Callum Moates – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 15, 2021

Facebook is now Meta but What Does That Mean?

So, Facebook announced its rebrand a couple of weeks ago. Let’s get into it. The social media giant will be positioning itself ready to build the metaverse, and in keeping with that goal, it changed its parent-company name to ‘Meta’. Meta will now be known as the overarching company that runs Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and Oculus among others.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, has said that he wants to build the metaverse; with it being a virtual world where people can do anything and everything, including work, game, and socialise. Zuckerberg said, “We believe the metaverse will be the successor of the mobile internet…We’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are.”

Meta also reported that the revenue of their VR segment had grown so substantially that they will now need to count this revenue separately and divide it into two categories. One category is the family of apps as mentioned above, and the second category is its Reality Labs products featuring their VR and AR technology.

This change comes at a time when Zuckerberg is expecting the metaverse to reach a population of 1 billion people within the next 10 years. Therefore, this rebrand is to support his vision of building a metaverse to meet that demand. Users will be able to design their own avatars, decorate their own virtual space, meet with people, and even attend virtual concerts and events all from the comfort of their own homes. All of this is not too far stretched from what we see now, with both Fortnite and Roblox hosting virtual concerts very recently.

Over the last year, Facebook rolled out two platforms in beta to get the metaverse ball rolling. Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms. The former allows users to invite their friends over to their digital world and the latter does the same but purely for professional environments. As well as this, Zuckerberg has also expressed interest in the NFT and Crypto space, working on how digital assets can be effectively represented within the metaverse.

However, this change comes at a time when Facebook is facing uphill public relations battles. This includes the recent whistleblower, Frances Haugen coming forward with leaked documents outlining the toxic business practices and evidence of the long term negative impact the platform will have on the public. Many believe that this rebrand is just to distract the public from what is really going on behind closed doors. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate had not-so favourable words about the Facebook reposition, saying the following, ‘…just imagine what Facebook could achieve if it devoted even a fraction of its metaverse investment on proper content moderation to enforce even the most basic standards of truth, decency and progress.’

There has been a mixed reaction from industry experts on this move from Zuckerberg. Here are a few examples of the negative comments:

“While it’ll help alleviate confusion by distinguishing Facebook’s parent company from its founding app, a name change doesn’t suddenly erase the systemic issues plaguing the company… If Meta doesn’t address its issues beyond a defensive and superficial altitude, those same issues will occupy the metaverse,” said Mike Proulx, VP and Research Director at Forrester.

Tom Bianchi, VP of Marketing at Acquia stated, “Big tech companies are taking steps towards consent-led data strategies, such as embracing first-party data and the phasing out of third-party cookies… But, given the scale of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the recent whistleblower revelations, it’s clear Facebook has a long way to go before it regains consumer confidence.”

“With social media under scrutiny, and with increasing regulation inevitable, the rebrand and pivot seem to be an attempt to deflect some of the attention from recent scandals, while also entering into a new arena where Facebook may feel better positioned to shape the rules,” said Arielle Garcia, Chief Privacy Officer at UM Worldwide.

It’s not all bad though, here are a few positive outlooks…

Jeff Sue, General Manager of Americas at Mintegral said, “The metaverse and virtual reality world is a great opportunity for Facebook and the new rebranding signifies their intentions… Traditional social media has been a crowded space recently, especially with the rise of TikTok capturing younger audiences. Facebook needed to pivot on many levels from product to PR, and this will allow it to continue growing.”

“Meta represents the future not only for Facebook but for marketing… The metaverse represents the next massive opportunity for brands to engage consumers in new ways,” Aaron Goldman, Chief Marketing Officer at Mediaocean opined. “The key to success for brands in the metaverse will be ensuring that their assets are built into the ecosystem for easy access by consumers.”

This future vision certainly has the tech industry divided. With Meta planning on spending $10 billion in the next year alone on this bet, the social media giant is most certainly committed no matter what other issues hamper it.

July 20, 2021

Virtual Planet: The Societal Impacts of VR

Since the inception of virtual reality (VR), there has been much deliberation over whether its positive effects on society outweigh the negatives. With the power to go pretty much anywhere you want, and experience anything you want, you would expect that VR has the potential to be one of the best technological advancements in modern times. However, there are a few arguments against this, which we will discover later on.

Throughout this article, I will be diving into both the positives and negative effects of VR on society and what this means for our social interaction as a whole. After all, humans are incredibly social creatures (for the most part) and our civilisation thrives off other human interactions. But how does VR impact this?

Positive Effects on Society

Socialising without leaving the house

Of course, we all know that physical human interaction is the backbone of society and how we, as humans, stay mentally healthy. However, VR offers a great alternative to this. For those who are either unable to leave their house for various reasons, VR gives them a way to link with friends and family without being physically near them. This may be through gaming or other VR avenues.

