The London College of Communication UAL is teaching VR skills for the future immersive industry.

Anyone with their finger on the pulse of immersive technology or even someone with a passing interest in all the subtle flavours of Mixed Reality (MR) will be aware that immersive experiences are the future for many industries. There is simply no question about this, from entertainment to manufacturing and education, immersive tech is rewriting the rules faster than the actual hardware is developing. Right now, as a range of industries begin to realise the potential of immersive experiences the MR skills gap is yawning and unless we teach the next generation the right skills, that gap will continue to grow.

Right now, as a range of industries begin to realise the potential of immersive experiences the MR skills gap is yawning
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Tech Trends has visited some of the relatively few, excellent, higher education immersive teaching facilities around the globe, notably the awesome Full Sail University VR Lab in sunny Florida but it turns out we need not look so far from home. Last year the London College of Communication UAL, situated just south of the Thames at Elephant and Castle, launched their first VR specific course, and the MA in VR is just the start.

The MA Virtual Reality (VR) at London College of Communication provides the opportunity to explore and develop the application of VR technologies across filmmaking, visual effects (VFX), animation, games and immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences.

In 2019 the LCC will also launch an Undergraduate BA (Hons) in VR opening up a whole future of possibilities to immersive savvy youngsters. Frankly, if you are creative, artistically minded, video game and computer literate it is a no brainer and I only wish these VR courses had been around when I was choosing a career, there is no question I would have jumped at the chance.

The BA (Hons) Virtual Reality offers the chance to design and shape the future of the VR field, giving students the opportunity to test and work with new immersive and interactive tools for film, games, design and remote collaboration.

I only wish these VR courses @LCCLondon had been around when I was choosing a career
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In January, Tech Trends took a tour of the LCC’s new VR facilities and chatted to the students and staff to see how they are teaching such a new and still evolving subject and how they are preparing students for work in an as-yet-undeveloped immersive tech sector. First step, kit. When I studied Fine Art: Sound & Image BA (Hons) at Uni there was one NLE computer video editing facility that had to be shared and booked by the hour. It often ran out of drive space and or stopped working towards the end of term. It’s not the same area but highlights how modern student’s demands for up-to-date resources on tech courses has risen. One computer to edit video for a whole course just wouldn’t cut it.

Tech Trends took a tour of the @LCCLondon VR facilities and chatted to students and staff to see how they're teaching such an evolving subject
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Well, I was happy to find the LCC has done its research and provided the students with a fantastic technical set-up for working on their immersive projects. Alienware VR capable PCs, fifteen new generation HTC Vive Pro HMDs, plus three, state-of-the-art, full-scale VR booths for testing and finishing their work is a very nice set-up indeed. Oh, and a motion capture suit so they can work on digital character design as Andy Serkis did with Gollum. The current batch of eight MA students must be feeling a little spoiled right now but when the BA freshers start later in 2019 the College should still be well prepared.

@LCCLondon has done its research and provided the students with a fantastic technical set-up for working on their immersive projects
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“We have graduate students from a diverse range of backgrounds – animation, games design, computer science, architecture and film-making. They are currently working on a collaborative unit with two live briefs. One with The Children’s Society is based around bringing to life real stories of kids the charity has helped to showcase the good work they do. They will get the opportunity to work directly with a real-world client to develop and deliver an immersive project.” Explained MA course leader Ana-Despina Tudor

Tudor has eight years’ experience researching and working in VR and is determined to produce graduates that are not just technicians, building and managing the hardware and software behind installations. She sees the real benefit students get from the LCC VR courses as being a balanced skill set incorporating creative thinking, project design and management skills as well as the technical skills to bring ambitious concepts to life.

Our graduates will work as directors or producers in VR with creative minds and a good understanding of the technology and its potential
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“I don’t want the skills to be purely technical, I think this is very important for someone going to work in such a new, evolving industry. Ideally our graduates will be able to work as creative directors or producers in VR with creative minds and a good understanding of the technology and its potential. Also to advance projects beyond what others are doing and push the medium forward.” continued Tudor

We see VR as a media tool, so creating in VR is our first entry point, it helps them understand the physics of the environment and the rules of immersion because they aren’t relying on anyone else's creative vision
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The day I was at LCC they were holding an open-door interactive VR exhibition. Anyone could book a time slot in the University’s shared exhibition space and be a part creating a 3D sculpture exhibit in VR. Using Master Piece VR software you got to add your own 3D creation to the virtual gallery where it would be on show alongside all the other visitor’s sculptures, very cool. I met up with Program Director Dan Bartlett in the gallery space to find out more about these new VR courses and how students are brought on board.

