Musing #5: Aiming for the Middle

 

In the heat of our current pandemic scramble, a clear continuum exists: 

the “covidiot to covidian” spectrum.  

At one extreme lies the covidiot. The covidiot is not afraid of contracting Covid-19 for any number of reasons. For example, s/he sees himself/herself as invincible or as the victim of a government ruse. Whatever the reason, life must go on. The covidian, to the contrary, sees the possibility of contamination around every corner and is driven by miserable fear. You can identify a covidiot because she will enter a busy store without a mask; you can distinguish a covidian because he will be driving a car all alone, wearing a mask. I find myself somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, guided by science, data, and keen self-awareness. 

So here’s the rub: technical hygiene standards for virtual reality in schools are really aimed at the large crowd in the middle. Most covidiots will ignore, fake or delay adhering to hygiene standards unless forced to do so; covidians will see such standards as “not enough” and are likely to “just stay home”.  Now let’s apply this spectrum in real life. Take for example the AMC theater hygiene standards, which are fairly comprehensive, in my way of thinking. I have seen covidiots take their masks off after the theater goes dark, even though our state requires masking indoors. Conversely, I have numerous covidian acquaintances who would never go to a theater, no matter what safety standards are in place.

 So, safety standards really benefit the sensible middle, not the extremes. They are aimed at the thinker, the analyzer, the realist, and the rationalist. In the main, businesses are hoping that catering to the middle can carry them through our unfortunate economic hard times.

Musing #4: What’s missing?

 

    Isn’t there more to safety than merely disinfecting any shared equipment? In the Hologate VR standards for location-based entertainment (see my previous post in this series), what’s missing is physical distancing of customers, masking, temperature taking, reduced facility capacity, staff testing and hand washing, air and HEPA filters, and ‘enhanced’ facility disinfecting, and other ‘enhanced’ disinfecting procedures. Does education offer their own industry-preferred hygiene standards for VR equipment use? Can you think of anything that is missing from the procedures/practices followed in your school or university? What's missing?

Musing #3: The AOA Weighs In

 

Hygiene standards for VR headgear (and previously, 3D glasses) in schools have been top of mind for the doctors and scientists of the American Optometric Association (AOA), long before the current Covid crisis ever erupted. Although there have been no reported instances of problems and no published studies, the American Optometric Association informs us that the eye can be an important route of microbial exposure. Their recommendations, which can be viewed as hygiene standards, are summarized here: 

“Teachers and children should be instructed to ask about the cleanliness of headgear; hand washing before use would be helpful; cleaning the VR headgear with cold disinfecting systems between uses or employ existing UV cabinets (found in many science classrooms) will provide additional disinfecting and anti-microbial protection between uses.”

Musing #2: AMC Technical Hygiene Standards

  In this post, we continue some blunt musings about Covid-aware hygiene standards, especially national and industry-specific standards. Come along with us for an untamed ride of nuance and perspective through the wilderness of covidian concern.

*****

AMC standards. The most comprehensive set of hygiene standards in the theater industry are those of the AMC theater chain. Here is a list of their official covid-era hygiene steps, which is impressive to say the least:

• social distancing
• masks required
• reduced auditorium capacities
• cashless transactions
• hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes
• simplified menus Refills and condiments by request only
• daily associate health screenings
• frequent hand washing encouraged
• self-check reminders (don’t come if sick)
• enhanced cleaning procedures, advised by Clorox
• electrostatic disinfectant sprayers
• upgraded NMERV 13 Air filters
• HEPA filter vacuums

Apparently, AMC is serious about getting their customers back. I have been seem numerous movies, in theater, since the pandemic started, and these improvements are clearly visible to the customer.

Musing #1: National vs Local

  In the next four posts, we provide some blunt musings about Covid-aware hygiene standards, especially national and industry-specific standards. Come along with us for an untamed ride of nuance and perspective through the wilderness of covidian concern.

*****

Musing #1: Industry-specific versus national standards. An educator in a previous post bemoaned the lack of national standards for cleaning shared equipment in schools. I suspect he felt that local educational practices were either insufficient, thinly followed, or poorly communicated. Thus he pined for more and stricter guidance from on high. 

