AR and VR Continue to Shape Our Reality

Emerging Tech Roundup — June 12

This week in tech: NASA uses VR to train astronauts, the world’s largest VR music and arts festival is coming soon, neurosurgery is performed using AR, Unity launches an AR studio, Cannes hosts its XR virtual event, and a VR study is conducted to test coloration in eyesight.

Virtual Reality Will be a Big Part of Boeing’s Starliner Astronaut Training

(Space, June 11)

Boeing has partnered with Varjo to bring VR training to astronauts with their VR-2 headsets. In preparation for its first crewed flight to the International Space Station, NASA’s CST-100 Starliner capsule is using Varjo’s VR headset. The headset allows astronauts to rehearse full missions remotely — without having to visit a site to use a simulator. Using a test flight called Demo-2, SpaceX recently completed a similar mission to the International Space Station. Boeing is looking to use their own version of the Demo-2, called Crew Flight Test, to carry out their mission in early 2021.

When Is Lost Horizon VR festival? How to Watch and Who Is Playing

(Pocket-lint, June 10)

Due to COVID-19, all music festivals have been cancelled. In response to this, Glastonbury’s Shangri-La event organizers decided to host a virtual reality festival called “Lost Horizon,” the world’s largest VR music and arts festival. The free event is being held on July 3rd and 4th, and it will feature computerized avatars and green-screen hologram performances. Interested parties can purchase premium passes for $10 each, which includes access to view exclusive art, receive a virtual shirt, and more. The festival will be streamed live on Beatport and Twitch via participating artists’ Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch accounts.

Johns Hopkins Neurosurgeons Perform First Augmented Reality Surgery

(WJZ, June 10)

The first augmented reality surgery was recently performed on a living patient by neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins University. Surgeons used headsets with see-through eye displays that enabled them to see images of the patient’s internal anatomy. They likened using the AR tech during the procedure to using a GPS. Many believe that the technology could be very helpful in the future, making medical procedures safer, faster, non-invasive, and more accurate.

Unity Launches Mars AR Studio

(Gadget, June 09)

Unity Technologies, a company that creates real-time 3D material, recently launched Unity Mars, an AR studio with different tools to generate intelligent and complex AR content. The tools consist of intelligent real-world recognition, responsive visual authoring, and more. Experiences created using the studio benefit from being able to work in several locations, working with any type of relevant data, and being fully responsive to the surrounding physical area. This allows creators to bring their visions to life and live up to their users’ expectations.

Cannes XR Virtual Brings Art to Life With Virtual Reality

(ARPost, June 09)

Cannes will be hosting their XR Virtual Event from June 24–26. The COVID-19 pandemic forced event organizers to reinvent the format, with little time. The event will consist of a virtual art exhibit with exquisite pieces from around the world. Participants will be able to see the leading AR/VR/XR projects on display at the Cannes XR Development Showcase, watch 360° immersive films on behalf of VeeR 360 Cinema, as well as view new content by Tribeca Film Festival, Positron, and many others.

VR Study Participants Fail to Notice Color Removal From 95% of Their Visual World

(Technology Networks, June 09)

New research from Darthmouth College discovered that people in VR environments do not notice when colors disappear from their peripheral vision. They believe this is because people’s intuition and perception around color are inaccurate. In the study, participants wore VR helmets installed with eye-trackers that monitored their gaze. During several different VR experiences, parts of the visuals were in color, while the periphery visuals were changed to black and white. The majority of participants failed to notice the difference, which suggests that our brains fill in some of the perceptual experience when we are in a VR environment.