Evolve 2018: AR, VR, & the Future of Work

Summary

The speaker, a futurist and immersive technologist, discusses the potential of augmented and virtual reality to democratize knowledge and revolutionize learning. They emphasize the importance of embodied cognition in education and the power of immersive technology to harness attention and transform various industries. The talk also addresses the exponential growth of VR/AR, its current and future use cases, and the need for considering safety and ethical implications as these technologies advance.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The speaker is a futurist and immersive technologist specializing in augmented and virtual reality, aiming to democratize knowledge and break the brain-body binary.
• 🏙️ Growing up in a small town without access to information, the speaker's work now focuses on making immersive computing accessible to businesses globally.
• 🎓 As a faculty member at Singularity University, the speaker believes in the importance of embodied learning and the potential of VR and AR to enhance it.
• 🤝 The speaker emphasizes the value of immersive technologies for collaboration and knowledge sharing in a more interactive and embodied way.
• 📈 Immersive technologies like VR and AR are seen as top trends by leading analysts and are pursued by major tech companies for their disruptive potential.
• 🧠 The speaker discusses the concept of 'cognitive ecology', highlighting how our bodies and environments play a crucial role in learning and retaining information.
• 📚 Immersive technologies can revolutionize training and learning by making use of our physical presence to offload information and enhance memory retention.
• 🎨 The speaker argues that new forms of representation for ideas, such as VR and AR, can lead to new ways of thinking and understanding complex concepts.
• 💡 Immersive technologies can provide unique experiences, such as touching virtual objects in a museum, offering new ways to learn and engage with the world.
• 🚀 The industry is predicted to grow exponentially, with AR expected to capture an increasing market share and disrupt various sectors.
• 🛠 The speaker encourages embracing the potential of VR and AR for practical applications, such as training, design, and logistics, beyond mere entertainment.

Q & A

What are the two main drivers of the speaker's work in immersive technology?

The speaker's two main drivers are democratizing knowledge and information, and breaking apart the brain-body binary inherited from Greco-Roman ancestors to put people back in their bodies.

How did the speaker's background influence their interest in immersive technology?

The speaker grew up in a small town in West Texas, which was classified as a frontier with limited access to information and resources. This background influenced their interest in using immersive technology to democratize access to knowledge and information.

What is the speaker's professional role in the field of VR and AR?

The speaker is a futurist and immersive technologist who consults with Fortune 500 companies globally, is a VR AR faculty member at Singularity University, and has been an executive in San Francisco and a leader in Design Thinking transformation for IBM.

What is the speaker's perspective on the importance of being in our bodies for learning and collaboration?

The speaker believes deeply in the importance of being in our bodies for learning and collaboration, stating that we learn best and collaborate most effectively when we have embodied, interactive ways of sharing information and knowledge.

Why does the speaker argue that immersive technology can help democratize access to information?

The speaker argues that immersive technology can help democratize access to information by providing a platform that allows for a more immersive and engaging way to share and learn, which can be scaled to reach more people.

What is the speaker's view on the current state of consumer adoption of VR and AR technology?

The speaker acknowledges that the technology is still expensive, not yet small enough to be portable and useful, and that wearing VR devices can be socially awkward. These factors contribute to the slow mass consumer adoption.

What does the speaker mean by 'harnessing attention' in the context of VR and AR?

Harnessing attention refers to the ability of VR and AR to create a sense of physical presence and full immersive attention, which can help manage information overload by providing a more focused and engaging way to interact with information.

How does the speaker describe the impact of immersive technology on training and learning?

The speaker describes the impact as revolutionary, stating that immersive technology can help address the diminishing half-life of skills and the challenges of training employees on new technology by providing more interactive and embodied learning experiences.

What is the 'Cone of Learning' mentioned by the speaker, and how does it relate to immersive technology?

The 'Cone of Learning' is a concept created by Edgar Dale that illustrates the different levels of retention based on the method of learning. The speaker relates it to immersive technology by pointing out that interactive learning, such as using VR and AR, can significantly increase retention rates.

What are some of the potential use cases for VR and AR technology that the speaker discusses?

The speaker discusses a range of potential use cases for VR and AR technology, including architectural collaboration, cave automation systems for design, pharmaceutical design, remote expertise and education, logistics, try-before-you-buy experiences, recruitment, and analytics tools.

What does the speaker suggest about the future of VR and AR technology in terms of market growth and adoption?

