XR Connections - Extended Reality - XR | AR | VR | MR

Episode No. 19. features former Disney Imagineer Brian Collins of The Brainstorm Institute and Magic Bytes on transforming education with XR, VR platforms AltspaceVR and Engage, and advice and insight on presenting in VR. Brian Collins Magic Bytes Brainstorm Institute FB The Mouse and the Imagineer Educators Who Love Disney Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge Haunted Mansion Pepper’s Ghost Effect  AltSpace VR VRAR Global Summit Engage Victory XR Dr. Martin Rayala - Enso Education Institute Educators in VR Acknowledgements: Call Recording: Zoom Podcasting: Anchor Editing: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS

Steve Grubbs, founder and CEO of VictoryXR, discusses building a Virtual Reality Classroom Environment,  engaging a team to  develop and present a Standards-Based VR Curriculum, choosing the ENGAGE platform as VictoryXR's virtual campus, how hardware development is accelerating adoption of VR education, and some of his favorite educational VR experiences. VictoryXR  Steve Grubbs Pico Neo 2 Engage Rene Gadelha Daniel Coyle The DAVE School Award-Winning VR Frog Dissection  SideQuest Vive Focus Pro ChalkBites VR Corporate Training Kai Liang EduLearn20 AWE Anne Frank House in Virtual Reality 1943 Berlin Blitz

In Episode No. 17 Rene Pinnell of Kaleidoscope VR discusses Cannes XR 2020, The VR Museum of Other Realities, and how he and his wife have built Kaleidoscope and a community-funded grant model that helps artists migrate into the new medium of XR. Rene Pinnell Kaleidoscope Cannes XR - June 22-26 2020 Elie Levasseur - XR program Leader - Cannes XR / Le Marché du Film & Head of NewImages XR Market AltSpaceVR  VRChat The Museum of Other Realities Tribeca Film Festival VEER Premium VR Experiences VHRAM! - Virtual Reality in Hamburg Virtual Festival 2020 Oculus Rift Titans of Space VR Game Wired Magazine BattleScar Immersive Film Acknowledgements: ​Call Recording: Skype Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS

EPISODE 016 SHOW NOTES: ​Featuring an interview with Bernard Francois, founder of Preview Labs, who discusses the unique challenges and benefits of rapid prototyping for XR, his company’s VR and AR projects for the National Institutes for Health and Yale University, and his experience presenting and networking at the online AWE 2020 Conference in May 2020. Preview Labs ​Global Game Jam ​Oculus DK1 Retrospective from Road to VR ​HTC Vive ​XR Health ​National Institutes of Health ​Yale University -  Play for Real Lab - Invite Only VR Vaping Prevention Game ​AWE 2020 Conference ​Preview Labs Blog ​Physics in Games and VR Simulations Presentation by Bernard Francois at NYU ​Game Developers Conference - August 4-6 2020 (Online) ​Boston Virtual Reality Meetup ​VRAR Global Summit ​Acknowledgements: ​Call Recording: Skype Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS

EPISODE 015 SHOW NOTES: Featuring an interview with Kai Liang of MEL Science and Smart Stone Technology. Kai discusses how he got his start in Virtual Reality for Education, the role quality content plays in the adoption of VR for K-12 use, subjects that VR excels at, and his recommendations of VR education content providers. Kai Liang MEL Science Smart Stone Autostereoscopic 3D Dimenco Vassilli Philippov (MEL) Bernard Frischer (Virtual Rome) ​The Body VR ​CoSpaces ​Wild Immersion ​Catherine D. Henry ​Alan Smithson ​Alvin Wang Gralin HTC ​Leland Hedges PICO ​Acknowledgements: ​Call Recording: Zoom Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS

