Embracing Creative Freedom: The Art of Experimentation in #XR

In the realm of #XR, there are still windows of unlimited possibilities waiting to be explored. As creators, we often find ourselves captivated by the allure of this immersive technology, eager to push the boundaries of our imagination.

However, to truly harness the transformative power of XR, we must first grant ourselves the freedom to experiment without fear.

Experimentation is the cornerstone of creativity, serving as the catalyst for innovation and discovery. It is through experimentation that we uncover new techniques, refine our skills, and ultimately, forge new paths in the world of XR.

From my perspective and experience, it’s time to cast aside apprehensions and embrace experimentation wholeheartedly. «Experiment Freely» becomes a new mantra, an opportunity for creative liberation in the XR landscape. This mantra urges us to shed inhibitions, to break free from the chains of self-doubt, and to immerse ourselves fully in the vast array of creative possibilities that XR offers.

What can we understand by «Experiment Freely» in XR?

It means taking risks in experimentation, pushing beyond technological limitations and barriers, and using past learnings to explore, play, and innovate without restrictions. It means daring to dream big, challenging conventions, and exceeding expectations.

At the heart of this ethos lies a simple truth: the beauty of creative work lies in exploration, experimentation, collaboration, and empathy. It is through our willingness to push the boundaries of what is possible that we truly reach our full potential as creators. In the world of XR, this sentiment rings truer than ever.

Every new experiment is a learning opportunity, a chance to broaden our horizons and refine our art. With each new challenge, we come closer to mastering XR and unlocking its full potential for our creative careers. But this is just a fleeting step in a new direction, one that we cannot be certain where it leads, but it’s exciting.

Embracing uncertainty and venturing into the unknown is a risky and demanding path. A journey into the unknown alongside elements not necessarily prepared for this journey.

The world of XR awaits a new milestone yet to be discovered, ready to be shaped by our limitless imagination and unwavering determination. Let’s embark on a new journey, now.

You can visit some amazing references: #Music5Senses, #VIVALDI30, #MagicalandMysteryTour, and many more to come…

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

VIVALDI 3.0 THE JOURNEY. III

«Journey Through the Immersive Universe of Four Seasons» is an interactive xr experience that immerses viewers into the realm of Antonio Vivaldi’s musical masterpieces. Through visually compelling storytelling, participants will delve into Vivaldi’s creative journey as he breathes life into his renowned concerto «The Four Seasons.» Each season unfolds in a distinct and captivating environment, seamlessly blending natural elements and music to deliver a multisensory and enchanting encounter.

As artists, musicians, and creatives, we find ourselves at a true crossroads—a junction where making the right choices is neither easy nor singular. Beyond the numerous apparent opportunities before us, we must navigate financial survival and address the sustainability of teams, technicians, and the myriad fellow travelers who render our projects minimally viable and appealing to an ever-changing society hungry for new, distinct, and increasingly participatory experiences.

Our journey began over a decade ago with our first forays into immersive 360º recordings, collaborating with artists, musicians, and music classrooms. Here, we began to experiment and learn from the sensations and perceptions conveyed by users, students, and teachers.

One of the pivotal moments in our journey was the first live performance featuring renowned artists like Ouka Leele, where we embarked on an interactive interpretation inspired by the sounds of the Concerto de Aranjuez. It was a fascinating experience, devoid of prior rehearsals or experiential training, executed on a digital stage using Oculus Rift equipment and Tilt Brush from Google, and recorded in 360º stereo with Vuze 360º cameras. This opportunity to recreate Digital Ephemeral Art raised initial doubts regarding feasibility, sustainability, and monetization in more straightforward and economically accessible spaces, as we spared no means or resources for this performance. Crucially, this experience was made possible through the indispensable collaboration of CEV‘s technical team.

Later on, we delved into the world of reconstructing the virtual museum of the Arab Kunka (Cuenca ancient city)—a collaborative, immersive space within the Frame VR platform. Here, we established a connection between the virtual reconstructions of the Ancient Kunka during the Arab era and the music of the great musician and composer Chema Vílchez, particularly his work «The Land of the Three Cultures».

As visitors strolled through the ancient Arab fortress, its mosques, baths, buildings, markets, and streets, they were enveloped in the sound of music that transported them to bygone eras, while also being able to explore current spaces through 360º videos. This interconnection between virtual reconstructions, current videos, and music elevated the experience to a higher level, almost teleporting participants to that magical bygone time.

