By Laura Kobylecky

#SXSW Online 2021 is bringing people together in a socially distant world. For this session, “Can 5G Transform the Live Music Experience?” Cristiano Amon and Steve Aoki have come together to talk about the impact of 5G technology on music. Cristiano Amon is the president of Qualcomm Incorporated and Aoki is a Grammy Nominated DJ, Producer, Music Executive, and Designer.

5G is a popular topic in 2021. It was discussed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year and remains a point of interest at SXSW this year. Qualcomm’s website explains that 5G is “a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G network.” This wireless network could be a large improvement over the previous networks by delivering “higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.”

5G remains a popular topic in 2021 #SXSW
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The virtual session with Amon and Aoki begins on the lighter side with a casual tour through Aoki’s opulent home. Aoki jumps off of a roof into a pool that is 16 feet deep. He shows off a large library room full of books and vinyl. Amon and Aoki discuss their mutual fondness for vinyl. Aoki shares an anecdote about how he acquired some of his vinyl after college when some friends couldn’t move with all their bulky collection. While technology has moved forward and allowed more efficient digital storage of music, Aoki seems to have maintained a deep fondness for this antiquated, tangible, method of music collection.

The home tour moves into Aoki’s home office, also known as “Aoki’s Playhouse.” Aoki’s Playhouse “pays the bills” and is also “where the magic happens,” according to Aoki. This room used to be a racquetball court. It has been remodeled and contains a large green screen, some GoPros, and the other tools that Aoki uses to perform and live stream concerts as a DJ.

Aoki talks about how the progression of technology has changed his experiences as a DJ. Nowadays, “anyone can DJ any song at any given place.” However, earlier in his career, “I used to tow in records. I could only play the 60 records that I brought. So, you go from 60 records 15 years ago, to having unlimited access to the internet.” Nowadays, when Aoki is traveling around the world, he can quickly download new music to an SD card and then insert the SD card into his unit.

@steveaoki talks about how the progression of technology has changed his experience as a DJ #SXSW 2021
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For Aoki, the possibility of 5G streaming would be a game-changer. He says it would give him “access to being able to play so much music to so many people.” One thing that 5G could help with is increasing access to computing power. Amon, of Qualcomm, explains how this would work. With 5G, the internet speed would let you connect to the cloud in real-time. Through that connection, you could get access to more computing power. Even if you were working from a phone, you could potentially access the “processing power of your studio,” from a distance, through the cloud.

@steveaoki believes that technology played a key role in keeping people connected during this time of social distancing and online conferences #SXSW 2021
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Aoki sees the value in that processing power. He explains that input and output speeds are significant to his work. For him, “It’s all about being in the flow, I don’t want to disrupt the flow.” He remembers how he used to spend a great deal of time sitting around and waiting for downloads or waiting for stems to render. He says that the faster workflow, enabled by 5G would help prevent being stuck in the “bottleneck of creativity.”

Even if you were working from a phone, you could potentially access the processing power of your studio, from a distance, through the cloud #SXSW 2021
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5G could also have a big impact on the festival experience. Aoki talks about the difficulties of staying connected with people at festivals. Currently, a person might just turn their phone on “airplane mode,” since they can’t get reception anyway. They could be at Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival, trying to post but it’s like “a wall has gone over.” For Aoki, being able to share his experiences in real-time is important. 5G connectivity could make that possible soon.

This 5G connectivity could also enable better quality video. Amon explains that with 5G, people might be able to broadcast 4k interactive video in real-time. He also proposes the idea that Augmented Reality glasses could be a tool for sharing those perspectives, where a person could live stream high definition video taken by their glasses and the video would let other people look at the world through their eyes. The glasses could also provide real-time overlays of digital experiences so that a person could interact with the virtual world and the real world simultaneously.

A faster workflow enabled by 5G would help prevent being stuck in a bottleneck of creativity #SXSW 2021
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Aoki is enthusiastic about the ideas presented. He says “I believe not just in the merging of music and technology, but in human and technology.” Although he is an avid tech enthusiastic, Aoki remains practical about the limitations. Not everyone is caught up on the latest tech and Aoki doesn’t want them to get left behind. He explains his methods for deciding which innovations he wants to include in his process:

“When I produce I always listen on every different medium. You have to think just enough ahead but not too far ahead because if you think too far ahead they won’t get it. It goes right over their heads.”

