From another point in the room

Walk from hotel to Winery

Top of the Hyatt – Look around

From a different point in the room.

Click to view the San Pasqual Winery Bubble Room.

There are times I feel we delude ourselves into believing things that we know aren’t true. There are some things that are so common that it’s really foolish to set false expectations. Common sense may not be so common. ‘Trust and verify’, and ‘everything changes’ are phrases that get me through the day. Here are a few items I hear people say “I didn’t expect…” that come to mind for me. Do you have any to add?

I didn’t expect…

• that politician to lie
• those cops to abuse their power
  • For these first two my statement is simple: power corrupts. Always.
• my favorite food to be taken off the menu
• my favorite restaurant to close
• my neighborhood to change
• my friends to say the wrong thing when trying to support me
• this food to go bad so fast
• people to take what I said the wrong way
• that fire to spread so quickly
• to outgrow these pants
• my family to be so different than me
• MY kid to be the bully
• my dog to attack the little one
• adulting would have so much responsibility
• to get so drunk on those tequila shots
• someone I know to see me at that place
• so many people to get upset about my social media posts
• someone from my area to do that horrible thing
• that glue to dry so fast
• those fumes to overwhelm me
• the weather in Denver to change so quickly and that I’d need a jacket
• to see a lifestyle different than mine in public
• that I’d be the one getting in trouble

Some of these are fun, but others are way too serious, and too common.

Knowledge is vital. Proven knowledge. Tested, verified, and fact based knowledge. And while I have found academia to be a pompous naval gazing circle of terrified rule followers trained to be subservient to a patriarchal self-congratulating hierarchy of punishment bearing overlords, I do have a healthy appreciation for learning, reading, experimental observation, critical thinking, challenging assumptions and the scientific method. I also greatly appreciate those who have the intelligence, patience, and fortitude to diligently focus on the details of a subject, learning the inner workings of a concept to provide the ever elusive and evolving essence of truth buried deep within a topic.

There is also a partner to knowledge that cannot be ignored. The often referred to yet never listed in the bibliography ’common sense’. Common sense can often be based in something that was once vaguely similar to knowledge, but over time it has been slowly disconnected from it’s original logical stream and is never guaranteed to be of use. Much of it is uncommonly nonsensical, yet still accepted and regurgitated as ‘truth for all’ instead of the ’truth for my unique specific untested circumstances.’

The above reasons were the seeds of my most recent research. I have listened to the discussions, heated controversies, diverse perspectives, and enthusiastic input from as many sides as have been available to me in our modern overly connected world. I felt it was important to take in as much input as possible, process and evaluate the merits of each component, and then generate my own, defendable with my own research conclusion that I could then distill down to a clear and understandable statement to be shared with those with whom I associate. They are welcome to challenge my research, and question my findings. I will not waver. I have found what I know to be true.

Having COVID is not pleasant. I did not like it. Zero stars. Not recommended.

Testing out embeding Mixlr

Bryan Bugfrog is on Mixlr

There has been a lot of excitement and hype about virtual reality and mixed reality in the news full of predictions, estimates, and expectations for what the future will bring. Much of it is based on actual reality, and there’s a good bit that is based on one of many possible realities. For people in the industry, this is pretty normal. We know what we can do, see what we hope to do, and dream about what could be possible. Seeing the incredible range of possibilities is part of the fun and even more of the excitement.

Where it gets complex is that everything that the industry says, believes, and dreams about is getting published in the media. Spectators less familiar with the deeper aspects of virtual and mixed reality get to see only one part of the magic that is happening right now. They see the speculation, predictions, and the hype designed to get investors enthusiastic about putting their money into the amazing technology that is emerging. This is not only expected but necessary. The technological hurdles still ahead will take ingenuity and investment to overcome, and investors need to know that there is an eventual return waiting for them. And to be sure, there is. Virtual reality and mixed reality are going to be exceedingly important in the future. I have no doubt about it, and neither should anyone else. How important? What will be the “killer app” that pushes it up the hill of development and over the cliff of “oh shit we need that”? We don’t know yet.

As researchers and engineers were developing the protocols for the internet in the 50’s and 60’s, they dreamed of what this new entity could provide. In the early 90’s when American society was getting their first taste of what an accessible internet could be, we all talked about the amazing things we could suddenly do. Download an audio file overnight! Amazing! The reality of those early days was less glossy, less interesting, and certainly more difficult that what we have now. And while some of the dreams of those early researchers and pioneers were spot on, many of the ways we use our connected devices today was never even considered.

That’s where we are now with virtual reality and even more so, mixed reality. The people who are already living with it every day are dreaming of what could be possible, but we don’t know yet how this will impact our world. And that’s a good thing. We need to watch and even help this industry evolve from it’s clumsy infancy to it’s awkward adolescence and teen years. Remember those giant brick cell phones people used to carry? It was necessary, but we didn’t stay there. VR is in the same place. Hopefully the excitement of looking to the future of VR and MR won’t poison the progress that is being made every day. There will be disappointments and missteps. There will be confusion and competition. But one day, we’ll see that the journey was worth it. And we’ll be amazed at how far we’ve come.