The speaker suggests that the market for VR and AR technology is expected to grow significantly, with Goldman Sachs predicting it to be a $107 billion industry by 2025. The speaker also notes the increasing rate of technology adoption and the potential for AR to disrupt various market ecosystems.

What ethical considerations does the speaker highlight regarding the use of VR and AR technology?

The speaker highlights the importance of considering safety and ethics in the use of VR and AR technology, including research on the impact on brain development, especially in children, and the need for standards around digital rights and privacy due to the technology's data collection capabilities.

How does the speaker encourage the audience to approach the integration of VR and AR technology into their work?

The speaker encourages the audience to embrace the gray area between pragmatism and imagination, to balance optimism with skepticism, and to have the vision and courage to implement these technologies to create the future of work.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Democratizing Knowledge and Embodied Learning

The speaker, a futurist and immersive technologist, emphasizes the importance of democratizing knowledge and breaking the traditional brain-body binary. Hailing from a small town in West Texas, the speaker has a global impact, consulting for Fortune 500 companies and teaching at Singularity University. They advocate for immersive technologies like VR and AR to enhance learning and collaboration by putting people back into their bodies, which they believe is crucial for effective information sharing. The speaker also engages the audience by asking about their experiences with VR and AR, highlighting the technology's potential to revolutionize various industries despite current adoption challenges.

05:01

📚 The Evolution of Information Ingestion and Learning

This paragraph delves into the history of how humans have ingested information, from the physical world of our ancestors to the digital age. The speaker discusses the concept of 'information overload' and the scarcity of attention in an information-rich world, quoting Herbert Simon. They argue that immersive technologies can provide a solution by creating a sense of physical presence and full immersive attention. The paragraph also explores the idea that our bodies play a significant role in learning and cognition, and that traditional educational systems are not keeping pace with the changing nature of work and skills. The speaker shares examples of how embodied learning can be more effective, referencing the 'cone of learning' and advocating for immersive tech to enhance educational experiences.

10:01

🎨 Touching New Worlds with Immersive Technology

The speaker discusses the transformative potential of immersive technology, such as AR and VR, in allowing users to 'touch new worlds' and interact with objects in ways previously impossible. They provide examples like the British Museum's interactive exhibit and the importance of representation in the history of ideas. The speaker argues that new mediums for representing information empower us but also have the potential to disempower us by limiting our understanding. They suggest that immersive technologies can leverage our evolved abilities to understand information in various ways, beyond the print-based paradigm, and can revolutionize fields like education, cybersecurity, and even virtual economies.

15:02

🚀 The Market and Future of Augmented and Virtual Reality

In this paragraph, the speaker outlines the market potential and future prospects of AR and VR technologies. They predict that AR will increasingly dominate the market, disrupting various industries and creating new economic opportunities, as seen with the success of Pokémon Go and Second Life. The speaker also discusses the exponential growth of technology adoption and the importance of understanding this curve for businesses to stay ahead. They highlight the need for vision, courage, patience, and unlearning to navigate the transition to new computing paradigms and provide examples of how companies are already implementing AR and VR to solve problems and improve efficiency.

20:03

🛠 Use Cases and Ethical Considerations of Immersive Tech

The speaker provides a range of use cases for VR and AR technologies, from architectural collaboration and industrial design to pharmaceuticals and remote assistance. They also touch on the importance of safety and ethical considerations, such as the impact of immersive tech on brain development, digital rights, and the potential for data privacy issues. The speaker warns against the misuse of technology and the need to combat encoded bias, advocating for responsible development and implementation of these powerful tools.

25:04

🌟 Embracing the Future with Vision and Imagination

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker reflects on the importance of balancing pragmatism with imagination and the need for vision and courage to implement new technologies. They use Buckminster Fuller's quote to illustrate that providing people with new tools can lead to innovative ways of thinking. The speaker encourages the audience to embrace the potential of immersive technologies to transform how we learn, work, and understand the world, while also considering the ethical implications and safety concerns associated with these advancements.

Keywords

💡Futurist

A futurist is someone who studies and predicts future trends and developments, particularly in technology, society, and culture. In the video, the speaker identifies as a futurist, focusing on the future of immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality. The term is integral to understanding the speaker's perspective and expertise in envisioning and shaping the future of technology.

💡Immersive Technology

Immersive technology refers to tech that engulfs the user in a fully interactive experience, often used to describe virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). The speaker discusses the potential of these technologies to revolutionize various fields by creating more engaging and interactive experiences, breaking away from traditional screen-based interactions.