EPISODE 014 SHOW NOTES: Episode 14 of XR Connections features an interview with Tom Buchanan, Co-Founder and Chief of Product for the haptic glove maker Contact CI. Tom discusses his experience as a participant of the XR-focused MIT Reality Hack, his team's award-winning  immersive Impact Journalism project, Rising Tide, haptic technology, the Varjo XR-1 Mixed Reality Headset, Contact CI's Maestro gloves and recent advancements in hand-tracking. Tom Buchanan Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Reality Hack Discord Voice and Text Chat App Rising Tide MIT Reality Hack Project Rising Tide Team Members: Liam Broza LifeScope Lab, Carlos Calva, Clair Chuff, Grace Ma Varjo XR-1 Varjo XR-1 and Volvo Contact CI / Maestro Haptic Glove Cincinatti VR Meetup Vectre XR Development Studio Cincy Inno / American Inno Network Ultraleap, Leap Motion Tracking and Haptics Valve Index Controllers HandTracking/Oculus Quest NReal Glasses MagicLeap Acknowledgements: Call Recording: Skype Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS Hosted and Produced by Liam James O'Malley at Mars & Mercury

Episode 13 features an interview with Terry Proto, Co-Founder and CEO of Virtual Reality Marketing and Ubereal Agency. Terry is both helping brands find trustworthy XR development partners and helping XR creators find more clients and recurring business. We discuss Virtual Reality Marketing’s searchable database of over 2500 XR creators, the importance of XR case studies, the challenges of beginning an XR project, who Terry follows to keep up on XR developments, XR events of interest, and promising new advances in AR glasses.  Ubereal Agency Virtual Reality Marketing Searchable Database of XR Creators Ubereal Partner Rikard Berglin Amazon and AR Oculus Quest XR Ignite Accelerator Alan Smithson XR for Business Podcast Julie Smithson XR for Learning Podcast Metavrse Charlie Fink Charlie Fink’s XR at Forbes AWE Expo VRX Conference and Expo ARtillery Newsletter XR Intelligence VR/AR Association Hololens 2 nReal AR Glasses Jason McDowall The AR Show Acknowledgements: Call Recording: Skype Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS Hosted and Produced by Liam James O'Malley at Mars & Mercury

Episode 012 presents an overview of leading-edge XR tech and hardware as seen at MIT Reality Hack 2020  in an interview with Thomas Jackson, founder of XR design and development firm Covalent Reality. A volunteer at this year's MIT XR Hackathon, Jackson discusses the Human Bionic Display of the Varjo VR headset, the open source AR platform Project North Star, his favorite Hackathon projects and who he follows to keep up with XR developments. MIT Reality Hack 2020 Thomas Jackson ​Covalent MIT Hackathon VR Tech: ​Oculus Rift ​Oculus Quest Vive Pro ​HP Reverb ​Varjo  MIT Hackathon AR Tech: MagicLeap ​HoloLens ​Project North Star ​nReal Light ​MIT Hackathon Projects GhostbustXR  VSiBL Ryan Kopinsky Thomas Jackson's Follow Recommendations: John Carmack, AI researcher, Consulting CTO Oculus VR Michael Abrash, Chief Scientist, Oculus Timmy Ghiurau, Volvo Jacob Cedulf, Volvo MIT Hackathon Team Eswar Anandapadmanaban Sarah Pillai Scott Greenwald Maria Rice See Also:​ MIT Reality Hack Projects Site ​MIT Reality Hack Outro Video Acknowledgements: Call Recording: Anchor App Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS Hosted and Produced by Liam James O'Malley at Mars & Mercury

EPISODE 011 SHOW NOTES: Episode 011 features an interview with Dan Zaitsev, who discusses his vision for CatchAR, the community platform he has built for Augmented Reality creators, 2019’s biggest developments for AR creators, his advice for getting started in making AR prototypes and his plans for the future of CatchAR. Catchar.io SparkAR ​LensStudio ​ARCore ​ARKit ​HoloLens ​MagicLeap ​Aidan Wolf Doodle Lens Call Recording: Skype Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There" by DR. MARS Hosted and Produced by Liam James O'Malley at Mars & Mercury

