Fun fact: Boston Virtual Reality (VR) is the third largest non-profit meet up group in the country with over 3,000 members. After no hesitation, I got my geek on and attended their most recent demo event last night – hosted by Breakaway’s newest client iZotope Inc.
Delicious pizza aside, I found the group of 150+ attendees to be extremely friendly, knowledgeable and above all, excited about the technology being showcased. I was not only impressed with the cast of characters and expert professionals, but also the diversity of the presenters. Kicking off the night was, Serious Simulations, a Florida based training facility for heavy hitters like lethal forces professionals and emergency service personnel. They not only use, but also create VR HDM (head mount displays), which includes groundbreaking wireless video display and is considered the world’s fastest wireless process. The tech allows trainees to move faster and wire-free with a close to zero frame buffering time lapse. These guys don’t take their motto ‘what you can’t see can kill you’ lightly and now have the tools to back it up.
On the opposite spectrum was a demo from Sam Fisher, the Founder and CEO of Audio Fusion- an educational VR app, which gives users access to a virtualized recording studio. Though, this could one day replace actual mixing boards, Sam explained that right now it’s a learning tool for students and young adults interested in building a career in audio.
After declaring half a dozen times that I was a VR newbie I eagerly stepped up and slid into the HTC Vive Headset. It was incredible. I was no longer in a large event space in the middle of Cambridge, but found myself in a stark white environment with grids. My first thought, which I proudly shared was “the matrix is real.” A moment later (before I could continue quoting Keanu Reeves) I was in a sound studio with an analog audio board in front of me. In the booth was a rock band jamming away and before I could order lunch, a floating robot appeared to give me user friendly instructions on how to use the board and mix the various levels. After an enjoyable jam, and learning, session with the robot I re-entered the event hall.
The Boston360 production team was also there filming the event. They caught my eye when I realized they were using a consumer cost friendly Ricoh Theta camera. I introduced myself and they let me take a sneak peak at their most recent high-end footage shot with GoPro Hero4 Black cameras. The footage captured MIT’s solar energy simulator lab - being used to mimic the energy coming off of the sun as a new energy source. I was sweating just looking at it.
One thing the crowd enthusiastically agreed on last night was now that the world and big brands are paying attention to this technology, it’s going to get into the consumer’s hands much faster. Whether it’s for educational, entertainment or professional purposes- very cool, life-changing uses are coming.