Spatial Computing

Random Thoughts, Spatial Computing

Metaverse, Mulitverse, Eitherverse, Anyverse

Metaverse is a helpful term. It encompasses a wide range of related, emergent technologies in a way that – in theory – can help someone visualize what the output of “connected 3D worlds accessed through specialized hardware that allow users to interact as avatars and participate in a global economies for fun and for play.” In most instantiations of the metaverse in science fiction, the metaverse appears largely like our own world, copied into a

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Communication, Spatial Computing

Communication Technology and Other People

This is a new series of mine exploring collaboration as a function of communication principles and community norms. In Part One, I explored some initial framing that I’ve developed internally about the process of communication. In this post, I’ll briefly talk about the initial considerations that come to mind with communicating across individuals with social technologies in mind. While the process of generating and translating a thought or feeling occurs internally, the act of sharing

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Mozilla Hubs, Spatial Computing

On Asynchronous Communication & the Value of Chat

The concept of ‘time’ as a resource has come up in several conversations that I’ve been a part of recently, and a recent discussion led me to think more deeply about time’s role in communication. Last year, I gave a talk at SkillsMatter exploring social technologies and online communication. You can break down technological communication services across a couple of different axes, but today I’m going to write a bit more about (a)synchronicity. In particular,

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Mozilla Hubs

Joining Video Calls from Mozilla Hubs on Windows

I’m going to start with the disclaimer: this process involves a number of wonky settings on your computer and isn’t something that runs smoothly “out of the box” with a single click, nor is it an officially supported feature of either Hubs or Zoom. However, if you’re interested in upping your video meetings by appearing as an avatar in a virtual world, and you like messing around with applications and settings, read on. Background I’ve

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Games, Spatial Computing

Lessons that Social VR Can Learn from Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The social app that I find myself unexpectedly spending more time in these days (other than Hubs) isn’t a game that I was familiar with prior to a couple of weeks ago. Despite being an avid Nintendo fan since I got my first console at the age of seven, I had never had the delight of playing Animal Crossing until the latest release. Now, it’s hard to imagine my daily routine without it. Part of

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Spatial Computing

Thoughts on “GDC in VR”

The conference world has been thrown for a loop with the wide-reaching recommendations for COVID-19 discouraging or prohibiting large gatherings. As the games and VR industry raced towards March, the month where both GDC and SXSW were scheduled to overlap, cancellations have meant that almost everyone has had a change in plans Naturally, VR Twitter began to weigh the pros and cons of “GDC in VR”, hoping to embrace the growing medium for a chance

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Development, Machine Learning, Mozilla Hubs, Spatial Computing

Authoring Immersive Environments with glTF for Multi-User Mixed Reality Web Applications

I was invited to give a lightning talk at the W3C Inclusive Design for Immersive Technology workshop about what we’re doing with scene authoring through Spoke for Hubs. As with many of my talks, I think they make better blog posts, and I’m excited to share this one with you today. About Hubs & Spoke For those of you who aren’t familiar with the work we’re doing a Mozilla on social mixed reality, Hubs is

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Development, Machine Learning, Spatial Computing

Captioning Three.js WebGL Canvas Elements with Machine Learning

I just skimmed back into an earlier blog post and realized that while I posted about leaving High Fidelity, I never actually updated with where I was headed. I didn’t post it here, though I did an announcement on Twitter with the news: I joined Mozilla back in March to work on their Mixed Reality initiatives, and finally have been able to go full-time into open source, web-based, asymmetric social 3D / VR spaces. Working

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