💡Democratize Knowledge

To democratize knowledge means to make information and learning accessible to everyone, regardless of their social or economic status. The speaker highlights this as a main driver in their work, aiming to use immersive technologies to make knowledge more widely available and to level the playing field in terms of access to information.

💡Brain-Body Binary

The brain-body binary is a philosophical concept that separates the mind (brain) from the physical body, often leading to a devaluation of the body in learning and experience. The speaker wants to break this binary, advocating for the importance of the body in learning and knowledge acquisition, and how immersive technologies can help reconnect the mind and body in the learning process.

💡Information Overload

Information overload occurs when individuals are exposed to more information than they can process, understand, or effectively act upon. The speaker mentions this concept to describe the current state of data abundance and the challenges it presents, emphasizing the need for technologies that can help manage and make sense of this overwhelming amount of information.

💡Cognitive Load

Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort being used in working memory during the process of learning. The script discusses how the increase in information density and multitasking can lead to higher cognitive loads, which immersive technologies may help to manage by providing more intuitive and less cognitively demanding ways of interacting with information.

💡Embodied Learning

Embodied learning is the concept that physical movements and experiences can enhance cognitive processes and the learning of new information. The speaker, with a background in dance, emphasizes the importance of embodied learning, suggesting that immersive technologies can provide physical, interactive ways of learning that are more effective than traditional methods.

💡Spatial Representation

Spatial representation in the context of the video refers to the use of three-dimensional space to organize and interact with information or ideas. The speaker discusses how immersive technologies allow for new forms of spatial representation that can lead to deeper understanding and more intuitive interaction with complex data or concepts.

💡Exponential Technologies

Exponential technologies are those that follow an exponential growth curve, rapidly increasing in power and capability. The speaker uses this term to describe the rapid advancement of immersive technologies and their potential to disrupt and transform various industries at an accelerating pace.

💡Trough of Disillusionment

The trough of disillusionment is a phase in the hype cycle of technological development where public interest wanes as the technology fails to meet high expectations. The speaker mentions this concept to caution about the challenges and skepticism that new technologies, like VR and AR, may face before they become widely adopted and integrated into society.

💡Ethics and Safety

Ethics and safety in the context of the video pertain to the responsible development and use of immersive technologies, considering their impact on individuals and society. The speaker stresses the importance of addressing ethical concerns and safety issues related to data privacy, user experience, and the potential psychological effects of VR and AR.

Highlights

The speaker is a futurist and immersive technologist focusing on augmented and virtual reality to democratize knowledge and break the brain-body binary.

Grew up in a small town in West Texas and now consults with Fortune 500 companies on immersive computing.

Teaches at Singularity University and has led Design Thinking transformation for IBM globally.

Believes in the power of embodied learning and the potential of VR and AR to enhance it.

Discusses the challenges and future of mass consumer adoption of VR and AR technologies.

Cites the importance of harnessing attention in a hyper-connected world of data.

Explains how VR and AR can revolutionize training and learning by leveraging embodied cognition.

Shares studies showing increased information retention and faster learning through interactive VR.

Describes the potential of VR and AR to allow users to 'touch' and understand objects in new ways.

Talks about the history of representation of ideas and the impact of new mediums like VR and AR.

Predicts a 107 billion dollar industry for VR and AR by 2025, according to Goldman Sachs.

Discusses the exponential growth of technology and its impact on various industries.

Provides examples of VR and AR use cases in architecture, automation, pharmaceutical design, and more.

Warns of the importance of considering safety and ethics in the development and use of VR and AR.

Encourages embracing the gray area between pragmatism and imagination for future innovation.

Concludes with a call to action to invent the future through vision, courage, and the implementation of new technologies.

