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Good Morning!
I hope everyone reading this is healthy and safe. This week we start off by diving into two worlds: the internal world of our dreams and the escapist world created by Valve. In OneZero's profile of the MIT Dream Lab, we learn how sensorial cues at certain stages of our sleep cycle can trigger the untapped potential of our dreams, while Road to VR's feature focuses on Valve's deceptively simple creative process when it comes to designing Half-Life games.
We also feature a 3D visual simulation from the NY Times that demonstrates why social distancing is so important, The Verge's coverage of Snap's new charity lens, and a solid Wired op ed from an XR artist who's been using collaborative VR tools for over five years.
If you're a faculty member, researcher, or student at any college or university in NYC with a startup idea that employs or applies XR, spatial computing, synthetic media or related technologies, I hope to see you (virtually) this Friday at 3pm EST for our first RLab Bootcamp info session. We're looking forward to running the program online this summer and helping you develop your startup idea wherever you are.
As always, if you have feedback or an idea for me, or an item to share in this newsletter, reach me at justin@rlab.nyc.
-Justin |
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| MUST-READS |
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| An MIT Lab Is Building Devices to Hack Your Dreams |
Launched in 2017, MIT's Dream Lab consists of a small team of researchers trying to create tech that can mine your subconscious and prove the value of dreams. Previous research has shown that dreams contribute to memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and overall mental health, but the Dream Lab aims to not only explore the role of dreams in our lives, but hack them.
The Lab does this with the help of open source wearables that "track and interact" with dreams. Take Dormio, a device composed of sensors that wraps around the user's wrist and fingers and tracks muscle tone, heart rate, and skin conductance to identify stages of sleep. When the user slips into hypnagogia - the transition state from wakefulness to sleep - the device plays an audio cue and records what the user says in response.
"In a 50-person experiment with Dormio, Horowitz found that the content of the audio cue successfully showed up in people's dreams - if the word was 'tiger,' for instance, users reported dreaming of a tiger. But more than altering dream content, Horowitz also found that this extension of and interaction with the hypnagogic state improved users' performance creativity tasks."
7 min read |
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| Valve Explains the Deceptively Simple Design Process That Made 'Half-Life: Alyx' Excellent |
It's hard to deny there's an art to Half-Life, but who knew it was as simple as approaching level design "one room at a time"? In Road to VR's interview with Half-Life: Alyx game designer Robin Walker, he explains Valve's creative process:
"When we build Half-Life, we just build it one piece at a time… conceptually one 'room' at a time. And for each room a group of people sit there and they think: 'what happens in this room that hasn't happened in any of the previous rooms and fits into where we're going with the next room?' And then once you're finished that process and you're happy with it, you put it in front of some playtesters and see what happens, and you iterate on it, and then you go onto the next room. And you just do that until you've built the whole game."
6 min read
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| COMMUNITY NEWS |
Apelab (RLab Accelerator Fall '19) was featured on the Vive blog in an article about how their VR visual programming toolkit, Zoe, is helping students and teachers connect remotely. Apelab plans to release a mobile version of the Zoe standalone application soon, so anyone will be able to use Zoe from their smartphone or tablet as well. Read more.
Ouvos (XR Startup Bootcamp '18), a navigation app that allows cyclists to share real-time road conditions and receive hazard alerts, released a video about their collaboration with Bose Frames, which enables cyclists to report hazards without interacting with a screen on their mobile devices. Read more. |
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| TECH TALK |
This month, Unity3D is introducing Unite Now – a new series of free talks, demos, Q&As, and stories, offered online in engaging and interactive formats. The program launched earlier this week with sessions on topics ranging from artist workflows to game development pipeline improvements and in-depth mobile market analyses. Programming runs through April 30th and you can sign up for the Unite Now mailing list to get the weekly event schedule.
If you're looking for other ways to level up your Unity programming skills, make sure to check out our online workshop on shaders in Unity next Saturday April 25.
