By Daniel Sieberg, Co-founder at GoodTrust

The Covid-19 global pandemic of 2020 brought degrees of loss and heartache into everyone’s lives in untold ways. The scale was beyond comprehension, whether you or your family were directly affected by it or if, like so many of us, you watched in horror as the daily news presented its drumbeat of infections, hospitalizations, and death.

As those tragic events unfolded during months of lockdowns and quarantine we grew more intimate with our digital worlds as they became a kind of sanctuary. We tapped into social media in new ways (albeit not always productive or healthy ones). We relied on online shopping for everything from toilet paper to oat milk to running shoes. We searched for medical information and health updates on a constant basis. And we clung to our personal devices like life preservers. The constant glow of our screens became the new campfire.

While these technological accessories and services provided something of a lifeline, they also forced us into a greater merger of an offline life and an online one. For so many of us it’s sometimes hard to know the difference anymore. We work more from home (or live more at work?), need constant connectivity and laptops for remote education and rely on telemedicine in countless forms.

The constant glow of our screens became the new campfire
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Our social circles are often managed online, the entertainment we love is streamed into our homes and we capture so much of our activities, interests and precious moments through mobile devices and apps. On average we each spend 6 hours and 42 minutes online each day.

But while we got used to the idea of living online, we now need to get used to the concept of dying online. There are an estimated 30 million dead people on Facebook today, yet that number is still relatively small considering the platform’s 2.7 billion monthly users. By 2100 there will be between 1.4 and 4.9 billion dead people on Facebook alone – likely more dead accounts than live ones.

Our social circles are often managed online
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In the spring of 2020 the devastating health crisis coupled with deaths in our immediate families got some of us thinking about what would happen to our digital lives if our analog ones ceased to exist. As a result, Rikard Steiber, a former Google executive, and a number of us former Googlers and others started a company called GoodTrust. We want to make it possible to act now on your own behalf – or someone else’s – to save everything that matters to you. It’s a more complex and challenging dilemma than we’d originally envisioned with the hurdles and obstacles only mounting in rapid fashion as the pace of innovation accelerates – and we want to help.

On average we each spend 6 hours and 42 minutes online each day
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We’re creating an online existence that feels, well, pretty good, in addition to our real life. Albeit not always authentic. But as we’re able to see our efforts and those of others presented to the world we’d like it to continue on this journey for as long as possible and maybe beyond. It’s time to solve this mounting digital dilemma by saving what matters to each of us.

There are an estimated 30 million dead people on Facebook today
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The GoodTrust platform allows anyone to carry out their digital afterlife wishes from memorializing a Facebook page to extracting photos from Google to shuttering subscription accounts like LinkedIn or Netflix. GoodTrust combines scalable technology with in-house experts to tackle both the decision-making process and the legal complexities. We don’t like ruminating on death because it feels depressing, but no matter what happens on the other side – whether it’s a multiverse or heaven or reincarnation – death comes for us all.

By 2100 there will be between 1.4 and 4.9 billion dead people on Facebook alone
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Yet just as each of our offline lives is unique so too can it be said about our online ones. The decisions you make will be up to you but in the absence of making those choices you may be left with a digital legacy that sacrifices reputation, finances and even relationships. The stakes are high, as your digital stuff like photos, emails, documents, and profiles are no less meaningful than those saved in the physical world.

The @MyGoodTrust platform allows anyone to carry out their digital afterlife wishes
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There are several critical aspects to consider from the role of tech companies (where I’ve worked for many years) to outdated privacy laws to emotional considerations with friends, family, and loved ones. But none of it is going away and there is a growing need for all parties involved to find better ways to work together and develop solutions. The tidal wave of this issue is hitting us now – even beyond the pandemic – as we shift so much of our lives to places we can’t even touch. There’s no going back. And we need to unlock a better way to help all of us better manage our last wishes – even if it’s in the so-called “virtual” world, the reasons it all matters to us are very real indeed.

Daniel Sieberg is Co-founder and content lead at GoodTrust and author of The Digital Diet: the four-step plan to break your tech addiction and regain balance in your life and a forthcoming book on the digital afterlife with Rikard Steiber.

The post Taking Control of Your Digital Afterlife appeared first on Tech Trends.

In the midst of the growing coronavirus pandemic, holding any sort of normal conference is entirely out of the question. But although it might seem like the entire world is grinding to a halt, life goes on and there are still some exciting announcements coming out of the tech world.

XR offers us new ways to enable collaboration, remote work, and all manner of interaction which (at least for a while) might be difficult or downright impossible in real life
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But in fact, there has never been a more opportune time to push for advancements in (and adoption of) immersive tech. As so many of us are asked to work from home or find ourselves isolated from one another, XR offers us new ways to enable collaboration, remote work, and all manner of interaction which (at least for a while) might be difficult or downright impossible in real life.

In the midst of the growing coronavirus pandemic, holding any sort of normal conference is entirely out of the question
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There has never been a more opportune time to push for advancements in (and adoption of) immersive tech
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So we’re excited to see this first all-digital Facebook: Game Developers Showcase which promises many announcements, trailers, developer interviews and more this week.

Things kicked off with a major update to the Oculus Quest system experience that makes VR more flexible, social, and easy to use. It comes with a completely redesigned universal menu, new immersive overlays, and multi-window support for 2D apps starting with Oculus Browser— these updates are launching as experimental features later this month.

The personal dashboard lets you navigate between immersive environments and 2D apps, control your device, and stay connected with people and with your system’s status while in VR
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Redesigned universal menu

The personal dashboard lets you navigate between immersive environments and 2D apps, control your device, and stay connected with people and with your system’s status while in VR. The new design organizes information more clearly to help users navigate to commonly-used system apps like Explore, Store, Browser, and TV more quickly, as well as access key settings like brightness and volume. It also brings recently and frequently used apps front and center so it’s easy to jump back into the action.

Immersive overlays

These make it possible to bring up content, like the universal menu, without leaving the app you’re in. That means it’s easier than ever to find and control system functions without returning to the home screen. This should provide more seamless access to functions like making a friend request, casting, or live streaming. This will be available in WebXR apps launched from Oculus Browser to start and will come to more apps on the Oculus Platform as developers add support, so over time, you’ll have instant access to your menu anytime and anywhere in VR.

