Daily Archives: March 6, 2017

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MILWAUKEE -- There are millions of things that make up our reality as we know it. Imagine a world where you can go anywhere, experience anything and be anyone. We have reached the doorstep of this new technology walking through will undoubtedly change the world we live in.

Jeff Fitzsimmons is the creator of a 360-degree video of Milwaukees Polar Bear Club which was featured in The New York Times. Hes also the owner of Custom Reality Services a virtual reality company based in Milwaukees Third Ward.

His business is putting the viewer smack dab in the middle of an alternate reality or virtual reality.

Jeff Fitzsimmons

It gives you the ability to walk through that experience and feel like it is happening to you, said Fitzsimmons.

Virtual reality is a technology that has been tried in the past, but failed a few times over, in fact. This time around though, VR has emerged as a mainstream phenomenon.

Every commercial you see has people wearing VR goggles,and in 2011, virtual reality was jet-pack, flying car, crazy talk and that's a big shift in a short period of time,"said Fitzsimmons.

Jeff Fitzsimmons

There are different levels when it comes to virtual reality headsets on the market. The most basic is Google Cardboard and can be used with almost any smartphone. The next step up is Samsungs Gear VR which can only be used with specific Samsung phones. After that comes the more professional grade models including the Sony PlayStation VR and HTCVIVE.

The HTC VIVE, the controllers, the computers, the software -- we're talking thousands of dollars at that point, saidBen Holt, marketing director of EC Virtual Reality in Waukesha.

Coming here is kind of like an arcade, you know?We have ones where you are playing by yourself. We have ones where you're playing with people here, and like you said, there are experiences," said Holt.

You can try different experiences like swimming with jellyfish or riding to the top of a New York City skyscraper. Holt calls it the perfect place for a conservative adrenaline junkie.

However, gaming and entertainment are just the beginning for this instant escape.

Virtual reality

This is like the invention of electricity, not like the invention of 3D movies. This will impact everything," said Fitzsimmons.

It is already being used in theme parks, on university campuses, for magazines -- even real estate. The Broadway Market Lofts in Milwaukees Third Ward are far from finished, but when a potential renter puts on a virtual reality headset, 'what is' turns into 'what could be.'

Its really hard for a lot of people, including myself, to imagine what the fixtures are going to look like, the finishes, said Lindsey Bortner, property manager for Milwaukee View.

The applications for virtual reality are endless now that the computing power has finally caught up with the vision.

That difference was the difference between 'I want to throw up' and 'wow, this is amazing. I really feel like Im here,'said Fitzsimmons.

There is still a ways to go with the hardware. Fitzsimmons saidthe big, bulky headsets and trailing wires will all eventually go away.

If you want proof VR is here to stay this time, Fitzsimmons urges you to look at those at the forefront of embracing this new frontier.

Any technology people can figure out how to have sex in it will be around forever. Television, VCR, said Fitzsimmons.

Is virtual reality being used now for that purpose?

Oh yes, but dont Google that! saidFitzsimmons.

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It'll impact everything: Applications for virtual reality limitless now that technology caught up with vision - fox6now.com

Science Daily

Virtual reality training for 'safety-critical' jobs Science Daily Cineon Training is developing immersive, 360-degree training through virtual reality headsets to prevent accidents and improve the performance of workers. It also uses technology such as eye tracking and physiological monitoring to help understand how ... Could virtual reality help pilots to land aeroplanes more accurately? New device is being used to train specialists ...Daily Mail Work in a high-risk industry? Virtual reality may soon become part of routine trainingInternational Business Times UK all 3 news articles »

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Virtual reality training for 'safety-critical' jobs - Science Daily

As SeaWorld parks phase out their real-life animal encounters, the entertainment giant is looking to virtual reality to boost guest satisfaction in a different way.

This summer, the Orlando theme park will debut a new virtual reality experience on its popular Kraken coaster, handing out VR goggles to give riders the experience of racing through a fully submersed underwater scene.

We see great potential for [virtual reality] use across the parks, SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby said in a call with investors on Feb. 28.

