By Irena Cronin and Robert Scoble

The Infinite Retina comprehensively documents everything you need to know about Spatial Computing and where it’s heading
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Spatial Computing, the fourth paradigm of personal computing, sounds like science fiction but isn’t. Unlike previous paradigms of computing, like working on a laptop or a mobile phone, Spatial Computing allows you to move around inside computing. You will be able to talk to new virtual beings who will know more about your world than any single human does and you will literally talk to and touch the computing that will be all around you, either within complete virtual environments or within new forms of augmented reality. R&D labs are already showing us that it will go beyond that, with sensors that will interact with your brain directly – not needing optics or keyboards. But for now, that’s five to 20 years further out.

In this article, we will explore the fundamentals and scope of Spatial Computing and how The Infinite Retina by Irena Cronin and Robert Scoble provides an insightful look at the future of augmented reality and Spatial Computing.

Spatial Computing, the fourth paradigm of personal computing, sounds like science fiction but isn’t
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Components and Scope of Spatial Computing

Spatial Computing includes all the software and technology needed to move around in a digital 3D world. That is software and technology associated with AI, including machine learning and natural language processing, Computer Vision, augmented reality, virtual reality, and all other apps that support the creation and the maintenance of a digital 3D world. We see great strides that will be made in how Spatial Computing is being used across many industry verticals, including Transportation, Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT), Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Finance, and Education. There are chapters in The Infinite Retina that detail our vision of where each of these industries will be when the Spatial Computing wave hits.

The current state of Spatial Computing and Augmented Reality

The holy grail of Spatial Computing is a pair of very light glasses, or contact lenses, that let computers completely change how we perceive the real world via next-generation augmented and virtual reality that some call “mixed reality.” While we have early devices that give us a taste, like Microsoft HoloLens, these big and expensive devices haven’t yet made their way onto consumers’ faces. That will change over the next few years as these devices become much smaller and more capable due to new 3D sensors, new Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision, and new hyper-small displays. The HoloLens is already changing industries, and the book describes how this new technology is being used in places like operating rooms and factories. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’ll see many more uses for this technology as the devices get smaller and become more capable. In other words, we are literally at the beginning of a new age in computing, the Spatial Computing Age. By the end of the 2030s, how we compute will be radically different than it is today and, we posit, much more enjoyable and more productive, to boot.

We see great strides that will be made in how Spatial Computing is being used across many industry verticals
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The inclination of big firms like Tesla, Apple, and Facebook towards Spatial Computing

Spatial Computing is a new paradigm of computing where humans, robots, and virtual beings move through computing. Companies like Tesla, Apple, and Facebook are investing heavily in it because of its capability to completely change how we access, organize, and use information. Instead of seeing computing on flat screens on laptops or phones, computing will literally be on everything and will be controllable with our hands, eyes, and voice. In addition, robots and autonomous vehicles will use Spatial Computing to move around and assist humans, which will lead to very deep economic and societal changes as well.

By the end of the 2030s, how we compute will be radically different than it is today
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The Impact of Spatial Computing

The world is about to radically change. Factories will become much more virtual. We are seeing not only new kinds of robots, called “cobots” because they work much more closely with humans, but they are also being virtualized to enable new kinds of training and remote working, too. This calibre of change will be seen across many jobs — from new kinds of retail experiences to massive changes to transportation.

The Infinite Retina by Irena Cronin and Robert Scoble provides an insightful look at the future of augmented reality and Spatial Computing
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Spatial Computing emerges as a major culture-changing force
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The objective behind The Infinite Retina

Our goals were to understand and record shifts to the business world and society that are currently underway due to Spatial Computing, and to gain perspectives on what its impact will be in three-to-five years and then ten years out. We talked with dozens of pioneers in many fields, from healthcare to retail to finance to entertainment. This is a hugely important book as a new paradigm shift (the fourth of the personal computing age) hits both consumers and enterprises. We documented this paradigm shift in The Infinite Retina.

The holy grail of Spatial Computing is a pair of very light glasses, or contact lenses, that let computers completely change how we perceive the real world
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Spatial Computing emerges as a major culture-changing force. In the book, readers will look at what is driving business to adopt robots, voice-driven user interfaces, immersive VR or AR training, along with Spatial Computing glasses that will change literally everything about computing. The book also introduces what this all means culturally, both pro and con.

The Infinite Retina lays out why Spatial Computing is the future of technology and why companies like Facebook, Qualcomm, Apple, Microsoft and others are each spending billions of dollars in R&D to make it happen. The book also explains why these shifts are already underway and why the next three-to-five years will see a huge wave of Spatial Computing devices and supporting technology.

Robots and autonomous vehicles will use Spatial Computing to move around and assist humans
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Irena Cronin is the CEO of Infinite Retina, a company based in Pasadena, California that helps businesses enter and succeed in Spatial Computing. She has advised many decision-makers on business strategies related to Spatial Computing which includes AR/VR, Artificial Intelligence, Facial Recognition, Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and other related technologies.