Transcripts

hello thank you so much for having me

here I as was just mentioned I'm a

futurist and immersive technologist I

work primarily in augmented and virtual

reality I have two main drivers one I

want to democratize knowledge and

information the other I want to break

apart this brain body binary that we

inherited from our greco-roman ancestors

and put us back in our bodies what do I

mean by that

democratize knowledge and information I

grew up in a small town in West Texas

four hours from the nearest airport or

mall so small it is literally classified

as frontier and does not have a

stoplight today I consult with Fortune

500 companies around the globe to help

them bring the future of immersive

computing into their business units I am

a VR AR faculty member at a think-tank

in Silicon Valley singularity University

I've been an executive in San Francisco

bringing the new design paradigms of VR

and AR to market and I have helped to

lead Design Thinking transformation

globally for IBM I know how hard that

journey was and I think our world will

be a much better place if we can

democratize access for more people so I

do my part to democratize information

and knowledge bust apart the brain body

binary what do I mean by that I was a

dancer and choreographer for a decade

before coming into my crazy tech life I

believe deeply in putting people into

their bodies I believe we learn best

when we're in our bodies I believe that

we can actually collaborate most

effectively when we have embodied

interactive ways of sharing information

and knowledge and so I work in this

technology because I believe that is

what's going to make that possible at

scale but enough about me I want to know

about you guys real quick raise your

hand if you work in healthcare anything

that touches healthcare where's your

hand if you work in manufacturing raise

your hand if you do anything with the

military raise your hand if you work in

entertainment or sports in any way raise

your hand if you are doing software

support for some company in any of these

domains okay so all of these fields are

going to be to

corrupted by this technology has anyone

tried virtual reality who's tried it

raise your hand okay so I'd say about

half of us who's tried augmented reality

maybe the hololens a few less maybe a

third to a quarter those of you who've

tried it I want you to vote if you loved

it

raise the roof if you hated it your

hands stay down if you weren't quite

sure it's right here ready on three one

two three vote all right so we have some

believers we have some people who are

not so sure you have good reason to be

not so sure why it's expensive the

technology is still getting small enough

to be portable and useful you look kind

of like an idiot when you wear those

things on your face there are a lot of

reasons why we have not yet seen mass

consumer adoption but we're gonna

discuss what that future is going to

look like so if you guys have questions

you can ping me on my Twitter handle at

any point

I'll get back to you I promise I want us

to talk about why this technology is

regularly cited as a top 10 trend in

every analysts report Gartner Forrester

IDC Deloitte's I want us to talk about

why every leading technology company is

vying for technological leadership in

this domain Google Facebook Intel

Microsoft Adobe what is this about what

makes this technology so potentially

disruptive so potentially valuable and

why should you care to deploy this tech

what kind of problems gonna help you

solve I want us to start with the human

side I'm gonna take you in this talk

through a why how and a what we're gonna

get down into nitty gritty use cases at

the end but first we're gonna talk about

why this matters for people what

problems can we solve because this

technology is going to be the immersive

technology platform of our future it's

going to be the connective tissue of AI

robotics all of these other technologies

that you are charged to bring to your

enterprises so the first big value add

is the ability to harness attention with

augmented in virtual reality we live in

a world where we are swimming in a

hyper-connected sea of data and we know

that power is

connected to your ability to access

deploy model and digest this information

so how do we navigate this hyper

connected ocean of data in the best

possible way here's a quick history of

how we've ingested information thus far

so it starts here on your left the

savanna of our ancestors

everything is deeply physical spacious

then we move to the storefront of our

grandparents time more compact still

physicalized now we move to the GUI of

today where every physical object can be

abstracted demonetised

democratize digitized and put in our

phone alarm clock it's in our phone

calendar it's in our phone you guys

remember when these were concrete

objects I know so what happens when we

do this as information density increases

multitasking increases new interaction

paradigms have to be learned which of

course increases cognitive load what

does this mean for your daily experience

information overload right yeah I see

nodding heads okay so how do you manage

that

what is scarce in a world where

information is rich American Nobel

prize-winning economist sociologist and

computer scientist Herbert Simon

predicted this a wealth of information

creates a poverty of attention what you

all are so generously giving me right

now is your most important resource it

is also your business's most important

resource because it's your talent it's

your talents ability to have impact if

you do nothing else if you take nothing

else away from this talk please

recognize your attention is your

scarcest and most valuable resource use

it wisely so in a time when we've

abstracted so much of life and been

inundated with information wouldn't it

be nice if we had a technology

well-suited to create a sense of

physical presence and full immersive

attention we're gonna see examples of

that the second big impact of this tech