Oculus Browser supporting multiple windows

Users can now multitask, opening, closing, and rearranging windows from a new control box above the window. Support for multiple windows will first come to Oculus Browser, with support for more 2D apps like Chats and Store coming later.

These updates continue to evolve the Quest experience and represent a step toward VR becoming the next computing platform
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Together, these updates continue to evolve the Quest experience and represent a step toward VR becoming the next computing platform. It all starts rolling out this month, users can opt-in by going to the Experimental Features section in Settings and toggling the new features on.

The VR platform of the future must enable people to multitask easily, navigate between apps seamlessly, stay connected with others, and quite simply do more. From gaming to media and entertainment, from social experiences to getting work done, VR as the next computing platform will support the full spectrum of uses that people expect from their devices, like phones and laptops, today.

New Timbaland Music Pack Announced for Beat Saber

Launching March 26^th, gamers will be able to access new music by the legendary rapper, created specifically for the game. It features hit artists like Bruno Martini, Kaydence, Common Strangers, Sid Tipton, and Timbaland himself. The pack, priced at $7.99 (or $1.99 per song) on Oculus Quest and Rift, includes the following tracks:

• Sid Tipton, Timbaland – Has A Meaning
• Kaydence, Timbaland – Dumb Thingz
• Wavezswavesz – While We’re Young
• Nash Overstreet, Karra & Common Strangers – What I Like
• Bruno Martini, Timbaland – Famous ft. Jake Davis

On launch day at midnight, these tracks will also be available on iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify

Beat Saber has also proven a viable way for artists and entertainers to connect with their fans
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Beat Saber continues to dominate the charts and has gone Double-Platinum, selling over 2-million copies worldwide across all platforms. In addition to breaking records within the VR community, the game has also proven a viable way for artists and entertainers to connect with their fans, as the packs have sold 10 million songs through downloadable content from artists like imagine Dragons, Green Day, K/DA, and others.

Beat Saber continues to dominate the charts and has gone Double-Platinum, selling over 2-million copies worldwide across all platforms
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Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a XR and Digital Transformation 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 Building the VR Platform of the Future appeared first on Tech Trends.

This looks to be the year where we move beyond tentative experimentation into scalable deployment of immersive tech in the workplace. That’s the consensus that seems to emerge from “Top 2020 Trends: Enterprise AR & VR” a report published today by Unity Technologies, where 15 industry experts (yours truly among them) outlined how Mixed Reality (or XR depending on what flavor acronym you favor) will supercharge and transform the world of work.

XR has proven to be a paradigm shift for enterprise in terms of boosting productivity, cost-savings, and learning and development
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According to the report, we can expect even cautious companies to finally follow in the footsteps of their pioneering counterparts as XR becomes more accessible and mainstream, driven by a wave of new and improved HMDs, mobile AR and standalone VR, and the onset of 5G networks.

This looks to be the year where we move beyond tentative experimentation into scalable deployment of immersive tech in the workplace
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XR has proven to be a paradigm shift for enterprise in terms of boosting productivity, cost-savings, and learning and development, particularly in relation to highly skilled and specialized areas ranging from surgery to spacecraft engineering. Yet where so far we have seen pioneering companies work largely on an experimental trial-and-error basis, this next decade will see research catching up to meaningfully support this deployment on the ground.

We can expect even cautious companies to finally follow in the footsteps of their pioneering counterparts as XR becomes more accessible and mainstream
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Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, enterprise stakeholders will increasingly have the information and expert guidance at their disposal to tailor and customize solutions optimized for their specific industry, goals, and needs.

A recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study found that 87% of large companies are currently exploring, piloting, or deploying Mixed Reality, but the vast majority of those are still in the exploratory or proof-of-concept stages.

Academic research is now being conducted all over the world to investigate not if XR works but how it works and what considerations must be taken into account when designing content. One recent example is this article published on Frontiers in Psychology, which identifies significant differences in how people retain information in the short and long term depending on whether content is delivered in “active” or “passive” VR modes.

In the last couple of years, major companies everywhere ran proof-of-concept XR projects with uniformly positive results
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As more such studies are conducted, and more use cases are shared among enterprise stakeholders across an expanding ecosystem of different industries, we will move on from the heady days of experimental exploration and marveling at the power of immersive technologies towards more targeted, considered, evidence-based and industry-specific approaches. In other words, enterprise XR is about to enter its grown-up phase.

A Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study found that 87% of large companies are currently exploring, piloting, or deploying Mixed Reality
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“After a few years of testing applications, many verticals and use cases have proven ROI. The perception of gimmickry has given way to real business value,” says Maria Fernandez Guajardo, Facebook’s Director of Enterprise AR/VR, adding that 2020 is going to be a critical, if not glamorous, time for enterprise VR. “The industry will need to put in the arduous work of scale: establishing infrastructure, integrating workflows and connecting a comprehensive ecosystem,” she says.

With its effectiveness well established, the time has come for XR to move beyond “fancy demos, proof-of-concepts and pilots” to become “an indispensable digital productivity tool” used across the entire product lifecycle, from R&D to marketing to maintenance the report reads.

Academic research is now being conducted all over the world to investigate not if XR works but how it works and what considerations must be taken into account when designing content
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Yet these new opportunities also bring new challenges. Timoni West, Director of XR Research Unity Labs says UX designers will have to adjust in order to meet the demand for these new kinds of experiences. “Instead of making responsive design just for different devices, they’ll have to start thinking about responsive design as computers react to everything in the real world. Gestures, voice, gaze, time of day, how many people are in the room, and where you are: all of these variables are now new user inputs that have to be taken into account,” she explains.

According to Vinay Narayan VP, Platform Strategy and Developer Community HTC VIVE, this upcoming year will present the most robust ecosystem of innovations yet. “Technological innovations will make XR experiences a widely accessible tool for industrial enterprises of any scope and size,” he says.

There is also a lot of hard work to be done on the infrastructure and connectivity side for this promise to be delivered: “We can expect that enterprises will be spending less time on UX experiments and more time on designing a solid infrastructure around the data,” says Andreea Raducan, Head of Marketing at Innoactive, adding that whether we’re looking at 3D assets, VR apps, internal processes information, or lines of code, data needs to flow across platforms and reach various locations in real-time.