For Aoki, the main priorities are quality content and connection and 5G may help with both of these. His music and live streams could be improved with 5G. The content would be delivered faster and with higher definition. This instant delivery would allow Aoki to take those lifestream experiences and amplify connections as he is able to provide more instant responses.

5G could also have a big impact on the festival experience #SXSW by @TheLauraKoby
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Aoki believes that “technology played a key role in keeping people connected” during this time of social distancing and online conferences. He feels that “at the end of the day I want to be able to connect with as many people as possible…in all the different ways that I can.” 5G may help Aoki fulfill those goals and enable other creators to do the same.

Tech Trends’ Digital Consultancy services offer support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

Laura Kobylecky is a contributing writer to Tech Trends. She is particularly interested in new and emerging technology and culture. Connect with her on LinkedIn 

The post 5G and the Future of Music appeared first on Tech Trends.

Professional gaming has always been a serious pursuit that attracted dedicated players and a large audience, and with immersive technologies becoming more pervasive, the esports crowd is increasingly embracing VR.

“For the first time in generations, we’re witnessing the birth of a new major sport, and it’s happening with unprecedented speed,” says ESPN The Magazine, Senior Editor, Megan Greenwall.

This trend is in large part spurred by hardware manufacturers, who recognize that without “sticky” content that keeps punters coming back and hooks them for longer, they are unlikely to reach consumer adoption critical mass anytime soon.

VR esports are the latest rage, especially for location-based entertainment
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“VR esports are the latest rage, especially for location-based entertainment. The Omni motion platform adds the physical engagement of walking and running to the gaming experience and that physical element combined with multiplayer gameplay and competition results in high repeat play. We’re not a stand-in-place VR attraction that players try just once. Our core players come back every week,” says Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix.

Virtuix is a Texas-based start-up founded in 2013 best known for developing the Omni VR treadmill. They raised over $20M and have shipped more than 3,000 Omni systems to 500+ commercial entertainment venues around the world. Recently, HTC and HP announced a partnership with the company, putting down a $50,000 Prize pool for ESPORTS tournaments in 2019.

VR hardware manufacturers recognize that without 'sticky' content that keeps punters coming back and hooks them for longer, they are unlikely to reach consumer adoption critical mass anytime soon
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Esports is a cloud-based competitive gaming platform that offers weekly and monthly prize contests where players at participating venues in 45 countries compete for the top spot on global leaderboards and earn cash prizes. As part of that, Omniverse tournaments are four-day contests each month that feature two-player teams battling in one of several games, with the top 10 teams winning a combination of cash and prizes such as VIVE systems. Virtuix has held several esports events so far, including a tournament at CES in Las Vegas and, in conjunction with Huawei, a tournament in Shenzhen, China, that reached 11 million viewers.

During 2018 there were over 2.6 billion hours of esports content consumed globally across a multitude of online platforms
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“Virtuix has built a competitive gaming experience that requires both videogaming skills and physical fitness. Such active esports offer a unique way for entertainment venues to reach a new audience of gamers and build a community of frequent players,” says Joanna Popper, Global Head of Virtual Reality for Location Based Entertainment at HP

The first Omniverse global competition of 2019 will be held on January 24-27, features two-player teams battling for the highest score in the popular first-person shooter game Omni Arena. Interested players can find more information and sign up here.

And the move towards investing in esports as a way to advance broader VR adoption is far from restricted to commercial players. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the UK Government’s non-departmental public body for innovation and research, recently awarded £4m to the Weavr Consortium which will fund a project exploring a cross-reality, data driven personalised viewing experience for esports.

Esports is competitive video gaming at a professional level which has a current global audience of around 380 million people
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“Esports is competitive video gaming at a professional level which has a current global audience of around 380 million people. The esports audience is the ‘audience of the future’ here and now with 80% of the demographic being made up of 18-35 year olds,” explains Margot James MP, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries. “During 2018 there were over 2.6 billion hours of esports content consumed globally across a multitude of online platforms including; Twitch, Youtube, Mixer, Facebook, Twitter etc. As well as a wide variety of consumption points such as live audience, VR and traditional single screen content.”

The consortium – which consists of ESL UK (the largest esports company in the world), York University, dock10 and Cybula – promises to transform the experiences of millions of fans not only in esports, but in traditional sports broadcast and live entertainment more broadly.

