Guest Post – Page 2

Metaverse – Expectations vs Reality, Part 2: The Costs

featured, Guest Post, metaverse, opinion, virtual reality / Mike M. / December 16, 2022

In part 1 I addressed the technical reasons why Ready Player One – customer and user’s expectations – is still years away.

But the unrealistic expectations of the public regarding the metaverse involve another field. As co-owner of a small VR company, I find myself quite often obliged to disappoint people that think the metaverse and immersive technologies are cheap.

In this second part, I will very briefly explain the great obstacle of costs.

I Would Like… But I Can’t Afford It

This is an annoying topic for those of us who work with and on immersive technologies. Expectations and reality on the issue of costs diverge in an impressive way. As a business owner, I receive requests for very complex apps. What strikes me as a strange phenomenon is that the prospects very seldom have a rough idea of how much they are going to be charged for what they ask.

They seem to be unaware that the metaverse is powered by cutting-edge technologies, which use expensive instrumentation and equipment both for production and for use.

A virtual reality experience costs money. An augmented reality app costs money. A virtual tour costs money. A lot, sometimes more than a lot.

The work behind it is invisible to an outsider, and it makes sense. It’s ok that people do not know how time and energy-consuming this all can be.

Today, I would like to give you an example of a production process, so that you can appreciate how much work lies behind a seemingly simple project.

Let’s take a virtual tour with a minimum number of 10 photos (360 photos), 3 videos (360 videos), and 10 hotspots (interactions) to be put only in the videos (therefore 30 total interactions).

Here is the whole process, from the very beginning to the delivery:

Inspection of the location where the shooting will take place.
Draft of the shooting list (the script).
Hardware and number of people in the crew to be selected based on points 1 and 2.
Crew and equipment transfer.
Possible overnight stay, plus food for the whole crew.
Filming (1 day).
Check-up of the footage in situ to check the quality, make sure everything is clear and does not need re-shooting.
Footage download.
Stitching (editing).
Audio post-production.
Hotspot programming.
Hotspot content upload.
Testing and debugging.
Virtual tour upload on the client’s website or where required.

On top of all this, we must add the crew’s professional experience and the company’s markup. For personal reasons, I prefer not to bring you numbers here.

As mentioned above, all this is invisible to an outsider. We understand it very well. But the workload is there, nonetheless, and it must be taken into account.

And now consider that virtual and augmented reality tend to have even higher costs than a simple virtual tour.

The Metaverse We Currently Have Is Enough, For Now

Expectations and reality rarely coincide in the world of virtual reality, augmented reality, and virtual tours. The excessive hype generated by enthusiasts, who are a bit naïve, combined with the lack of correct information has created in recent years the illusion that Ready Player One is already here.

Nothing could be further from the truth. As it is often said, the metaverse is only a concept for the moment, and not even a clear one at that. Much can be done with the technologies available to us now, much more than we could have done only five years ago. Suffice to say, at the time, VR headsets, such as the Oculus Rift CV1, did not have the hand controllers that are used now, and necessarily needed a powerful computer to run apps.

Now we have excellent stand-alone headsets (so, no computer), and motion sensors that are directly applied to the device and that track the movement of the hands. We have multiple companies healthily competing for the mass market of headsets. And we have companies that are building platforms. A debate on interoperability has finally started. This all is very important and is a clear advancement.

However, the obstacles remain important, the costs as well.

Although we can understand that those who do not work in the space can not have a real understanding of all these aspects, we believe that it is always appropriate, when approaching a new sector, to be well-informed about what is possible and what is not. About how close expectations and realities of things actually are. Or distant.

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Applications of Virtual Reality for Nonprofits

featured, Guest Post, Social Good, virtual reality / Blake Jones / December 14, 2022

Nonprofit leaders always seek ways to raise funding and spread awareness about their causes. You wouldn’t think technology has anything to do with this since you mostly see commercial companies investing in it.

