Daily Archives: August 23, 2022

Few events capture raw aggression more than pugil sticks, a rite of passage for Marines at boot camp that involves two recruits trying to clobber each other with padded pole weapons whilst their brothers or sisters and arms cheer with each hit.

Looking at the foam-covered carnage, one might be tempted to recall Theodore Roosevelts famous quote about The Man in the Arena, or the now defunct television show American Gladiators, both of which capture the brutal intimacy of hand-to-hand combat.

Now the Marines are simulating the pugil stick experience to give people interested in joining the Corps a taste of what they would do in boot camp. Earlier this month recruiting station commanders tested out how to use the pugil stick simulator as part of Battle Position, a mass recruiting event that also includes challenging potential poolees to max out their scores on pull-ups and ammunition can lifts, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

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The Aug. 11 event was held at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, and included Marine recruiters from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. One image from the event shows a Marine wearing a virtual reality headset and wielding what looks an awful lot like a Klingon pain stick.

The pugil sticks simulator allows potential recruits to use Oculus Quest 2 gaming technology to battle a virtual opponent, said Alan Whitley of the marketing agency Wunderman Thompson in an August 2021 video about the simulator.

Im an old man, I feel like, but it was a blast getting in there and getting to do battle, Gunnery Sgt. Jacob Fuller, a Marine recruiter, said in the video. It was pretty awesome. I cant wait to do it again.

It is possible that other Marines as well as grizzled veterans may not be impressed by virtual pugil stick fighting. Indeed, taking the violence out of pugil sticks is a bit like giving a Dodge Charger an electric motor.

But retired Marine Master Sgt. Tony Villa, who served as a recruiter from 1994 to 1997, said he believes that the pugil stick simulator can be a useful tool for the Marine Corps to reach out to qualified young people.

When Villa was a Marine recruiter, he only had a few options to get attention for recruiting events, such as pull-up challenges, videos, and local airshows, he told Task & Purpose on Monday.

I think that virtual pugil sticks are a great idea: A good way to feel it without getting your mouthpiece knocked out, Villa said. Its probably a great cardio workout as well. The population that the recruiters are trying to reach in 2022 are well versed in this type of tech and I think its a great way to start the conversation.

Former Marine Cpl. Scott Whisler also said the pugil sticks simulator sounds like an interesting idea, but nothing can simulate the disorienting experience of taking a hit to the head or body, even when you are wearing protective equipment.

It cant replicate the jarring of the arms when striking your opponent either, said Whisler, a contributor to Task & Purposes Gear section. While it would be a fun and exciting experience, it would potentially set up recruits for failure.

Whisler said nothing could have prepared him for pugil stick fighting short of actually doing it. While pugil stick competitions may look as though they resemble football drills, they are actually far more chaotic, he said.

In 2006 we had to wear a soft padded helmet, similar to those worn by boxers, and a padded chest plate, Whisler said. I remember locking my hands onto the pugil stick via the built-in gloves, nervous as all hell when it was my turn. Any plan or strategy I had went out the window immediately as my opponent swung wildly. So, I swung as hard as I could as fast as I could hoping to create distance and land as many solid strikes as I could. It was equally riveting and disorienting.

Former Marine Lance Cpl. Peter Schaub said it might be more realistic and perhaps cheaper if recruiters had people use pugil sticks to hit mannequins or another physical target.

Schaub, who admitted that he despised pugil stick fighting, also asked who the target audience would be for this pugil stick simulator.

The Marines have been able to (mostly) meet their recruitment goals when other branches fall flat because they lean into the toughness aspect, Schaub told Task & Purpose. Does this experiment fit the bill? I dont think so.

Ultimately, the Marine Corps and other services need more than gimmicks to attract recruits, Schaub said. The military branches need to make institutional changes to remedy longstanding issues, such as poor housing and the lack of any sort of work/life balance, he said.