EPISODE 010 SHOW NOTES: Episode 010 covers XR in Retail and features an interview with Ed McCabe of Zebra Technologies, who discusses how AR headsets are improving efficiency in warehouses, the use of AR for picking and stocking, how XR is driving immersive brand experiences, and what consumers might expect to see this 2019 Holiday Shopping season. Also discussed are Neil Redding and Tony Parisi’s Near Future of Retail Project and small businesses getting started in AR. Augmented Reality Experiences Will Save Brick and Mortar Retail by Tom Emrich SnapChat Lego Wear Store Near Future of Retail at Medium Neil Redding, Near Future of Retail, Redding Futures The Top 10 Technology Trends In Retail: How Tech Will Transform Shopping In 2020 by Bernard Marr at Forbes How to Afford an Augmented Reality Solution as a Small Business by Nar Poghos Katelyn Coghlan, Mezmos, The Glimpse Group Ed McCabe Zebra Technologies NFL Next Gen Stats Call Recording: Anchor Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Christmas Shopping" by Buck Owens and His Buckaroos Hosted and Produced by Liam James O'Malley at Mars & Mercury

Episode 009 features an interview with Kevin Williams, a leading specialist in the digital Out-of-Home entertainment industry. Kevin discusses recent trends and developments  in Location Based Experiences, focusing on Virtual and next generationMixed Reality/Cross Reality attractions, rides and games. From motion simulators to arena-scale VR, Kevin brings a unique perspective to VR/XR, and details the challenges of LBE VR, including  health and hygiene factors, ease of use of equipment  and  wait times and guest onboarding experiences. ​SHOW NOTES: Kevin Williams LinkedIn ​kwp @ thestingerreport dot com ​The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities  Book by Kevin Williams and Michael Mascioni ​VR Focus Column ​Hughes Rediffusion (now Thales Training and Simulation) ​Star Tours Star Wars Disney Theme Park Flight Simulator ​Location Based Experience Types: ​• Immersive Simulators (Drive Rally/Formula One Car, Control Jet Fighter) • VR Headset Linked to Motion Bases • Next Generation Mixed Reality/Cross Reality (E-Sports Networked Competitions ​Cross Reality/XR in LBE: Marriage of Multiple Disciplines and Technologies to Create an Immersive Environment that is Borderless​ ​Rise of Theme Park Mixed Reality/Cross Reality: Goal is to make Experience for Guests Effortless: • Augmented Reality (AR) Mirrored to 3D Projection Mapping • Navigable Environments with 3D Projection Mapping ​Disney Goofy Paint n Play House  Pioneering 3D Projection Map Theme Park Attraction ​Triotech's Lego Ninjago Theme Park Attraction Out-of-Home (OOH) Virtual Reality Deployment: • Stand-Alone Machines - Beat Sabre/VRrsenal, Hologate Driving Simulators • Location Based Experiences/"Free-Roaming," "Hyper Reality" Arena-Scale VR - The Void (Disney, LucasFilm, Sony), Dreamscape, Sandbox (Star Trek: Discovery), Minority Media (Transformers) IAAPA Conference ​Dark Rides: "A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects." (Entertainment Designer, 2005) ​Sally Dark Rides ​Disney Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Experience LAI Virtual Rabbids Ride Spree Interactive Bumper Car Experience Pico VR Headset Vex Solutions VR Experiences Oculus Quest HTC Vive Headsets Samsung Gear VR Headset Disney Pandora: Land of Avatar Experience ​Resources: The Stinger Report Road to VR ​Upload VR ​InterGame Conferences: IAAPA EAG Entertainment, Attractions and Gaming International Expo, London ​Amusement Expo, New Orleans ​CES, Las Vegas ​Call Recording: Anchor Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

