Spacial Computing and Frog and Toad
Some notes & quotes from recent reads:
The Dawn of Spacial Computing
Quotes:
The origins of contemporary computer interfaces date back decades. Douglas Engelbart designed the mouse in the 1960s, and Alan Kay created the graphical user interface in the 1970s. Since then, countless alternative visions have been proposed with the goal of integrating computers more seamlessly into our lives.
MIT’s Hiroshi Ishii, for example, imagined “tangible user interfaces” which would let us manipulate digital information through physical objects. Mark Weiser, the former head of the computer science laboratory at Xerox PARC, wrote about building computers that “vanish into the background” and popularized the notion of “ubiquitous computing.”
Midjourney prompt: create an illustration that represents the dawn and virtual reality headsets
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The origins of contemporary computer interfaces date back decades. Douglas Engelbart designed the mouse in the 1960s, and Alan Kay created the graphical user interface in the 1970s. Since then, countless alternative visions have been proposed with the goal of integrating computers more seamlessly into our lives.
MIT’s Hiroshi Ishii, for example, imagined “tangible user interfaces” which would let us manipulate digital information through physical objects. Mark Weiser, the former head of the computer science laboratory at Xerox PARC, wrote about building computers that “vanish into the background” and popularized the notion of “ubiquitous computing.”
Despite the many possible alternatives advocated for over the years, the graphical user interface and mouse remained the predominant method of interacting with computers. After such a long period under the same paradigm, the idea that head-mounted displays or augmented-reality glasses would replace desktop monitors initially sounded far-fetched. Even in the latest mixed reality headsets, the field of view wasn’t wide enough to do work comfortably nor was the resolution clear enough to read or write text easily. The MetaQuest Pro, released in October 2022, notably disappointed users who hoped that it could be used for more than playing video games.
In June 2023, Apple, known for consistently releasing category-defining products, unveiled yet another one — the Vision Pro. It’s a mixed-reality headset that offers clever solutions to many of the technical challenges that bogged down the virtual and augmented reality industry for years.
Creating a well-functioning mixed-reality headset is really hard. Why? To produce a believable mixed-reality experience, you need to do two things: generate images that appear real, and display these images in synchronization with the natural head, eye, and body movements of the user. Though the concepts seem straightforward, a wide array of disciplines is required to get them right. To name a few: optics, electrical engineering, chip design, graphics, and display systems.
