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This episode of The Engineering Commons finds Adam, Brian, Carmen and Jeff predicting how virtual and augmented realities might soon be incorporated into daily engineering activities.
- Adam’s not so sure he’s ready to plug into the Matrix.
- Brian suggests that understanding differential calculus is much less practical than knowing Kung Fu.
- Bullet time is a visual effect that transforms a viewer’s perception of space and time.
- Brian is not impressed by the argument claiming we live inside a computer simulation, as it seems to violate Occam’s razor.
- The story of “turtles all the way down” may be reviewed on Wikipedia, as Brian gets interrupted before finishing his explanation.
- Virtual reality (VR) simulates a user’s presence in a computer-generated environment.
- Augmented reality (AR) seeks to enhance (or modify) a user’s perception of their physical environment.
- A well-known device that made use of augmented reality was Google Glass.
- Two VR headsets currently available to consumers are the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
- Two AR headsets that show promise, but are not yet available to consumers, are the Microsoft HoloLens and a yet-to-be-named product from Magic Leap.
- Videos touting Magic Leap’s technology popped up on the internet about six months ago.
- Some users experience a form of motion sickness when exposed to a virtual environment.
- Foo is an interesting attempt to create a shared virtual environment.
- Ubiquitous computing refers to the notion that computing will soon happen anywhere and everywhere, with every device providing a computing interface.
- One possibility for creating an augmented reality, without wearing a headset, is the use of smart contact lenses.
Thanks to Nan Palmero for use of the photograph titled “Woman Using a Samsung VR Headset at SXSW.” Opening music by John Trimble, and concluding theme by Paul Stevenson.