However, times have changed, and technology has become more accessible. Therefore, some nonprofits have started using virtual reality technology to assist them in their fundraising efforts.

Here are some examples of how organizations are applying VR for charity initiatives.

Spreading Awareness of Causes

When nonprofits talk to potential donors, bringing their causes to life can be challenging. The intention is to stir an emotional reaction so people feel compelled to donate.

Images can be useful tools, but there’s nothing like the effectiveness of a first-person view of what someone is experiencing.

For instance, this could be a virtual reality video that provides a perspective of someone’s daily life if they have dementia. VR headsets let nonprofits show the donor how they would be helping someone.

Increased awareness of a nonprofit’s message is not the key to increased donations. Relationships built from stronger awareness means donors will be more likely to support organizations financially. Organizations must form trusting relationships with donors to confirm their funds are making an impact. VR enables donors to connect with the people they’re helping.

Bringing an immersive experience to donors lets them see the people they are helping. Instead of using meaningless reports, organizations can remind supporters how much their donations mean to their cause.

Educating Employees

Nonprofit organizations can apply VR technology to teach employees the manual skills needed in case of emergencies. This tech is excellent for introducing processes and getting people to participate in solving a problem.

Detailed guidance allows employees to learn how to perform a procedure correctly. One successful VR application in nonprofit education is the Lifesaver app, which teaches people how to help others if they experience cardiac arrest. It shows you how to conduct CPR and act during an emergency.

This app helps perceive the force and frequency of movements to determine if someone is executing CPR correctly. If they don’t, they must restart until they get it right.

Garnering Attention Through Storytelling

Most businesses use video content to capture the attention of their audience. One way they achieve this is by telling a story.

Storytelling is key to standing out and helping people remember the organization. However, part of ensuring it holds their attention is through the quality of video content. Nonprofits can immerse users in virtual reality and draw attention to the issues and solutions they’re advocating.

Applying Gamification

Sometimes preaching alone isn’t enough to receive donations. Therefore, organizations have to think out of the box to continue raising awareness. They can do this through gamification.

Gamification is an excellent tool for boosting interest and engagement. Games can reward players with badges and educate them about a nonprofit’s cause.

Nonprofits can incorporate gaming into VR to make the experience more engaging. For example, they could create an immersive scavenger hunt experience that translates to monetary donations. This can produce a fun experience for donors and encourage more contributions.

Organizing Events

Another way nonprofits leverage VR is by hosting online events such as meetings, conferences, and summits. This guarantees greater attendance than gatherings that are just in person. Participants can discuss social issues, play interactive games and watch movies.

UNICEF has held events like these and prepared the content for an international audience. It had voiceovers translating the content into different languages.

Providing Access to the Inaccessible

VR goes beyond connecting people from faraway locations. It also takes users to places where it’s impossible to go. For example, The Body VR can take you inside the human body and allows you to explore, including examining the bloodstream and explaining how research is expanding leukemia treatments.

Tech like this could also showcase tours through sewage pipes and streams so people can see how plastic ends up in the ocean.

VR can make it possible for organizations to help people visualize complex concepts of philanthropic causes.

Offering Tours

Automotive and architecture industries have already started using VR to showcase the inside of a car or new building.

Nonprofits can use the same approach by helping donors visualize a new hospital wing or a clean waterway. VR headsets allow users to see what a project would look like in real life — getting people excited about what possibilities a nonprofit could create.

There’s nothing quite like seeing concepts come to life, and this could prompt additional financial support for various projects.

Virtual Reality Is Solving Problems

Virtual reality isn’t only for gaming and entertainment. It can also bring attention to global causes and inspire people to join their initiatives. Nonprofits need to embrace everything technology offers if they truly want to make an impact.

VR proves that immersive content works, and nonprofits should use it to their advantage. It can help them increase donations and do more good in the world.