Due to sudden publishing issues, Bugfrog Hops podcast is currently available in transcript only. I apologize for the inconvenience, and will get this resolved as quickly as possible.

Here is a SoundCloud link!

Welcome back to Episode 57 of the Bugfrog Hops podcast where I cover things like technology, music and the industry, and whatever else I feel like talking about.

Thanks for joining me today, and I apologize for any issues you may have had streaming this episode. I’m having a slight dispute with our publishing partner so things might be a little bumpy as we work out the details. But don’t worry, I’ll get it all worked out and be up to full speed in no time.

So let’s get to it! As always I like to respond to a few of the comments and questions you have added to the comment stream. Again, I’m very sorry I haven’t been able to answer all your questions and comments in the last few weeks, but my communications intern Terry is healing up fine and hopefully will have full use of at least one arms again very soon. Good heath to you, Terry! Way to be a fighter!

• Michael E from Enid, OK asked a great question in response to last episode’s discusson of personal liberty. Michael its physically possible, but may be frowned upon in pubic social circles. Proceed with caution, and take your cues from those around you in the moment.
• I got a letter of regret from last episode’s guest Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost. Remember he was not able to join us unexpectedly. Apparently there was a challenging mascot incident that he needed to attend to. Sluggerrr we are all pulling for ya. These misunderstandings happen in the Big Leagues. You’ll get through it.
• And finally to Joshua from Chicago who used the Bugfrog Hotwire – Apply antibiotic ointment, and please, next time contact urgent care before calling me. Good luck.

Be sure to keep sending me your questions, comments, and criticisms through whatever channel works for you. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and now Peach. Certainly looking forward to seeing all your Peaches, so keep em coming.

Don’t forget about the Bugfrog Hotwire on the site, just click the button and leave me a voice message. I’m not afraid to put a new spin on doing things the same as before. Your voices screaming in the night are what keeps me going.

Before I go any further I want to give a warm Bugfrog Hop welcome to our new sponsor Walmart. Great to have you on board and I’m looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship with you. Walmart – where every penny you save forfeits a piece of your soul.

Ok, now we are ready for the real meat of the show, so make sure you have aren’t operating any heavy machinery or handling a weapon while drinking with me today. Today we are talking about another subject I find interesting, and if you one of the subscribed masses, hopefully pretty dang interesting to you as well. Let’s get started shall we?

Virtual Reality. Have you been paying attention to what is going on with VR these days? If you haven’t been following it or noticed anything about it lately, you must have some pretty strict filters on your news feeds – Virtual Reality is in the news feeds multiple times a day for me. From different systems like the Oculus Rift and more importantly the Oculus and the Oculus platform, to the HTC Vive. Yes Vive VIVE, be sure to pronounce that right the VIVE. The Vibe is different and I think the winner in that race was Hitachi, but don’t hold me to that. But there are a variety of tools and platforms that let everyone get a Virtual Reality experience in one way or another. The Samsung Gear works together with a Samsung phone, which is very smart. I have a session in progress for that one coming. Of course Google has their hand in the mix as well starting with the very low cost Google Cardboard, and rumors starting to surface of a new device in development. Stepping a but further into the matrix are the newest Augmented Reality AR offerings like the much anticipated Hololens from Microsoft and the still very magical  unicorn of the field, Magic Leap.

There have been high tech training and simulation systems for many industries going back decades. 3D surround flight simulators, immersive military and emergence response training environments, even laparoscopic surgery simulators with active haptic response components that let a user feel the pressure when practicing tying off a bleeding artery. Immersive environments have been around for a while, but usually reserved for a select few due to cost and effort required.

Now this technology is available at what will soon be a desktop price. We can buy this without a the budget of a small country. Tools for consumption and creation of 3D immersive experiences right at home. Oculus, Unreal, Unity, Steam, and all the others all waiting for new artists to step into the ring. Were you alive for the desktop publishing revolution? Everyone suddenly could create whatever they needed to share their ideas. It was amazing! A new world… and yes a lot of that world looked like crap with terrible layouts, fonts, and images, but still new and amazing. Information to the masses like never before. How about film editing? Now any filmmaker can start shooting, editing, and sharing in HD what ever idea comes into their head. On their freaking phone! Of course there’s more crap too, some people tell stories like a 5 year old explaining why the cat is blue and in the dryer. But there has been a huge leap in seeing first hand the stories of real people. Creating and sharing has never been more accessible. There is still a technological divide and not everyone has the same access, but that is evolving as well.