We can take the latest COVID-19 pandemic for example. Many of us were quarantined for months on end, so just like Zoom and other video conferencing tools took off, VR was also able to engage people with human interaction. This is hugely beneficial for society as a whole because it means that even though we are not physically with others, we can still connect and hear other people’s voices. This can be an easy cure for loneliness or other mental health ailments.

Treating mental health

The issue of mental health is growing with each passing year, and with good reason. With 1 in 4 of us having to combat a mental health problem at one stage in our life, there is more demand for the right help and attention. This is where VR can help.

Mental health professionals often require extensive training for years on end, and waiting for the right medical professional can also take a while, but VR can bypass this. One of the best ways we are able to beat a mental health condition is through what is called ‘in-situ’ coaching. This is where we deal with our fear head-on and get put into situations that make us feel uncomfortable, with the aim of becoming more confident when facing that situation. With VR, we can be placed into these circumstances virtually and tackle them head-on.

Also, due to the fact that it is virtual, people will be more likely to enter situations that make them anxious as they know it is only a simulation. Furthermore, it is much more time and cost-effective to repeat the treatment if it becomes too much for the person. The virtual environment can be easily tapered back to suit.

Better education

If we go back before interactive smartboards and other technological advances in education, we learnt from textbooks (and often still do). However, it is known that that is not the most optimal way of learning. As humans, we like to learn through seeing and doing. VR checks both of those boxes.

Through the use of VR, we are able to jump into situations which would otherwise be impossible to re-enact in the classroom, such as visit Machu Picchu, perform surgery, or carry out a science experiment without the right equipment. Learning by performing is our best way of retaining information which is why VR is a great solution to improve education across the world.

Of course, we still have a long way to go before there are VR headsets in every classroom, but once there are, I believe that this can only benefit the human race and society as a whole. If you’re interested in more of this topic, here is a write-up of why VR will be the future of education.

Negative effects on Society

Addiction

Gaming addiction has always been a problem for society and a lot of people have had to deal with it over the last couple of decades. Now with the start of VR and environments becoming even more immersive, there is always an extra risk.

Due to the fact that VR is so immersive and the stimulus on the brain is heightened due to it being a simulation, the possibility of getting addicted does increase. If users do become addicted, this can become a major problem. Users can become isolated, negatively affecting their mental health and become dependent on the use of VR.

They can become antisocial and lose basic social skills, which can then form into social anxiety and other mental health problems. This is of course something we need to be wary of as a society.

Obviously, these are very extreme cases, and as long as VR usage is moderate and not abused, then the majority of people will be able to use VR without any problems.

Physical harm

There have been cases where users who have played on VR headsets for a prolonged period of time have experienced nausea or ‘cybersickness’. This is due to the fact that you may be moving in the simulation, but your body is not physically moving in the real world and your brain gets confused.

As well as nausea, users have been known to experience eye soreness. If we stare at a computer screen or TV for too long, our eyes start to strain, and this is exactly the same with VR. Ergonomic designers for VR headsets have yet to create a lens that mimics the wide-angle our eyes naturally have, so this can be a problem if used for long periods of time. The continual abuse of VR may cause long term impairment of vision, however, not much study surrounds this.

These factors are a relatively easy fix, just use VR for short periods of time and take plenty of breaks. Of course, these effects may not affect everyone and some may feel the toll heavier than others.

Conclusion

When used correctly, VR can be an amazing tool for various things, such as education, socialising and treatment. However, it cannot be abused. This level of technology is fairly new and studies still need to be done to show the true impact addiction and the physical ailments caused by VR has on us in the long term.

If used in moderation, there is no reason that the benefits of VR can far outweigh the negatives, and this will only become more clear when we learn how to best make use of this wonderful technology.

June 10, 2021

VR is the Future of Education

Virtual Reality (VR) has evolved over the years, with the first physical VR machine being produced in 1956! With technology becoming more and more sophisticated as we enter the 21st Century, it’s no surprise that VR now has a firm imprint on how we teach, and the current Coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated this fact.

So, why will VR be the future of education? The following will delve into the various ways VR will be used in the industry as well as why it will help the future of teaching and learning.

Why Virtual Reality Will Improve the Future of Education

Traditionally, we are taught by learning facts from books and other sources. But this does not suit everyone. A lot of us are visual and physical learners and need various stimuli to get the most out of the learning experience.

Through VR, we are able to jump into learning and interact with it, meaning that our ability to retain information is greatly enhanced. This is due to the fact that we are not required to use as much cognition compared to reading words out of a book for example. Below are a few reasons why learning can be improved in the future with the help of VR.