is that it revolutionizes the way we

train and learn have you ever noticed

that the half-life of skills seems to be

diminishing

in this future of work

we're educational systems are actually

having a hard time adjusting to the

current work ecosystem and even training

your employees onto new technology

quickly enough can actually be a

challenge cognitive psychologists are

now catching up to what dancers have

always known that cognitive ecology is

defined through and by the body

knowledge exists in mind body world

systems what does that mean that means

that we use our bodies and our physical

environment to offload information and

storage if anyone has ever crossed their

fingers to remember something maybe to

remember two things you are using your

body to offload storage cognition is

also inactive meaning that thought is

shaped by our interactions not just by

the way we inhabit our bodies for

example if any of you were holding a

warm cup right now like this guys

probably weren't holding a warm cup

you're more likely to be friendly if

you're holding a warm cup than if you're

holding a cold cup that is how much

impact your body has on shaping your

thoughts convicts are more likely to be

acquitted after lunch

when their judge's blood sugar is higher

than before lunch this is real talk

about like big data and like encoded

bias we're gonna have to start tracking

these things right so anyway our bodies

shape the way that we learn the way that

we think in massive ways but this isn't

new dancers have known this for ages

that's why we mark when we're doing

choreography we move through space to

literally encode information and

education is known this for a while as

well this is the cone of learning that

Edgar Dale created in the early 1900's

Maria Montessori did something very

similar if you're familiar with embodied

education through Montessori notice this

after two weeks we tend to remember 10%

of what we read and 20% of what we hear

whereas we remember 90% of what we say

and do how strange that our education

system is based on the former what if it

were to look something more like this I

have worked with the National Head Start

Association to bring augmented reality

into early childhood education

classrooms

this purpose because it exponentially

increases the rate at which young

children learn but it's not just young

children numerous studies have been done

that show if you are interacting you

retain 40 to 60 percent more information

you learn more quickly and it doesn't

work if you're just looking at the the

reality if you're looking at a video for

example let's say you put on a VR

headset Columbia University did a study

if you're observing the manipulation of

a structure and virtual reality not a

big difference but if you actually are

using in active cognition interacting

with that information and knowledge

massive increase in the amount that we

retain and the speed at which we learn

have any of you ever tried to renovate a

home before what do you use when you're

trying to figure out how to do the thing

that you need to do what do you use

YouTube says everyone yes

Lowe's knows that so they decided to do

a study to compare YouTube versus VR

they saw a 40% increase in learning

measured on people's ability to recall

the steps they also had a really cool

interesting marketing opportunity here

but that's a little bit gimmicky I want

us to stay focused on the actual value

add the third big value add touching new

worlds you'll be able to pick it up this

is the British Museum I saw this at

South by it's one of my favorite

interactive pieces it allows you to

touch objects you would never otherwise

have the opportunity to touch and

understand them contextually in a way

that you would never be able to

understand them because a bone which you

would never be able to touch because

it's a rare object can literally become

the creature that it used to be what an

amazing way to learn here's the other

big thing guys the history of great

ideas isn't a history of ideas it's a

history of representations of ideas what

does that mean that means that every

idea is actually created through a form

that scales you sir can have the best

idea of anyone the rest of this

conference if you can't tell it to him

it doesn't matter

you have to be able to share and scale

your idea William Playfair the man who

created this is one of my favorite

examples he was writing a book on trade

between Britain Great Britain and other

countries and the way that data was

represented them was columns of numbers

he decided what if I conflate the map

with columns of numbers and instead of

right and left being east and west it

would be high numbers and low numbers he

gave birth to the data plot where do we

use the data plot what about all of

mathematics all of engineering he

revolutionized science because he found

a new way to represent information and

knowledge and every representation needs

a medium to live inside like music or

print which we went all-in on the

printing press revolutionized access to

information and knowledge powerful but

mediums empower us and they also

disempower us we are still working with

this print based paradigm today look

familiar there are beautiful things

about this but they are relegating us to

understanding the world in a very minut

array our body has been equipped by

evolution to make sense of information

and knowledge in myriad ways we are not

leveraging the majority of them for

example you can understand music many

ways you can understand it through your

ears through oral experience spatially

like an orchestra represented in a

symphony tactilely playing the piano or

guitar visually the representation of

musical notes kinesthetically with your

body all of these ways are ways that we

understand music the more of them that

you combine the more deeply you can

understand something the more quickly

you can understand something we try to

do this now by bringing design thinking