The consortium – which consists of ESL UK, York University, dock10 and Cybula – promises to transform the experiences of millions of fans not only in esports, but in traditional sports broadcast
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ESL will be focusing on the overall project management, utilisation of their esports events for proof of concept and the user experience feedback for those tests. University of York will be bringing their expertise in machine learning, UX design, Human Computer Interaction & research into the convergent space between games, interactive media & TV to help sculpt the overall framework. dock10

will leverage their production facilities to test the framework during ESL’s live esports events. Focal Point VR will contribute their live 8k 360° video capture hardware & software with immersive content studio REWIND helping to create the VR & XR apps & environments for the viewer experience. Cybula’s performance computing clusters will be utilised for big data analysis & delivery.

“At the forefront of an emerging and rapidly growing esports industry, we’re in a unique position to have insight in the live viewing habits and interactivity of young, tech savvy and early adopting audiences” said James Dean, MD ESL UK. “Weavr will create cross-reality viewing experiences allowing fans to immerse themselves in high fidelity statistics, visualisations and data-driven stories that give them deeper insights into live matches, enabling viewers to switch seamlessly between virtual and physical viewing, as well as utilise second screens to watch immersive esports content on the move.”

This Article was originally published on VRScout

Esports Continues Its Push Towards VR via @alicebonasio https://t.co/frhFsgDrJe pic.twitter.com/5b7T3hxy2c

— VRScout (@VRScout) January 23, 2019

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our VR Consultancy service offers comprehensive support in strategic deployment of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

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 Esports Pushing VR Adoption appeared first on Tech Trends.

As Location-Based and cinematic VR continues to expand in a number of directions, with new cutting-edge arcades popping up all over the place, we’re also seeing some of the more established players in the immersive entertainment space collaborating as they figure out how best to scale and monetize this sector.

Such is the case with the just-announced news that mk2 (a leading VR experience provider in Europe) is teaming up with Secret Location.

We’re seeing established players in the immersive entertainment space collaborating as they figure out how to scale and monetize the sector
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Secret Location was founded in Toronto in 2009 as a services company, but has since pivoted into content production. In 2015 its Sleepy Hollow production was one of the first VR experiences to win an Emmy, which it did for “User Experience and Visual Design”. In 2016 the company was acquired by Entertainment One (eOne) which has a movie library valued at over $1.7 billion, and under that umbrella continued to explore the intersection between tech and traditional storytelling.

mk2 has a strong background in managing traditional cinema venues, operating over 26 theaters in Europe
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The partnership is specifically targeted at location-based venues and will integrate Secret Location’s Vusr technology with mk2’s recently launched VR Pods. Vusr is their internally developed cloud-based content management system that streamlines the various challenging logistics involved in delivering immersive experiences.

mk2's VR Pods - plug-and-play solution for professionals – were first unveiled at this year at South by Southwest, and around 100 have been sold across the world since March
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mk2 has a strong background in managing traditional cinema venues, producing over 100 award-winning movies and operating over 26 theaters in Europe. Their VR Pods – plug-and-play solution for professionals – were first unveiled at this year at South by Southwest, and around 100 have been sold across the world since March. Partners so far include public institutions including the National Public Library of France and the Film Fund in Luxembourg, leaders in the movie theater industry such as Nordisk in Scandinavia as well in Brazil (Arvore) and Asia.

In the New Year, mk2 plans to invest on increasing its footprint in the location-based VR market
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Vusr Venue lets Location Based Entertainment VR providers manage their content and experiences through a centralized dashboard. The advantage of that is that by streamlining the process and being able to quickly respond to changing consumer needs during a play session, the provider can improve the overall quality of the experience. Operators are able to manage live sessions, view station-operating statuses, download and install new software, troubleshoot hardware, components and software.

Elisha Karmitz, mk2’s CEO, believes Vusr Venue will give their operators simpler and much more efficient methods for managing the complex back-end components of VR LBEs and will help make mk2’s VR Pods easier to use at scale. “mk2 has long been searching for an easy-to-use content management tool to power our VR Pods. Secret Location’s Vusr Venue is providing exactly what our global customers need, and more,” he added.

The VR Pods come loaded with over 50 curated VR experiences provided by mk2, and with the integration with Secret Location’s Vusr Venue, it now hopes to develop a worldwide VR distribution network, collaborating with prominent studios such as Atlas V, Chris Milk’s WITHIN, SuperHot Team and Felix & Paul to showcase their latest content on their continuously refreshed catalogue.