Potential recruits have seen the way the government has failed Vietnam vets, and now Iraq and Afghanistan vets, Schaub said. They are hesitant to put themselves through the same bullshit. So, in the end, these toys might be fun for potential recruits to play with, but theyre not convincing anyone to join.

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Marines are using virtual reality pugil sticks to recruit the next generation - Task & Purpose

Virtual reality goggles that can transcribe patient appointments directly to electronic records are to be trialled by community nurses in Northern Lincolnshire and Goole.

The NHS pilot scheme, which is set to launch next week, aims to allow community nurses to spend more time during home visits on patients clinical needs and less on administrative tasks.

These goggles will really help to cut down the time we need to keep for admin

Becky Birchall

The Queens Nursing Institute said it would be very interesting to learn from the trial and see how beneficial the goggles may be, however it warned that any new system needs time and investment to prove its viability in practice.

NHS England has awarded the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust 400,00 to test the new goggles this summer as part of a wider innovation project, which includes a further 16 pilots in the coming months.

With patient consent, the virtual reality style headset can transcribe an appointment directly to electronic records and can share live patient footage with hospital colleagues to gain second opinions and help avoid further appointments or admissions, according to NHS England.

The goggles also use thermal imaging to help assess how wounds and injuries have healed and can be used by nurses tolook up their next appointment that day and check how long it will take to get there based on live travel updates.

According to NHS England, community nurses are estimated to spend more than half of their day filling out forms and manually inputting data something this trial aims to combat.

It said the pilot would help to expand their capacity and provide more time for clinical tasks.

Clinical nurse specialist Becky Birchall said her team were thrilled to be the first in the country to take them on community visits.

"We currently spend a considerable amount of time writing up our visits to patients and these cutting-edge goggles will really help to cut down the time we need to keep for admin, supporting us to care for our patients, she said.

The glasses have a thermal imaging feature, which I think will be particularly useful for us when we are examining wounds and these features are going to really help us provide the best possible care for our patients.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the QNI, said: The possibility of emerging technology to assist community nurses is growing all the time and we have seen a steady shift away from paper-based to digital systems.

Different people adopt new technologies in different ways and at a different pace, so any new system needs time and investment to prove its viability in practice.

It will be very interesting to learn from this trial and see how these goggles benefit the nursing process and support good patient outcomes.

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Community nurses to trial virtual reality goggles aimed at reducing admin time - Nursing Times

In what is being billed as the largest M.C. Escher exhibition ever, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is presenting more than 400 works by the beloved graphic artist, providing a fresh look to an artist who was once called a one-man art movement.

Born Maurits Cornelis Escher in the Netherlands in 1898, Escher would come to define a 1960s aesthetics inspired by psychedelic culture known for creating mental images that drew on mathematics, physics, and various branches of science and architecture.

The exhibition contains a survey of the artists most well known works, including an impressive array of prints, drawings, watercolors, printed fabrics, constructed objects, wood and linoleum blocks, lithographic stones, and sketchbooks.

The bulk of the material is on loan from the private collection of Michael S. Sachs, a former clinical psychologist based in Connecticut, who acquired 90 percent of Eschers oeuvre from the artists estate in 1980 for about $1 million. Now 84, Sachs said he has sold about half of the original collection, with the Art Newspaperreporting earlier this year that together with Jan Vermeulen, Eschers business advisor and executor, the two had begun selling Escher prints as early as the 1970s.

M.C. Escher, Symmetry No. 62 (1944). The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

Today, prints of Eschers works continue to adorn dorm rooms from Toronto to Tbilisi, with Eschers unique and original style borrowing elements from both Op-Art and Surrealism, and forging them into meticulous dreamlike creations distinctly his own.

The artist eluded easy categorization by crafting a career as an illusionist who instead intended to re-make the rules of a three-dimensional vanishing point on a two-dimensional surface. The result is a riveting rabbit hole for the senses, as astonishing trompe loeil that attempts to deceive not only the eye, but also the mind.