“As 5G networks come online, graphics and compute will increasingly be served from the network edge,” adds NVIDIA’s Director of Virtual Reality David Weinstein. “In the last couple of years, major companies everywhere ran proof-of-concept XR projects. The results were uniformly positive: faster time to market, lower total costs, better trained employees, happier customers, healthier patients. These early results will drive a virtuous cycle of growth and innovation,” he concludes.

Enterprise XR is about to enter its grown-up phase
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You can download the full report for free here

Want the latest insights from industry experts in enterprise AR & VR? Look no further!

Read our blog to see how 2020 will be a defining year https://t.co/zyibVIsMR8

— Unity (@unity3d) February 12, 2020

Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a XR and Digital Transformation 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 Enterprise XR is Coming of Age appeared first on Tech Trends.

As the extended reality (XR) market matures, it appears to have reached a tipping point. Divergences in successful use cases are starting to make themselves evident, and questions have lingered around everything from consumer awareness and content availability to technology adoption, costs and ergonomics. While many of these questions are progressively being addressed and the sector is picking up momentum, VR Intelligence spoke to over 750 professionals working in and around XR to find out the state of XR today, and how the sector might evolve in the near to longer-term.

The extended reality (XR) market appears to have reached a tipping point
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The survey finds strong evidence that XR is establishing itself quickly and strongly in supporting enterprise but still struggling to gain a major foothold for consumers: almost half (49.2%) report that growth on the consumer side was weaker than expected, as opposed to just 25.7% in the VR for enterprise segment.

Attempting to chase this growth, XR technology and content providers are shifting their focus towards providing enterprise XR solutions, with 73% of these companies saying they are working on VR for enterprise functions and just under 65% doing the same for AR/MR, as opposed to less than half working on VR consumer functions and 37.4% working on AR/MR.

The survey finds strong evidence that XR is establishing itself strongly in enterprise but still struggling to gain a major foothold for consumers
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VR Intelligence spoke to over 750 professionals working in and around XR to find out the state of XR today, and how the sector might evolve in the near to longer-term
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Likewise, hardware, software and third-party content creators for extended reality (XR) are seeing much stronger enterprise growth compared to consumer sector growth over the last 12 months: almost half (49.2%) reported that growth on the consumer side was weaker than expected, as opposed to just 25.7% in the VR for enterprise segment.

One explanation of dip in XR for consumer applications may be the gaming industry; a significant source of early growth for XR, this years’ survey shows far less interest in gaming from XR technology companies: in 2018, 50% of respondents said that they intended to work within the gaming industry over the next 12 months, but this had fallen to just a third of respondents from the supply side of XR in the 2019 results. Despite this, consumer entertainment content creators in the XR space continue to find value in XR, with 75.9% of that segment reporting that VR had had a very or somewhat positive impact on their business, and 72.3% saying the same for AR/MR.

93% of enterprise users said that VR had had a positive impact on their business and 88.4% said the same for AR/MR
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Ultimately, the gains from successfully leveraging XR are real and demonstrable. 93% of enterprise users said that VR had had a positive impact on their business and 88.4% said the same for AR/MR. And in 2019, we have seen a series of high-profile announcements from the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, Huawei and YouTube, suggesting 2020 could be a breakthrough year for consumer XR.

in 2019 we have seen a series of high-profile announcements from the likes of Facebook, Google, Apple, Huawei and YouTube, suggesting 2020 could be a breakthrough year for consumer XR
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To dissect more of these key trends and understand where the XR market is heading globally, VR Intelligence interviewed and surveyed over 750 XR professionals working at the sharp end of XR implementation, of whom 35% come from C-suite positions. Featuring real-world case studies and insights from HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Intel, Nvidia and more, the XR Industry Insight Report takes a comprehensive dive into the XR landscape of today and seeks to distil what the future holds for this young but blossoming industry.

The XR Industry Insight Report includes:

• XR Growth Trends: In which areas is the industry seeing the greatest growth, and what is required for future growth?
• Immersive Technology for Enterprise in 2019: What has been the impact of enterprise XR and what are the challenges limiting further uptake?
• XR for Consumers: How has XR impacted B2C industries, why has consumer growth stalled and how can we increase consumer uptake?
• 2020: A Critical Year for XR: With a host of new products and services planned amid further development of AR and MR, will 2020 be the Year of XR?

VR Intelligence interviewed and surveyed over 750 XR professionals working at the sharp end of XR implementation
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Get the XR Industry Insight Report 2019-2020 here

The XR Industry Insight Report 2019-2020 was researched and produced association with VR Intelligence’s upcoming VRX Conference & Expo, taking place December 12-13, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel. Expecting more than 600 senior attendees from across gaming, entertainment, healthcare, retail, automotive industries and more, VRX is the world’s premier B2B immersive tech event for those wishing to use XR to boost ROI, propel their business forward and engage consumers through immersive, innovative experiences. More information can be found on the website.

You can also view the findings of the research in an infographic available here

Tech Trends is an official media partner of VRX 2019

Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

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. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Report: XR Industry Insight 2019-2020 appeared first on Tech Trends.

The latest forecast from technology analyst firm CCS Insight highlights some of the challenges facing makers of head-worn virtual and augmented reality devices. Despite early enthusiasm and a continued expectation of significant long-term potential for the technology, there is much work yet to be done on improving user experience, developing software platforms and – above all – making attractive content for those platforms available to consumers.

“We continue to believe that content is the key to unlocking adoption of VR. Although some games companies and adult content creators have embraced VR technology, much more needs to happen to persuade consumers that VR devices are a must-have item,” says Ben Wood, CCS Insight’s chief of research.

This sober yet positive message is the main conclusion of the company’s recently published global market report for VR and AR devices. In it, the research firm forecasts 8 million virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets and glasses will be sold in 2018, down from 10 million in 2017, but growing to 14 million in 2019 and eventually to 52 million in 2022.