We're also looking to have a version of virtual reality for our animals where guests can see them live and other things you typically can't see as a human today except through virtual reality."

But as a new technology, virtual reality is unlikely to offer the full excitement of seeing a live animal in person-- or the thrill of being able to fully enjoy a traditional thrill ride like a roller coaster, say some theme park experts.

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"Parks should be careful not to be too liberal with their VR experiences, it should be used to enhance-- not replace-- traditional attractions," Ricky Brigante of Inside the Magic told Fox News.

While Brigante believes SeaWorld Orlando has some of the best rides in the business, he cautioned that experiences like the Turtle Trek-- a 3D theater experience about saving sea turtles-- lean too heavily on virtual reality and the in-your-face pro-conservation message takes away from the entertainment value. Plus, says the theme park insider, it's very hard to replicate the experience of meeting--and getting splashed by-- a real animal.

"Ipersonally get where animal activists are coming from but I've met many amazing trainers and caretakers [at SeaWorld] who put the animals' needs first always," says Brigante.

"When I think about going to SeaWorld, I want that visceral experience of seeing a real animal. VR technology just can't replicate that quite yet."

According to the Orlando Business Journal, SeaWorld's VR investment is part of the theme park giant's plan to revamp its offerings. SeaWorld will use advanced technology termed Deep See and will incorporate virtual reality headsets as a way to transport guests into areas of the world theyd never be able to visit otherwise.

"In general, VR headsets are an inexpensive way to create a new ride experience without having to make a major capital expenditure," explainedMartin Lewison, AssistantProfessor, Business ManagementFarmingdale State College in New York.

SeaWorld, which is looking to bring in new customers and win back detractors, may see VR as a relatively "low-risk" investment to upgrade additional rides.

Like Brigante, however, Lewison warns the virtual reality world has its limitations.

"On the negative side, however, the VR headsets do significantly slow down operations," says Lewison. "Goggles have to be cleaned and straps need to be secured...In addition, some guests ride rollercoasters so that they can feel the wind in their face and see the park around them. Ive heard some enthusiasts say that staring at game screens is something that one can do at home."

In January, SeaWorld San Diego announced plans to enhance its non-animal attractions with a roller coaster dubbed theElectric Eel. That ride, which will send riders back and forth at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, will reach a height of 150 feet. It will also showcase a live eel exhibit in the waiting area.

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In addition to more rides, if SeaWorld is able to use the VR experience as something guests can only find within parks, however, Brigante sees great educational and entertainment potential.

"After handing out the goggles,SeaWorld could leverage the idea of getting all dressed up into scuba gear to give the audience that feeling of 'hey, were about to go on this deep sea dive, time to suit up.'"

The new attractions come as SeaWorld attempts to move on from its controversial orca-breeding program. Last May, the park partnered with marine biologist and wildlife artist Guy Harvey in an attempt to educate visitors on worldwide shark preservation attempts.

The parks new Mako coaster, named after the oceans fastest shark, served as the main point of that shark conservations education.

Read more from the original source:

Will virtual reality save SeaWorld? - Fox News

Airline KLM is using a virtual reality computer game to train 300 engineers how to safely evacuate an aircraft maintenance hangar in the event of a fire or other emergency.

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The project is part of an experiment by the airline to find a more effective way than traditional MicroSoft PowerPoint presentations and online courses of training large numbers of employees.

KLM has developed a virtual reality (VR) simulation of one of its large aircraft hangars, which allows its engineers to take part in a simulated fire evacuation, choose how they respond at each stage and experience the impact of their decisions.

Employees take part by wearing Samsung virtual reality headsets, through which they view a three-dimensional video of the hangar they work in and their colleagues.

The experience is completely immersive, says Guido Helmerhorst, social, business and technology architect at Air France-KLM, adding that it makes the learning an emotional and memorable experience.

There are no distractions from colleagues wandering around the office or from ringing phones. Whatever thoughts you have, such as your to-do list or grocery list, your brain does not have space to think about it, he says.