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Metaverse – Expectations vs Reality, Part 1: Technological Possibilities

content creation, Guest Post, metaverse, opinion / Ryan Harris / December 8, 2022

I believe it is necessary to address the gap between customer or audience expectations and actual reality. From my personal experience (I have a small VR company), I realize that there is still a lot of confusion.

But I want to make a premise on the metaverse first.

First Things First: Metaverse Doesn’t Exist Yet

The point is that the metaverse, whatever it is, does not exist yet. So when I say metaverse, what I mean is immersive technologies + blockchain-related digital assets (NTFs and crypto).

The unrealistic expectations of the public are such because of two large series of problems:

The actual technological possibilities, and
The costs.

Distance Between Desires and Reality: The Technical Challenges

When you hear the word metaverse, do you imagine The OASIS from Ready Player One?

If this is what you see in your head, I am sorry to tell you that we are very far from that. I think it will take a couple of decades at least before we can have the technology of the film. Frankly, it could still be 50 years away.

Before we reach such an advanced level of VR, we must first work on the following: hardware, infrastructure, interoperability, and content.

Hardware

We have excellent headsets, but the maximum definition of the images is still very far from that proposed by the film. At the moment the maximum definition of affordable headsets like the Quest 2 is 4K (to be precise 1832 x 1920 pixels).

Movement in virtual worlds is not yet achievable as seen in the film. “Living room” solutions have been studied for years, but still nothing has gone just beyond the prototype phase or is marketable to the general public.

To move in VR the most used solutions are teleportation or directional lever on controls. It is absolutely possible to create virtual environments in 1:1 scale in which to move by walking, but these need a corresponding real environment that is as large as the virtual one and motion sensors scattered throughout the real environment, so you can track the movements in the space of your body. The Void was a virtual arcade experiment that used this principle. The experiment failed, but was still spectacular.

To be totally honest, I doubt whether a virtual world of this type makes sense or not. What would be the use of this? We’ll see.

Infrastructure

The amount of data that the entire infrastructure should be able to manage for the real-time rendering of objects, avatars, and environments is impressive. We are not talking about a video game – difficult, but manageable by the computational power of the machines and servers we have now.

We are talking about something infinitely larger. It should be able to keep all possible users online at the same time, without the risk of crashing, and also possibly “save” the results of the actions performed.

Let’s take an example to clarify what I mean. If you and your avatar break a wall in the virtual world, hypothetically, that wall must remain broken or not? If another avatar passes after half an hour, how is the matter handled? Making the actions performed and their consequences permanent adds complexity. Metaverse expert Matthew Ball talks about it in this short video, if you’re interested.

Interoperability

This is currently the mother of all challenges. The main problem is that there are no shared standards among the various potential actors of the metaverse.

By interoperability, I mean the possibility that content produced on a platform can then be used, displayed and shared on others. The example that Ball makes in the video above is that of a photo on Facebook. You can download it and then use it on Snapchat or upload it to a site that provides this possibility.

This is possible because Facebook has the option to download the photo and because there are standard photo formats that are accepted everywhere. You can imagine how much more complex it is for a 3D file like those that are used and should be exchanged in the metaverse. And this is both because of the larger size of the files themselves, and because there is still no shared standard.

Freely Usable Content for Everyone

One last illusion is content. Lack of content is one of the main obstacles to the mass adoption of spatial computing. The end user, however, expects to find available and customizable apps, for their specific field.

Let’s clarify with an example. Last week I received a request for “software that can be used as training for security guards and other armed figures.” Essentially, the person was looking for a ready-made application. There are some industries where this is already possible. Think of Osso VR, a company that specializes in surgical training.

But this is undoubtedly a bright exception in the current landscape. Therefore, for the moment, in most cases, the only solution remains that of the ad hoc experience, tailor-made for the customer … if they can afford it.

The Big Question Mark

The technical challenges mentioned above – we’ve reported the biggest and most obvious, but they don’t end there – prompt a fundamental question: is it all worth it?

