What Will It Take to End the VR Winter? Spatial Computing [&] Beer, at Ex Novo!

[Check out https://bit.ly/ABQVRspatial]
At Ex Novo on Central, Downtown, not Corrales. Photos can be found in a Meetup photo album with a similar name as this meetup: Spatial Computing [&] Beer at Ex Novo, on Central, Downtown (photo album) Please add your own! They don't have to be from the meetup event itself. They may be what you are currently reading, works-in-progress, or screenshots from you favorite VR games or experiences.

Meetup agenda:

• Welcome and intro
• Round robin of self-intros
• What have you been working on?
• Note complimentary interests!
• Distribute 3D-printed "Challenge Coins"! (see photo album)
• Socialize!

Meeting in a brewery/taproom does not lend itself to formal presentations, so I'll flip-the-script. My meetup event writeups will likely be long (like this one), with lots of links. And all that background noise can serve as a kind of zone-of-silence. Three or four folks, chatting with their heads together, next to another clump of conversationalists, talking about a different subject, but overhearing occasional snippets, and than disbanding and reforming, organically, like, you know, one of those sophisticated cocktail parties in the movies.

Spatial Computing comprises a number of technologies that have in common three-dimensional representation of objects and/or the spaces in which they exist (VR, AR, GPS, etc.), plus enabling technologies (AI, 5G/6G, IoT etc.). Prominent in public imagination is virtual reality. But, as much as I love my Quest 3 VR headset, VR headset sales plummeted almost 70% in the first quarter of 2024.

Cited problems include: price, weight, size, functionality, wearability, and appearance. However I'm especially excited about the next generation of extended reality devices such as augmented reality glasses. (I wore, and developed apps for, the infamous Google Glass, ten years ago...)

I hope you'll read, "What Will It Take to End the VR Winter?", and come to our meetup ready to agree, disagree, and/or suggest what might be done to rescue this remarkable part of the spatial computing ecosystem.

If this sounds intimidatingly technical, let me assure you that Spatial Computing [&] Beer is more about socializing with new and interesting people, than drilling down into eye-glazing technical details. My wife attended and had a wonderful time, and she doesn't even like VR! (I've tried...)

What have you been reading? (see photo album)

I'm reading "The Metaverse: Fully Revised and Updated Edition: Building the Spatial Internet" (July 23th, 2024, so current & average review of 4.8 out of 5 stars!). "Metaverses are immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds in which people interact as avatars with each other and with software agents, using the metaphor of the real world but without its physical limitations" (Merriam-Webster). Between 2018 and 2023 I spent over 2000 hours in hundreds of virtual worlds hanging out with other people, wearing VR headsets but who appeared to me as a avatars (customizable 3D characters representing real people). I'm even using Unity to create a Spatial Computing Brewery & Taproom in VRChat (see photo album). Perhaps we'll hold one of our events there sometime.

Plus I just started, "GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones." So far, so good!

What VR apps have you downloaded or spent time in?

I spend a couple hours a week in VRchat. Usually 2PM to 4PM, Sundays. Most folks hate VRChat when they first experience it. The trick is to find your tribe of like-minded peeps. If you venture into VRChat on a Sunday afternoon, search for my VRChat name, "Chuck Altspace", and send me a friend request/invite. And I'll introduce you to my tribe!

My favorite new VR app is Fly. It pulls 3D data from Google Earth, and lets you fly like Superman! I like Fly so much I captured a video of flying from several hundred miles up, and just south of New Mexico, along the Rio Grande, to Sandia Crest, and then to hovering over our house on the Westside. Check it out Fly VR Mirehaven on Youtube!

A friend started an astronomy club, so I'm checking out VR astronomy and space-themed apps. I'm especially impressed with MISSION:ISS. Floating around the International Space Station, observing tiny details (VELCRO® everywhere!), and how small it's interior is....

Welp, I've hit my Meetup.com event description limit of 5000 characters. I hope to see you October 6th.

Chuck