Virtual reality training programmes are expensive, but the investment pays off when companies need to train large numbers of people.

Helmerhorst calculates the project will save half a days training, equivalent to 50,000 to 75,000 for 300 engineers. Using conventional training techniques, it would take a year to find gaps in the schedule to train all 300 engineers now it can be done in a morning.

KLMs engineers can request the virtual reality headsets from the parts store, and spend 10 minutes going through the simulation when they have dead time, such as when a plane is delayed on the way to the hangar. This allows them to keep their skills constantly up to date.

Compare that with current training, when there is a spike in learning and you forget what you have learned, says Helmerhorst, speaking ahead of anHR technology conference.

The project started when Helmerhorst began evaluating the potential of computer games techniques for learning at KLM around three years ago.

He worked with Dutch startup Warp Industries to try out the techniques. In one team-building exercise, the trainees were asked to run around the building, against the clock, to recruit members for their team from departments they would not normally work with.

The project helped the company identify talented employees who had previously been overlooked, saysThijs de Vries, designer and gamification expert at Warp Industries.

People who were previously sitting in their corner were able to show their skills and talent, he says.

Helmerhorst and de Vries began developing the idea of virtual reality training after the manager at KLM Engineering and Maintenance asked them if there was a better way to train engineers on how to evacuate the maintenance hangar safely.

He said, I have 300 maintenance engineers wandering around. When there is a fire drill, they just go outside, talk for an hour, smoke and come back in. They dont learn anything, says Helmerhorst, who will describe the project at the HR Tech World conference in London.

The team developed a pilot virtual reality training programme in which people had to find the safety equipment, including the water sprinklers, fire extinguishers and fire alarms in their workplace.

We learned that we could do a lot with a limited amount of resources. We used video instead of a computer-rendered environment and we learned we could create VR video games without disturbing the work going on in the hangar, and we can do it fairly quickly, says de Vries.

The finished training programme allows engineers to choose their exit path from the building once a computer-simulated fire starts.

Engineers can decide to fight the fire, but they must first find the fire extinguishers and choose which one of the six types of extinguishers to use, depending on the type of fire not an easy task when the room is filled with fire and smoke.

You get a flight or freeze mechanism, your blood goes to your heart, so you cant think so clearly, says Helmerhorst.

Engineers can also decide to make their way to the nearest exit. Those who choose to make a quick exit in the lift are in for a surprise, however, when smoke starts pouring in and their colleagues start screaming and panicking.

The programme awards the engineers up to five stars, depending on how well they complete the simulated evacuation. Walking under a plane to reach the exit more quickly a major health and safety risk is a sure way to lose points.

We had some subjective feedback from employees and we did a questionnaire. They said the experience with VR is pretty emotional because they are going into situations they would normally not see, says de Vries.

KLMs first step was to create a scenario tree that shows the different routes and actions that engineers could take and the consequences of each decision. The tree offers the engineers 1,200 different choices.

Persuading health and safety specialists to agree to give the employees the freedom to make mistakes was a challenge, at first.

But when training and occupational safety specialists met to create the training programme, they realised that engineers could learn effectively if they were able to learn from their mistakes.

Warp used special cameras, with lenses pointing in 360 degrees to film the hangar, and took footage at 30 strategic points. The company was able to complete the work in one day.

Its not possible for the director to stand behind the camera, as there is no such thing as behind the camera, says Helmerhorst. When the film was shot, everybody had to get out.

The technique is more cost effective and realistic than creating a computer model of the hangar, which would have taken months of work and would have required powerful computers to run.

Warp was able to transform the 3D film into an interactive mobile app that was compact enough to run on a Samsung mobile phone, and doubles as the screen in a Samsung virtual reality headset.

One concern was that many of KLMs engineering workforce are older workers, who may have found virtual reality difficult to use, or might have experienced nausea, but early trials showed they took to the technology.

KLM has chosen to make four headsets available to its engineers, which they can order from the parts store. However, with future virtual reality projects, it may make sense to allow employees to download the apps on their own phones.

If you have a smartphone, then potentially you can download the app from an app store and press play, says Helmerhorst.

