AR Patent Kills The Keyboard

The future of typing may no longer include a keyboard. Recently, Microsoft’s newly granted patent, titled 'Holographic keyboard display', describes what the future of text input could look like. Using a virtual keyboard plane to sense a user’s inputs, the AR/VR system will function like a normal keyboard and read users’ gestures to simulate typing. The grant mentions gaming as a first application, but Microsoft’s entrenched interest in enterprise IT makes the workplace another obvious application.

Combined with its headset AR/VR technology, future knowledge workers may not need desks, or even centralized workplaces. Instead, smartglasses could virtualize the desktop PC as we know it, allowing workers to type from any position and from any part of the world using hand gestures. The patent description notes an HMD (head-mounted display) device that would contribute to the tracking system. But the patent describes the virtual keyboard as being applicable for both virtual and mixed reality headset applications.

More information:

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/microsoft-ar-vr-holograph-keyboard/

VS Games 2017 Paper II

On the 7^th of September, we have presented a co-authored paper entitled 'Investigating the Effect of User Profile during Training for BCI-based Games' at the 9th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games 2017), which was held in Athens, Greece.

This paper illustrates the importance of gender, individual role (i.e., user profession), and time of use when interacting with a BCI game, with a total of 34 participants. Furthermore, we present the effect of reported workload and loss of self-consciousness during the game play on performance.

A draft version of the paper can be downloaded from here.

VS Games 2017 Paper I

On the 6^th of September 2017, I published a co-authored paper at the 9th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games 2017), which was held in Athens, Greece. The paper was entitled "A Serious Game for Understanding Ancient Seafaring in the Mediterranean Sea".

The paper presents a serious game which aims to provide better insight and understanding of seaborne trade mechanisms and seafaring practices in the eastern Mediterranean during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The game incorporates probabilistic geospatial analysis of possible ship routes through the re-use and spatial analysis from open GIS maritime.

A draft version of the paper can be downloaded from here.

AR Spending is Exploding

Apple just released ARKit and Google just released ARCore in the last few months. But revenue for augmented reality devices and content will hit a massive $36.4 billion in 2023, according to Greenlight Insight's newest report. That's 11 times higher than the estimated $3.4 billion in revenue in 2019. Current devices in the space include Microsoft's Hololense, Google's second version of the Google Glass, and the Meta 2. Apple's new iPhone X and high-end Android-powered devices are the thin edge of the wedge driving augmented reality experiences into the consumer consciousness.

We're about to see a lot more devices and according to the report, the total number of augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays will grow from two million in 2019 to 30 million in 2023. That means, of course, that the tipping point is still a ways off several years, in fact. However, optimism should be tempered as the AR ecosystem must address substantial problems on numerous base levels. Head-mounted AR revenues should reach $12.9 billion in sales by the end of 2020, the report says. Device revenue is most of that: $7.1 billion, with content revenue taking the rest.

More information:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2017/09/18/augmented-reality-spending-exploding-11x-to-36-4b-in-2023-greenlight-says/#5456307f3302

Connecting the Brain to the Internet

A new project dubbed Brainternet can turn the brain into an Internet of Things node online. The ‘Brainternet’ project streams brainwaves onto the internet. Essentially, it turns the brain into an Internet of Things (IoT) node on the World Wide Web. IoT refers to connecting any device with an on and off switch to the internet.

Brainternet is a new frontier in brain-computer interface systems. There is a lack of easily understood data about how a human brain works and processes information. Brainternet seeks to simplify a person’s understanding of their own brain and the brains of others. It does this through continuous monitoring of brain activity as well as enabling some interactivity.

More information:

http://neurosciencenews.com/brain-internet-connection-7489/