Month: September 2014

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How to motivate students with virtual learning environments

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3 ways virtual rewards improve education As we wrote before, virtual reality is transforming education in many different ways. But one of the most powerful is that it helps students develop a motivation for learning through virtual rewards that provide real value to the learners, a sense of personal or group success, and personal autonomy. Virtual rewards can replace traditional grades and badges and can dramatically improve student motivation when they are aligned with educational goals. “Until recently teachers had moved away from rewards in the classroom, because they are associated with behaviorism and because they are generally not used … Continue reading How to motivate students with virtual learning environments

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How virtual reality explores the “adjacent possible”

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Our growing addiction to “cognitive ectasy” drives technology’s progress… and that’s okay Why are humans so damn curious? Because discovery is pleasurable. Jason Silva, in his latest video, says humans don’t care about spectacle—what we care about is ecstatic understanding: “In other words, cognitive ecstasy defined as an exhilarating neurostorm of intense intellectual pleasure.” Maybe you’ve experienced this “cognitive ecstasy” at one time or another. I get a jolt of it after small discoveries in a book, conversation, or after writing an article. Silva notes it happens with great regularity as children, and then tails off. And to a certain … Continue reading How virtual reality explores the “adjacent possible”

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Ellie, the AI-psychologist

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Big Brother is feeling you: The global impact of AI-driven mental healthcare Big Brother is feeling you—literally. A few months back, I wrote about Ellie, the world’s first AI-psychologist. Developed by DARPA and researchers at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, Ellie is a diagnostic tool capable of reading 60 non-verbal cues a second—everything from eye-gaze to face tilt to voice tone—in the hopes of identifying the early warning signs of depressions and (part of the long term goal) stemming the rising tide of soldier suicide. And early reports indicate that Ellie is both good at her job and that soldiers … Continue reading Ellie, the AI-psychologist

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Medical virtual reality

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Shape the future of medicine at the Exponential Medicine Conference, November 9-12 In the last century, breakthroughs in modern medicine have driven big gains in quality and length of life. Antibiotics, immunization, imaging and radiology, complex surgery, minimally invasive surgery—and more. It’s a long, impressive list. But what will the next hundred years bring? exponential-medicine-5The US spends some 18% of gross domestic product on healthcare and yet ranks last on a list of 17 developed countries by outcome. We face an increasing shortage of providers even as the healthcare burden and number of covered Americans is set to grow. The … Continue reading Medical virtual reality

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Who is Palmer Luckey?

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Meet The Inventor Who Is Finally Making Virtual Reality Real Last weekend Palmer Luckey hosted a conference in Los Angeles, where several thousand engineers and developers gathered to hear him talk. He unveiled a new prototype version of his company’s product, which observers described in terms ranging from “amazing” to “revolutionary.” He gave dozens of media interviews to outlets from around the world. nd he also turned 22 years old. Engineering prodigy Palmer Luckey started developing his own head-mounted virtual reality displays when he was still attending high school in Long Beach, California. A fan of science-fiction movies like The … Continue reading Who is Palmer Luckey?

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How to paint in 3D

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‘Tilt Brush’ Surprises and Delights with Best GUI at Proto Awards – Lets You Create VR Paintings with Depth A previously unknown virtual reality software title, Tilt Brush, went home with the Proto Award for Best GUI (graphical user interface) thanks to its innovative virtual reality interface. The software uses a gaze-based interface that allows users to paint in 3D and even use the Oculus Rift DK2′s positional tracking for brush input. Tilt Brush was completely unknown prior to the Proto Awards, which had their first show last weekend in Hollywood, CA. When testing Tilt Brush as a judge for … Continue reading How to paint in 3D

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Can VR suddenly replace the physical world?

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I tricked my brain into thinking real life was VR If you talk to anybody who’s into virtual reality for more than ten minutes, you will probably end up speculating about when we might achieve total immersion: the point at which a simulated experience becomes functionally indistinguishable from real life. Most people will submit that we’re not near that point yet, barring a nightmare scenario that Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey posited at the company’s conference this weekend — imagine “you’re in a room that has no movement, no sound except for yourself breathing, and no scent… and you’re in a … Continue reading Can VR suddenly replace the physical world?

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History on your smartphone

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Augmented Reality Provides Window into the Past with Berlin Wall Timetraveler App How do you explain to a child where the Berlin Wall once stood? Or how it felt to live in its shadow? For those who did not live during the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall it is hard to imagine what it must have been like; yet the crowds still gather around the Wall Memorial to this day, and tales of the “death strip” still command the attention of curious visitors. To commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, Metaio and Timetraveler Augmented Ltd. are presenting … Continue reading History on your smartphone

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Is Crescent Bay a big jump forward?

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Oculus’ new prototype is where VR should be right now You can finally walk around in virtual reality. Oculus still doesn’t want you to walk around. But it will let you. And that’s a big deal. The latest version of the Oculus Rift is a prototype called Crescent Bay, following the naming convention of Crystal Cove, the prototype it announced at CES 2014. Crescent Bay is upgraded in a few obvious ways: the screen looks notably better than the current DK2 development kit, a pair of built-in headphones now incentivizes adding decent 3D audio, and there are sensors all the … Continue reading Is Crescent Bay a big jump forward?

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Is it worthwhile to invest in video games?

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Destiny has joined GTA V as one of the most expensive games ever made – but does huge investment guarantee a good game? Whether you play them or not, video games are a big business. The market was worth £58bn last year, so makers know there’s a lot of potential moolah to be made. Destiny was released this week, and publishers Activision have announced it’s already sold $500m worth of copies, making it the most successful new video game franchise launch of all time. That also means it’s already made as much as was invested into the game. So does … Continue reading Is it worthwhile to invest in video games?