Early research by Warp, along with Amsterdam University, on a medical VR simulation used to train medical staff in CPR resuscitation, has shown people learn faster using immersive virtual reality training than with 2D video.

The results were overwhelming; they had the feeling of being there, seeing the man lying on the floor, and a really emotional response. It helps them to be in the best position for CPR, says de Vries.

KLM plans to carry out its own research over the next 12 months to compare the effectiveness of the virtual reality version of its training with a two-dimensional version of the training programme.

The airline has plans to develop other virtual reality training programmes. Helmerhorst is working with Warp to create VR leadership training programmes for KLMs managers.

The idea will be to confront leaders with employees who have tricky dilemmas, and to allow leaders to try a variety of responses to the problem and test what the impact is for the employee and for themselves.

If managers know they have a difficult conversation with an employee tomorrow, they will be able to use the virtual reality app to practice the conversation, so they will be more at ease, says Helmerhorst.

Another idea is to use VR for training sales staff and cabin crew in handling aggressive passengers.

As cabin crew, we fly all the way around the world. An American who gets angry is very different from a Chinese person who gets angry. That is very hard to train right now, says Helmerhorst.

The same technology could be used to train staff who check-in luggage, to help them take a firmer line on which bags are or are not allowed on board.

Hand luggage can also be a problem. Some people take nothing, while other people attempt to take their entire wardrobe. That can put pressure on check-in staff to accept larger items than they should, causing problems further down the line.

Its not a nice place to be for check-in staff. They dont understand why its important, but if I can put them in an aeroplane, where they can see someone with big suitcases, making a lot of noise, trying to get a big suitcase into the luggage rack, they can see how they can help their colleagues gain a better experience, he says.

Helmerhorst believes virtual reality could have benefits for training staff to spot cyber security risks. In one scenario, for example, employees could be confronted with a visitor who is intent on stealing data from the company.

The policy is dont leave your visitor alone. But they will say, I will see myself out, or I will go to the toilet, and they will disappear for a short period of time, insert a USB stick into a computer and start hacking. We know that on paper, but the learning is much greater if you can experience it, he says.

Warp is seeing a growing demand for VR training from other organisations.

One project under development will train executives how to deal with reporters, allowing them to gauge the response of the reporter if they say things their company doesnt want them to say, and teaching them to stay on message.

The company has also developed a training programme that helps people make sure their house is safe before they go to sleep. That means turning off electric devices, removing phone chargers from plug sockets and closing the bedroom door which gives an extra 10 minutes of safety in the event of a fire.

Guido Helmerhorst is speaking at HR Tech World, London, 21-22 March 2017.

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Virtual reality simulation helps KLM engineers escape in an emergency - ComputerWeekly.com

RBC Capital marketers released a research note Monday that sets up some challenges and a timeline for the mass adoption of augmented and virtual reality, based on a hosted conversation with author and reporter Reed Albergotti.

"We likely remain 3-5 years away from the mass market consumer being able to go into a Best Buy and pick up a VR/AR headset for easy use most users today remain early-adopters (and largely gamers)," RBC analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a research note published Monday.

Google hopes mass adoption will come a lot sooner. At the Mobile World Congress, Amit Singh, VP of virtual reality at Google, announced that Google's VR platform Daydream will soon become available to hundreds of millions of smartphones, with Project Tango soon to follow.

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There are several challenges along the path to mass adoption. Mahaney notes that today VR and AR headsets require lots of computing power. VR remains immersive and can cause motion sickness if the device doesn't track exterior environments correctly. And setup remains somewhat extensive.

Google is not the only search company focusing on AI. The new wave of experiences built on augmented and visual search put more than $54 million in Blippar's coffers last year to further develop its search engine.

Gaming is only one reason to use AR and VR. Marketers may want to look at VR and AR to create content to create extensive how-to videos when fixing a car or a leaky faucet. Homeowners with plumbing problems can put on a headset and the brand can guide the consumer through fixing the problem, as in one example provided by Albergotti during RBC's conversation.

