Nanoscale Metalenses put Virtual Reality in perfect focus, and eliminate headsets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s VR headsets are still low resolution and big, this technology would reduce them to just millimeters thick and make UHD resolution the norm. If wearing a Augmented Reality (AR) glasses or Virtual Reality (VR) headsets is ever to become commonplace then hardware manufacturers...
Companies are building the tech to bring Star Trek’s Holodecks to life
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ultimate sci-fi concept, Holodecks have been talked about since they were first shown on TV, and now several companies are building the tech to make them a reality. San Jose holographic display start up Light Field Lab and Los Angeles graphics company OTOY, which focuses on cloud...
Nvidia unveiled a new AI engine that renders virtual world’s in real time
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Arguably the most complex part of creating VR content is coding and building the environments, Nvidia just bought those barriers crashing down. Nvidia have announced that they’ve introduced a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Deep Learning model that “aims to catapult the graphics industry into the AI...
Create Digital Humans in minutes, Soul Machines unveils Digital DNA platform
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Avatars that resemble real people, in their behaviours and speech, are on the rise, and some people are using them to create immortal versions of themselves. Soul Machines, the company behind some of the world’s most human-like digital avatars that are already in service...
Virtual reality headsets tune into users brainwaves to train people faster
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As many people worry about the rise of AI and automation, and the effect they will have on jobs, new faster and smarter ways to educate and train our children and our workforces are emerging. Before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games members of the...
Hypersurfaces uses AI to turn everything into a computer interface
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today’s computer interfaces are still limiting, even with the advent of voice and touch, so Hypersurfaces is setting them free. In the future one thing is certain, as technology proliferates around us the keyboard and mouse will slowly die out and we will all...
Step into the holodeck, Theoriz unveil their mixed room reality concept
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Holodecks are still the stuff of science fiction, but even though the journey is long we’re edging closer to realising them. If you had to list the most mind blowing tech demos in recent memory, Microsoft’s Hololens Augmented Reality headset would need to be included, as...
Death isn’t forever, companies build digital avatars so people can “live on after death”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Digital Avatars will mean that physical human death is simply a doorway into a new digital reality where our descendants interact with our Avatars instead of the real, physical us. Over the past couple of years, asides from the giant strides we’ve seen in...
PWC program prepares employees for the next generation of jobs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The world is changing faster than ever before, leading to a shortage of talent, meaning companies are being forced to find new ways to adapt and overcome skills shortages. Everyone by now understands that the workplace, and the workforce is changing as a result...
New glasses will beam augmented and virtual reality directly into your eyes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Augmented Reality glasses and Virtual Reality headsets use complex computers and optics to create their effects, researchers believe they can eliminate these overheads by beaming the images directly into your eyes. Researchers have proposed a new way to build Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses...
BAE is developing a “wearable” cockpit for fighter jets
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Aircraft cockpits haven’t changed much in decades, and digitising them opens up a host of new opportunities. BAE Systems has announced that it’s looking to make the fighter jet cockpit of tomorrow a much simpler place for pilots by replacing conventional instruments and controls...
Virtual reality without the headset, US startup debuts the “Looking Glass”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF VR headsets create an isolating experience, so a US startup has found a way to create VR worlds without them. Many people have dreamt about being able to use free form holograms, like the ones in Star Wars, to communicate with their friends and...
Plexus VR gloves give users fine grained control of their VR environments
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The best technology is invisible and frictionless to use, and virtual reality still has a way to go before the experience is simple and seamless, but these gloves could help bring more users into the sector. Bringing a user’s hands into a Virtual Reality...
CGI “Virtual influencers” on Instagram battle it out in public, snag real ad cash
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today we are used to the majority of our influencers, and contacts, being human, but as we progress into the future more of the encounters we have will be with virtual entities, in the form of avatars, bots and virtual vloggers like these. It...
Scientists have created the world’s best and biggest 3D living hologram
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Scientists, and society at large, have been waiting for holograms technology to appear on the market for decades, and while you’ll still have to wait before you can buy one in the shops we’re starting to edge closer to realising the dream. Science fiction...
Amazon continues to branch out with Augmented Reality
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are pros and cons to online and offline shopping, and increasingly retailers, particularly Amazon, are trying to find the happy ground between the two using new technologies like drones and new, immersive reality technologies. According to sources Amazon’s retail plans could extend well...
Researchers have created a 3D plasma hologram you can touch
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everyone loves holograms, or they think they do, because until now most holograms have relied more on parlour tricks than actual science and technology to work, but that might be about to change. Every science fiction film ever created, and probably even the ones...
World’s first holographic smartphone makes its debut
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Advances in nanotechnology and nanophotonics are helping companies make great strides in creating, and bringing to market, new holographic display systems and they’re only just getting started. A few months ago cinema camera maker RED came out with the surprise announcement that they were...
Virtual reality lets cyber security experts patrol their networks Matrix style
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Virtual reality will give cybersecurity analysts the ability to patrol their networks like cops On the beat in the real world, and it could lead to significant gains in productivity and protection. The future of the workplace is, understandably, a hot topic for many...
Euclideon unveils the world’s first multi-user hologram table
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Holograms are a science fiction staple, and using a trick of the light, Euclideon and their new holographic table have gotten closer to bringing them to reality than anyone else. This week Australian company Euclideon announced they’ve managed to build what is being dubbed...