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| EVENTS & CLASSES |
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UPCOMING CLASSES AT RLAB
Online Workshop: Shaders in Unity
April 25, 10:30AM-7PM
Learn to use shaders to control the look and style of your project in Unity in this 1-day online workshop led by creative technologists David Lobser (creator of Cosmic Sugar) and Nate Turley. Register Here
Online Course: UX Design Principles for AR & VR
Starts May 19
This 2-month online course gives UX designers an understanding of how to design UX for AR & VR technologies. Provided in partnership with Emeritus and NYU Tandon. Register Here
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Event: RLab Bootcamp Info Sessions
Multiple Dates: April 24, 3PM; April 29, 9AM; May 4, 5PM
Join us to learn more about the open call for the RLab Summer 2020 Bootcamp for XR and spatial computing entrepreneurs coming out of colleges and universities in New York City. Register Here
Workshop: Intro to AR Storytelling with Torch AR for iOS
April 24, 1-3PM
Get started with augmented reality prototyping including setting up anchors, importing 2D & 3D assets, editing, and testing on your smartphone in this workshop led by immersive documentary filmmaker. Register Here
Screening: Tribeca Cinema360
Through April 26
In its third year as part of Tribeca Immersive, Cinema360 will be presented virtually online. Features 15 unique pieces, presented in partnership with Oculus. Learn More
Event: XR Immersive Enterprise 2020
May 5-6
A look at how virtual, augmented & mixed reality are transforming training, collaboration, design, manufacturing and marketing across industry. New fully online format. Discount code: 5107RLAB100. Register Here
Event: AWE USA
May 26-29
Wherever you are, you'll still be able to experience the highlight of the AR/VR calendar, with 200+ speakers, 200+ sponsors/exhibitors, and the annual Auggie Awards. Register Here
OPPORTUNITIES & JOBS
Opportunity: RLab Bootcamp
Deadline: May 8
RLab is looking for teams coming out of New York City colleges and universities who are working on the next wave of spatial computing and future interface technologies. Our 8-week incubator runs online from June 12 to August 7 and includes a $10,000 grant. Apply Here
Opportunity: NEW INC Open Call
Deadline: April 20
The New Museum's incubator for people working at the intersection of art, design, and technology is accepting applications for the Sept 2020-Aug 2021 program. Apply Here
Resource: COVID19 Business Impact Survey
Deadline: April 23
The NYC Mayor's Office of Media Entertainment's 5-minute survey gauges the current impact of COVID-19 on small businesses in the media and entertainment sectors. Responses will inform our policy recommendations for relief efforts at local, state and federal levels. Take Survey
Opportunity: Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator
Deadline: May 10
Powered by Techstars, this accelerator elevates connectivity, media, and entertainment startups, tapping experts from the global network of Comcast NBCUniversal. Apply Here
Opportunity: ITP Camp
Deadline: May 15
4 week crash course/playground for non-student makers, artists, musicians, programmers, fabricators, and creatives of all sorts. Apply Here |
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INDUSTRY NEWS
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| How to Use Snapchat's New AR Lens to Donate to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund |
Last week, Snapchat released a new lens that scans paper money and shows you what your COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund donation would go towards (this would be a fine addition to Tom Emrich's XR in advertising megapiece). The lens can detect 23 different kinds of currency from 33 countries (though, no coins).
3 min read |
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| VR Is Here to Help With Our New Reality |
A recent Wired piece proclaimed that VR hasn't yet progressed past the point of giving us slightly-less-annoying conference calls. XR artist M Eifler has a different opinion (in their own Wired op ed): "I was flabbergasted to learn people still felt this way. My remote-first, spatial-first teammates... are urban and rural, East Coast and West Coast, researchers and engineers, designers and project managers."
Eifler has collaborated in XR for over five years, using the medium to "get in the same room" when other channels didn't cut it. Eifler hears the same pushback from people resistant to VR meetings: they're for architects or game designers, but pointless for going over documents.
"When writing long emails or reports, you probably still resort to a full-sized tactile keyboard, but if you just need to jot a text or one-sentence email, a phone is fine." Eifler applies the same logic to VR: need a record of what's said? Use email. Need instant feedback? Video call. Feeling distant and want to connect in a "deeper, slower, less directed way"? There's VR.
7 min read |
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