I wonder if national or even state standards are in fact superior to industry-specific and location-contextualized standards? I am reminded by the complete lockdowns of hair salons in California, while here in Colorado, salons go on about their business in complete safety, following sensible safety standards—with no resultant infections. Can bureaucrats, sitting at a distance, really make the kinds of safety decisions that best fit a local educational community? I think not. 

The CDC recently posted the study results of a potential Covid spread in a Springfield, Missouri hair salon. Two stylists, who subsequently serviced more than 139 patrons, were initially infected. After testing these paying customers, the CDC found “all test results were negative”. Their conclusion? “Adherence to the community’s and company’s face-covering policy likely mitigated spread of SARS-CoV-2”. See the study summary for yourself. The bottom line is that I am suspicious of state or national standards over the local or industry-specific standards.  Looking at the California example, it is all-too-easy it is to overthink the situation and punitively disconnect safety standards from actual science.

Systematizing VR Hygiene

 Over the last two posts we spoke about the Hologate standards for cleaning shared VR environments. Yet the Hologate standards also implore us to systematize and be more intentional about our hygiene efforts with VR systems in education. The standards emphasize the need to ensure that “staff understands that constantly cleaning and disinfecting is now one of their top priorities”. 

In reviewing their standards, I strongly support their admonition to “slow down and adjust the throughput expectations for your team and customers to make accommodations for these added cleaning procedures”. Turnaround time on educational facilities or shared equipment in K12 or higher ed settings will need to be adjusted upwards. Similarly, their suggestion to “take photos and video of your team in action and post on your social media channels to let everyone know what you are doing” is sound advice. It instills confidence in an environment that has become all-too-scary on its own. Such a smart public-facing posture is vital, since educational environments tend to be more afraid of Covid-19 than commercial environments are.

The Hologate Standards

Last week we spoke about the Hologate standards for cleaning shared VR environments. Of particular interest is in these standards is Hologate’s concern over the opacity of any organization’s disinfecting efforts. Hologate strongly calls for highly visible action in this regard. They explain: “Post coronavirus, it is imperative to instill the confidence that everything is being done for your customer’s health and safety”. They add, “perception is everything and confidence can be gained through actions that are visible”. They remind us to have staff “be diligent and highly visible by customers when disinfecting between uses” and to position “customer anti-bacterial dispenser and/or disinfectant wipe stations throughout a facility so that they are visible and conveniently accessed”.

Cleaning Things Up III

 

In “Cleaning Things Up II I mentioned one educator pleaded for guidance, asking:

“Don’t we have any national disinfecting standards to follow?”

Standards that can guide educators and others in this timely hygiene challenge do indeed exist. Take for example the recent Hologate hygiene and safety standards for virtual reality available for download here.  These standards are designed to “bring a uniform process to the location-based entertainment industry”, but are clearly applicable to other shared equipment environments or educational facilities. Although one must heed any local and national laws/regulations as well as the published guidance of government health agencies, the Hologate standards “are based on [our] years of experience operating systems and attractions”, they elaborate.

Some important perspectives are offered in the above standards document. Hologate reminds us about our changing times by suggesting “post coronavirus, we must accept the reality that we will be unable to operate as we have before. Cleanliness and disinfection will have to become paramount to customer’s confidence in enjoying our attractions and location-based entertainment”. These standards also remind us that hygiene must be maintained by professionals, and not merely “left to the customer” to address on their own.

Although location-based entertainment has suffered greatly during the recent economic and viral downturn, there is much to be learned for application in other environments, such as the education sector. The Hologate standards document reminds us that “virtual reality headsets and accessories [and, I would add historically, 3D glasses] have always been the target and topic of hygiene conversations, so it’s more important than ever to make sure that you have proper cleaning”.

In short, the VR hygiene methods recommended by Hologate are outlined below, and apply to headsets, controllers, vests, and fasteners alike:

• Check, Clean, Dry (see the standards for a detailed breakdown)
• Use sanitizing wipes
• Employ Disposable VR Mask covers
• Consider UVC light cleaning as an added defense

Cleaning Things Up II

Many of us are now hyperaware (almost to the point of bacillophobia) of cleaning often-used equipment surfaces in the education sector. One educator summarizes the covid-cleaning predicament in schools and universities in this way:

“The problem with the virus is that it is invisible and so people tend to over-sanitize, taking up the mindset that the surfaces are [always] infected”.