Perhaps most well known for his series Impossible Constructions, which include the paradoxical staircases of Ascending andDescending (1960), also included in the show are examples from his Transformation Prints series, which include Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II, and Metamorphosis III (1939-1968), and depict animals and shapes gradually transforming into one another.

The exhibition in Houston is organized both chronologically and thematically, and because this is 2022, and immersive Van Gogh-esque touring installations are basically the art-world equivalent of off-Broadway now, the exhibition includes several interactive auxiliary rooms where visitors may play with optical illusions inspired by Escher.

By spanning Eschers entire career, this extraordinary exhibition explores Eschers detailed thought process, the exhibitions curator, Dena M. Woodall, said in a release. It reveals, in a way, the magic behind the final prints, with the inclusion of preparatory drawings and progressive printing proofs as evidence of his working process.

Virtual Realities is on view at MFAH through September 5. See images of the exhibition below.

M.C. Escher, Virtual Realities, exhibition view, courtesy the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2022.

M.C. Escher, Virtual Realities, exhibition view, courtesy the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2022.

M.C. Escher, Sky and Water. The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C Escher, Relativity (1953). The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Hand with Reflecting Sphere (1935). The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Drawing Hands (1948). The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Castrovalva (1930), The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Day and Night (1938). The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Reptiles (1943), The M.C. Escher Company, The Netherlands; courtesy of Michael S. Sachs.

M.C. Escher, Virtual Realities, exhibition view, courtesy the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2022.

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In Pictures: Before Virtual Reality, There Was M.C. EscherSee Mind-Bending Drawings From a Major New Survey of This One-Man Art Movement - artnet News

Even in virtual reality, Surplex knows the importance of quality footwear. The VR companys latest innovation is a set of footwear that can replace the need for a base station or straps. Known as Full-Body Tracking Shoes, the silver sneakers are ideal for gaming or a simple stroll in the metaverse. The project is only a Kickstarter campaign for now, but Surplex also sees potential for use in 3D animation and the medical field.

Each individual shoe is equipped with 240 flexible pressure sensors that work in tandem with an inertial measurement unit. The shoes then sync with Surplexs deep learning algorithm system to track the wearers movement and directly mirror it in real-time in VR. A single charge can last up to six hours, although we dont recommend spending six hours in virtual reality at once.

Surplex also promises an easy set-up for the system. Unlike other cyber footwear, there are no base stations, dongles, or straps involved. Because of the complex sensors, the shoes offer 360-degree coverage, zero blind spots, and no drifting. A one-minute demo video depicts how the shoes movement translates to the mirrored VR character, but Surplex also notes that the algorithm is still undergoing some fine-tuning.

The power of Surplex lies in our self-developed flexible pressure sensors under each foot and proprietary deep learning algorithms to infer human 3D skeletons accurately, Surplex founder Axl Chan said in a press release. The result is the most natural and highly accurate way to interact with the virtual world. Surplex is more than a VR accessory, it represents true freedom for a fascinating new world.

Stepping toward the future Surplexs website gives a peak into whats in store for the system, including the ability to rig your characters in film productions, game development, etc. More interesting is its medical analysis potential. Surplex plans to make a public interface for athletic performance and rehab analyses with access to pressure information and other kinematic data.

Accessing fully digital spaces through bulky headsets and stiff bases doesnt prioritize comfort as much as functionality. Chan said the shoe idea stemmed from his realization that the interactive tools available on the market to navigate VR are pretty limited. The shoes will also be compatible with various games and apps, including VRChat, Blade and Sorcery, and Neos VR.

Surplex will launch its campaign for the Full-Body Tracking Shoes via Kickstarter soon. Because the project is still in development, a price, full list of supported platforms, or release date have yet to be revealed.

