Spatializing the Edge

We all remember the hype on IoT and edge computing, but where did it actually touch our lives? Now is that time.

Have you ever wondered how far from market real time VR streaming is? Will we be able to teleport into a live event and roam the space as though we are physically in the room? What would it mean if 1000+ people could attend an intimate dinner party of elected officials and literally pick their prime minister’s nose virtually?

This is now within reach. I have interviewed two teams with such capabilities. And their journeys to this point reveal entrepreneurial insights that could benefit each of us.

Firstly, It is important to understand that to execute real time volumetric capture can lead to hundred of terabytes of data to process and restructure onto 3D architecture. This must then be streamed to consumers to navigate on their VR/XR systems locally. The solution leverages edge computing and supply chain insights.

Supply chains for the state of the art cameras and relays will experience development and scale constraints. However, with added compute, previous generation cameras can be deployed to more rapidly scale these capture systems.

Edge computing will be employed to clean and structure this data before aggregating to aand centralized server for transport. This can greatly accelerate the processing timelines and will only get faster with more computing power on prem.

The team that discovered this software and hardware stack is competing against giants in media who are laser focused on the latest and greatest capture technologies. This blind spot towards deploying state of the art technology has encountered the upper limit of their iteration cycles and is resulting in a stalling of progress. Enter scrappy entrepreneurs with budgetary constraints seizing opportunity.

Exiting lockheed martin is no small step–doing so to pursue a deep tech startup is exponentially riskier–unless you are confident in your engineering skills to overcome tough challenges. This team has my attention.

So now, we have a team and a path to market; but do we have a market?

Google glass tested the AR demand and intentionally wound down production when the results confirmed they were too early. Oculus has acquired young gamers and cultivated cultural fit for later hardware deployments as these users grow up and enter the professional market. But still, AR/VR hardware is critically immature. The strategies to fill the chasm between early adopters and mass markets is working as scheduled however, and there will be demand in workplaces for these headsets in the coming years.

Now lets VPN over to Asia. Here we see several more contenders in the hardware space with prices far more accessible. Yet, we still don’t see mass adoption. And this is the homeland of Pokemon Go! So what is the barrier?

The barrier, in my opinion, is the interface bandwidth between the user and device. Specifically, humans have been trained to use palm based touch screen computers, aka cell phones, very very deeply. This stimulus response habit pattern is very hard wired, and is now the largest barrier to adopting more ergonomic and reciprocal device ecosystems. When we crack the correct segmentation between productivity tools on glasses vs on phone, we will see a rise in complimentary devices. Assuming this is correct, what other features could attract more adoption?

Enter spatial audio systems. This concept refers to a surround sound experience where the various sources also move relative to the consumer. Imagine a friend walking around your head as two other guests also move relatively. This is a virtual audio experience that mimics the evolutionary developments in our auditory system to isolate directional elements of sound in order to effectively parse a sonic environment. This is commonly experienced in noisy restaurants where we naturally focus our listening on those at our table, while filtering out those around us.

The benefit of these virtual audio systems is to reduce zoom fatigue, enhance immersion in team conference calls, and provide a new experience of telepresence for remote teams. This can replicate the experience of walking around an office, visiting with colleagues, and even solve the famous ‘water cooler’ moments challenge for corporate culture. We can even imagine a group of friends enjoying a virtual conference call throughout their day, while continuing to take client calls as though they are sharing an office or co-working space. What’s more, event facilitators can produce immersive events where they move around the room and form large and small groups naturally in the audio space.

This near future world of visiting a friend’s audioscape vs calling and answering phones will create a intuitive aspect of connectivity not dissimilar to how fantasy has represented telepathy. We will be connected in real time anywhere in the world.

I see this vision of hybrid telepresence as compelling for a few reasons:

1. Remote workers will be closer together and burn out will be less.
2. Large scale collaborations and group communication will be more intuitive.
3. Immersive media will rapidly accelerate.
4. Technology usage will become deeply ergonomic.

The hardest barrier to deploying and adopting this tech is the spatial positioning of audio devices in relation to the audio source on the consumer side. Currently this requires wired connections to fully realize. Soon, bluetooth technology will be able to handle these systems and existing hardware will be sufficient to spatially orient the users head and their device to manifest the virtual audio scape.

The next barrier is identifying compelling use cases. The earliest go to market for the immersive video experiences is entertainment and sport. There are already several contracts inked with major sports leagues and events producers. The audio technology, which has significantly broader market appeal and TAM, will initially be deployed in call centers and remote teams, after being battle tested by early adopters. Thereafter, civilian users will come online after they experience the technology in their workplace and the software is efficient enough for mass deployment.

I once had a clear vision of a day without screens, fully integrated into digital collaboration, and enabled through tech embedded jewelry. This future is rapidly approaching, without a hunch-backed cell phone user in sight. Interviewing these startups and researchers, coupled with my technology transfer and venture investing experience, has given me optimism that we can reach such a desirable future–and that we are very much headed that way together now.