“We see VR as a media tool, so creating in VR is our first entry point, it helps them understand the physics of the environment and the rules of immersion because they aren’t relying on anyone else’s creative vision. By creating in VR straight away they can take agency over what they are doing. Teaching the right skills so our graduates feel confident as they move into the industry is vitally important to us.”

@LCCLondon is about exploration, pushing creative frontiers, not sticking with the things we know, which is right where the VR industry is now
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Tech Trends has been inside a few globally successful commercial VR Studios who are making immersive content for the big corporate names like Apple and Nike but almost without exception every company splits the creatives away from the programmers and technicians. Blue-sky-thinking, latte-drinking trendies sit in one room while in another (usually dark) room a dozen programmers sit in the gloom making stuff work. This is such an old-world system though, and one that is rapidly and happily on the way out. Dan was keen to explain how the future of the VR industry will depend on agile, multi-skilled, creative people who can take on multiple roles and responsibilities as demand for immersive content booms across new and traditional industries. For Dan, blending creative and technical skills is the key to building this versatile new generation of graduates.

“We are an Arts college, we can take a broad look at how we deal with things like VR. We are about exploration, pushing creative frontiers, not sticking with the things we know and experimenting, which is right where the VR industry is now. For us it’s not just about the moving image as a principle, it’s about the relationship between the moving image, technology and arts practice.” Concluded Bartlett

The future of the VR industry will depend on agile, multi-skilled, creative people who can take on multiple roles and responsibilities as demand for immersive content booms
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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

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

The post Teaching for the Future of VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

New technology will combine sensors with AI to read subtle signals from the body and analyse context to read emotions

Dolby Laboratory scientist Poppy Crum recently spoke at a TED conference in Vancouver regarding an upcoming technology that will be able to read human emotions. The technology will utilize sensors and AI in order to detect hidden feelings – everything from lies to infatuations. This cutting-edge tech is able to recognize a number of brain and body signals, turning sensor data into an analysis of emotional state.

Humans Broadcast Emotions

The underlying concept behind the new technology is that humans broadcast emotion. It’s something that we do all of the time, knowingly and unknowingly. Subtle signals are sent and received between us to indicate what we are feeling.

Eye dilation is an indicator of brain activity. Heat from the skin can be a sign of stress or even romantic inclination. Chemicals in the breath can reveal feeling; for example, the amount of CO2 exhaled in a breath can indicate aggression. Have you ever had your head in the clouds while pretending you’re listening to someone? Brain waves can show whether you are really paying attention. Even the timing of certain speech patterns can reveal signs that a person has bipolar disorder or dementia.

Subtle signals are sent and received between us to indicate what we are feeling. Eye dilation is an indicator of brain activity. Heat from the skin can be a sign of stress or even romantic inclination
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The End of The Poker Face

The upcoming technology can read these subtle signals from the body while the AI works to analyse patterns and factor in context to make more accurate interpretations of what the signals mean. Crum describes it as “the end of the poker face”. The technology will be able to read the stone cold faces of even the most talented poker players. Anyone planning to hide the subtle signals can think again!

Products are due to be released that include emotion-reading rooms, smart speakers and other accessories. Similar AI technology also exists. Alex Potamianos from Behavioural Signals is involved with a new technology that analyses emotions from speech. The “speech-to-emotion” AI can tell if you are happy, angry or feeling sassy, all by listening to your speech. Existing AI technology like Google Assistant is already quite impressive and is learning all the time.

Poppy Crum describes it as “the end of the poker face”. The technology will be able to read the stone cold faces of even the most talented poker players. Anyone planning to hide the subtle signals can think again!
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Scary and Powerful

Poppy Crum describes the new technology as being both scary and powerful – having the potential to be used for both good and bad. It could be used to understand each other better or to oppress and manipulate. Like all technology, it is a double-edged sword that needs to be wielded extremely wisely.

The world Crum imagines is one in which the emotional divide between people can be bridged. Crum envisions a world where counsellors can understand the emotions of their clients more quickly (and know how to act), police can read signals of aggression, and artists can see the emotional reaction that an audience has to their work. Instead of scanning through dating apps, you could scan people to see if they are interested (okay, it sounds scary again now). Crucially, rules must be set to make sure the technology cannot be misused.

Instead of scanning through dating apps, you could scan people to see if they are interested (okay, it sounds scary again now). Crucially, rules must be set to make sure the technology cannot be misused
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What do you think about the idea of AI scanning for emotion? Can and will it be used for the benefit of understanding and empathy, or are there simply too many possible misuses to trust it? How does it make you feel to know the new ‘data’ this technology will capture will be the data of raw human emotion?

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 New Tech Reads Human Emotions appeared first on Tech Trends.