Ever since the Playstation was first launched – if, like myself, you’re old enough to remember it, you may pause a moment here to consider your own age and mortality – Sony has been in the business of reinventing gaming. They often followed the Steve Jobs mantra of pushing through a vision that showed consumers what it is that they wanted, rather than waiting for people to start asking for it.

Ever since the Playstation was first launched, Sony has been in the business of reinventing gaming.
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The same seems to be the case with VR. In spite of all the investment from companies such as Oculus, the PSVR is the only hardware that has come even close to tapping that elusive jackpot of mass consumer adoption. They sold over 3 million headsets so far, and although they did have to drop its price to $200 in order to achieve those numbers, it does show that there is an appetite in the gaming community for immersive technology that manages to hit the sweet spot.

Fast-paced, graphics-rich longer games require fast GPU and no lag, otherwise you’ll just get a lot of queasy and frustrated gamers
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And with most headsets on the market now veering away from cabled tethering, that future sweet spot is increasingly looking wireless. Sony seems to think so too, if a newly uncovered patent is anything to go by.

Although these things are always caveated by the fact that companies file hundreds of patents on a routine basis that never make et to prototype stage – much less a fully-fledged commercial product – this particular one is noteworthy in the level of detail it offers, going into extensive detail about solutions it has explored in attempting to remove the bulky cable that connects the current version of the PSVR to the console.

In spite of all the investment from companies such as Oculus, the PSVR is the only hardware that has come even close to tapping that elusive jackpot of mass consumer adoption
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The patent suggests that the setup would include a breakout box to detect the position of the user in relation to the machine so it could adjust Wi-Fi signals accordingly
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So, to be clear, we’re still talking about a tethered headset, because the processing power would still reside within the Playstation unit rather than the HMD, but the connection between the two would be wireless.

Easier said than done… This isn’t your regular video streaming of course. We’re talking about enormous amounts of data being refreshed at insane rates. And any glitch would be literally in the user’s face. It’s a tricky balance to strike, to say the least, as compromising on performance is not something you can get away with for the sort of content PSVR is peddling. Fast-paced, graphics-rich longer games require fast GPU and no lag, otherwise you’ll just get a lot of queasy and frustrated gamers.

As Jeremy Horwitz explains in this Venturebeat article,

“On paper, the 60GHz signal should have the bandwidth, latency, and reliability to work by itself, but in real-world use of VR headsets, 60GHz signals are more easily obstructed by objects and more directionally dependent than lower-bandwidth 5GHz signals. In the patent, Sony pairs 60GHz WiGig with 5GHz Wi-Fi to guarantee its headset will always get a signal, shifting from higher to lower frequencies (and bandwidth) based on where the user is moving in the room.”

The patent suggests that the setup would include a breakout box to detect the position of the user in relation to the machine so it could adjust Wi-Fi signals accordingly. Whatever solution they settle upon in the end, however, Sony definitely isn’t ready to give up on consumer VR, and to be honest, I wouldn’t bet against them being first to the post in getting there.

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

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

The post Could Sony’s Next Headset Finally Crack the VR Gaming Market? 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.

Immersive technologies bring new opportunities to engage, teach and entertain children, but what are the safeguards we must put in place?

The overall sense that emerges from the research is that immersive technologies such as VR could become valuable learning tools
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As more children start using virtual reality, it will be critical for parents and teachers to understand the effect it can have. This is what a new report Virtual Reality 101: What You Need to Know About Kids and VR is hoping to contribute towards. Produced in collaboration with independent nonprofit organisation Common Sense Media, it is a resource to better understand how this new technology can be applied to everyday life and learning.

“Because VR is in its infancy, we have a unique opportunity to stay on top of this technological wave before it overwhelms us,” says report Co-author Jim Steyer, Founder of Common Sense Media.

Compared to other media, VR is a powerful way to deliver information
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Report Co-author Jeremy Bailenson – a communication professor at Stanford University and founder of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab – explains that research about the effects of the medium on children is only just emerging: “Compared to other media, VR is an extremely powerful way to deliver information. VR responds to your body. If you want to get closer to an object you can actually walk; if you want to touch something you can reach out and get haptic feedback. It’s perceptually surrounding, so no matter where you turn there is content.”