Smartphone VR headsets sales have collapsed, but standalone devices like the Oculus Go hold great promise
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The market for VR has gone through several phases, according to Wood. “The first wave of consumers used basic cardboard viewers, which helped them understand the potential of the media, but the limited experience meant most people quickly lost interest. We don’t even include such devices in our forecast anymore”. He continues, “Attention then turned to smartphone-based devices such as the Samsung Gear VR and the Zeiss One Plus VR. These have played an important role in raising the awareness of the technology over the past three years, but interest in these devices has now waned”.

Accordingly, the firm’s forecast shows a dramatic drop in sales of smartphone VR devices, from nearly 8 million units in 2017 to fewer than 3 million this year. This decline has occurred despite heavy price cuts and extensive promotions over the past 12 months.

“We believe the device market has now shifted away from the early wave of cheaper, less-functional cardboard and plastic smartphone VR viewers. We expect the next wave of adoption to come from dedicated devices that offer a more compelling, wire-free experience,” Wood concludes.

CCS Insight believes the advent of standalone VR headsets – which overcome the awkwardness of being attached to a PC, smartphone or games console – will help to reinvigorate this product category both for consumers and businesses. Its forecast shows demand in that category growing over 16 times between 2018 and 2022, when 29 million standalone VR headsets are expected to be sold.

CCS Insight expects the market will return to growth in 2019, reaching 14 million devices
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The company believes devices such as Facebook’s Oculus Go and Oculus Quest, which are being offered at retail prices of $200 and $400 respectively, are good examples of the future of VR. Wood also notes that the Chinese market is looking particularly promising and Facebook’s partnership with Xiaomi has helped those headsets make a strong start there.

There is still, however, a role to be played in this market by tethered devices like the Sony PlayStation VR, HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, as currently they still offer a higher quality experience than standalone devices are able to deliver. Accordingly, CCS Insight forecasts that 5 million tethered VR headsets will be sold in 2019, growing to 18 million in 2022.

52 million VR and AR devices will be sold in 2022 with a market value of $8.5 billion
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Sony, which CCS Insight considers as the most successful manufacturer of tethered VR headsets to date, looks set to continue with its strategy of offering its VR headset as an accessory to the large number of PlayStation owners as these devices are best suited to meet the needs of the most dedicated gamers, who want a best-in-class experience.

The report also assesses the market for AR smart glasses, which have so far seen significantly slower adoption compared to VR. The main use for AR devices continues to be in business operations such as customer service, logistics, remote servicing, design and other related applications, and interest remains high in those categories. Although businesses have taken a cautious approach to AR devices, initially focusing on pilot deployments, but CCS Insight believes there are signals of growth as the chart below demonstrates.

The company believes devices such as Facebook's Oculus Go and Oculus Quest, which are being offered at retail prices of $200 and $400 respectively, are good examples of the future of VR
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“We are seeing a rising number of companies committing to deployments of tens or hundreds of augmented reality glasses as they start to see the clear benefits of head-worn technology in the workplace,” explains Wood, although he cautions that this market growth will take time, with cumulative global sales not expected to top 1 million units before 2021.

When thinking about AR glasses for consumers, Wood notes that these devices continue to be “more common in science fiction than in real life” with little evidence of a product with mass-market appeal any time soon. Nevertheless, CCS Insight’s long-range forecast does include a scenario of accelerated adoption if a major consumer brand like Apple decides to enter the market.

Yet in Tech Trends’ humble view, with Magic Leap finally entering the arena this year and a new version of the HoloLens expected to be unveiled by Microsoft next year, it could be that this tipping point might arrive even sooner, and perhaps even driven (perish the thought!) by players other than Apple. Watch this space…

We are seeing a rising number of companies committing to deployments of tens or hundreds of augmented reality glasses as they start to see the clear benefits of head-worn technology in the workplace
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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 Report: VR Device Market Outlook appeared first on Tech Trends.

Free yourself of cables and smartphones with the new Oculus Go VR headset.

Once I got it up and running on my Wi-Fi the brand new Oculus Go was a real surprise. Every new VR headset from the big companies takes us a small step closer to enjoying the true possibilities of VR but I have become a bit jaded by the slow progress. Each baby step forwards a new device takes feels so small and iterative it leaves me feeling like I am wading through mud to get to the future of VR. The Oculus Go, however, took a solid and pleasing stride ahead of the rest, not a jump or a leap but enough to make a real difference in how we access and consume VR.

Every new VR headset from the big companies takes us a small step closer to enjoying the true possibilities of VR but I have become a bit jaded by the slow progress
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The Oculus go takes a solid and pleasing stride ahead of the rest, not a jump or a leap but enough to make a real difference in how we access and consume VR
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That step is VR that is independent from cables or mobile phones. For a couple of years now we have been waiting for the latest phone with the latest VR tech onboard, paying a fortune then plugging it into unimpressive headsets while it overheats and crashes or tethering ourselves to PC towers or more recently backpack computers. You do need a phone with Bluetooth to set up the Go but after you have created your account and connected it to your Wi-Fi you are free and the Go becomes something we have not seen before, an affordable, standalone device for enjoying VR whenever and wherever you want.

You need a phone with Bluetooth to set up the Oculus Go but after you connect it to your Wi-Fi, you are free and it becomes an affordable, standalone device for enjoying VR whenever and wherever you want
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Don’t get too excited, the Go has a bunch of limitations but the liberation of an independent VR device is the true achievement here. Oculus has basically built a stripped-down mobile phone into the Go and the specs are very last year. The 5.5-inch screen is 2560 x 1440 resolution (1280 by 1440 per eye). It uses a 2016 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor and comes in two flavours, a $199 base model with 32GB of onboard storage and a $249 64GB version. Clearly keeping it affordable was the goal here and considering you don’t need the latest and greatest $1k phone to use it the prices look very good indeed.

The Go has a bunch of limitations but the liberation of an independent VR device is the true achievement here
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In use, the screen is as good as most consumer VR devices out there but good content always helps you forget about the pixels and sucks you into the experience so I try to judge the content, not the screen. Motion is OK, with a refresh rate of 60Hz it is a little juddery but generally fine and I only felt a twinge of nausea when first getting used to the Go. The environments feel nice and solid around you and the simple hand controller was very effective and runs on a single AA battery so is easy to power. Charging the headset battery is also easy via any micro USB cable and is quite quick. To keep the weight down Oculus limited the battery to a stated 3 hours of charge, I got a bit less than that in real-world use but I’m never in VR for more than an hour or two anyway.