EPISODE 008 SHOW NOTES: ​In Episode 008 Antony Vitillo of The Ghost Howls and Wise Realities discusses how VR changed his life, his experience as the co-founder of a VR startup, the Mixed Reality game HitMotion he’s developing, advice on attending China’s World Conference on VR Industry, VR for physical and mental rehabilitation, and who to follow for XR news and insight. Also discussed: Roy Kachur's XR4Media, Amena Hayat's VR Documentary and the NYVR Meetup on Artificial Intelligence. ​Antony Vitillo: ​LinkedIn Twitter ​The Ghost Howls ​New Technology Walkers XR Consultants ​Wise Realities  VR for Mental Health ​HitMotion Mixed Reality Game ​World Conference on VR Industry - China ​WCVRI Advice ​Antony's XR Information Recommendations: ​XR for Business: ​Alan Smithson,MetaVRse, XR for Business Podcast Alice Bonasio, Inside.com AR and VR Newsletter ​Cathy Hackl, Futurist ​Robert Scoble, Infinite Retina ​Location-Based VR: ​Kevin Williams, KWP Limited ​Gaming: ​Virtual Reality Oasis ​Nathie ​Cas and Chary ​Reviews: ​Benjamin Lang Road to VR ​And: ​Charlie Fink XR Consultant, Author, Columnist for Forbes ​Alvin Wang Graylin China President HTC ​Also in this Episode: ​XR4Media  Media-Focused XR News by Roy Kachur, NBCUniversal ​Hugh Seaton Adept Reality VR Training New York Artificial Intelligence Meetup Group ​GeoPipe ​Amena Hayat The Language of Silence VR Documentary ​Tony Parisi Unity ​Brian August 110 Stories ​The RLab: ​Justin Hendrix ​Adaora Udoji ​Laura Barker ​Ilena Parker ​ ​ ​Call Recording: Anchor Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

EPISODE 007 SHOW NOTES: ​ Episode 007 features an interview with DJ Smith, Chief Creative Officer of the XR startup-focused Glimpse Group. DJ is also the leader of the New York Virtual Reality Meetup (NYVR)  and the discussion includes the origins and growth of NYVR, the impact of the Oculus Quest, how the Glimpse Group is contributing advances in AR and VR  marketing, education and training, and where to turn for XR insights beyond the newsfeed. DJ Smith The Glimpse Group ​NYVR ​2012 Palmer Luckey Oculus Kickstarter ​Brian August - 110 Stories AR App ​Jay Van Buren, Chris Gaughan,VR QUEST - Early Adopter ​Alper Guler, Michael Cadoux - QReal ​Acron - VR and Mobile Multiplayer Game ​Oculus Reddit Group ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: ​Call Recording: Skype  Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

Episode 006 of XR Connections features an interview with Lukas Roper of Virti, who are creating AR and VR medical training experiences already in use in schools and hospitals. Also discussed are XR Location Based Experiences including the Samsung AT&T 5G AR Fan Experience and Free Roam VR experiences such as Sandbox VR. SHOW NOTES: AR and VR LOCATION BASED EXPERIENCES: Samsung-AT&T 5G Fan Experience - Nexus Studios Enhancing Locations with Hyper-Accurate AR and 5G by Luke Ritchie of  Nexus Studios on Medium The Free Roam VR Cage Fight by Charlie Fink on Forbes ​Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Other Celebs Invest $11 Million In LBVR Start Up Sandbox  by Charlie Fink on Forbes ​Sandbox VR ​The Void ​Dreamscape ​VR Studios ​Zero Latency ​Zero Latency YouTube Channel ​XR TRAINING: ​Flexing Your Brain in XR, with Cognitive Design’s Todd Maddox - Alan Smithson's XR for Business Podcast ​Derek Belch (STRIVR) on VR Training for Quarterbacks and Walmart Clerks - Jason McDowall's The AR Show ​VIRTI XR for Medical Training ​Lukas Roper of Virti ​ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: ​Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X ​ Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

XR Connections Episode 005 features an interview with Emilie Joly, Co-Founder and CEO of apelab, who are bringing XR into the classroom with SpatialStories, a gaming and storytelling toolkit allowing students and teachers to quickly design and develop AR and VR experiences. Also highlighted is the XR InLearning Global Summit, which aims to share best practices in AR and VR in K12 and Higher Education. XR IN LEARNING: XR InLearning Global Summit, Boston, October 28, 2019 XR InLearning Site Hakan Satiroglu, XR Evangelist APELAB apelab Emilie Jolie  How Kids Are Creating New Spatial Experiences with apelab ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

