Future-Talk 3D

March 10, 2014

3D @ COVD (3)

I must say that much of the interesting action of the 2013 COVD Annual Meeting occurred away from the speakers' hall, in the exhibit hall. Here were a plethora of exhibits, products, and research posters suited to every taste. The resources most relevant to our blog readers included:

Mature 3D-based automated Vision Therapy systems (see picture below)
A new iPad-based diagnostic and therapy from G labs. (See this video featuring Dr. Jen Simonson explaining the new product. Also see their Facebook site)
An interesting research poster suggesting that 3D technology can be a powerful tool in the early detection of visual disorders such as amblyopia and anisometropia in children (using the Playstation 3D, in this case)
A compelling research poster suggesting that vision therapy should be considered for those younger patients exhibiting visual symptoms, a diagnosis of ADD, and anxiety associated with poor school performance. Vision therapy, may well reduce unnecessary medication for these children, as well as a misdiagnosis of ADD

March 3, 2014

3D @ COVD (2)

Here are some more interesting 3D revelations that emerged from the recent COVD conference, described in last week's post:

Recent Findings and Future Priorities for S3D Research

Shun‐nan Yang (PhD), a prolific researcher with the Vision Performance Institute, College of Optometry (Pacific University), provided a compelling presentation on recent research. Dr. Yang's most interesting findings include:

“Eye (visual/ocular) symptoms are weaker and limited; yet motion symptoms with 3D are significant and linger.” (Yang et al., 2012)
“The critical viewing duration for incurring symptoms is about 36 minutes in movie viewing.” (Yang et al., 2011)

He then cited some of the potential advantages offered through 3D immersion by briefly reviewing his research on these topics:

“Opinion change and marketing success with S3D content” (Yang et al., 2013)
“Motivational/emotional enhancement after S3D viewing.” (Yang et al., 2013)

Simulated 3D in Classrooms

My own presentation on the use of 3D in education was split into three parts. First, I briefly reviewed how educational 3D (eS3D) is different from standard consumer or 'entertainment' 3D:

It’s slower
It prefers more negative parallax
It is experienced in shorter sustained viewing ‘segments
It offers longer sustained and uninterrupted scene viewing (more immersive ‘gulping’)

I highlighted academic results, future trends, and how teachers approach children and parents when they encounter known vision symptoms. I also offered some “hands-on, minds-on” viewing of actual 3-D educational content and hardware used in schools, including the new NEO3DO auto-stereoscopic tablet.

Clinical Aspects of S3D

Dr. Leonard J. Press (O.D., FCOVD, FAAO), well known for his work in New Jersey and his thoughts in the VisionHelp Blog, closed the full day seminar with a look at the more clinical practice aspects of stereoscopic 3D, reminding the medical audience in attendance about the three D's of stereo 3D:

February 24, 2014

3D @ COVD (1)

This report comes first hand from the recent annual meeting of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), held in Orlando.

COVD is the certifying body for doctors in Behavioral/ Developmental/ Rehabilitative Optometry. This group is interested in all things 3D, because these experts envision a role for 3D in Sx (symptoms), Dx (diagnosis), and Tx (treatment) of vision disorders. At the COVD Annual Meeting, I participated as a featured speaker in a full-day educational program entitled “Simulated 3D Vision: Research, Education and In Your Office,” with over 600 medical and educational professionals in attendance.

Dr. Dominick M. Maino (OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD) led off the full-day session. Dr. Maino is a Professor of Pediatrics/Binocular Vision at the Illinois College of Optometry/Illinois Eye Institute, a Distinguished Practitioner, with the National Academies of Practice, and a Leonardo da Vinci Award of Excellence in Medicine recipient. Dr. Maino highlighted the cultural importance of 3D in contemporary society, since sometimes medical experts and researchers are not fully attentive to current cultural memes. Maino warned that “simulated 3D is not dead,” as some would think, “but that use of simulated 3D will continue in all its forms… but you still need binocular vision to fully immerse yourself into the experience.” He identified the struggles many adults have with viewing 3D as the “3D Vision Syndrome” and made the case for medical and educational professionals to tap into the power and influence of the 3D meme to promote vision health and better public policy decisions.

We will learn more about 3D @ COVD in next week's post. Stay tuned...

February 17, 2014

Editor's Choice

At the start of every new year, I thoughtfully highlight a single post from the previous year here at Future-Talk 3D. I want to feature a post that didn't quite make it into our 2013 top ten, but offers an important educationally focused 3D message, nevertheless;. a post that carries the kind of message that I would hope readers would want to take time to carefully re-read and mull over. The post I recommend for Editor’s Choice this year is 3D in Tech Ed.