Is it worth using intellectual energies to square the circle, so to speak, and solve them? Spatial computing, virtual reality, and augmented reality have a very impactful potential, in my opinion. And the quest for improved usability leading to mass adoption is a good thing.

But does a digital world in which to immerse ourselves and live part of our lives, with implications that reach out to the real world, really serve us as a human race? Does it have any real use? In short, is a complete, global, interoperable metaverse a useful perspective?

I do not have an answer to this question. Many doubts, few certainties. And I reserve the right to reflect and study further before expressing an opinion on the matter.

At the beginning, I also mentioned the costs.

In the next part of this article, I will delve more into this.

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With Music In New Realities, We Can Go Deeper Together

augmented reality, extended reality, featured, Guest Post, music, virtual reality / Ryan Harris / November 30, 2022

A look around the media landscape will make it clear that virtual reality has become a major player in the music industry and virtual concerts are on the rise with performances by mainstream artists in popular games and other platforms.

Yet, with all the hope promised by the “metaverse,” not only do these events fail to optimally leverage the innovation of VR, but they also fall short in using music to help create immersive social spaces for people to gather virtually where they feel connected to each other and their humanity.

Today, music-related virtual reality and augmented reality content falls into 3 major categories:

Virtual concerts and music videos by mainstream, popular artists represented by their avatar likeness;
“Rhythm games” and music-making apps focused on popular music;
Music visualizers.

Audiences and Artists Still Adjusting

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing, many artists are including virtual and hybrid events as part of their tour schedules.

Last year, United Talent Agency (UTA) polls indicated that three out of four people attended online events during the pandemic and, of those, 88% planned to continue even when in-person events came back.

Given the investment in this virtual space by companies including Meta, HTC, ByteDance’s Pico, and soon… Apple with their anticipated headset likely to be announced in 2023, the AR/VR market is a major player in the music industry, even spawning the “Best Metaverse Performance” category in the 2022 MTV VMAs.

With virtual concerts on the rise, major artists like Eminem and Snoop Dogg, Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, and BTS are presenting in-game music events—albeit with mixed results.

Some of these events are being called nothing more than a “kiddie cash grab,” leaving audiences wanting more out of the virtual experience that will truly make use of VR as a medium and a new form of expression.

Possibility for a New Mode of Discovery

There are, however, burgeoning examples of innovative and thoughtful approaches to VR/AR music experiences. The 2018 Sigur Rós and Magic Leap collaboration, Tónandi, demonstrated what can be possible with an immersive and interactive AR music experience, though not currently available on all platforms. This ambitious project featured the Icelandic pop-rock band in a music experience for a high-end AR device that brought music, visuals, and interaction together equally to create a synesthetic experience.

Tónandi - an interactive audio-visual exploration — *An interactive audio-visual exploration Tónandi*

One of the promises of the metaverse is to bring people together virtually. Traditionally, live music events have been a place where people could gather for a communal experience. This is the missing piece to current VR music events, which have yet to find an organic way for audience members to interact both with the artist and with each other.

Then, there is the possibility of bringing composed scores into virtual spaces, to connect with people’s psyches and emotions as music has done in concert halls, films, and television shows for a long time.

Music and… Miniature Golf?

While not a music-centered app, Mighty Coconut’s Walkabout Mini Golf – a virtual reality game for which I compose the original scores – gives an example of how VR/AR can become a gathering space for people to experience visuals and music while exploring the virtual world or just hanging out together.

VR and music - game Walkabout Mini Golf — *VR game Walkabout Mini Golf*

Each course presents a captivating world with a distinct mood, created by the music, visuals, and course design that present an alternative to typical VR/AR games and music experiences. Players consider it a place as much as a game, and their connection to the soundtrack has led them to stream it on various services just to bring them back to that sense of place.

VR Music Experience Is Here to Stay

Virtual reality music experiences are here to stay. While VR/AR is currently most strongly associated with games and major companies, there is much to hope for with content put out by independent studios and artists, who are able to be more flexible in adapting to changes in technology and audience demographics. This virtual space will offer new and exciting possibilities for musicians and audiences.