To keep the weight down Oculus limited the battery to a stated 3 hours of charge, I got a bit less than that in real-world use but I’m never in VR for more than an hour or two anyway
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Sound is another feature worth discussing, as – a bit like the Microsoft Hololens – the Go has built-in speakers that direct sound into your ears without the need for headphones. Oculus claim you get spatial sound and I did identify some instances where the sounds around me worked very well with the environment, making me turn to find the source but generally the freedom from headphones was the best part of this system. Those around you in quiet rooms will hear a bit of bleed but it is nothing bad and if you want to go old school the Go does have a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can be more private if you wish.

The Oculus Go speakers direct sound into your ears without the need for headphones
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In use I found the Go to be very comfortable if a little heavy. After a couple of hours, my neck did feel it but it is really no worse than something like the Samsung Gear VR with an S9 in it. I used the included glasses spacer and found the new lenses Oculus boast about to be adequate but my field of vision was a bit limited and the grooves in the lenses did become visible to me at points. I found I got a better experience by turning my head to look at things rather than using my peripheral vision.

The lack of friction for the user feels so good after years of faffing and fiddling and popping phones in and out and trailing headphone cables around that it felt like real progress
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I highly recommend you try out the Jurassic World: Blue to experience to see a first-rate, cutting-edge VR demo. It was a stiff test for the Go but the extra detail and quality of the textures and animation is worth it. Another, more interactive test was the Tomb Raider Lara’s Escape VR I found this to be quite compelling and made good use of the handset. The spatial audio here was also effective as you are chased through underground tunnels. However, I spent the longest time in Bait by Resolution, just fishing.

Soothed by gentle music and surrounded by cool lapping water and palm trees I cast my lures and emerged calm and rested
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Soothed by gentle music and surrounded by cool lapping water and palm trees I cast my lures and relaxed, finding myself calm and rested when I emerged. I really think the power of VR to affect us emotionally is best observed through the gentle experiences rather than raging first-person shooters. Overall the Go wasn’t flashy but was comfortable, affordable and easy to use.

All sounding good you say but what exactly got me so excited? It was the fact I could just pick it up, put it on and Go (excuse me, but it is true). The lack of friction for the user feels so good after years of faffing and fiddling and popping phones in and out and trailing headphone cables around that it felt like real progress. The Oculus Go is not breaking any new technical ground but it cuts the cord and shows us the way forward.

Retails at: $199 with 32GB of onboard storage and $249 for 64GB

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Tom Atkinson is a Digital Producer & Photographer at R3Digital and Reviews & Dept. Editor at Tech Trends. Connect on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @R3Digital

The post Product Review: Oculus Go appeared first on Tech Trends.

The past months have seen scandals emerge that have demonstrated to Brits the value their data holds, and the risks that come with giving it away so freely.

By Gary McKay, Co-founder of APPII

With privacy becoming an increasing concern, but users reluctant to sacrifice the ease of use that Internet freedom allows them, blockchain offers a solution to reconcile data protection with simplicity without the need for regulation.

Until recently, we gave our data away because we either didn’t realise we were doing so, or because we perceive it to be a small price to pay
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Cambridge Analytica demonstrated not only how efficacious harnessing seemingly useless data can be in producing real world results, but also how easily data can be collected unknowingly from online users. Another UK company Carphone Warehouse was fined in January of this year for having historically stored customer data using insufficient security measures, as was discovered when the data was stolen by hackers. This shows that even data that was collected legally and for the direct purpose of buying a phone contract can be used later for nefarious purposes such as identity theft.

Until recently, we have given our data away because we either didn’t realise we were doing so, or because we perceive it to be a small price to pay for an easy transaction. Data that holds value for all sorts of companies can be collected from any manner of online interactions; from a baking video you liked on Facebook, to the tube stop that you tap in at every morning with your contactless card.

We want to have more control over our data and how it is used without sacrificing the ease that sharing it allows us to operate with
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We want to have more control over our data and how it is used, but we don’t want to sacrifice the ease and simplicity that sharing it allows us to operate with. The problem is that actively controlling where your data does and does not exist is a laborious and time-consuming process. It could mean always entering your details manually on a new platform every time you log in rather than just using your Facebook credentials. Alternatively, it could mean exercising your GDPR-given right to manually ask every company you suspect might be storing your data to ‘forget’ you.

Blockchain relies on sophisticated cryptography to ensure that all the data it stores is safely encrypted
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It is clearly time for a shift in the way we view our data, and crucially, the way we secure it. Blockchain technology provides a solution that safeguards data without sacrificing any of the functionality that a free and open Internet provides. Blockchain is essentially a vast, distributed, ledger where data is stored across a web of different devices, rather than in one centralised place that makes it vulnerable to hacking. Most essentially, blockchain relies on sophisticated cryptography to ensure that all the data it stores is safely encrypted.

It is clearly time for a shift in the way we view and secure our data
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As has been well-documented over the last year or so, the real-life applications of blockchain are myriad and diverse and will therefore replace the methods by which we currently share our data in many, many cases. Rather than sharing our information with every online shop or platform, we can store our data on a blockchain. This combats the problem in several ways. Firstly, distributed across many different devices (the data on each of which is futile in itself,) the information is not stored in one centralised place where it is at risk of an external security breach. Secondly, the information is encrypted and can easily be secured by biometric identification, meaning that only you would ever be able to access and share it.

Cambridge Analytica demonstrated not only how efficacious harnessing seemingly useless data can be in producing real world results, but also how easily data can be collected unknowingly from online users
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To put this into context, take the recruitment industry. Candidates share reams of confidential data with recruiters and potential employers during the job-hunting process. This sort of data is extremely valuable in many different ways and, as such, is a target for hackers. Blockchain CVs already exist – candidates can enter their qualification and employment history on to the blockchain. Once it is verified by the institutions where that person enrolled or qualified, the CV is secured immutably.

Candidates share reams of confidential data with recruiters and potential employers during the job-hunting process
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Candidates can then apply for jobs with a CV that is trusted and credible but; moreover, they are safe in the knowledge that their data is securely held. They can use their own biometric data to share the data they want, when they want, and they can employ smart contracts to dictate how long their data is accessible to the people they’ve shared it with, such as recruiters or potential employers.