The report also includes the results of a survey of 3,613 parents about their attitudes toward virtual reality.

“Until this survey, it was unclear how, and even how many, kids were using virtual reality,” Bailenson says. “Now we have an initial picture of its adoption and use.”

The overall sense that emerges from the research is that immersive technologies such as VR could indeed become valuable learning tools, and 62 percent of parents surveyed for the report agree that VR can offer educational experiences for their children.

But parents and educators still need to take some precautions, Bailenson says. In the survey, 11 percent of parents reported their 8- to 17-year-olds experienced dizziness, 10 percent experienced a headache, and 13 percent bumped into something. He therefore cautions that parents need to supervise their children when they use VR and ensure they do so in moderation, limiting sessions to 10 or 20 minutes and enforcing regular breaks.

As more children start using virtual reality, it will be critical for parents and teachers to understand the effect it can have
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“We found that kids can develop more trust in media characters in the virtual environment,” says Jakki Bailey, a graduate from Stanford’s PhD program in communication and now an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

In a 2009 study, Bailenson found that when elementary-aged school children saw themselves swimming with orca whales in a virtual environment, many later recalled the experience as real. Building off that research, a 2017 study Bailenson conducted with Bailey showed that media characters in virtual reality may be more influential over young children than characters on TV or computers.

62 percent of parents surveyed for the report agree that VR can offer educational experiences for their children
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In partnership with the Sesame Workshop, Bailenson and Bailey set up an interactive and immersive VR environment where children aged between four and six played games with the popular Sesame Street character Grover. Their observations showed that when children were engaged with the VR version of Grover versus a version on a two-dimensional screen, they were more likely to treat him as a friend.

As immersive technologies become pervasive and seamlessly intersect with the physical world, educators need to proactively understand and prepare for this change rather than reactively adapt to it
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Building on their previously published research on Immersive Virtual Reality and the Developing Child and Considering virtual reality in children’s lives, Bailey notes that this influence can be a positive force in teaching, as children are more likely to turn to that source for information and learning.

Speaking – appropriately through a Virtual Reality platform, AltspaceVR – at the recent Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, Bailey advocated for teachers and parents to be mindful of the greater psychological impact these virtual environments have, particularly in young children. The very element which makes Immersive Technology such a powerful learning tool – the sense of psychological presence it affords the user – could also be potentially damaging.

The very element which makes Immersive Technology such a powerful learning tool – the sense of psychological presence it affords the user – could also be potentially damaging
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Speaking at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai, Bailey advocated for teachers and parents to be mindful of the greater psychological impact these virtual environments have
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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.

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 LinkedInand follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Report: Kids and VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

The Brazilian-born inventor gets recognition for his groundbreaking work with the Microsoft Hololens.

The European Patent Office (EPO) announced that it has nominated U.S.-based inventor Alex Kipman as a finalist for the European Inventor Award 2018.

“Alex Kipman’s invention is a vision for the future of computing with the potential to change how we connect and collaborate,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. “His ideas are enhancing the real world with digital information that helps people achieve higher levels of efficiency, and creating new opportunities in fields such as engineering, communications, and healthcare.”

Kipman started his professional career at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, right after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2001. In a career spanning more than 15 years as a developer for the company, he has been named as the primary inventor on more than 150 U.S. and Asian patents, as well as two granted European patents and more than a dozen European patent applications. His current position as Technical Fellow of the Windows and Devices Group enables him to maintain a hands-on approach to building the HoloLens and related Windows Mixed Reality software platform.

Built-in machine learning and AI-algorithms enable the HoloLens to be contextually aware of its surroundings and interpret user commands
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The HoloLens incorporates several patent-protected Microsoft inventions, including Kipman’s motion sensors initially brought to market for the Xbox Kinect video game controller. The software for the HoloLens is developed in the Windows 10 operating system in the Windows Mixed Reality software environment. Current applications of the device include telecommunications (e.g. for enhanced video calls), a 3D virtual tourism application, and a suite of mixed-reality games, as well as industrial uses for metering and quality control, and interactive digital human anatomy. A host of promising new applications are being developed. In 2017, a Spanish team of surgeons used the mixed-reality headset successfully while operating on a patient with a malignant muscular tumour. During the procedure, the surgeons were able to view live diagnostic imaging from MRI and radiography data feeds, without taking their eyes off the patient.