So here’s the point I want to make: VR, AR, MR are arriving and are going to be amazing. MR especially is going to change the way we view, interact, and contribute to the world we live in. Right now we are at the beginning, so don’t freak out. There is lots to be figured out still. Just because we can’t go to Walmart and buy a full body haptic response suit and HMD unit for $49.99 with a 10% off coupon doesn’t mean its all crap. We are just looking at the beginning of this experience, and it’s going to be everything we hoped for eventually. For now, it’s a little bulky and goofy, but we’ll get there. The thing is as an industry, people in tech are at least in part dreamers, always thinking “Where can this go? What can this do eventually?” All the amazing and exciting things that COULD be are what keeps us moving forward creating the things that are happening right now. It’s a journey, and the destination keeps getting more interesting and further away the more we learn.

That’s what makes this so exciting for me. This journey has just begun, and we don’t really know where it will go. Discoveries, adventures, victories and epic failures await. We know only a fraction of what this journey will show us, and we have no idea who we will be on the other side. Is there anything cooler?

I’m going to stop there before I get too giddy. If you have any comments or questions, let me know what you think, I look forward to hearing from ya. Maybe we can even get you on the show next time.

One last thing, I’ve just been notified that we lost Walmart as a sponsor. Damn, I though that one was really going to work out. The good news is we have a new sponsor starting next week, so let’s give a big welcome to our new benefactor, the NRA.

Can’t stop listening to this band. Saw them at the Illegal Pete’s 20th anniversary last week, Jimmy Fallon before that, around town for years.

That is one talented cat, surrounded by bunch of other talented cats! It’s a new Hogwarts house of talented cats. House of SweatinPuff.

Check em out! Jump or tweet!

I love games. Playing games, making games, teaching other people how to make games, making games out of the chores and challenges that invade my daily life. A full universe of games. Now with a hearty wave of VR tech and possibilities hitting the market, 2015-16 will certainly be remembered as the years people started seeing VR games as more than a garage hacker playkit. While this alone is incredibly exciting, there’s an extra kicker here that is starting to build up momentum and has a ton of potential for VR/AR designers and developers. Finally, industries beyond gaming are also starting to look at an Oculus experience as a viable solution to their own challenges. Education, industry training, advertising, medical training, physical and mental rehabilitation, you name it. This is an amazing opportunity. Wait, what? You don’t seem as excited as I am. Let me explain why I see this as a big deal.

Whether we want to admit it or not, creating a compelling, immersive VR experience isn’t exactly second nature. Out of the box, school, garage, or however else we all get started, very few people have the technical, creative, AND organizational chops to pull together a full project from beginning to end. Don’t get me wrong, there is a LOT of great stuff from amazing shops on this site, and every title is pushing into new territory that is exciting to see. But just like every other technological revolution, there are going to be a good number of teams that will be able to create stellar screen shots, and probably a promising demo, and then sadly will flame out before that long promised epic gets fully released.

But that’s ok, while admittedly painful, here’s where it gets good again. Once other market segments get a grasp on what can be done, see how it can be applied, get some in-world time with those partial demos, they will finally GET IT, and become willing to take the risk to use VR for their training, education, or advertising experience. For years I worked to bring game mechanics to non-game environments, and for the longest time, no one wanted to “gamify” anything. “Not serious enough.” “If it’s fun, they aren’t learning.” Every day was pushing a giant rock up a long hill, Sisyphus, no matter how sure I was that I spoke the truth.

Then one day it was shown that Wii games helped rehabilitation patients happily complete all their physical therapy exercises. We discovered that game-like activities kept a student’s attention much longer and they absorbed additional knowledge. Many more examples emerged that showed game mechanics worked beyond just games. Suddenly, everyone wanted to bring in a gamification expert. I finally got to apply game design concepts to subjects as unique as safe exercise for new mothers and babies, responsible alcohol service training, even healthy eating habits. All of these projects sharpened my game design skills and gave me full project life-cycle experience that I’ve been able to apply to other richer and more unique experiences. Believe me, if you can make something a person hates somewhat enjoyable, you are on your way to making a game someone loves.

The way I see it, the more diverse experiences we all get to create, the more we will discover and develop the techniques to create the deepest and most compelling experiences ever seen. That’s what I want to do. How about you?

Here’s a quick list of places VR experiences are turning up lately. Who do you think is working on these now? And who do you think will be hiring them in a few years?

• The LA Philharmonic is using Oculus Rift to spread the joy of music
• Ocean Spray Turns to Oculus Rift to Promote Cranberry Harvest
• Using VR helps this interior design company solve problems before construction begins
• Virtual reality for QBs: Stanford football at the forefront
• Who needs virtual reality biking? (Not me)
• A Virtual-Reality Game To Distract Burn Victims From Pain
• Now you can shop for luxury homes in virtual reality

I wrote a quick post at The Rift Arcade about the game Pollen from Minefield Games. Check it out here. This one is built with Unity, so it’s even closer to my heart.

I love what will be possible with VR and AR tech in the coming years, and have been playing with different projects for a while.