Blockchain CVs already exist
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This is just one example of the endless possibilities blockchain has in revolutionising the way we view security and data sharing, without compromising on the ease and openness that the Internet is synonymous with. By encrypting data and allowing the owner full control over when and how it is shared, blockchain offers the solution to an increasingly pressing issue.

The post Expert View: Reconciling Privacy and Internet Freedom with Blockchain appeared first on Tech Trends.

Visionaries and their inventions often draw inspiration from works of fiction.

From Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to Greek Mythology, in this Quartz article I look at what has drawn people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Tim Berners Lee to some of their favourite books, and how they have inspired their work, shaping the technology they invented, and changing the world we all live in today.

When it comes to technology, reality often plays catch-up to fiction
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Mark Twain is best known for all-American novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. But he was also a forward-thinking futurist. Back in 1898, in his short story From The London Times, Twain described a gadget called the Telelectroscope—a “limitless-distance” telephone that connected people around the globe. “By grace of this marvelous instrument he was almost as free as the birds of the air… Now and then I would hear him say, ‘Give me Hong-Kong’; next, ‘Give me Melbourne’ … Sometimes the talk that came from those far regions through the microphone attachment interested me, and I listened.”

Another book that paints a picture of what Virtual Reality worlds might look like is William Gibson’s Neuromancer
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Indeed, when it comes to technology, reality often plays catch-up to fiction. So it should come as no surprise that some of the people responsible for the greatest technological strides of the past decades cite literature as a source of inspiration. Here are a few of the books that have fired up the imaginations of our biggest innovators and fed their ambition to transform the world.

Mark Twain is best known for novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, but he was also a futurist
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Dial F For Frankenstein

Internet inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee drew his inspiration from science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who coined the famous quote “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” and described satellites in such detail he could have patented the idea 20 years before they became reality. Clarke’s story Dial F For Frankenstein, set in 1975, describes an automatic telephone exchange system with the equivalent number of switches as there are neurons in the human brain.

The Aenid

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg reads a lot—in 2015, he even fit reading a book every two weeks in around his rather packed schedule. But his choice of favorite tome might raise a few eyebrows: The Aeneid by Virgil. It recounts Aeneas’ quest after he escapes the ruins of Troy to build a city that “knows no boundaries in time and greatness.” Some might say that his empire-building tendencies could have its roots in his penchant for Ancient Roman classics.

Snow Crash

Google co-founder Sergey Brin named Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash as one of his favorite novels, and other tech innovators cite it as having directly inspired the development of Google Earth. He’s not the only one to have been inspired by the 1992 novel and its description of online social networks and virtual worlds: Second Life creator Philip Rosedale is also a fan, and the platform’s users routinely using the novel’s term “the Metaverse” to describe Second Life. (In the book, the term describes a virtual-reality-based internet much like Rosedale’s latest VR project, High Fidelity.) Appropriately, Stephenson is currently the “chief futurist” at mixed-reality (MR) company Magic Leap.

Tom Swift

You might not have heard of Jack Cover, but you will be familiar with his most famous invention: the Taser. The NASA researcher was inspired to create the device first described in his favorite childhood book, Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (which, we should note, was riddled with racist narratives including the fictional taser being used on “savages” while raiding Africa for ivory). In fact “Taser” is an acronym for Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle.

Neuromancer

Another book that paints a picture of what virtual-reality worlds might look like is William Gibson’s Neuromancer. Jeremy Bailenson, founder of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, credits the book with inspiring him to become a scholar of avatars. The 1984 book about a washed-up hacker hired to pull out a risky hack against a mysterious employer also inspired The Matrix films.

Greek mythology

Mythology has helped inspire the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Bristol University scholar Genevieve Liveley regularly lectures on the theme of “cyborgs and robots in Greek myth,” and at the recent Love and Sex with Robots conference in London, she delivered a fascinating talk on how the myth of Galatea—the ivory statue which is brought to life by the sculptor Pygmalion—can be extremely helpful in informing how we think about human-machine interaction in future. “As a historian, I’m reminded that when we try to anticipate the future, our cognitive parameters and frames are shaped by the past,” she said at the conference. “We are really, really bad at anticipating the future with any degree of certainty, so one of the ways we try and do it is by telling stories.”

Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy

In his book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, tech journalist Ashlee Vance wrote that Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a major inspiration for the entrepreneur. Musk says the books made him realize how “a lot of times the question is harder than the answer.” The novels, which have been translated into more than 30 languages, follow the misadventures of the last surviving human following the demolition of planet Earth by an alien construction fleet. Plenty of other members of the tech crowd are big Adams fans, too. In fact, if you ask Google for the answer to the novel’s central question—the meaning of life—the search engine will promptly return, in calculator mode, the story’s answer: 42.

Fiction is a powerful tool for helping visionaries invent the future
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From Elon’s love of “Hitchhiker’s” to Zuckerberg’s Greek epics: How literature has inspired technology https://t.co/BX20geAN3h

— Quartz (@qz) December 29, 2016

 

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 and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post How Literature Inspires Technology appeared first on Tech Trends.

We explore some of the ways that our digital legacy can outlast our biological selves. From Holograms to implants and 3-D Printing with ashes, technology and design will play a much bigger role in how we deal with death and bereavement. Where does that leave our sense of identity and our relationships with our loved ones after they die?

When my grandmother passed away this year, I was devastated. She may have been in her late 80s, but her sunny personality and boundless energy made it seem like she’d would probably just live forever.

As someone who spends most of my time online, I’m unsettled by this idea of not being in control of my online persona once I die
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My grandma was what you’d call a “silver surfer.” From the moment she inherited her daughter’s old laptop, she embraced the internet like a digital native. It wasn’t long before we were helping her set up a Facebook profile which she used to happily spend hours sharing cute animals videos and writing us sweet messages ALWAYS WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN CAPS. I gave up explaining to her that this amounted to constant shouting. She liked it that way.