In order to understand the depths of concern about this hygiene issue at the grassroots level in schools, let’s use some examples from a recent educational discussion forum recently playing out in Ireland.

Here are some of the key questions emerging, paraphrased here, but expressed by actual teachers:

-       Is it enough for children to wash hands or disinfect hands before and after using the laptop or iPad? 

-        Is it okay to use sprays on digital equipment?

-        How can we make this process less cumbersome?

-        Must we turn devices off when cleaning them?

-        How can we get a lab of devices ready for the next class?

-        Are protective keyboard covers worth the investment?

-        What vendors are you using for cleaning materials?

-        Don’t we have any national disinfecting standards to follow?

You can tell by the last question that it’s a jungle out there, with classroom teachers/professors largely left on their own to solve this in any way they can. 

Keeping Things Clean

 

In my last post, I asked “How can schools and universities address the acute hygiene problem” presented by shared school resources like VR headgear? I remembered a posting on the nearly 12,000 strong VR/AR Media Group on LinkedIn, to which I paid little attention at first, but which now grew afresh in my mind. Apparently, Uvisan (a UK company) rolled out a noteworthy UVC cabinet touting the highest photobiological safety ratings. I interviewed Anthony Graham, Distribution Manager for Uvisan, who emphasized: “All of our equipment has RoHS and CE certification and UV efficacy has been subjected to extensive laboratory testing to guarantee maximum effectiveness.”

The history on this product was fascinating to me. Immotion Group, a UK-based out-of-home VR company, had apparently developed a "Pre-covid" UVC cabinet for MGM, owners of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as part of a 36 seat motion platform VR Theatre in their their Shark Reef aquarium facility.  The ‘disinfecting’ cabinet technology enabled Mandalay to sanitize and simultaneously charge the headsets between showings of Immotion’s undersea VR short films. Then, as the pandemic spread, Graham recounted “we decided to put the research and effort that went into our cabinets to good use and create Uvisan as a stand-alone solution”. As the Covid crisis expanded, Mr. Graham rationalized that “the short disinfecting cycle, charging and security capabilities made it a perfect fit for many organizations”. Graham underlined that their UV anti-bacterial cleaning cabinets will support much more than VR headsets: tablets, tools, AV equipment, and phone headsets are also now supported.  [I would expect that this could also apply, in an educational context, to headphones, earphones, science probes/apparatus, utensils, and other instructional instruments used by waves of students.]

As far as the VR origins of this product,  Graham noted that “the cabinets were originally designed for VR Headsets, and we have a range of sizes that can house, sanitize and charge 12, 20 and up to 30 headsets, using our specifically placed 254nm low pressure medical-grade UV lamps to give maximum surface coverage.” But he added that the Uvisan cabinets are alternatively able to support up to 100 phones and 50 tablets. I asked Mr. Graham about any educational customers that were using this tool, and he responded “We have Chichester University and London College of the Arts using our cabinets in an educational setting and enquiries from others coming in daily.” He also mention the installations thye had in place with the Academcy of Applied Sciences in Germany. Graham also offered this case study on the Chichester implementation.

Some other customers who have found this solution particularly valuable include the VR sport business HADO (who told Graham that “they could not have run a championship event unless they had the cabinet to rapidly sanitize the headsets”) and the British Film Institute, who recently used their cabinets at a VR event which was part of this year's London Film Festival.  Graham concludes: “We have a very versatile, safe and effective product and we are now seeing demand coming through from healthcare and industrial partners.”

Can educational institutions afford this solution? It's an attention getting offering....

Why Visualization is Better

I learned a lot from the Pandemic, mostly from the epic educational fails I’ve observed. I’ve seen parents at their wit’s end, teachers pushed beyond their capacity, and technologies that don’t quite have the ‘umph’ to get the job done. I’ve also seen Zoom fatigue set in, lessons shortened to make weak learning experiences a bit more palatable, and student boredom reign supreme.