Robert Scoble is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Infinite Retina and a bestselling author. Over the course of his career, he has interviewed thousands of entrepreneurs and has been the first to see the creation of many new technology companies, from Siri to Tesla.

The post Looking Through the Infinite Retina appeared first on Tech Trends.

If you ever wondered how a cryptocurrency wallet worked (it functions more like a key than a wallet) or what “hashing” means (it’s where original information is transformed into a code via mathematical scrambling with one-way cryptography) this book explains all of that, alongside the basic principles and workings of the Blockchain and the cryptos that run off it.

Blockchain is a platform with applications which relies on distributed ledger technology and is based on peer-to-peer technology
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The decisive battles on the Blockchain front will be fought on three main fronts: facilitating transactions, storing value and providing credit
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“Blockchain has the potential to force the finance industry through a change unseen for centuries.” The ability to move money and assets without a central authority is fundamentally disruptive, and the general consensus seems to be that Blockchain technology will change every industry from the ground up.

This is a list cited in the book of the eight major categories of blockchain applications identified so far:

• General applications
• Cryptocurrencies
• Financial transactions
• Public records
• Identification
• Attestation
• Physical asset keys
• Intangible assets

Yet as much as this broad-ranging disruption is acknowledged, Pejic also encourages us to take it all with a healthy pinch of salt.There is a tendency to apply blockchain as a panacea to every industry, and he writes, “Once you have a hammer in your hand, everything suddenly looks like a nail. Technological determinism assumes that one tool will in itself make the world a better place,” he cautions.

Amazon is one of the main contenders for the global payments market
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The fact is that Blockchain – due to issues such as scalability and energy consumption – might itself become obsolete. We have already in fact seen what the evolution from “Blockchain 1.0” to “Blockchain 2.0” might look like, with the deployment of smart contracts. Ethereum, one of the most Blockchains, is an example of a platform that uses these smart contracts.

There are also other issues that need to be addressed in order to make blockchain interfaces more user-friendly

“Could you tell off the cuff whether 0.2267 bitcoins for a bike is a good deal or not?” he asks “Bitcoin is denominated up to eight decimal points, so even the best mathematicians will need a calculator.”

The blockchain will always demand consensus, regardless of whether you limit or open the number of nodes. This is the very nature of a trust machine, it will render networks rigid and hamper the penetration.

The blockchain might just be the technology to unlock the showdown between two groups of goliaths: banks versus data behemoths
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It is not correct to call Blockchain the ‘internet of money’/ the network is open, but nodes can only act collectively. Even worse: they can only act as a whole. Nodes do not have the creative power they have in the internet, but solely the destructive role of denying or granting consensus. So the Blockchain is by design different to the internet. The implications for network designers are simple: make it as efficient as possible, not as open as possible. Only once companies grasp this, can they unlock Blockchain’s true potential.

With super-computers at hand, minting new bitcoins will be so easy that the entire system might collapse
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In 2014 European banks alone spent £40 billion on IT; a mere £7 billion (17.5 per cent) went into innovation. Fintechs are the ones driving product innovation and this embryonic stage of Blockchain. However, banks could still leverage the trust component of the blockchain to enter the authentication business

The technology will change every industry from the ground up
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At the end of the day, the book reminds us that money and credit are essentially material manifestations of trust – they are the belief that your virtual possessions will correspond to real ones. So the question really becomes whether we are ready to really trust tech as much as we trust traditional financial institutions. The answer so far has been “not quite.”

The hunt for the killer Blockchain application is in full swing
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Overall, however, Pejic strikes a surprisingly optimistic note for the future, saying that competition is always positive for customer service, driving up innovation and driving down prices. Ultimately, banks will have to learn to revolve around their customers rather than regulators and compliance officer. They will have to adapt all their processes – front-and-back-end – to fit their customers’ needs.

“One thing is for sure,” he concludes “you will be on the winning side as the competitive forces of the free market push down the cost of banking services. The more intense the battle gets, the more you will enjoy it.”

Quantum computing could easily break crypto-codes
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Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. You can follow @alicebonasio on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or subscribe to her Inside VR/AR Newletter for all the latest curated immersive news.

The post Review: Blockchain Babel appeared first on Tech Trends.

Professor Jeremy Bailenson from Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab explains what Virtual Reality is, how it works, and what it can do

I’m still old enough to remember a time when typing a message on a touchscreen keyboard felt very cutting-edge indeed. But I also remember doing that for the first time in a crowded Apple store, with no real intention of buying the first-generation iPhone I was playing with. The experience felt interesting and exciting, but not necessarily useful, and certainly not necessary.

It’s only a matter of time before technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality will transform the way we interact with digital content
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This, many experts argue, is the stage we’re currently at with Virtual Reality: It’s an exciting technology with interesting applications that people are happy to try out – but not yet willing to embrace fully.

Yet just as the tipping point eventually came around when even my grandparents bought their own smartphones – and used them every day – there is a building consensus that it’s only a matter of time before technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality will transform the way we interact with digital content in even more fundamental ways than the smartphone has done.