A few months after she’d passed away, I was a bit shocked to see her picture pop up in my notifications, reminding me that it was her birthday. I hadn’t forgotten, but it saddened me to imagine other family members whose grief was still very raw receiving similar messages. I had thought—perhaps naively—that since Facebook knew enough about my life and habits to bombard me with targeted advertisements it would also know my grandmother was no longer with us. But the bots didn’t have a clue.

Technology is currently challenging our conceptualization of what it means to live—and die
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I looked up the procedure to report a death to Facebook, and requested that her account be “memorialized.” This means that nobody can log in to the account again, but her posts remain visible to the people they were originally shared with, and friends and family can continue to share memories on her timeline. I wanted to digitally preserve the memory of my grandmother.

After making my request I almost immediately received a response from someone in Facebook’s community operations team asking me to send them her death certificate. Their response struck me as strange and insensitive—like I was making it up for some reason. Since I didn’t have that document (my grandmother lived in Brazil and I didn’t handle the funeral arrangements), I argued that they should be able to verify her passing through the evidence available on their own platform. Facebook eventually agreed, but I can’t say it was a particularly pleasant process.

Technology is currently challenging our conceptualization of what it means to live—and die. “The tech industry is not really up on death,” says Stacey Pitsillides, a design lecturer at the University of Greenwich who is a PhD candidate in the field of data contextualization in digital death. Since starting her research several years ago, Pitsillides says she’s witnessed a remarkable shift: People are becoming increasingly eager to immortalize personal experiences online, just as I had felt after my grandmother’s passing.

Our digital footprint already outlives our biological self
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This observation prompted her to set up Love After Death, a panel showcased at FutureFest in London to help people explore how technology is becoming integrated into new forms of creative expressions around death and dying. I met Pitsillides at FutureFest, a festival of ideas sponsored by innovation charity NESTA, to discuss the concept of digital legacies.

Technology is currently challenging our conceptualization of what it means to live—and die. Pitsillides believes that technology and design will play an increasingly important role in the process of mourning, which she calls “creative bereavement.” “By creating a bespoke legacy agreement, it merges the concept of a design agency with funeral director,” she said.

To illustrate this, Pitsillides started by taking me through a questionnaire that asked me things ranging from the practical (which loved ones should be informed of my death, and would I like to setup a database of music, art, or poetry to be used at my funeral?) to the weird and outlandish (would my friends like to do an online vigil through live webcasting where I could be present via hologram, and how about having a memorial implant or tattoo?)

But wait—holograms? Memorial implants? Was this for real?

In the future, yes.

Death by Design

“You could have a surface-level or below-skin digital tattoo that could be matched to that of a loved one,” Pitsillides explained. Using simple technologies, you could add content to these digital mementos throughout your life and then have them activated after your death. This activation could either be triggered by the executor of your will—over 19 US states have already put forward laws to recognize the deceased’s digital legacy as part of their estate—or we could evolve AI systems to recognize cues when this should happen. At that point, certain content could become available to the people you’d predetermined, depending on the stipulations you left in your digital will.

It’s basically the futuristic, high-tech version of wearing half of your lover’s heart-shaped locket. These tattoos and implants could even be programmed to trigger only in the context of certain events. For example, when walking past the special spot where a now-passed husband proposed to his wife, his widow’s digital tattoo could change color or bloom into the pattern of her favorite flower, and “their” song could start playing on her phone. Or a father could still “be there” to deliver the speech at his daughter’s wedding via hologram, or greet the arrival of his first grandchild with a pre-recorded message.

An increasingly popular service is using 3D printing to create personalized mementos for your friends and family using human ashes. While these memorialization usages are still conceptual, the technology itself is already fairly mature. For example, we already have technology that allows for smart epidermal electronics to collect and record information about users, reacting to this data in a wide variety of programmable ways: Think of IoT devices like Dexcom that continuously monitor glucose levels for diabetes patients, allowing them to track their blood sugar via apps linked to wearables like the Apple Watch. Instead of being focused on what our minds and bodies are doing in the present moment, these tactile technologies could help us build and enhance connections with people both during life and after death.

The ability to live forever through technology raises difficult questions such as whether it is our memories that make us who we are
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As more people embrace the idea that death in the digital age is not just about looking back at the past, they will begin to realize that it’s just as much about the future. We’re already seeing people grapple with this concept in terms of what happens to our bodies after we die. Nowadays your ashes can be turned into building blocks for a coral reef or a beautiful fireworks display, but there’s a whole other after-world emerging courtesy of technology. For example, an increasingly popular service is using 3D printing to create personalized mementos for your friends and family using human ashes.

The Talking Dead

Since such a large percentage of our lives and interactions are now conducted online, we are constantly forced to reassess our meaning of self and identity. Is our online identity the most accurate reflection of our true selves? And, if so, can it “live” independently from our physical bodies?

The answer is potentially yes. The connections we build and share can—now quite literally—take on a life of their own. For example, websites like LifeNaut offer services that allow you to create a “mind file” that supposedly enables future scenarios around reanimation through “downloading” your memories to a robot or clone vessel of some sort. We might not yet be at the stage where robotics and AI enable the Black Mirror scenario where life-like replicants of loved ones can be created from their social media profiles. But it’s no exaggeration to say that, for better or for worse, our digital footprint already outlives our biological self.

Since such a large percentage of our lives and interactions are now conducted online, we are constantly forced to reassess our meaning of self and identity
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“We are moving toward a society where the dead are not banished but remain present in our lives as sources of guidance, role models, and as an embodiment of particular values and life lessons,” Pitsillides said.

But is that what we really want? The ability to live forever through technology raises difficult questions such as whether it is our memories that make us who we are, whether our loved ones would accept this “new” version of us, and who should control consent to make these kinds of decisions after death. This kind of permanence may be appealing for some, but for others the possibility of a digital presence continuously and independently evolving is quite disturbing.

As more people embrace the idea that death in the digital age is not just about looking back at the past, they will begin to realize that it’s just as much about the future
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Most of us avoid thinking about our own mortality until it stares us in the face. As someone who spends most of my time online, I’m unsettled by this idea of not being in control of my online persona once I die—even if I wouldn’t be in a position to care, at that point. But having experienced the enduring joy that my grandmother’s Facebook memories have brought to our family, it makes me think that my digital legacy is something worth preserving. And now I have the first steps to know how to do just that.