Some of the major and minor players that Albergotti keeps an eye on include Microsoft's HoloLens; Google's investment in Magic Leap; and Apple when it comes to AR and Osterhout Design Group, which primarily does work for the military. Others include Sony, Facebook, NVidia and HTC.

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Augmented, Virtual Reality Mass Adoption 3 To 5 Years Away - MediaPost Communications

Jillian Cabrera peered down and only a dark space far below greeted him. He glanced to the side and red canyon walls enveloped him. He stood on a wooden bridge, its panels tied together and spaced unevenly apart, that stretched across the canyon mouth as the wind whistled through the gaps. No railing protected him.

The only way to get off the bridge was to step off it.

Maggie Nhan watched Cabrera, who is afraid of heights, stand motionless in the middle of a basement lab in Shaffer Art Building. She glanced at the computer monitor, which displayed the red canyon walls and bridge. He was hooked up to the HTC Vive, playing the virtual reality game Waltz of the Wizard.

Cabrera, clutching the Vive remotes, laughed nervously. Im in a room, Cabrera said, rotating in place. All he needed to do was take one step to the side. Wow, this is hard. My hands are actually sweating.

Cabrera, a junior Syracuse University student, eventually took the step and was transported back to a wizards lab. He and Nhan, a sophomore, are computer art and animation majors who used the Vive to design their own virtual reality games last semester.

Its just one on-campus initiative teaching students how to utilize VR software, as several pockets of the SU community have embraced the technology. SU introduced its first virtual reality course in fall 2014 in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications later introduced its Virtual Reality Storytelling course in the spring of 2015. Theres also a joint course in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Architecture thats centered around virtual reality.

In addition to curriculum, SUs football team previously used VR software to train its quarterbacks in 2015 and will be integrating another program this spring, said Mike Morrison, assistant director of athletics communications. Other projects include commercialized ventures, like imr.sv, launched last August by Sam Lewis, a Martin J. Whitman School of Management student.

Virtual realitys current popularity began in 2010 with the development of the Oculus Rift prototype. The Rift and other VR systems allow users to interact in a virtual, computer-generated environment, where they no longer see their physical environments. VR differs from augmented reality, which overlays a physical space with digital elements, and 360 videos, which allow users to rotate in a video. These videos can be considered VR, but not all VR can be a 360 video.

Meyer Giordano, an instructor in VPA, taught CAR 230, Topics in Computer Gaming I, the course Cabrera and Nhan took. When Giordano first started teaching it in fall 2014, the software was so rudimentary that it was difficult to get the program running, he said. Now the technology has progressed to the point that he could show someone how to create a basic environment in five minutes.

As the technology has advanced, teaching the class has become a lot more straightforward on the technical side, but because theres more content now, theres a lot of other directions to explore, Giordano said.

Currently the cost of VR is restraining its expansion. Each high-capability system can cost more than $500. But Cabrera and Nhan said they are excited for the future of VR because it will appeal to a greater audience than typical video games. Instead of relying on controllers and buttons, users will be able to use their bodies.

The purpose of experimenting with VR is to have students push the technology to see what they can create, Giordano said. But as VR gets more commercialized, it loses the frontier aspect and he said he might find the technology less interesting. He could switch to teaching augmented reality, he said, which has not been very developed yet.

But Giordano said he is still attracted to the future of virtual reality, such as the idea that VR might limit consumer waste. Instead of buying physical clothes, he said, a user would buy clothes in the virtual world and just wear those.

The more time we as humans spend in VR, the less time were spending trashing this planet, he said.

School of Architecture/College of Engineering and Computer Science

On the second floor of Slocum Hall, 40 students sat clustered in the front of room 224. Their worktables lay abandoned, covered with paper and wooden objects, as sunlight streamed through the windows. Images of sensory experiences, geometric shapes and videos projected onto the wall.

Five students were presenting a virtual reality proposal, part of a joint architecture and engineering class taught by Amber Bartosh, an assistant professor of architecture, and Mark Povinelli, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. The students are creating a Climate Disruptor Awareness Generator, which will be installed in April in E.S. Bird Library.