In the New Year, mk2 plans to invest on increasing its footprint in the location-based VR market, not only by opening new LBE VR venues, but also by investing heavily in content production and distribution, as well as opening a communication agency dedicated to VR.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Mk2 Partners With Secret Location For Worldwide VR Distribution Network via @alicebonasio https://t.co/njIxqpTPNc pic.twitter.com/fL4yhBcvFg

— VRScout (@VRScout) December 20, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our VR Consultancy service offers comprehensive support in strategic deployment of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

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 Betting on Location-Based VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

As our reality becomes increasingly hard to deal with, is virtual escapism the answer?

The late screenwriting legend William Goldman famously said; “nobody knows anything” so predictions – specially about technology – always run the risk of making people look silly in the not-so-distant-future.

That said, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that in the next few years we’re going to see more people becoming “Virtual Reality Refugees.” By which I mean that immersive technologies will provide increasingly attractive alternatives for those wishing to escape the dreamlike madness that has overtaken our real world.

We’re going to see more people becoming 'Virtual Reality Refugees'
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2018 has been a remarkable year for immersive technologies
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2018 has been a remarkable year for immersive technologies (which include the whole spectrum of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality). We’ve seen compelling use cases emerge for AR, VR and MR across education, industry, retail and training, as well as the increased acceptance of it as an art form, with festivals all over the world dedicating space to showcasing VR strands. The Raindance Film Festival, for example, received 600 VR submissions this year, including the first feature-length feature in the format. There’s little doubt that the medium is growing up fast.

Social VR companies like Sansar, High Fidelily, AltspaceVR and others have continued to develop their platforms and build up their user base. Hardware, too, has evolved significantly this part year, with the long-awaited launch of Magic Leap and the release of the Oculus Go, which means that it is now possible to have untethered, six degrees of freedom experiences in a headset costing under $200. And although these technologies haven’t quite yet reached the equivalent tipping point that we’ve seen with the web or mobile, there is steady growth and predictions that the market will continue to grow.

Meanwhile, in the real world…

Scientists agree that we’re about to face increasingly dire consequences from climate change, and NGOs argue that only radical action can hope to avert the next mass extinction. But while nature burns, democracies large and small, old and young, from Brazil to Italy and many more, have chosen to elect populist governments that deny climate change is even real, and who openly advocate racism, misogyny and intolerance, as well as a general contempt for institutions such as a free press. Even countries like Sweden, Germany, and Holland have seen far-right parties make significant gains in recent elections.

Social VR companies like Sansar, High Fidelily, AltspaceVR and others have continued to develop their platforms and build up their user base
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But although this is certainly upsetting – in my case I’ve got four nationalities (U.S. Brazil, U.K. and Italy) and have watched as each of the countries where I have a right to vote have swung towards such candidates – the underlying causes of the phenomenon are the most worrying thing.

People everywhere are angry, they feel let down, cornered, hopeless. And that’s a dangerous position for nations to find themselves in. The global trend unequivocally points towards mass revolt, a lashing out in anger at institutions to make a point (regardless of whether the results harm everyone), and an almost gleeful willingness to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

People everywhere are angry, they feel let down, cornered, hopeless. And that’s a dangerous position for nations to find themselves in
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The situation has got so dire that over the past year I have found almost impossible to watch the news. I can take about 15 minutes before starting to shout at the TV like a mad person, and end up switching over to Netflix. And I’m certainly not alone. Many of my friends report similar behaviour, and it is a fact that in times of crisis there is always a surge in demand for novels, blockbuster movies, videogames, and anything else that offers a way out from a reality that’s become too painful to face on a regular basis.

The situation has got so dire that over the past year I have found almost impossible to watch the news
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In turbulent times, people crave easy answers, and unscrupulous players – From the irresponsible Brexiteers who think nothing of pushing the UK into economic collapse for their shot-term political gain, to the “strong men” such as Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Duterte in the Phillippines, all the way to Trump’s relentless attacks on the checks and balances systems that sustain democracy in the United States – are always poised to take advantage.