Originally published in Quartz

How I learned to live forever https://t.co/i4h97zjNVS

— Quartz (@qz) October 7, 2016

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 and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Can Tech Make You Live Forever? appeared first on Tech Trends.

I’m both a technophile and a foodie, yet I’m not of those annoying people that constantly posts their food pictures on Facebook.

Recently, however, I became a bit of a convert to their check-in feature, which helps me to keep track of my favourite bars, restaurants and takeaways. Google maps is also really handy; when I couldn’t remember the name of this great little dive bar I visited the year before, I only had to do a few minutes of clicking around before – lo and behold – Google informs me that I had visited The Salon 12 months previously – Bingo! So when it came to the nearly impossible task of shortlisting the best places to eat in New York, I did some techno-digging to help jog my memory. The results, as it turns out, are worth sharing, and hopefully worthy of some likes.

You can use technology to keep track of all your favourite foodie finds in a city like New York
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The classic diner is a great place to have breakfast – or brunch – in New York, but it’s a very hit-and-miss thing. The food is not always great quality and some of the more popular places in the centre are very touristy and require a long time queuing outside for a table. Instead, head down to Old Johns Luncheonette for no-nonsense fresh food and friendly service in a quiet side street near Central Park. Most choices include a free shot of wonderfully sweet, fresh Orange Juice (honestly the best I’ve ever had) and the bacon is out of this world good. The only downside is that it’s impossible to decide whether to go for the savoury egg-based dishes or succumb to the syrup-drenched temptation of waffles, pancakes or French toast. The prices are so reasonable though, you might just decide to go for both.

Best Diner breakfast ever!

After probably eating more than is strictly good for you, why not walk it off in Central Park? You can wander around for hours and never run out of things to do. Should you start to feel peckish again there’s something to be said for grabbing a bag of candied nuts or a hot dog from one of vendors, and while I usually wouldn’t recommend the restaurants located inside the park, I’ll make an exception for The Tavern on the Green. Sure, it’s pricey, OK, it’s touristy, but hey, it’s featured in that scene in Ghostbusters where Louis runs away from the giant demon dog, and that’s enough for me. There are tables outside if you just fancy a beer and some nachos too.

The Tavern on the Green is touristy, but it's featured in the Ghostbusters scene where Louis runs away from the giant demon dog, and that’s enough for me
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Who you’re gonna call?

I have an Italian Passport and lived in Milan for a year, so trust me when I tell you that Eataly is the best Italian supermarket you’ll ever find anywhere. Sitting across the road from the iconic Flatiron building, it’s Mediterranean gastronomic Nirvana, and the perfect place to stock up for a picnic – Madison Square Park is right outside if you can’t wait to tuck into your purchases. If you’d rather eat in, head to the rooftop (it takes some finding, as the elevators are hidden away at the back and look like the entrance to a storeroom) to enjoy skyline views while ordering from the menu supplied by the deli below. Needless to say, the antipasti platters are a must-have.

Eataly is the best Italian supermarket you’ll ever find anywhere
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Great rooftop panorama and fantastic Italian produce at Eataly

For most of us, Lobster is the ultimate luxury food. And sure enough, there are plenty of swanky places in New York to enjoy them in the traditional way – as long as you’re willing to re-mortgage your house or sell your firstborn child. Nowhere, however, will you find a fresher, larger, and tastier crustacean than at the Chelsea Market Lobster Place, and although it’s not exactly a MacDonald’s, it won’t break the bank either. After you’re done staring at the mountains of freshly steamed lobsters, walk up to the counter and choose how big you want yours– I spotted one bad boy in there weighing over 7 pounds – and find a place to perch. Somehow, as you dip enormous chunks of delicious meat into melted butter, the fact that there are no seats becomes pretty irrelevant. You’re welcome.

Nowhere will you find a fresher, larger, and tastier crustacean than at the Chelsea Market Lobster Place, and although it’s not exactly a MacDonald’s, it won’t break the bank either
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Definitely would be my last meal choice…

If you’re a steak lover on a budget, you should stay well clear of Gallaghers. Because chances are that if you gaze into its wondrous meat locker (yes, they have a room with glass doors full of meat) you’ll be compelled to go in and spend an obscene amount of money. The cocktails are pretty tasty too. Just don’t look at the bill too long.

As you gaze into Gallaghers' wondrous meat locker you’ll be compelled to go in and spend an obscene amount of money
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Gallagher’s Meat Locker

Should you max out the credit card on some fine Porterhose steak though, you can always turn to another New York classic for the rest of your stay. Everywhere you look, there are Pizza places offering reasonably priced slices. These are not only ridiculously cheap, but also hot, tasty and gigantic. Even a few dollars will buy you a feast, and you’ll be in good company, as the best places proudly display pictures of their celebrity regulars along the counter.

Top tip for a cheap night out? Head to the Village, grab a takeaway at Bleecker Street Pizza and walk a couple of blocks down to 55 Bar, which has a 2-drink per set minimum cover, but actively encourages folks to bring in or order their own food. Sit back, order a beer, and enjoy some fine live jazz with your $1 slices.

55 Bar has a 2-drink per set minimum cover, but actively encourages folks to bring in or order their own food
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The cheapest option in NY is definitely a slice

In the mood for dessert? I know just the place. Back in 2009, Douglas Quint and Bryan Petroff got themselves an ice cream van with a difference. It proved such a huge hit that they went on to open two Big Gay Ice Cream shops, and on a busy West Village Saturday night, the well-managed queue winds its way around the block. My Salty Pimp ice cream cone, however, was well worth the wait.

Go on, treat yourself to a salty pimp
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Big Gay Salty Pimp? Yes Please!

Speaking of sweets, one is really spoiled for cake choices in New York, and asking locals what’s the best cheesecake in town is likely to spark passionate debate. Yet for me the Magnolia Bakery is hard to beat. They have a nearly endless variety of cakes, biscuits, ice cream, tarts and puddings, but if you only have one sweet treat while in NY, it should be their Red Velvet Cheesecake. Enough said.

Magnificent Magnolia Red Velvet Cheesecake

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 Eating Your Way Around The Big Apple appeared first on Tech Trends.