Virtuality: iPhone In 3D

Been a while since I posted about Virtuality. In addition to the fact that Second Life kills my laptop and slows it to a grinding halt, I've also been waiting to see where the virtual trend went- what would be the next evolution using virtual worlds as a jump off point, how it might go more mainstream, particularly how it might remove the experience from being tethered to a computer...

While buzzing through the RSS feeds this morning, I came across this over at Virtual World News. BOXfab is a start up that designs products that enhance existing technologies (that's probably simplifying it way too much, but you get the idea). Their first product (as far as I can tell from their website) is a virtual reality headset for the iPhone. Basically, it turns the iPhone screen and display into a 3D, heads up display. The user puts on a special headset and is ready for a fully immersed experience.


From the site:

"A Virtual Reality display device which uses the iPhone as the viewing plate so that it becomes a wearable virtual headset simply by clipping on a special attachment. The device can network with other uses for shared virtual experiences and uses the tilt sensor of the iPhone plus a proprietary left-right tracker to provide a truly immersive experience.

"Special close-view depixelization flat optics turn the iPhone screen into a 3 dimensional window into another world. The under $200.00 design provides the functionality of devices costing thousands of dollars more. Three versions: A. Hand-Held. B. Wearable. C. Deskmount."

Bringing virtual reality to the iPhone could turn out to be a big move and a significant evolution of the trend. Sure, wearing the headset could be a little clunky and odd to wear in public. But I respect the push to take the idea that is at the core of virtual worlds- bringing a visual, 3D component to the social experiences we have online- in a new direction. And, as they point out over at VWN, this device may not be the answer or necessarily the future, but it gives us a glimpse into some possibilities.

Reporting from Tomorrow, pt 3

I commented yesterday on some overarching themes that seemed to run throughout the World Future Society Conference. Supporting those themes were some good examples and cited sources, so to wrap up conference reporting, today's post will be a sampling of what I heard.

adafruit

Product sales + open source invention...buy a cool electronics kit (this photo is for the MintyBoost, an iPod battery charger made from an Altoids gum tin) or look at the photos and instructions and try it yourself. The site gives credit to other inventions who were inspiration as well as posts others' iterations of the original idea.

iRobot Create
iRobot bills itself as being in the "practical robot" business (every knows about the Roomba auto vacuum cleaner) iRobot also sells what's basically an idea starter. Its an iRobot that anyone from kids to roboticists can plug into the computer and being to program. Its open access design lets users add on other electronics or modifications without blowing the whole thing up. The company also paired up with Instructables and Tom's Hardware for the iRobot Create Challenge--you can guess its premise. Not sure if this one is an entry, but here is the Adverbot, which uses the iRobot as a base for mobile advertising delivery. If you've got an idea, entries due August 31, 2007.


Maker Faire

"build, craft, hack, play, MAKE" Sponsored by MAKE magazine, this is a two-day festival that encourages people from all skill sets to display their DIY-ness. This sounds like an improved version of the craft fair--nothing's for sale, so you don't walk around saying, "300 bucks for THAT?! I could make that myself at home!"

Reporting from Tomorrow, pt 2

I realized that I'd neglected some important facts to give proper bearings about the World Future Conference. Like what it was for and who was there.

So first, Wikipedia summarizes futures thinking as "three Ps and a W": possible, probable or preferable futures, plus wild card events (unlikely to occur but would have a great impact).

And the World Future Society acts as a clearinghouse for all of these ideas. It's a massive international network (started in MN!) who describes its reason for being as such:

By studying the future, people can better anticipate what lies ahead. More importantly, they can actively decide how they will live in the future, by making choices today and realizing the consequences of their decisions.

The future doesn't just happen: People create it through their action -- or inaction -- today.

My experience attending speaker sessions yesterday lived up to this description: we heard lots of compelling information, statistics, and trends, but rarely did speakers try to guide their audience toward the One Right Answer. We were each left to make of it what we liked. As I worked through my day's schedule of speakers, a few macro themes emerged:

--We are in a time of massive power shift, economically, socially, sexually, even biologically.

--Futurists see great potential in using current systems (ex monetary, legal, information) in innovative ways to create substantial near-term solutions.

--One question that future thinkers seem to grapple with, probably on a day-to-day basis, is: are we coping instead of living? (Subsequently, what is causing it? And, how do we change it?)

The conference has so far proven itself both highly informative, and also refreshing. For once, trends aren't being discussed in terms of the goods and services associated with them. I'm not dogging on that trend vantage point (we do a lot of it here) but the WFS is certainly providing a different perspective on the world and its people.

More thoughts tomorrow.

World Future Conference: Reporting from Tomorrow

Sunday kicked off the World Future Conference, an annual gathering of future thinkers from around the world. I'll report in based on my experiences (only a tiny slice of the whole conference) over the next few days.

We were welcomed to the conference by a pair of keynote speakers, Helen Fisher (professor at Rutgers University and author) and Gregory Stock (president of Signum Biosciences and author) .

I am excitedly anticipating the meat of the conference after these keynotes. While Fisher focused on her area of expertise, love and attachment, and Stock on his, the cutting edge of biotechnology, one theme ran constant. I think Stock himself summed it up nicely: "we are here to change our vision of who we are as human beings." Both spoke about their areas of development as they related to us as people. What it means to prescribe Zoloft, which lowers sex drive, and thus reduces the body's ability to produce dopamine? Does that mean people love less? Or what will happen when there is a pill created that will control aging (Stock thinks that the first person to live to be 150 is alive today)? These are big questions that could affect any of us, or all of us. I didn't have an extensive knowledge of the World Future Society before deciding to attend the conference, so I'll admit that a little part of me was afraid of three days of hyperfuture geeks speak that I wouldn't be able to make actionable for our clients or Fallon, but after the kickoff, I'm no longer concerned.

Prediction of social networking doom and gloom

Lance Ulanoff of PC Magazine writes an opinion piece on the inevitable death of MySpace, Second Life, Twitter, and the whole lot of social networking sites.

Some highlights:

"MySpace could be the first to collapse. It has now suffered the same fate as the millions of personal Web sites that sprang up in the mid 1990s: It's huge, ugly, unmonitored, unrestrained, and pointless."

I take issue with his proclamation that MySpace is pointless; I would equate that to the idea that letter writing or putting my photos in an album are both pointless, too. Not buying it.

More...

"Second Life could just as easily be the first to go. No one believes its reported participation numbers anymore, even though big companies, such as Circuit City and IBM, have built virtual stores (and Playboy is jumping in with both, er, feet this month). Some individuals are even claiming to make real-world money in there, but are they really?"

There might be some validity in the flaws Ulanoff highlights, but I think he neglected to take into account one important variable: innovation. If they sit, at stasis, until the end of the decade, these sites and utilities will probably lose their luster. But they're ever-evolving. The Facebook, for example, is shooting out new applications left and right. They're not solving global warming or emptying our prisons, but they are adding dimension to relationships. The new variety of closeness that we collectively have developed online won't go away, even if it does evolve into something different. But way to go for it on the prediction, Lance. I appreciate it.

Full article here

Belly Brain

We talk about emotions and their impact on the individual. Now learn about the belly brain, which scientists say may play an even more important role in our development than the brain in our heads.

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http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/2103/1/Theres-A-Brain-In-Your-Belly.html

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_105441.html
http://www.2012.com.au/Second_brain.html

http://www.wie.org/j25/gowygut.asp

http://www.more.com/more/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/more/story/data/More022005StomachBrain_02022005.xml