In turbulent times, people crave easy answers
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Troubled times also bring heightened demand for escapism. The Romans – who knew a thing or two about building empires and keeping people in check – understood this all too well, a concept known as panem et circenses (the idea that you need to provide people with bread and circus in order to keep them under control) so it’s no coincidence that some of their greatest infrastructure projects (such as the Colosseum) were temples dedicated to the concept of mass distraction. It’s basic human nature, after all, and we’ve never stopped doing it. The only difference is, that our future Colosseums are likely to be virtual spaces.

Troubled times also bring heightened demand for escapism. The Romans understood this all too well, a concept known as panem et circenses
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As part of my job I spend a fair amount of time in simulated worlds, trying out virtual experiences, and I’m always struck by how powerful they are in relation to even the best movies or videogames. The sense of presence you get with VR really is something else. I believe that once more people have the chance to experience just how powerful that sense of presence, of truly “being” somewhere else both physically and psychologically can be with these technologies, the consumer demand for it will be overwhelming.

Which got me thinking that the scenario conjured up by Ernest Cline in Ready Player One – which was made into a Steven Spielberg film in 2018 – might not actually be that far off. Sure, the novel/film at first seems to depict a far-fetched futuristic dystopia, but the elements of that universe are all too familiar. In the story, mankind has damaged the environment to the point where natural resources have basically ran out, causing economic collapse and – consequently – political uncertainty and war.

Once more people experience just how powerful the sense of truly being somewhere else both physically and psychologically can be with immersive technologies, the consumer demand for it will be overwhelming
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At the same time, technology has advanced sufficiently so that it is possible for most people to access highly detailed and sensory-rich virtual worlds on a semi-permanent basis. A bit like that scene in the Matrix where Cypher is eating a juicy steak, and tells Agent Smith that he knows it isn’t real, but doesn’t care.

Think about the last time you looked around and noticed – really noticed – all the people around you checking their phones
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The pace of development with immersive tech has been remarkable
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Although we’re not at the Matrix stage quite yet (unless you subscribe to the theory that we’re already trapped in a Matrix) the pace of development with immersive tech has been nothing short of remarkable. In the past year alone, I’ve gone from mostly experiencing VR in short bursts to comfortably watching a feature-length film without a hint of nausea or discomfort. I believe it’s pretty much inevitable that the technology will continue to advance exponentially, driving quality up and prices down, shrinking hardware to the point where it will effectively become invisible.

Think about the last time you looked around and noticed – really noticed – all the people around you checking their phones. The ones that weren’t were probably just done checking – or just about to. We have become thoroughly dependent upon the stream of digital information that plugs into our daily lives through those mobile devices.

We have become thoroughly dependent upon the stream of digital information that plugs into our daily lives through those mobile devices
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Already that technology is nearly invisible, but fast-forward five or ten years into the future (if we make it that far without the red button being pressed) and I’m willing to bet that most of us won’t be using a screen-based device you need to carry around, take out of your pocket or fish around in your bag for, hold or touch in order to interact with that data stream. It will all be done through wearables, gaze, voice, predictive AI, all integrated into the Mixed Reality spectrum.

As HoloLens inventor Alex Kipman has said, this is nothing short of the next revolution in personal computing, and it will make the disruption caused by the Internet and mobile pale in comparison
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There is a huge vaccuum for someone to build the equivalent of the OASIS described in Ready Player One – a massive alternative universe where people can effectively live out their virtual lives and forget all about the crazy mess that humans made for themselves in the real world. Somewhere which allows people to build their own safe spaces and inhabit them without ever needing to interact with troublesome “others”. It’s an extrapolation of the patterns we already see emerging in social media, where algorithms aid us in constructing bubbles which perpetually reinforce our beliefs – and often our misconceptions and prejudices too.

Will 2019 be the year this VR escapism really starts to take off?
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Will 2019 be the year this VR escapism really starts to take off? I believe we will certainly hit a lot more significant milestones over the next twelve monhts, but whether the long-awaited consumer boom comes in a year or five is not actually that relevant. What’s clear to me is that it is coming, and we should probably prepare for it. Although if humanity’s attitude towards climate change, or Brexit, is anything to go by, we probably won’t.

This article was originally published on The Next Web

2018’s political mess is a boon for VR escapism in 2019 https://t.co/wOkzSsWeIl

— TNW (@thenextweb) December 24, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our Consultancy service offers support in strategic leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR

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 Escaping Into Virtuality appeared first on Tech Trends.