife crime, mental health and homelessness. We’re currently testing the market for these new interactive experiences and are reaching out to education settings in order to research their effectiveness versus traditional learning methods. Our vision is that by the next decade every school, college and university will have immersive technology departments funded by central government.Why is it significant?In an ever changing world and in an environment where we may have to learn to live with Coronavirus in circulation it’s more important than ever that we make VR for Education more accessible and affordable. We passionately believe at Young Visions that Virtual Reality is the most powerful medium for learning ever invented. That’s why through our Interactive Visual Learning Experiences we are seeking a deeper integration of Educational VR in the national schools curriculum ready for a world where every school, college and university has well-maintained, state-of-art immersive suites funded by the government. And through our dramatised VR/360° workshops for PSHE Education - produced and facilitated by a professional youth worker - we are attempting to provide young people with real-world insights into topics including mental health, knife crime and homelessness in order to empower young people to make positive, informed choices as they transition into adulthood.What’s one tip you would give to any creative? To be honest I think the best advice I can give is to work to your own style and try not to over-criticise yourself. For example, I have ADHD, which means I do not do well with traditional working and learning methods and often become distracted or bored or move from one task to another before they are completed – but they are always completed. Whilst it’s also important that we keep ourselves to set deadlines, you have to pace yourself, not rush things out and be constructive in your self-criticism. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made is that I want goals to be achieved yesterday. But not only does that not fit with my personal style, it is also key that we don’t rush and that we protect our mental health. I know that often my best work isn’t the first iteration but comes when I’ve reflected on and added to the work I’ve already done – particularly in a new field where everyone is learning every day.If you would like to learn more about Young Visions, check them out here.
Jobs board3D ARTIST: Futurus is looking for a 3D Artist who has experience with the 3D model pipeline, is a creative problem solver, and can produce mobile-optimized VR-ready art assets for an immersive experience.
MID-SENIOR FRONT END DEVELOPER (JavaScript, WebGL), UK. Continue the development of Fixie's first-of-a-kind architectural 3D printing platform by integrating extended reality presentation authoring tools.
JUNIOR-MIDWEIGHT WEB DEVELOPER (C#, .NET Core), UK. Looking for a web developer looking to work in immersive-related technologies.
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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!