Years later, the Reina Sofia Higher School of Music presented us with a truly intriguing challenge. We were tasked with creating an experience using recordings from a classical music concert to reach students in their educational program who, due to pandemic-related time constraints, were unable to participate in workshops and concerts. This concert was recorded in the Sony auditorium of the school, utilizing 360º 4K cameras and ambisonic microphone technology. The acoustical characteristics of the auditorium are truly exceptional, enabling us to produce recordings of the utmost quality. We utilized Vuze and Zoom equipment, as well as VR devices from Pico, with technological support from HP.

This experience allowed us to craft 12 virtual musical stories centered around artists such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Respighi, where musical compositions intertwined with natural spaces, sensory explosions, and magical worlds, transporting visitors through 12 unique historical narratives. As a result of this endeavor, we developed «Music with the Five Senses,» which was implemented on a Virtual Reality platform and Pico devices, visiting hundreds of schools and educational centers nationwide over the years. Thousands of visitors have immersed themselves in this wonderful and experiential world, making it a true milestone and international benchmark as an immersive educational project centered around classical music.

The next stop on this journey is Vivaldi 3.0. The Journey to the Universe of Antonio Vivaldi and the Four Seasons, led by Ara Malikian and the Camerata of the Reina Sofia School, has been a mystical experience, with a predetermined start date and script, and a long journey through the forests of magical seasonal music. Along the way, we’ve encountered numerous passages and experiences that ultimately culminated in an absolutely magical work. This journey, based on Vivaldi’s original sonnets, reinterpreted by a team of writers and Ara himself, allowed us to rediscover the connections between music, nature, and the cycle of life. Throughout this process, we’ve painted on a virtual canvas, initially blurry passages gradually taking shape into a metaphorical interpretive tableau. Throughout this process, we’ve immersed ourselves in music and creativity, repeatedly playing with the tools offered by generative artificial intelligence, which helped us reinterpret passages and scenarios through Vivaldi’s sonnets and words, Ara’s interpretations, and our own way of composing this tableau, ultimately giving it a cohesive and coherent form. We aimed for it to be timeless, appealing to various types of audiences, inviting them to return to a childlike state and be carried away by the creative spirit of the compositions and the intersection with the cycle of life, both human and natural. And all this, with a commitment to sustainability, balance, equality, and educational vision through values inspired by the emotions and sensations we’ve gathered in the project. This is our way of contributing to the awareness of the need to accelerate societal transformation.

The first test to visualize the outcome of this initial step of the project was the concert held on January 29th at the Sony auditorium of the Reina Sofia School. It was a real trial by fire, where we had to present this new proposal for an interactive multimedia concert live to a select audience: students and teachers from various schools in the Community of Madrid. It was a multimedia experience where interactivity through monitors and screens, interactions among musicians on stage, Ara Malikian’s performance, his introductory messages for each movement, and images, passages, and videos related to the movements were put to the test.

More than 600 students from a dozen public and private schools in the Community of Madrid, accompanied by their teachers in two sessions, were able to enjoy this experiential session, with an extremely high level of satisfaction. And all this was made possible thanks to the perfect coordination between the ONE team and the production, audio, and video team of the School. We had top-of-the-line equipment and professionals of the highest caliber. The journey has only just begun, and this experience has allowed us to analyze and evaluate the initial results, and to envision how we can continue advancing and projecting new immersive experiences in the immediate future. We aim to enhance the experience by integrating 3D multimedia elements more extensively, as well as enhancing the pre- and post-concert experience.

Welcome to the interactive immersive world of Vivaldi 3.0. Step into a space where reality merges with imagination, where every corner is filled with magic, and music awaits you at every turn. As you enter the world of the four seasons, you’ll find yourself surrounded by vibrant landscapes pulsating with energy and creativity. Feel the thrill of immersing yourself in a world where the boundaries of reality blur, and your senses awaken like never before. Interact with the environment around you: touch, explore, listen, and engage with the elements inhabiting this fascinating world. Whether you get lost in enchanted forests or dive into the depths of the unknown, each experience is yours to discover and shape. Prepare to be captivated by the sights, sounds, and sensations enveloping you as you delve deeper into this immersive universe throughout the cycle of life.

So, welcome to a world where dreams come to life, and the extraordinary awaits you around every corner! Let your curiosity guide you as you embark on an exciting and unforgettable journey through the Interactive Immersive Universe of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Here are some figures reflecting and highlighting the extraordinary effort involved in this journey: An experience recorded and produced in 6 months, many locations, involving more than 50 professionals and over 4,000 hours of work, recording 4 live concerts with the attendance of over 1,000 people (students & teachers) from 20 schools. An immersive experience available on VR devices and the Web XR immersive platform, featuring 4 spaces, or «stations,» with interactive games, integration of 3D volumetrics, hundreds of photographic images, 10 hours of concert recordings in 8k, several terabytes of video and sound files, hundreds of hours of processing and post-production, hundreds of hours of editing and format integration…hundreds of images generated by AI to create virtual spaces and environments, artificial intelligence and image processing, 8K 360º cameras, ambisonic sound, creation of countless 3D assets…