The HoloLens is a stand-alone device, independent from external PCs, tablets or smartphones
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Thanks to built-in machine learning and AI-algorithms, the HoloLens is contextually aware of its surroundings and able to interpret user commands such as “move that chair.” It observes its surroundings via an inertial measurement unit (a device that measures linear and angular motion), a depth-sensing camera, a 2.4-megapixel video camera, four microphones and an ambient light sensor – so it “knows” which chair the wearer is currently seeing. It collects several terabytes of data every second, piped in via sensors and then computed.

Alex Kipman's invention is a vision for the future of computing with the potential to change how we connect and collaborate
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“Current-generation mixed-reality glasses include “smart” ski goggles that project data such as altitude, temperature and pulse into the wearer’s field of vision. But these devices display only two-dimensional text and graphics, while requiring a connection to a smartphone for computing power,” explains Battistelli. “The HoloLens is a stand-alone device, independent from external PCs, tablets or smartphones. It contains all necessary computing power in its custom-built processors. These include a CPU (central processing unit), GPU (graphics processing unit) and custom HPU (holographic processing unit), an industry first.”

These processors collect several terabytes of data every second as the HoloLens reads its environment. Data arrives through an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a depth-sensing camera, a 2.4-megapixel video camera, four microphones and an ambient light sensor.

HoloLens owes its innovative edge to the waveguide lenses that trick the human brain into interpreting photons as solid, three-dimensional things
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As the name suggests, the HoloLens owes its innovative edge to the waveguide lenses that “trick” the human brain into interpreting photons as solid, three-dimensional things – hence holograms. They are computed on the GPU and displayed through the device’s “light engines”, two tiny liquid-crystal-on-silicon projectors which beam light onto the two lenses.

Processors collect several terabytes of data every second as the HoloLens reads its environment
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The image is adjusted between the two lenses for clarity and depth, then blended with the real world. As a result, holographic images appear to exist in front of the wearer – from a few centimeters to many meters away – with true depth of field.

Once ready for mass adoption, the HoloLens could lead to a fundamental shift, as mixed-reality devices replace today’s smartphones as the main communications devices. According to experts at market researcher Gartner, 30% of web browsing sessions could be done without a screen by 2020. At that point, 50% of all search queries could originate, not from keyboards or touchscreens, but voice commands as computing moves into an era beyond screens.

Once Microsoft has built an attractive mixed-reality library, products such as the three-dimensional teleconferencing app Holoportation could well join bestsellers like Office 365
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Consulting firm Digi-Capital estimated the world market for augmented- and virtual-reality devices at EUR 3.3 billion in 2016. The firm projects that, driven by next-generation mobile augmented-reality hardware, the market will reach EUR 85 billion by 2021. Once Microsoft has built an attractive mixed-reality library, products such as the three-dimensional teleconferencing app Holoportation could well join bestsellers like the Office 365 commercial suite with over 100 million users.

“Kipman’s HoloLens can make holographic likenesses appear in thin air with new levels of sophistication – for instance in teleconferencing calls. Because the mixed-reality headset requires no computer screen or keyboard, it could be part of a revolution that would replace smartphones as the main communications devices,” adds Battistelli.

Once ready for mass adoption, the HoloLens could lead to a fundamental shift, as mixed-reality devices replace today's smartphones as the main communications devices
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“It’s an experience where content is no longer tied to a screen but exists in both time and space laid over the real world,” says Kipman, who has predicted the “death” of the smartphone and a new revolution in personal computing build around the concept of Mixed Reality. Current industry trends appear to support his statement – such as the shift towards voice search with digital assistants like Cortana from Microsoft, Siri from Apple and Alexa from Amazon. Consumers may one day be talking and gesturing to holographic “ghosts”, while the smartphone becomes a spectre of the past.

Kipman has been awarded the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award (2009), Microsoft Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (2012), and IPO Education Foundation’s Inventor of the Year Award (2012). He also received the honor of being named one of TIME magazine’s Top 25 “Nerds of the Year” (2010), an epithet he wears proudly.

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

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 sexily named patent is viewable in full here: EP3028121

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