February 10, 2014

What is 3D Good For?

Display Central has certainly become the “go-to” website for information about the emerging 3D world. One of their chief contributors, the esteemed Arthur Berman, recently wrote an article that is so important, I was compelled to provide a link to it here on Future-Talk 3D. This article summarizes a recent and large-scale meta-analysis, conducted by the U.S. Air Force, on what works well in 3D versus 2D. Enjoy the read!

“What is 3D Good For?

February 3, 2014

A zView from zSpace

I recently caught “a zView from zSpace,” an auspicious glimpse of a bright future for 3D in education. ZSpace is a Silicon Valley company offering what I call “a near-holographic hardware platform,” one which really draws the crowds. I recently attended the zCON East developer’s conference, which was held at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge and attended by scientists, entrepreneurs, pharmaceutical interests, higher education, K12 teachers, optometry consultants, medical device companies, and venture capitalists alike. This conference offered a distinctive educational flavor, with most presentations strongly focusing on educational applications of the zSpace platform. And there was one uniquely pleasant discovery.

In the NERD Center demo hall, I saw one of the most remarkable ideas I have seen in a long time. You see, the zSpace platform is chiefly a platform for an individual or maybe small group of 2-3 to work with holographic-like interactive 3D visualization. In that regard, it’s untouchable.

But now draw your attention back to the real world: the fact is, many university and K-12 classrooms require full-class viewing. And that’s what zSpace provided with zView—and in quite a creative way. While an individual or small team can don stereo glasses and work in true stereo on the zSpace display, the entire scene—including the individual using the zSpace stereo display—is immediately rendered in augmented reality on a large screen television or projector. For the full class to see. I have never seen anything quite like it, fluid and real time. Here is a video I captured of zView in action at the zCon event, showing what the audience can see in augmented reality, while the instructor or student presenter manipulates their presentation in stereo 3D.

The cohesive marriage between stereoscopic 3D and augmented reality, as evidenced by zView, is one of the most remarkable ideas I have seen in a long, long time. If you get a chance to visit a zSpace booth at the TCEA conference this week, ask to see this product. It has real potential to reach the broader education market. It’s nothing less than a zView from zSpace.

January 27, 2014

Crowded in zSpace

One of the busiest booths I have seen at several recent conferences has been the zSpace exhibit. ZSpace is a Silicon Valley company offering what I call “a near-holographic hardware platform,” one which really draws the crowds. Why some booths flourish, while others do not can be explained by my little poem: “Something trusted, something new, someone invited, something cool.” Trusted brands, new products, unique new capabilities, and ‘cool’ technologies seem to corral traffic reliably. zSpace is drawing crowds because they are offering something never seen before—and it is certainly ‘cool.’ As far as “someone invited.” I personally invited many power educators and top 3D industry folks to walk with me over to the zSpace booth. Now, these educators and industry leaders are seasoned folks--technology leaders, speakers, or integrators who really know their ed tech. They can see fluff right away, and are always a tough sell. I spoke to each person later, and each one was overly impressed with the zSpace offering. Knowing that these educators always start from a posture of deep skepticism, I was actually quite surprised at their reaction. It tells you something. (By the way, zSpace will be exhibiting at the upcoming TCEA conference, if you want to see them for yourself.)

Their GUI interface has a lot to do with their attractiveness, as it offers a unique metaphor for navigation. Gone are the primitive control screens I see with most other 3D solutions. The zSpace user interface is fun, new, invigorating, metaphorical, and captivating. They call it the zSpace experience. I get it. Using zSpace, I was able to pick up objects with a stylus and deposit them in a spinning portal which then took me to another scene or 3D environment, like magic. It’s different. And in this day of look-alikes and same-as, different is good.

But really…why is zSpace really drawing such attention? Don’t laugh, but my sense is that, in the zSpace offerings, educators catch a glimmer of the future of education. The education business, still in the throes of the recession, needs that restorative hope.

January 20, 2014

Webinar Reminder

Just a reminder! The SIG3D Webinar is tomorrow!

A uniquely informative webinar on the topic of
3D and vision health in the classroom,

January 13, 2014

Best of Future-Talk 3D

It’s been a thriving year for the Future-Talk 3D blog, so it is fitting to reflect on the most popular topical posts of 2013. The top ten posts are presented below, in order of most web impressions received last year:

Implementing 3D (Part 3)

Vision Health News

January 6, 2014

ISTE SIG3D Webinar

A uniquely informative webinar on the topic of
3D and vision health in the classroom,

December 30, 2013

FT3D Word Cloud

Here’s a graphic word cloud of all the key words or themes in our Future-Talk 3D blog during the year 2013. The more the word is found, the larger it appears in this word cloud. It's good to see what's most important--you can tell from its size! The word cloud is interactive, so explore a bit!