Isn’t there a better way to do remote learning / online teaching / blended learning or whatever other form of classroom learning we can expect to wrestle with in the coming school year? Isn’t there a better way for educators to prepare for the unexpected? There certainly is. One answer rests in using visualization as a powerful teaching method. John Medina, the author of the bestselling book, Brain Rules, explains it this way: “Vision trumps all other senses... We learn more, faster, and retain learning longer if we use image rich content.” According to Medina, this “phenomenon is so pervasive, it has been given its own name: the pictorial superiority effect, or PSE.

One of the new learning technologies now coming on to the scene—the expansive 3D visualization library from CubeDigiCo—enables such a richly visual learning experience. For example, imagine a science animation that conveys through rich animation the process of photosynthesis in glorious 3D.

More than words that are spoken or still pictures in an ebook, this delightfully visual and animated 5-minute video vignette can convey complex concepts to children in a way that registers with the way they truly learn. And it conveys the information quickly, so that learner attention spans are not strained. (My experience is that these 3D animations are so visually appealing that students will not mind watching them more than once. See this example vignette.)

The quiet explosion these 3D visualization technologies in K12 schools enable a richer learning experience, magically ushering the learning at hand into the “mind’s eye.” Let’s reduce repetitive drill and practice programs, dull e-book readings, take-home packets, and uncomfortable Zoom sessions and move forward using a more richly visual canvas.

A VR Webinar

Tomorrow! Wednesday

I encourage our readers to attend the upcoming webinar: how VR and AR/MR are changing training, education and worker guidance. This webinar is featuring speakers from Volvo, Aggreko, Boston Children’s Hospital and Virtualware.

This is a free webinar, yet the content can be highly valuable for people both working and interested in the field. You’ll learn about the different training styles, as well as the biggest challenges, opportunities and productivity gains when using XR.  

Sign up here https://bit.ly/2S1GVjO

Pricing Failure & VR

We've been talking about “pricing failure.” (See last two posts ) 

Fast-forwarding to virtual reality as we know it today, we don't need to look hard to see the same pricing failures, as greedy companies race to the highest price point for educational customers. And, frankly, schools simply cannot afford it. On the other hand, the ‘freemium’ pricing model is increasingly popular these days, where starting base of VR resources is free, but the best, the premium resources, have a price tag. And when we brush away the ‘free’ part of freemium, my oh my, that price is a hefty one. Sticker shock immediately sets in like concrete, preventing “the buy” or the reasonable scaling of virtual reality in the classroom. Especially when the offer comes as annual licensing as opposed to perpetual licensing.

Will a few greedy companies destroy this industry for the rest of us, before it has a chance to get legs? Just to make a killing? Strike gold? Since content is king, will content price failures undermine any hoped-for trajectory for hardware sales? Or will the freemium strategy, now increasing in frequency, pay off? One thing is for sure: if pricing failures get in the way of technologies reaching the educational market, then sic transit gloria mundi—“thus passes the glory of the world.” Or VR.

Pricing Failure (2)

We've been talking about “pricing failure.” (See last post for an introduction.)  

The opposite of “pricing success”, a “pricing failure” bursts on the scene when there isn’t a clear correlation between an item’s cost and its value/quality. It reminds me of a serious pricing failure, one I witnessed in the educational marketplace. Yes, I remember it distinctly, during the years of the initial stereo 3D explosion in film, displays, and projectors. A top-level manager from the DLP group at Texas Instruments whispered to me the hard truth: how the pricing set forth by just one or two educational 3D software producers was so rapacious, that those companies almost brought down the entire 3D industry/market in education—by steeply overpricing their content. I was there. I saw the gut-wrenching reaction of educational buyers. The pricing was, well, ridiculous. And this is still true about many promising technologies in education. Pricing failure is more common than one would think. 

Stay tuned for next week's conclusion about the potential for pricing failure in the expanding virtual reality world.

It's Ironic 7

Educational VR: The Irony of it All

The trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a sense of irony. (Please look at previous posts in this series for the context.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my last effort at ironic sentiment: 

Complaint: Our 3D content won’t run on that other hardware platform.