Episode 004 of XR Connections features an interview with David Ripert of Poplar, a collaborative platform connecting AR creators with brands and institutions aimed at making the creation of AR experiences quick and affordable, and XR items of interest including Modelo's Day of the Dead out of home AR experience and the VR/AR Association's Global Summit and Everything VR and AR podcast. MODELO DAY OF THE DEAD AR EXPERIENCE: Modelo Brings the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebration to Life with AR Campaign Dan Ferguson of GrooveJones - LinkedIn VR/AR ASSOCIATION: VR/AR Global Summit Event - October 31 - November 2 Summit Speakers mentioned: Ross Finman, Niantic Labs @rossfinman Cathy Hackl, Magic Leap  @CathyHackl Charlie Fink, XR Consultant and Author @CharlieFink Jason McDowall, The AR Show Podcast @mcdowall Alan Smithson of MetaVRse, XR for Business Podcast @AlanSmithson1 VR/AR Association Everything VR and AR Podcast October 3rd Guest: Gabriel Rene of Verses on the Spatial Web @GReal1111 Hosts: Tyler Gates @tylerhgates Sophia Moshasha @SophiaMosh GOOGLE PLAY SOURCES APP: ARCore App is 8th Most Downloaded in August from AR Insider Mike Boland @ArInsider ANTONY VITILLO: The Ghost Howls Ben Lang's Review of Oculus Hand-Tracking Examples of Hand-Tracked UI @SkarredGhost DAVID RIPERT INTERVIEW: Poplar David Ripert ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Logic Pro X Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify

Episode 003 features an interview with Aidan Wolf, creator of the DoodleLens AR app and covers items of interest in XR including Google’s AR Wrapper bringing 3D models to the Web (Web AR) and the NYVR New York Virtual Reality Meetup.

Episode 002 covers items of interest in XR from the week of August 26th, 2019, including the New York Augmented Reality Meetup AWE NITE NYC, the Airbus 3D Holographic Tactical Map App, the Doodle Lens AR app, Looking Glass Factory's 3D hologram display, and an AR Scavenger Hunt featuring David "Big Papi" Ortiz. Show notes at marsandmercury.com.

Episode 001 introduces the podcast and covers items of interest in XR from the week of August 21, 2019, including Instagram AR Filters, Oculus Quest and AR, a guide to 2019's Best VR, and Lego's Hidden Side AR Experience. Show notes at marsandmercury.com. EPISODE 001 SHOW NOTES: INSTAGRAM USERS CAN CREATE THEIR OWN AR FILTERS "Facebook now lets anyone make an Instagram face filter" by Dami Lee • OCULUS QUEST AND AR "How Facebook AR Glasses could become real, thanks to Oculus VR Tech" by Scott Stein "Powered by AI: Oculus Insight" Facebook Blog • 2019 VR BUYING GUIDE Virtual Reality Buying Guide at Ars Technica by Sam Machkovech • LEGO HIDDEN SIDE AR EXPERIENCE "Lego Hidden Side Review: Ultimate AR Toy" by Adam Piltch at Tom's Hardware. Includes video review. • REAL OR AR? Dr. Helen PapaGiannis (augmentedhuman) on Instagram Augmented Stories • THE AR SHOW PODCAST  Episode 40: Audio Augmented Reality Jason McDowall interviews Santiago Carvajal of Bose • PEOPLE: Thank you to Siu-Li  Khoe of Rhode Island Virtual Reality for my first Oculus Quest experience (aptly, Space Pirate Trainer!) at the Boston VR and AR Expo on August  22nd. Thank you to Dan Duggan at Charles River Analytics for my second Oculus Quest experience: performing a fine motor-skill task in a demo made using their Virtuoso Software Development Kit (VSDK), a Unity-based extended reality (XR) SDK. Thank you to Cormac O'Malley for helping build the Lego Hidden Side Graveyard Mystery kit and demoing the AR experience. PLACES: General Assembly, Boston  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Podcasting: Anchor Recording: Garageband  Music: "Are You There?" by DR. MARS on Spotify