It’s quite interesting to visualize, in this way, the recurring themes and concepts that have emerged as memes from Future-Talk 3D this last year. It’s like putting your fingers on the pulse of what’s happening with educational 3D—and taking a read.

December 23, 2013

Future-Talk 3D Worldview

Добрый день Bom dia 您好مرحبا こんにちは Bienvenidos

The Future-Talk 3D blog serves a diverse international audience interested in educational 3D. Our readers might be interested in seeing which countries were our top ten blog visitors during 2013. Based on web impressions for the 2013 calendar year, here is how the data shape up:

It is worthwhile to note that Germany outpaced Russia this year; there is a relentless back-and-forth wrestling match between Australia and India (and India won out this year); and that France has surged from tenth to sixth place this year.

Are there any surprises here? Or are these just “the usual suspects?” What do you think? Please comment.

Of course, this chart only represents the top ten. Many hundreds of other visitors have frequented this blog, coming from countries all over the world. Future-Talk 3D blog has been visited by nearly every country in North, South, and Central America. The same is true for Europe; the entire Middle East is also broadly represented. Most of Asia has visited us, as well as more than 16 countries from Africa.

I want to thank you for your deep and committed interest in 3D in education. Please write me, let me know what you are doing in your country. I would love to feature some interviews in 2014.

December 16, 2013

Zombie Apocalypse

Last week we continued the discussion about the recent problem with Apple’s new iPhone iOS7 making people sick. In the first post of this four-part series, I suggested that the real story is about a lesson not yet learned, in fact, about two lessons not yet learned. This week's post focuses on lesson #2.

Lesson #2: The 3D experience can provide an indicator of underlying vision problems.

Now, if you read the recent post of Christopher Mims, Hurl into this! Digital motion sickness will be the occupational disease of the 21st century, you would certainly imagine a new world threat has arrived on the scene; or at least, that the zombie apocalypse is upon us. He complains: “I get headaches at 3D movies and motion sick at the slightest provocation.” Apparently, the newest Apple 3D parallax feature comes right at the heels of previous and wanton 3D destruction. He warns of a new zombie apocalypse: “the 21st century is going to be one you’ll want to spend hiding from just about every kind of innovation in human-computer interfaces.” Mr. Mims is recognizing a genuine problem, but he is partially misinformed.

Perhaps Dr. Dominick Maino (OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A), an internationally recognized expert in pediatrics/binocular vision at the Illinois College of Optometry/Illinois Eye Institute, explains it best: "Vision induced motion sickness has been recognized for decades. It is frequently called "See Sickness" or Neuro-Ocular Vestibular Dysfunction. Many experience blurred vision, diplopia, headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, malaise, and drowsiness.”

Further Dr. Maino advises that such symptoms are treatable and therefore avoidable: “It can be successfully diagnosed and treated by an optometrist specifically trained to evaluate the functional capabilities of your vision. These optometrists can be found at http://www.covd.org.” He recommends reviewing an excellent presentation/discussion on this topic at: http://visionhelp.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/the-see-sick-syndrome-when-visual-dysfunction-causes-motion-sickness/" Sometimes the solution is as simple as tweaking your contact or glass prescriptions, as is the case with many adults. Sometimes it can be resolved with vision correction (eyeglasses), vision therapy, or a combination of both.

Dr. Jeri Schneebeck (Optometrist, F.C.O.V.D), a highly respected Colorado vision expert and owner of Colorado’s only 3D vision lab, knows that this is not just about poor 3D design: “It’s about vision,” she confirms. In fact, the day I interviewed her about this Apple issue, she was reminded that she just had a patient complain to her today that she had a significant vision problem with her new iPhone, and had returned it to the store. Zeroing in on understanding this new Apple iPhone parallax issue, another Colorado optometrist, Dr. Jacinta Yeung (OD, MEd/VFL), observes: “I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly which part of the visual system would ‘cause’ this discomfort. It is probably a combination of factors but it would be nice to evaluate a group of these individuals to see if there is a common weakness in their visual system.” She has also heard of patients reporting this problem. In the meantime, folks are turning off the effect.

So here we are again, revisiting the vision health issues identified in some of my past posts. Most notably, I want to point our readers to two predictions I made for the year 2013 in my post, Whither eS3D:

The vision health issue will struggle to receive the attention it deserves due to inability of the medical community to employ effective marketing and PR strategies.
The struggle to debunk 3D mythologies (3D is bad for you, it makes everyone sick, it hurts children) won’t go away. We’ll still have to wrestle with those unfortunate media-generated sound bites for some time.