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Surplex wants to bring body-tracking shoes to virtual reality - Input

Big Rock Creative, Golden Apple Productions and Partikle Digital are teaming up for FanConXR, which is being billed as the first ever VR fan convention. Attendees will be able to access it via either on headset or a PC. And with more than 11 million VR headsets sold in 2021, there is obviously an audience for it.

The virtual event will be held September 24th and even with live events coming back, theres still a lot of interest in online events, and FanConXR hopes to fill that need with a full line-up of panels, guests and more.

And admission is FREE!

The event is being produced by Big Rock Creative, producers of an officialVirtual Burning Man Experience, content experience thought leader Partikle Digital, and Los Angeles based Golden Apple Comics, known for its area signings and events.

Participants thus far include Aftershock Comics, Heavy Metal, and Stranger Comics, with creators and additional exhibitors to be announced in the coming weeks! OH and FULL DISCLOSURE, I will be moderating several panels for the event.

Why did I sign up to help out with this? Well, I like the people involved, and as much as I love live events, virtual events have their own advantagesand this one will be taking it much further than a Zoom room, with all the possibilities of virtual reality, including a lot more fan interaction. Ive been intrigued by attempts at VR fan events, so I thought it would be educational to participate in one.

FanConXRs origin is something of a family affair. When most of us experience something transcendent, we naturally want to share it far and wide. After one visit to the virtual Burning Man space in 2020, I was blown away and sought to get other communities involved says Kari Dietrich of Partikle Digital. I immediately reached out to Kendra and Ryan Liebowitz of Golden Apple Comics, who just so happen to be my sister and brother-in-law. We met with Big Rock Creatives Athena Demos and Doug Jacobsen, also a long-time friend, and together, were working to create a singular virtual con experience open to comic fans around the globe.

Golden Apples Ryan and Kendra Liebowitz continued We are so excited for people all over the world to visit our store virtually and have a con experience with other fans socially without any of the costs or lines but all the fun!

Athena Demos and Doug Jacobsen of Big Rock Creative added We are thrilled to bring our community and world building expertise in VR to convention goers around the world, and are certain they will say they truly have never experienced anything like it.

FanConXR will take place on September 24, with exhibitors, Hollywood talent, and comic creators announcements coming. Attendees will be able to participate from either headset or laptop, easily set up through AltspaceVR and streaming through FanConXRs YouTubepagewith programming running at various times throughout the event.

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FanConXR to be held in virtual reality on September 24 - Comics Beat

A new interactive augmented reality experience has arrived in Melbournes CBD, supporting city traders by offering visitors more reasons to stay longer and see more.

Image: Patricia Piccini artwork

Creativity and technology combine to see world-class artworks adorn Melbournes arts precinct with the launch ofAR. Trail a collaboration between Fed Square, Koorie Heritage Trust, ACMI and NGV that has created the citys largest, free augmented reality (AR) art trail.

The cutting-edge art experience features 22 digital works with new commissions by celebrated Australian artists Reko Rennie, Ron Mueck and Patricia Piccinini, alongside a star-studded line-up of international artists including KAWS, Olafur Eliasson, Cao Fei, Koo Jeong A, Nina Chanel Abney and David Shrigley.

Art lovers can download the app for free on their smartphone, and discover a menu of virtual artworks, ranging from small sculptures to architectural-sized moving images.

Marking the first timeAR.Trail has been in Australia, the experience is developed in partnership with renowned London-based digital art organisation Acute Art known for delivering a string of highly successful augmented reality exhibitions in Singapore, New York, London, Tokyo and more.

This initiative has been supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund a partnership with the City of Melbourne and is part of a $9.8 million suite of creative events and experiences which continue to attract visitors to Melbournes CBD.

AR. Trail runs from 22 August to 30 September at Fed Square. Visitors can download the free Acute Art app via the Apple Store and Google Play or find out more at fedsquare.com.

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Melbourne's largest ever augmented reality art trail - Creative Victoria

To mark the expansion of Metas bland virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds, into France and Spain, Mark Zuckerberg recently shared a selfie. The graphic, featuring the boyish CEO in front of a low-res model of the Eiffel tower, quickly struck a nerve, sparking sneers, jeers and sighs from quippy social media users. And honestly, can you blame them?