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “Why do I need to buy that type of hardware and not just use what I’ve got?” “The content is too hardware specific.” “Our district won’t support that brand of equipment, sorry.”

Educator response to VR (today ), though VR also lacks unifying standards: “I don’t care—how can we do it?” “It’s just sexy!” “I’ll find a way.”

Of course, my entire message for this entire series plays on the irony of the times we are in. Virtual Reality is succeeding in the education market today, well, because, well, it’s… sexy. How long that will last? Who knows, but I suspect these questions won’t just go away. For now, here is how the education market works: over the next year or so, suppliers need to fill in the missing pieces and answer the unanswered questions or VR will be left in the backwaters of time and will be replaced by the latest trending whatchamacallit or gadget. Welcome to education. And P.S.: don’t show this article to your local VR enthusiast. Why not? Incongruity overly frustrates their sense of forward progress.

It's Ironic 6

Educational VR: The Irony of it All

The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at previous posts for the introduction to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my next effort at ironic sentiment: 

Complaint: I just can’t find enough 3D content.

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “There is not enough academic content to justify our purchase of this technology.” “Isn’t student-created content too difficult and time consuming to make?” “I just don’t see the curricular traction, sorry.”

Educator response to VR (today ), though VR also lacks comprehensive content and is difficult for students to construct: “I don’t care—this is really innovative, i.e. sexy!” “Where can I find more free content?”

It's ironic...

It's Ironic 5

Educational VR: The Irony of it All (5)

The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at previous weeks' post for the context to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my fourth effort at ironic sentiment:

Complaint: Laptops, projectors, 3D glasses—how do we manage all this stuff?

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “How do we store, disburse, and collect all this paraphernalia?” “How do we possibly keep the 3D glasses at full charge?” “How do we switch between 2D and 3D?” “Sorry, this is just too much to handle. I’m a busy teacher.”

Educator response to VR (today), even though VR headgear have increased size, storage and management concerns: “Oh, so sexy! Gotta get some.” “Managing these resources—huh? Is that really necessary?”

More irony coming next week...

It's Ironic 4

Educational VR: The Irony of it All (4)

The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at previous weeks' post for the context to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my third effort at ironic sentiment:

Complaint: 3D glasses can spread lice and diseases easily to children.

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “How do you expect us to stop and clean these devices between each use?” “This just isn’t on my radar, sorry. I’m too busy to be a janitor.”

Educator response to VR (today ), even though VR headgear offers the same concern: “My, this is sexy!” “I’ve got to have this for my classroom.” I'm not going to worry about cleaning them.”

Ain't it ironic?

It's Ironic 3

Educational VR: The Irony of it All

The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at the last two week's post for an introduction to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my third effort at ironic sentiment: 

Complaint: 3D makes some of my students sick.

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “How do you expect me to use a tool that makes students ill?” “How do we explain this to parents?” “My teachers are getting sick, too.” “We just can’t do this, sorry.”

Educator response to VR (today ), although VR makes even stronger visual demands on the student: “I don’t care, this is so transformational, i.e. really sexy!” “No, none of my children appear to be sick [even though I haven’t really asked them].” “Where can I buy this for my school and classroom?”

Ain't it ironic???

It's Ironic 2

Educational VR: The Irony of it All

The stout and trendy presence of virtual reality these days leaves me with a hefty sense of irony. (Please look at last week's post for the intorduction to this series.) I am struck by the incongruity of the past and the future colliding in an uncomfortable way. I am describing something we’ve seen before—when we were pushing for 3D visualization tools in the classroom from 2010 through 2015. Virtual reality is all the rage today, but in the past, things didn’t look quite so bright. Though the technologies are really quite similar, something has changed. Here's my second effort at ironic sentiment: 

Complaint: 3D costs too much. 

Educator response to 3D (5 years ago): “We can’t afford this.” “How do you expect teachers to buy this for each classroom?” “This just isn’t sustainable, sorry.”

Educator response to VR (today), even though VR costs much more, per student: “Wow, this is so sexy!” “Where can I get more?” "I'll find a way."