Spark XR Showcase 'Teleporting to the Metaverse' at Dixie State University
Jeff Peters and Jon Dean, founders of award-winning Utah content creation specialists Spark XR, will be meeting with students, faculty and local business leaders in southern Utah on March 23rd, discussing the potential for virtual, augmented and sensory reality technologies, in a showcase arranged by Dixie State University.
Their deep expertise from the video game industry, including the creation of engaging, immersive content, can be applied to vertical markets beyond entertainment - including education, medical applications, training and more.
Meet ‘The Pod’
No doubt everyone is familiar with the Star Trek ‘Holodeck’ and the fantasy of ‘teleporting’ to other places or dimensions. Or similar sci-fi/Hollywood promises of a future enhanced by virtual reality, such as ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Total Recall’ or “Minority Report’. Spark XR has invented a device - known as ‘The Pod’ - capable of delivering on the promise of such science fiction. Of course, they don’t actually teleport anyone anywhere – but because of their high-end delivery mechanism, the user will believe they really did take that trip!
The Pod has been designed specifically to allow network play – as such, experiences can allow users in different Pods to collaborate together in problem solving, or to compete with one another, as appropriate. Additionally, creating content where the outcomes can be different based on the user’s actions, is also an important design criterion for Pod experiences – it isn’t necessarily the same each time it is used. This allows real progression and stepped learning.
Each Pod is 9 feet tall by 7 feet wide, allowing safe, plug-and-play, high-quality sensory VR experiences in small spaces. Users move left or right in the experiences by shifting their body weight to the left or right, recognized by the pressure sensors in the floor. This offers many possibilities for designing unique and intuitive applications where the user’s actions mimic those in the real world.
Teleport Me!
The Spark XR team won’t just be talking about their new invention, they’ll be bringing a Pod with them to Dixie State University! Lucky students, faculty and local business people will get the chance to try AlUla Adventures - an innovative sensory virtual travel experience, combining hardware and software. A collaboration between Spark XR and Manga Productions, it allows users to ‘teleport’ and take a virtual tour of a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia, discovering and collecting artifacts while outrunning a sandstorm! The incredibly realistic 12 minute experience simulates motion with a combination of AI controlled wind and haptic effects applied in real-time with high-end virtual reality - even though users stand still throughout. At the end of the experience, participants receive a digital souvenir in the form of an interactive journal of everything they collected on their virtual journey.
More details at www.alulaadventures.com.