If the image offended you and personally, Id find that reasonable given Metas influence over our virtual past and present then perhaps you can find solace in this: Mark Zuckerberg hears you. He sees you. And no, he more or less says, the metaverse wont look that wack. At least, not forever.

Mark Zuckerbergs Horizon Worlds avatar, looking just awful. Image Credits: Facebook

Major updates to Horizon and avatar graphics coming soon. Ill share more at Connect, the CEO said on Instagram on Friday, referring to Metas upcoming developer conference. Also, I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch, the executive added, showing signs of humanity. The misstep echoed something wholly relatable: the act of posting a late-night selfie, only to regret it in the morning.

The Meta boss response included another avatar and an ancient-looking cafe, with fine details that evoke a bit more Pixar and a little less e-card. Zuckerberg went on to reassure his followers that Metas graphics and avatars are capable of much more even on headsets and Horizon is improving very quickly.

Indeed, for all of our sakes, I sure hope hes right.

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Mark Zuckerberg says the metaverse wont be as cringey as his cursed selfie - TechCrunch

Virtual reality has plenty to offer those gamers looking for a truly immersive experience. However, one issue can force many players to stop in their tracks and return to the real world: motion sickness. The researchers behind HyperJump think they might have found a solution, though.

At Siggraph 2022 a tech conference in Canada celebrating some of the latest developments in VR I had the opportunity to try out HyperJump for myself, and I can comfortably say Id love for this movement system to come to my Oculus Quest 2 as soon as possible.

If you want to move around a VR world, you typically have one of three methods from which to choose. The first is to literally walk around in the real space that youre in. This method is the most immersive, it doesn't require a controller, and provided theres very little latency it's the least unsettling. However, a clear downside is that you require a lot of physical space, or you'll only be able to play a game that's set in a very restricted play area.

As a result of this, most games also rely on one of the other two methods: teleportation or smooth movement. As you can probably decipher from the names, teleportation movement sees you hop around the space in a staccato manner, while smooth movement has you use the control sticks to move around fluidly like a lot of other video games.

Teleportation is my preferred option, since even after a year with VR, smooth movement can force me to quit a game in seconds. However, smooth movement is generally more immersive, and its far less easy to become disoriented and lost than it is with teleportation.

HyperJump looks to blend the best of teleportation and smooth movement, creating a new form of VR motion thats better than the sum of its parts.

Motion sickness is typically caused by competing signals arriving from the eyes and inner ear to your brain. Lets say youre reading in a moving car. Your eyes will be focused on the stationery book and other fixed points around you, indicating to your brain that youre not moving. Meanwhile, the fluid in your inner ear is being jostled around, telling your brain that youre in motion. Your brain doesnt know which organ to believe, with the end result that you'll start to feel nauseous.

With VR, it's the reverse of the example above that's happening; your eyes perceive that youre moving, while your ears believe youre standing still. The result is the same, though: the competing information makes you want to barf.

To help get around this, HyperJump forces players to tilt their bodies in the direction they want to travel. Lean forwards to go ahead; lean back to reverse; couch to sink to the ground; or go on your tiptoes to fly. If you want to change the direction in which youre heading, you have to physically turn your body. This makes your brain think that youre in motion, but without the need to have lots of physical space in which to move around.

HyperJumps second trick is to automatically switch from smooth movement to teleportation when players reach speeds that induce motion sickness. This helps maintain your momentum while also keeping you from feeling ill.

Lastly, to combat the disorientation that can come with teleportation, HyperJump shows you the path youre currently traveling along, playing a faint beat in the background that matches with your jumps, so you know when the next one is coming.