Turning physical into virtual

With the use of VR technology, we are able to enter into different virtual areas to learn. For example, if a science lab is not available in a real-life scenario this can be transformed into a virtual lab where experiments can be taught.

Practice makes perfect

As mentioned before, traditionally, we are taught by reading textbooks or off smart-boards and repeating this process until the knowledge sticks. However, it’s been proven that people learn more effectively (and efficiently) when they take part in an activity that directly relates to what they are learning. VR gives us the opportunity to learn by actually performing a task when it would otherwise be impossible in a classroom.

With students being able to enter into environments that are interactive, it makes the information much easier to process. Examples of this in the real world will be outlined later, but platforms that enable virtual school trips and virtual training are extremely beneficial for students to get a good grip of what they are learning by experiencing everything hands-on. This also makes the teacher’s life much easier as it removes the need to explain things in a complex way that could be misunderstood. The quicker the students learn, the happier the teacher!

Understand the world around us

Through VR learning, we are able to jump into a whole new world while sitting in a classroom. Whether it be going back to Ancient Rome in History class, or travelling across the world to New Zealand in Geography – VR allows us to experience the world first-hand.

Excitement for the technology

It’s true that VR is usually associated with the gaming industry, however, demand for its use in education is growing rapidly. Many famous personalities, such as Sir David Attenborough, have been endorsing the use of VR and how it can educate the public. Attenborough has been involved in a few VR projects over the years including Micro Monsters. This endorsement from public figures will only contribute to the growing excitement of VR’s capabilities.

How We Will Use Virtual Reality In Education

With VR, we can make almost anything possible – especially in education. From virtual classrooms to hands-on training, VR allows the user to experience situations they are usually unable to in the traditional classroom. Below are a few examples of how we can use VR for learning in the future.

Training

As stated above, VR enables us to enter into experiences that we would otherwise not be able to in a normal classroom. A great example of this would be in the medical industry. With VR, students can learn using 3D imagery as well as performing examinations on virtual patients.

This is extremely beneficial in the surgical field as users can virtually carry out surgery and learn before moving to real patients. St George’s University Hospital in South London has actually adopted Fundamental Surgery to teach their students. This surgical teaching platform was created by software company FundamentalVR.

School Trips

Students studying Geography or History can also benefit from VR. Using the technology, we are able to run virtual school trips. This is extremely beneficial as students get a real sense of the location they are learning about, instead of just reading about it in a textbook.

Another benefit of this is the feasibility and cost-effectiveness. By taking a virtual trip to Machu Picchu, students can experience the surroundings without the need to pay for the cost of the trip or take the time to get there.

We’re not saying that VR should completely replace real school trips as it is necessary to experience the real world. VR just allows a more diverse learning experience with virtual school trips.

Communication

A massive aspect of learning is communicating ideas in groups with other peers. With VR, we can use virtual rooms and avatars to create virtual classrooms with people on the other side of the world. This opens up the possibility of exchanging ideas with peers that are from different sides of the globe which will only enrich the learning experience.

Apps such as HTC’s Vive XR Suite provide a remote collaboration centre where users can engage in conversation and discuss ideas. As technology becomes more advanced, more platforms like this will become available.

Deciding a Career Path

A common problem with many students in today’s society is that they are unsure of what career they want to pursue. VR can help alleviate a portion of this problem by helping students enter into the shoes of a person that may be in a specific field. Through this, the user can understand the career a little bit better and get an understanding if it’s something they want to pursue further.

Learning Language

Similar to the virtual field trips, with VR, language students are able to visit the country of the language they are learning and communicate (virtually) with others. The user will actually get the feeling of being there which will help them get a better understanding of how to communicate as the virtual environment tricks our brain into actually thinking we are present.

An example of this being in place is MondlyVR by ATi Studios. This platform guides the user through various pronunciations in real-world situations using an avatar ‘teacher’. It engages the user in conversations and gives constant feedback due to its chatbot technology.

Final Thoughts

VR opens up the possibility of learning that we have never experienced before and it has the potential to change the way we educate and learn forever. With the technology steadily becoming more advanced, students will become more engaged with the classroom and therefore be able to absorb information more effectively.

Of course, we still are not there yet technologically for VR to take up the majority of our learning experience, however, it may not be far away. VR technology has come so far already, with wireless headsets such as the Oculus Quest 2 it makes learning far more feasible and frictionless as compared to a wired PC HMD. Who knows where the next few years take us but VR will become even more advanced and this will only make the learning experience more accessible.

We will also be relying on the people in education to adapt and then adopt this technology to make it happen. The common goal for everyone across the world should be to make education as accessible as possible and VR can achieve that goal.