Virtual Reality is an exciting technology with interesting applications that people are happy to try out - but not yet willing to embrace fully
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For those feeling befuddled by that whole idea, Experience on Demand is certainly a helpful read, and oftentimes an entertaining one as well. Its author – Professor Jeremy Bailenson – is the Director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, and one of the world’s greatest authorities on Virtual Reality, yet this doesn’t come across as an academic book.

When writing about technology, it’s often difficult to strike a balance between ensuring that enough of the basics are covered without being patronizing to those already familiar with the subject. The book walks that fine line very well by focusing primarily on the human experience, so that whether or not you know what terms like latency, rendering, tracking or lag mean, you should come away with a better understanding of what Virtual Reality actually does.

As an expert in psychology and mass media, Bailenson has largely remained unalarmed about the extent to which traditional media affect us. Yet he writes that as absorbing as books or videogames or television are, they pale next to Virtual Reality: “VR engulfs us (…) it’s the apotheosis of every media fear and fantasy we’ve ever had,” he writes.

Bailenson's book places VR within a broader social context
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His book does a good job of pulling back the focus to place VR within a broader social context, explaining how it relates to other technologies – both traditional and emerging – and our existing relationship with the digital world.

Although he cites scientific research throughout, the book is mainly pegged around personal anecdotes and use cases that illustrate what it does to real people, and why it matters to everyone, not just the techy crowd. The picture that emerges is of an astoundingly broad range of applications for Virtual Reality, none of which involve either gaming or pornography.

VR engulfs us. It’s the apotheosis of every media fear and fantasy we’ve ever had
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There are examples of how VR can be a powerful learning tool
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Those anecdotes tell the story of how NFL teams have significantly improved the performance of their players by training them in Virtual Reality simulations, and how VR is being used to treat conditions such as chronic phobias and Alzheimer’s. It has helped 9/11 victims overcome posttraumatic stress disorder, and burns patients manage their pain with fewer opioids.

There are examples of how VR can be a powerful learning tool, as Bailenson argues that almost any skill can be improved by virtual instruction (groups learning tai chi moves in virtual reality remembered their moves better and performed them back with 25% greater accuracy than those who had been taught by watching a video, for instance).

We also learn how VR’s unique ability to create empathy by literally “placing you in someone else’s shoes” has been successfully applied to a variety of scenarios, from helping people relate on a personal level to issues such as climate change, to tackling bias and prejudice in diversity training.

Several bizarre experiments describe how experiencing a simulated virtual scenario first-hand can result in instant and lasting changes in behaviour
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Several – often rather bizarre – experiments in the book describe how experiencing a simulated virtual scenario first-hand can result in instant and lasting changes in behaviour. In one, they explored if walking around as a virtual cow might change participants’ attitude towards consuming red meat, while in another, people visualized their energy consumption during a shower in terms of literally eating lumps of coal, and subsequently went on to use hot water more sparingly. And although more research is needed to verify such results at scale, it is difficult to remain unimpressed by these early indications of VR’s power to create empathetic responses in people – not only in relation to other human beings, but also towards animals and the environment.

One of the surprising arguments that Bailenson puts forward seems to be that by living more of our lives in virtual worlds we can help save the real one. Business travel, for example, could be vastly reduced if we are able to replicate in VR the same levels of interaction and feeling of presence that one gets from face-to-face meetings.

The more time you spend in virtual experiences, the more you come to appreciate the vibrancy of real life
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“Conspicuous or wasteful consumption in the real world comes with real costs, be it in fossil fuel consumption, the mountains of plastic junk that are piling up in our homes and landfills, or the floating islands of garbage that are growing in our oceans…. When considered this way, deep engagement in social virtual worlds seems less scary than the dystopian scenarios would have us believe, and may have significant social benefits,” he says.

This desire to protect the environment reflects a passionate appreciation of the real world which might seem out of place for someone who has spent the last two decades studying computer-generated environments. Paradoxically, he argues, the more time you spend in virtual experiences, the more you come to appreciate the vibrancy of real life.

Business travel could be vastly reduced if we are able to replicate in VR the same levels of interaction and feeling of presence that one gets from face-to-face meetings
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Although Bailenson is clearly an enthusiast and advocate for the broader benefits of Virtual Reality, he also addresses its potential dark side, sounding a warning note against the danger of using what he describes as “the most psychologically powerful medium in history” without proper care or consideration.

One of the surprising arguments that Bailenson makes is that by living more of our lives in virtual worlds we could help save the real one
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Virtual Reality represents the culmination of the way technology is enveloping our lives, and its psychological effects can be profound and long lasting, he cautions. It is therefore important that we learn to use this new medium responsibly, and the best way to do this is to understand exactly what we’re dealing with. As Bailenson is fond of telling journalists, Uranium can equally be used to heat homes or make nuclear bombs. Technologies like VR are neither good nor evil, but how people will choose to apply it remains an open question.

This article was originally published on VRScout

What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and What It Can Do #BookPreview via @alicebonasio https://t.co/qzYRe5smBr pic.twitter.com/Vw2sh7D7t8

— VRScout (@VRScout) January 30, 2018

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Book Review: Experience on Demand appeared first on Tech Trends.