When I first stepped into the HyperJump booth, I was more than a little worried about what I was getting myself into. In the past, VR movement has made me feel super ill, and the jet lag I was suffering from having traveled to Canada from the UK the day prior wasnt helping. However, I quickly learned my fears were unfounded; I completed each of the tests flight paths over the virtual streets of Vancouver, and even spent some time thereafter adventuring freely without feeling sick at all.

When the tester switched me back to typical VR movement, I found myself flying around far more slowly and within 30 seconds, I was asking to finish the test.

HyperJumps settings are still being trialed and fine-tuned; but, hopefully, it wont be long before its ready to be adopted by the best VR games. Its easily one of the best forms of VR movement Ive used, and while it might not work for every game, there are some such as Lone Echo 2 that would definitely benefit from its inclusion.

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HyperJump wants to cure the motion sickness caused by your Oculus Quest 2 - TechRadar

Virtual reality game publisher Vertigo Games announced new features for first-person shooter After the Fall and two of its upcoming games during Gamescom event week.

Multiplayer shooter After the Fall will be launching a new season of content starting next month on Sept. 15. The "Reclamation Season" will be free for all players and adds new weapons, modes, several maps, and quality of life features. The game's last major update in April had brought many changes, fixes, and hardware optimizations.

After the Fall launched for Oculus Quest 2, SteamVR, and PlayStation VR late last year, and Vertigo Games revealed it has over 55,000 monthly active users. The publisher said the game, one of the best Quest 2 games, is now supported on Pico Neo headsets and can be played at Gamescom.

Vertigo Games also announced that VR puzzle platformer PathCraft will now be coming exclusively to Meta Quest 2, though no release window has been announced. PathCraft will feature over 80 puzzles, but players will be able to make their own levels with a level editor. The game will also take advantage of the headset's hand-tracking 2.0 feature at launch.

The final news from the publisher is that Hellsweeper VR will receive a new trailer later this week on Aug. 25. The trailer for the roguelike first-person VR game will show off the game's movement and combat systems. The game will feature fast movement, magical abilities, and co-op with a friend. Hellsweeper VR is scheduled to launch sometime in Q4 2022.

The Meta Quest 2 offers increased power, resolution, and flexibility over the original virtual headset. It is a complete, all-in-one headset that does not need to be tethered to a PC or smartphone in order to work.

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After the Fall VR gets new season next month, PathCraft coming to Oculus Quest 2 - Android Central

Imagine going to a restaurant and instead of asking the waiter what a certain dish like Pok means (I googled it too; it is a famous Hawaiian raw fish salad), you can see on your table what the dish looks like and then take the decision if you want to order it or not.

The virtual reality(VR) and augmented reality(AR) industries are today worth more than 100 billion dollars and have revolutionized several industries. Fromhealthcare sector tothe social media world, it has shown its presenceeverywhere.

The restaurant and hotel business, for example, is very lucrative and has a future thatamalgamates with VR and AR. Several restaurant owners have started using VR and AR to engage with their customers and give them an experience to remember.

Let's take some examples, but before that, watch this video:

This video is from a New York-based Magnolia Bakery that has changedthe experience for their customers for ordering a cake.They have deployed an AR technology that has enabled the bakery to present the cakes listed on their menuvirtually. The visualisation is so real that it is difficult to differentiate between a real cake and the virtual one. Hence, customers can 'feel' every cake on the menu and order their perfect choice.

Magnolia was one of the first restaurants to do so. Today, however, there are several new restaurants coming up using VR/AR not only in their menu but to change the experience of dining altogether.

Many restaurants in India, today, use QR codes which when scannedtakes youdirectly to the restaurant's digital menu. (also an application of AR).

How is it useful?Using VR and AR has several benefits for the restaurant's owners apart from making a comprehensive experience for the customers. It helps in:

Overall, if the technology becomes more available and affordable, we are not far away from having a full 360-degree experience of exquisite dining which canevoke all our senses.

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Your dining experience is changing. Thank restaurants using augmented and virtual reality - DailyO