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     Q&A with Leap Motion CTO David Holz in AltspaceVR 

       As more and more people across the world continue to stay locked down indoors,we are seeing experimentation in how we communicate and stay social with friends, family and colleagues. From a work perspective, we are seeing what the NYT defined as the “World's Largest Work-From-Home Experiment”. While from a recreational perspective we are seeing more and more apps rise to the occasion and develop creative solutions to keep us connected (and quite frankly, sane). Here at Key Lime Interactive, we’ve decided to be proactive about the emerging trends in XR that we were seeing in the marketspace and optimize our XR strategy. That’s why we’d like to explore the ways in which XR can be used as a communication tool in both our work and recreational lives.

    Since the inception of Key Lime Interactive as a user experience research and design agency, the company has come a long way to be a leader in the market. We are trusted by 100+ of the world’s most admired companies to help them improve the user experience for their products and services. An important pillar of the company’s core values is discerning the bigger picture and deciphering the puzzle. Abiding by this core value, the company’s thought leaders and strategists took a deep dive into understanding what elements of emerging technology will play a pivotal role in shaping 2020 and the new decade that lies ahead of us.

    During this time when technology is shifting at a fast pace, with all the automation and remote work, the reports are indicating that the XR market size will reach USD 571.42 Billion by 2025. Today, thinking of incorporating eXtended Reality (XR) into your businesses seems to be a practical and effective approach. However, a few questions remain unanswered, such as: when is the best time to adopt, what type of XR tech fits my needs, how to streamline all parts of my business to prepare.

Part 3 of 3: Creating a Mixed Reality (MR) Experience 

In the first part of this series we covered what XR is and what types of technologies fall along it's spectrum. We then talked in depth about what it would take to create a simple MR experience including the need to take into account the prior experiences of the user and their interaction with the virtual and physical space. Things can get complicated very quickly so it's important to really think about the type of experiences you are trying to provide the user.  Once you have a good handle on that it's time to break that down step by step and then take those steps and dissect it even further until you have a very detailed outline of the all of the possible ways that a user will perceive and interact with the digital world that you've created.  

Part 2 of 3:   The Cube Example

In part one of this series we touched briefly on what the XR landscape is and who the major players are in this space. Once you have an understanding of the general space, it is then important to grasp just how fast this space is changing with new innovations emerging all of the time.  In this quickly evolving technological landscape we have a situation where the technology and applications are advancing to a degree where usability guidelines no longer apply. If you do not understand the factors of usability and user centered design in spatial computing applications then you are not going to be able to create intuitive interfaces with natural affordances allowing the user to easily navigate virtual information living in the physical world.

  Part 1 of 3: An Introduction to XR   

   In this three part series, we are going to briefly cover what extended reality (XR) is and the different ways to think about this space from a user perspective.  When you hear the term XR it means the spectrum of space between the digital and physical world that includes physical reality, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. In physical reality we interact with a world that provides us with immediate feedback on an object's affordances or it's properties and what the sorts of actions that can be taken with it. While in virtual reality, the physical world is removed and replaced by a virtual space and virtual objects. These virtual objects may have specific affordances that arise not from evolution but the limitless bounds of the designer’s imagination. With so many possibilities,  a person encountering a new virtual experience is similar to infant exploring her environment for the first time (Sherman & Craig, 2018).  

       Within the last few years, technology has grown at an exponential rate with Augmented Reality being introduced in multiple industries, such as education and training. Augmented Reality (AR) is defined as the enhancement of the real environment by computer-generated content, allows its users to see the real world together with an additional virtual world added in real-time to the same field of view. A.R. technology has been introduced into the tourism industry to add more interactive elements and improve the traveler's overall experience.  

     In this frenzy of Virtual Reality (VR) adoption, it’s hard not to gravitate towards the hubbub and explore the possibilities for yourself. Let’s say, after some digging and trying out some clever immersive experiences at conferences and meetups, you finally give in and want to explore the possibility of using VR to train your employees or team members. But, where do you start? What do you need to get started? Can you actually use VR for your use case? How do you build it? Some of these questions can be overwhelming and might lead you down a rabbit hole on the internet. So, let's try to break it down here.

       While VR, AR and 360 experiences may be well-known industry terms for you at this point, you might be wondering how these experiences are any different than interactive storytelling content. Interactive storytelling is a form of media that gives the user the ability to be the “director” of their own experience from start to end. While popular among the gaming community, interactive storytelling is certainly on the rise everywhere. For example, on the heels of Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch, Netflix is double down its on interactive storytelling content, producing a variety of series according to an article by techcrunch. 

      Many of the components for Material UI are easy to customize. For components such as Badges and Circular Progress, you can add color options by adding an additional variant to the theme. For instance, when calling a badge using a primary color, you would use <Badge color=”primary” />. In order to use an info color, you could use <Badge color=”info” />, and add under MuiBadge : { colorInfo: {…}} to the theme. You can interchange “info” with any color name you choose.

       
The two-wheel culture is growing in popularity every day; we see more and more people opt to ride to work, to class, or just ride for fun. Some claim their decision is cost driven and that it's simply more economical to drive a motorcycle than a car, others select a traditional bicycle work commute because it's healthier. Technology for this culture is attempting to keep pace. New AR equipped motorcycle helmets are being produced with a rearview camera, navigation, music, phone call, SOS alerts, among other features. This is awesome, but, does that make it safer for the vehicle operator?

       More and more the world of banking and investing is moving into the online and technological world. Terms like “cryptocurrency” and “bitcoin” have steadily been gaining popularity as user’s are finding ways to handle their finances in a way that matches today’s fast-paced, digital world.  In relation to online financial going ons, another term that is gaining a lot of recent attention is “blockchain”. Blockchain is not a new term, but it is generating increasing buzz since they will have a massive impact on the future of online banking, investing, digital identity, and more.