Yes, we still have our work cut out for us. Mr. Mims was correct in some ways: Poorly designed 3D can cause problems, all by itself. You have to pay attention to these things, Apple. But he was totally off base in terms of the bigger picture of 3D and vision health. These hurtful zombies keep coming back to life. We just have to stop feeding them. Maybe it’s time to bite back.

December 9, 2013

Unlearned Lesson 1

Last week we talked about the recent problem with Apple’s new iPhone iOS7 making people sick. I suggested that the real story is about a lesson not yet learned. In fact, the real message is about two lessons not yet learned. I guess it’s time to re-learn these lessons. In this week's post, we will focus on lesson #1.

Lesson #1: The 3D experience requires thoughtful design

We need reminding about a number of key points here:

Companies creating 3D experiences must not be so entranced with their ‘cool’ technology that they forget about the user. The user experience, the human interface, should never come last. It should come first, especially when developing 3D content.
Companies creating 3D experiences in their products should consider the science and art of 3D communication, not be oblivious to it. In Clyde DeSouza’s Think in 3D, we see the importance of truly understanding the 3D medium before we deploy it.

Apple has tried to keep their 3D development ideas under wraps for years, but how secret are they, really? I heard beforehand about this one, and future 3D technologies Apple has in development, long ago. They did succeed, however, in secreting their 3D product features well away from the people who might have prevented this all along—the human interface experts, vision experts, and stereo experience designers. Poorly designed 3D can cause problems, all by itself. You have to pay attention to these things. It's a no-brainer.

December 2, 2013

My iPhone Makes Me Sick

Apple’s new iPhone iOS7 is making people sick. All over the country, it’s turning stomachs to the dark side. It has to do with a parallax effect (see this example) now available on backgrounds and in some apps that have been updated to iOS7. My wife has a newer phone than I do, so I tested it out right after I heard about the problem. For me, it was barely noticeable. A non-issue, really. For my wife, it was the same. But for folks with vision issues, in can quickly unravel their world. In fact--it has become so uncomfortable—a few folks are running back to the Apple store or their service provider to turn the new phones in and reclaim their old phones. There are less drastic measures that can be taken, of course. Instead of returning the iPhone or resetting it to an older operating system, one can:

Choose a non-dynamic ‘stills’ background: SettingsàWallpapers & Brightnessà Stills
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turn off the effect: SettingsàGeneralàAccessibilityàReduce MotionàOn

But the increasing number of people getting sick when using the 3D-like parallax effect on the iPhone is not the real story here. The real story is about a lesson not yet learned. In fact, about two lessons not yet learned. I guess it’s time to re-learn them. We will focus on lesson #1 in next week's post.

November 25, 2013

Circle 3D Application (2)

In our last post, we introduced our Future-Talk 3D readers to "circle 3D." In this posting, we will address some of the potential educational applications for volumetric 3D.

Headquartered in Ames (IA) with a team in L.A, MICOY’s mission is to evolve the spherical 3D Market (volumetric stereo). Their ultimate goal, offers CEO Pierce, is “to create a platform for developers to build applications in all types of markets.”

The use cases for this technology are myriad. Beyond the obvious applications within the gaming and entertainment industry, MICOY sees a real role for volumetric 3D within medical education. He believes that volumetric 3D will soon be used to provide physical therapy, treat depression, and support those suffering with PTSD. Pierce tells the story of a friend, a former NFL player, who was in an accident that left the athlete quadriplegic. Pierce placed a prototype virtual reality helmet on his friend and allowed his friend to virtually run down a bicycle path in a park, showing some live action footage they had shot. “When we took the helmet off his head, tears were running down his cheek,” The formal NFL player cried “ I haven’t sensed and had the feeling of motion since before my accident, and you just had me running through the park.”

Pierce also sees the potential for engineering departments, design and manufacturing teams, and molecular scientists to be able to ‘sculpt’ designs, parts, or biomolecules in real time 3D.

Of course, the educational applications for this technology are legion. MICOY has their eye firmly set on virtual reality training simulations, including high-stakes training that can save lives by putting anyone inside a physical environment at any time.

In terms of K12 and post-graduate education, my mind also races with the possibilities. Imagine being lifted out of your current reality and being transported into the middle of a cacophonous room in Independence Hall in the sweltering heat of the first few days of July in 1776. The debate and eventual ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress occurs all around you. Gone is the fourth wall. You are now part of the intense arguments, negotiations, and compromises that came out of that room to touch history.

None of this is really “pie in the sky.” I’ve been to the dome, been in the dome, and I’ve seen this technology first hand.