into our companies right you're laughing

because you know about this what if with

VR you could place people inside a new

experience and show them macular

degeneration for example or equip entire

workforces to be more productive

cybersecurity is something that is

actually quite difficult to train we

just heard a bit about this you need to

be provisioned in Python scripts

a gating log files understanding

forensic analysis what if it were

gamified and it became a spatial

experiment this is an actual real

offering that is produced by a company

in Colorado called protect wise where a

cyber security specialists can navigate

their entire infrastructure as a game so

why does this matter

harness attention revolutionize learning

and touch new worlds when is this going

to happen it's a one hundred and seven

billion dollar industry at kolduny

according to Goldman Sachs by the year

2025 I think it's gonna be bigger than

that why now the ubiquity and quality of

mobile devices essentially powering

these experiences VR is the majority of

the ecosystem now with smartphones as

the brain but this technology is

evolving the cost is going down and the

technology quality is going up resolving

issues like nausea and form-factor

cell phones used to be like briefcases

VR and AR in a similar phrase right now

this is why by the way unity can raise

400 million in its 207 2017 private

equity round in fact they received three

times the amount of term sheets that

they wanted because this is the

operating system of the future they are

the OS of the future game engines and if

you aren't starting to think about this

your industry is not going to be able to

keep up with these new ways of operating

here is Intel's form factor very nice

looks exactly like a pair of glasses you

don't feel like an idiot when you wear

it so here's an example of augmented

reality versus virtual reality notice

that while virtual reality is 90 percent

of the market now augmented reality will

increasingly capture the market and

disrupt multiple rket working ecosystems

pokemons go for example disrupting all

kinds of places this is Torchy's tacos

that had a 16x increase in its sales

because of pokemons go users or for

example Second Life which creates an

entire economy for people in a digital

world right now people have made the

cover of Businessweek because they've

become millionaires through selling

actual virtual world the Second Life

economy into an

sixteen was half a billion dollars

anyone know about this even Spielberg's

ready player one this stuff is happening

it's becoming mainstream and technology

adoption is increasing in its rate of

acceleration look at this curve on the

far right

adoption is changing and you all are

heralding that process you are the

keepers of that transition so how do we

how do we deal with this there are two

paths to innovation there's linear

incremental and then there's exponential

quick lesson incremental 30 steps linear

steps if I were to take 30 exponential

steps how far would I go yes

26 times around the earth we are not

equipped to think in this way but this

is the world that we live in so how do

you function in a world like this how do

you know if you are behind the curve if

you're failing or if you're investing in

the right thing if you're investing in

these exponential technologies you often

ask this question why the slow start the

trough of disillusionment after the hype

cycle which of e RNA are recently coming

out of then will it ever catch up when

is this going to happen finally which

path are we on how do we know that we're

actually on the exponential curve and

then chaos an amazement the massive

sharp increase in the hockey stick

growth this is what technological

advancement looks like these days so in

order to lead you need vision and

courage you need patience and unlearning

I need to empower and connect and this

is an entire talk that we could give

about network systems the best way to

predict the future is to invent it so

this is the next computing paradigm VR

reigns now AR is next we'll have

exponential use cases for AR as the

technology proliferates and VR - so I'm

going to run through some really quick

use cases because we're super short on

time the total addressable market is

actually about the problems you can

solve it's a tool what can you use to

not make this mistake please don't make

this mistake the gimmick is an issue

guys let's get past the gimmick

I want you to remember Delta you want to

create change I want you to do it

through design this is a phone app you

can download right now that allows you

to create spatialized representations

here are architects working with meta

technology and 3d space to collaborate

this is a cave automation system that I

was in a few weeks ago at rolls-royce

where they've actually been able to

reduce their design times by from a week

to two hours by getting everyone into

this cave system here is designing a

space in a virtual world you can even

design things like molecules

pharmaceutical design and partner with

AI to run all the possible legand

connections expertise and education

Delta bringing in knowledge on how to

put together an Ikea desk or a very

complex Mis of machinery scaling that

out to your team especially if they are

remote and in the field and you have a

hands-free application where you can

actually bring an expert in to help you

in real-time logistics this is huge DHL

is already applying augmented reality to

logistics GE saw a 64 percent decrease

in time when they implemented Google

glass this is also useful for a disaster

relief for example where you actually

need to come in with an augmented

reality headset to understand the

infrastructure of the space the try

before you buy experience all over the

place right now you can also download

this on your phone

IKEA or is allowing you partnering with

Apple to try things out in your home

this is the early consumer adopter

marketplace recruitment this is another

interesting form of try before you buy

