Keynote address for Altice Labs Tech Days 2017 (July 19th).

1. VR, AR, and Mixed Reality
Overview and perspectives
Leonel Morgado – July 19th, 2017
www.alticelabs.com
We’ll start by
travelling to
old Sicily…

2. Our Sicily isn’t old enough!
Sorry, Michael!

3. Damocles doesn’t
look too happy,
in spite of all
the luxury…

4. Perhaps due
to the sword
hanging over
his head?
Context and its
awareness change
everything.

5. “The Sword of
Damocles” was the
VR/AR system of
inventor Ivan
Sutherland.

6. Which was
so heavy it
hanged over
his head!
…showing
wireframe
shapes.
Most of what you hear and
see about VR/AR today,
including touch… Ivan
thought of it back then.

7. AH-64 Integrated Helmet
and Display Sighting
System (IHADSS)
Technology improved
giving birth to the
first military AR in
Apache helicopters…

8. …and immersive VR in
NASA’s wireframe
manipulable images.

9. 9
Q_GOP_DM_02_V1.1
However, the 80s
were hardly the best
decade for careful
approaches to tech….

10. …meaning proposals
looked more like
2017’s than 1989’s…

11. 5 frames / second
Heavy gear
Nauseas
Headaches
…so it didn’t
really work!

12. US$ 6,000
Well, some things did, if
you invested a lot and
got… low fps video but
at least enthusiasm.

13. Cheap but useless…
…or expensive &
acceptable, but
very hard to use
But mostly…

14. Remember, at the time, with
military funding, you still were
dealing with vectorial graphics and
actual needs like viewing angles.

15. And 10 years later, head
tracking was much
better. Colour would
take some more years.

16. Consumer AR/VR got lost in a
desert storm of lack of credibility…
So, soon after
the actual
Desert Storm
(Gulf War)…

17. …but something happened
then that VR did not intend…
…it was picked up by the most
unlikely creatures imaginable…
<LotR voiceover impersonation>

18. Poor graphics (vs.
competition), poor
processing… but
you could move and
hit stuff. Huge hit!

19. Competitors
sprouted!

20. Another creature:
the PSP camera and
its succesful game
of AR beasts.

21. Everyone’s has
some AR now.
(But mostly for
professional use.)

22. Third unforeseen
creature: cheap
screens and
computing.

23. Which prompted a
guy to say we now
could make a
decent VR headset.

24. 2160x1200 pixels
(1080x1200 / eye)
@ 90 Hz
Weight: 470 g
3-axis rotational tracking
+
3-axis positional tracking)
110° field of view
And he was
right!

25. Competitors
sprouted!

26. And games
actually look
good and play
well!

27. …but
improbability
drives the
world…
And so it did.

28. Who’d have
guessed it?

29. https://vr.google.com/
€13,49 €26,99 €6,30 €15,03 €35,96 €62,96
€7,19 €13,46 €26,99 €4,50 €26,99
€15,75 €12,59 €13,49
Worse, but good
enough for lots of
stuff. Everyone
can try it.

30. Now coming
to AR too.

31. We need 5G’s
bandwidth and low
latency to support
this.

32. And just 4 days ago,
Microsoft gave power
to this networking
need.

33. Multi-device &
multi-sense
Serverless
containers
AI everywhere:
autonomous car
generates 4 GB
data/second
This demand on
networking and
AI will help
VR/AR too.

34. Current examples
will seem mere
gimmicks.

35. Or face real
challenges to mass
use. E.g., will
Facebook VR reach
concert hall figures?

36. Previous projects
at Altice Labs
and INESC TEC /
UAberta are
preparing us for
this.

37. Games will further
bring the public to
use AR/VR.

38. “Merged reality” is
a more factually
accurate term than
“mixed reality”.

39. Our three
organizations can
develop synergies.

40. 725 researchers (>350 PhDs)
FCT Evaluation: Excellent

41. 100% online public university
Students located worldwide
1st. online Informatics Engineering degree in Europe
725 researchers (>350 PhDs)
FCT Evaluation: Excellent

42. MULTIS architecture
Patent #105392
InMERSE Framework
In our projects we
developed backbone
technology, not just
fireworks. A gold
vein.

43. MULTIS architecture
Patent #105392
InMERSE Framework
And so do INESC TEC
and UAberta.

44. Let’s watch part of
Keiichi Matsuda’s
thought-provoking
video.

45. PT Inovação e Sistemas, owner of products/services, is identified in the present document as Altice Labs
The present document has informational purposes only and does not constitute a formal binding offer. The information conveyed does not constitute an undertaking to sell the identified products and services. The present document is subject to change without notice and Altice Labs cannot be held liable for any possible error or
outdated information or for losses or damages of whatever nature resulting from the use of the information.
Leonel Morgado
leonel.morgado@uab.pt
Thanks for your
time and the
opportunity to
share thoughts.