The Climate Disruptor Awareness Generator is meant to demonstrate to students the impact of climate change, with virtual reality and augmented reality adding an interactive component to the experience.

The VR/AR team is still in the early design stage for its contribution to the project, said Cliff Bourque, a graduate architecture student on the team. Right now, the group is focusing on the process of creating the elements, rather than the content.

Povinelli said that with the proper amount of real-world prototyping and testing, VR can add to the strength of the design process for engineers. Bartosh said she has been experimenting with VR to visualize things architects cant see easily, like energy and solar radiation.

Its very difficult in architecture to study anything at full-scale, Bartosh said. We do almost everything either through models or drawings, and even in a digital model, its difficult to get a scale or perspective.

Bartosh added later, Im always telling the students that right now VR is largely used for representation of simulation, but its not inconceivable to think of VR as a future material, the way that we think about physical materials.

S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

A card swipe protects the entrance to the Alan Gerry Center for Media Innovation lab while the Department of Public Safety monitors it. The room, tucked in the back of Newhouse 2, is stocked with Oculus Rifts, HTC Vives, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VRs and 360 cameras.

So much new equipment comes into the lab that the glass case in the back is nicknamed the digital petting zoo, said Dan Pacheco, Peter A. Horovitz Chair in Journalism Innovation and spearhead of Newhouses VR courses.

But despite the high-tech equipment, students still sign out VR equipment with a pen and notebook.

The lab is where Asa Worthley, a junior Whitman student, came to work on his 360 video Pale Blue Dot in 360: VR Carl Sagan. The three-minute clip collages images of iconic people in a galaxy skyline, accompanied by a narration by Carl Sagan.

Worthley is a part of 5th Medium, the first virtual reality club at SU that works with The Daily Orange on 360 videos. Students of any major or discipline can join the club, giving students like him who arent in Newhouse support and access to the technology. The club has been working on projects like the Greek Peak Mountain Resort 360 video, where viewers can watch a ski lift and snowboard.

The innovation lab is also a space for students taking one of the two Newhouse virtual reality classes: Virtual Reality Storytelling or Introduction to 360 Video. Pacheco was first exposed to VR in 2012, when he met Nonny de la Pea, the godmother of virtual reality, he said.

Pacheco convinced her to come to SU to demonstrate it. After further exposure over the next few years, he asked his department head to create a VR storytelling class for spring 2015. Pacheco thought no one would sign up, but the class filled within a couple of days.

Now, about 160 students have taken either of the two classes. While mostly Newhouse students enroll, Pacheco said he leaves a few spots open for students from other colleges. The exposure students get is about the same at current media companies, he said.

When Ive taken students down to The New York Times, people at The New York Times are telling me, Yeah, your students are pretty much at the same level as where were at, Pacheco said.

Ken Harper, an associate professor of multimedia photography and design who taught the first 360 video course at Newhouse last semester, said the hardest part about teaching immersive technologies is that he is still learning himself. He said it isnt uncommon to pick up skills on the weekend and then teach them in class the next week.

Harper and Pacheco said they created a faculty group for professors across the university who teach VR.

For journalists, the most promising aspect of VR is its ability to enhance storytelling, educate like teaching students about the solar system and its accessibility for less privileged people, Harper said.

And while there is need for caution about VR, like the possibility for addiction or tricking people into false memories, Pacheco said that in his experience, people dont want to just check out of reality, but rather make reality better. Journalists need to start using immersive technology now, Pacheco and Harper said, because their content will define the ethical boundaries for the medium.

My role in this is to keep the humanity in it, Harper said. I think if we could convey information, and offer up new worlds for people who otherwise couldnt have them, if we could develop the storytelling techniques that further empathy, maybe we can make the world a little bit friendlier.

Sports Editor Tomer Langer contributed reporting to this story.

Published on March 5, 2017 at 10:18 pm

Contact Haley: hykim100@syr.edu

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At Syracuse University, more students are getting ahold of virtual reality - The Daily Orange