the British army saw a 66% increase in

signups when they gave people immersive

experiences Siemens and Autodesk offered

a personalized experience we're gonna

skip it for now and then analytics tools

this is huge what would it be like to be

able to represent data complex data

visually and have cross team

collaboration remote and present because

this technology totally destroys

ethic distance here's another

interesting 3d representation from

virtual it exceed immense in space and

time you really need to try this out to

understand how different it is and

tomorrow in the demo dome you guys can

try some of those things but why VR

specifically I always like to touch on

VR because people are like ah AR is

awesome but VR it's glorified filming

and gaming there are real use cases here

how do you make it more than a roll of

the dice to implement this technology

remember Delta and dice guys so the

dangerous great use case for VR tomorrow

in the demo dome you can try walking on

a ledge in VR I want you to try it and

see what its gonna be like okay but this

is really really practically useful

think about training for interactive

health and safety for an oil and gas

company which is what this is mocked up

an unreal game engine the impossible

this is super powers to the people every

little kid's favorite thing and all of

you because we were all little kids at

one point imagine being able to show

your child the movement of nutrients in

a tree imagine being able to go with

them inside a Dali painting the

counterproductive this is fascinating

you can change people's race and gender

through body transfer and VR you can

also have them do things like cut down

trees mock up a beautiful forest

Stanford virtual reality lab did this

have a machine or what is it

thank you chainsaw I love my audience

for this reason have a chainsaw what do

people do when they see a chainsaw in a

forest

they cut down the trees people use less

paper after they do this you don't tell

them to they just do it would never make

sense to make someone cut down a forest

to use less paper but in VR you can do

the counterproductive and the expensive

valuable in so many domains so taking

children on a field trip for example to

see with their bodies how big a building

is this is the Google cardboard which is

$15 major increase in access for a ton

of people or being able to bring people

into a game without the expensive take

three-sixty VR is making this possible

this could be getting frontline tickets

at a fashion show or going underwater

and scuba diving but you cannot think

about this technology without talking

about safety and ethics research on the

impact of VR and AR on brain development

and kids is huge really important we

haven't done a bunch on this yet and

then standards around digital rights

because there has never been a

technology more capable of sucking up

all of your data it'll know where your

head is positional tracking eye tracking

especially when you're projecting light

into the retina for augmented reality

it'll know your interaction paradigms

think of user experience research for

immersive worlds it will know so much

about you and so what does that mean for

security what does that mean in terms of

the way we leverage this information

what happens when we add in AI how do we

combat encoded bias so we don't do

things like release a Google pixel phone

that recognizes black people as gorillas

that is ridiculous we have to start

thinking now so that we can build good

products that serve our societies and

make our societies better so recap the

early VRA our use cases our design

expertise try before you buy and data

capture remember dice and don't forget

safety and ethics okay so finish I can't

put you all in a VR headset I wish I

could go to the demo dome tomorrow you

can try Ventana for holograms you can

try the ledge but in the absence of that

I'm gonna try to simulate the difference

between immersive learning and the way

that we currently share information and

knowledge the the difference between now

and the future of work so this is one of

my all-time favorite quotes anyone know

who it's by oh come on one of the best

futurist of all time Buckminster Fuller

if you want to teach people a new way of

thinking don't bother trying to explain

it to them give them a tool the use of

which will lead to new ways of thinking

that's what I think this technology is

but I'm gonna demonstrate it with the

self-portraits here you guys are right

there

that's you this is Earthrise taken by

the Apollo 8 astronauts in 1968

here's another representation of you you

saw this earlier in one of the talks

you've probably seen it in your

textbooks of the child the solar system

habitable zone from the American Museum

of Natural History in 2000 here is

what's really going on

reality is spiral orbital all

terrestrial critical path developments

inherently orbit the Sun no path can be

linear all paths that were

professionally modulated by remotely

operated forces producing spiral linear

paths makes perfect sense right yeah you

all got that what do I mean this is you

and the difference between what I just

read and what you're viewing is the

difference that new representations of

knowledge can have on the way we share

information the way we model and deploy

information the way your children will

learn the way your workplaces can scale

access to information and knowledge even

remotely and so the question for you all

is how are you going to have that vision

and courage to actually try to implement

these things to create the future so

what I would urge you all to do is to

embrace that gray area between

pragmatism and imagination because being

an optimist without skepticism makes you

naive but being a skeptic without

optimism makes you a cynic so how do we

balance those things and help us all

evolve in the way that we are able to

perceive and understand not only our

work but also the world and each other

thank you

[Applause]