Anyone invested in music going forward—artists, academia, fans, bookers, labels, music supervisors, and even advertisers—would be well advised to keep an eye on VR/AR and to start learning what’s happening in this space.

Like music albums and films, these tools are just another mode of expression for artists to connect to audiences and, hopefully, encourage people to connect with each other.

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How Active Games Can Make You Healthy

featured, Games, Guest Post, health, Mixed Reality, MR games / Blake Jones / November 30, 2022

Video games have been blamed for sedentary lifestyles and social problems since early arcade games hit the streets in the 1970s. Throughout my career, from post-doctoral research to the company boardroom, I have made it my mission to change that perception and truly bring physical activity into the gaming industry.

The recipe is simple: By fully utilizing the capabilities of mixed reality technologies, we can make active, social, and fun gaming experiences that reward exercise. Combining the benefits of an active lifestyle with everything we love about video games, we can finally bury all the negative stereotypes for good.

The Pandemic Glued Us to the Couch

The COVID-19 pandemic was a tough time for many. A study by WHO found that the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25%. Especially young people found themselves cut off from their social networks. At the same time, interest in gaming skyrocketed.

When we were stuck in our houses, playing video games became one of few ways to spend time with friends and family. Studies undertaken after the pandemic show that people who played augmented reality games like Pokémon Go or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite were less likely to develop anxiety and depression. Another study showed that young people who played online games coped better with anxiety, depression, and stress related to lockdown measures.

Many of our gaming habits have stuck with us after restrictions were lifted. In the US, 56% of male and 47% of female respondents to a recent survey said they play video games as often as they did during the pandemic. Safe to say, gaming is here to stay.

Active Games Make People Active

While games are more popular than ever, we are facing another problem: Sitting down is the new pandemic. As much as 80% of the global underage population does not get enough weekly exercise. The average American sits more than 6.5 hours daily, and it’s even worse in the UK at over 9 hours. Yet we have to acknowledge that going for a run or to the gym is not for everyone. To include more people, we have to rethink what exercise could be.

Gamified exercise is the key. Active games have been around for a long time and are growing in popularity. The first dancing game with a floor pad launched in 1987, and by the late 90s, they were a feature at every arcade. All major consoles have featured active games since Playstation 2’s EyeToy. Yet, these games all share the same issue: they are primarily for one or two players, and the experience relies heavily on factors like additional controllers, having a good TV, or enough space in the living room.

Pokémon Go took on this challenge and made active gaming accessible. Players have to move around to progress and so they had no other choice than to take the dog for a walk or go to the park. Data from 2017 showed the number of active players that walked more than 10,000 steps per day had increased from 15% to 28% since the game launched. Using AR technology and mobile phones, inserting the game directly into the player’s surroundings made the gaming experience feel real.

So how do we build on the success of Pokémon Go? For me, the digitalization of theme parks, arcades, and activity centers, provides a fantastic opportunity to introduce MR active games to larger groups. Using immersive technology, we can create fun and challenging group gaming experiences that could never fit in our living rooms.

Active Games Are Social Arenas

Video games are social, and creating social games is also what MR systems do best. New, immersive, digital attractions are a great social way to inspire competition and get people moving. Friends can work out together, and you are free to move around in the game arena. Competing against real people in a mixed reality space where they can see, hear, touch, and talk to each other while playing takes the gaming experience to the next level.

As a social arena, gearless MR games have an advantage over their equipment-based VR cousins. By removing the need for mobile phones or headwear, we can create games that let you stay connected with your fellow players in the real world. The game truly becomes a challenge you face together. The sense of jeopardy is real, as are the interactions you have with other players.

MR technology also lets us create new, gamified activities for traditional sports venues such as gyms or climbing centers. By boosting the spread of MR gaming experiences, we can introduce healthy activity to more people and promote healthy living. I can think of no better use of technology.

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