8K Enables Immersive Vivaldi 3.0 Project

By Bob Raikes

…and this is just one of the stops on this magical and unique journey.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

VIVALDI 3.0 THE PROJECT. II

«In the immersive universe of Vivaldi 3.0, we explore the Four Seasons from an innovative and unique perspective. In each season, you can discover the values of nature and how they are endangered by climate change, in a painting that gradually unfolds as we uncover the passage through each one of them. Water, air, earth, and fire blend with the music and sonnets of Vivaldi. The adventure ultimately leads us to discover these elements, revealing the mysteries of the seasons, immersing us in an interactive and visually stunning musical experience.

THE VISION:

Vivaldi 3.0 is the missing piece to recreate the puzzle of creativity and innovation in digital media and its projection into the educational and entertainment world, without forgetting the concerts on its multiple platforms.

A concept born from the fusion of ideas based on Vivaldi’s innovative work, the interpretation of the International Musician Ara Malikian, and a group of professionals in search of the natural evolution of the cycle of life. Integrating art, music, interpretation into the digital world, enhancing the values of humanity and nature, has been the fundamental key of this project.

A first step towards a new metaphorical universe, still to be explored, and in which we feel fully committed. Therefore, at the beginning of this journey, we set ourselves very clear objectives:

• Contributing to the exponential growth of the digital sector in Spain and Europe, by designing and developing new content and interactive media through emerging immersive technologies.
• Fostering and accelerating innovation in the sector by presenting a program based on the latest technologies with an innovative and cross-cutting hybrid format, focused on both national and international markets, while valuing European artistic heritage.
• Bringing knowledge of creative arts and music to society, facilitating access, and democratizing their use through a hybrid platform that highlights the ability of creative arts to evoke emotions and bring people together.
• Encouraging and accelerating the participation of a greater number of young women in the digital industry, promoting the employment of new generations, through promotion and dissemination in their usual channels, and the development of activities focused on them.
• Promoting entrepreneurship in innovation, in the new professions and skills required throughout the development of this project, by requiring advanced knowledge in disruptive innovative technologies, which will necessitate specific additional training as part of the comprehensive training plan for the project team.

On the other hand, artists and musician’s collectives are demanding new approaches to reach audiences increasingly distant from traditional performance venues. Additionally, the detachment of young people from traditional models of participating in live events is directly impacting the current ecosystem of creators and artists in a significant way.

THE CHALLENGE

Therefore, in close collaboration with the Reina Sofia Superior School of Music, we set out to delve into the world of young people through education, in schools, seeking new approaches and participation in digital environments, such as video games and immersive experiences.

Addressing such a specific issue in the current complex scenario requires experienced partners, with a clear and focused objective at its core: Education.

In collaboration with the Reina Sofia Superior School of Music, we embarked on a journey to engage with young people through education, in schools and educational centers, seeking new approaches and involvement in digital environments, such as video games and immersive experiences.

The experience carried out in previous years by both organizations in schools across Spain, «Music with the 5 Senses”, has served as a reference point for us to continue advancing and improving on this path. The results obtained so far have been truly extraordinary.

Hence, we wanted to tackle this new challenge with a much more ambitious, cross-cutting, international, and multicultural approach, capable of becoming a benchmark icon and growing over time, adapting to technological evolution at every moment. Incorporating cross-cutting values such as equality, sustainability, and planet preservation, and observing their impact on elements through music.

THE PROJECT

Moving this project forward requires working with the best partners, sharing a common vision, and betting on an innovative and disruptive idea capable of exciting and engaging the widest possible audience. After all, we are all students of life, constantly updating and revising. And the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly. Vivaldi and The Four Seasons allowed us to develop the idea to its fullest extent, the Reina Sofia Superior School of Music, the ideal companion to bring the experience to schools and educational centers, and musician Ara Malikian, a key piece in this picture, capable of painting and interpreting unique scenes around Vivaldi’s work.

Vivaldi 3.0 is not a video game, nor is it a 360º movie; it is a unique experience in which the visitor discovers, explores, plays, and interacts with nature, the work, and the musician in an absolutely immersive way.

A highly complex project that has required an international team of over 50 people, including technicians, designers, producers, editors, programmers… 3 days of recording with 360º 8K cameras, ambisonic surround sound, hundreds of hours of production, editing, and development, the creation of interactive virtual worlds, video editing and animations for live concerts, volumetric capture, etc… representing Vivaldi’s four seasons from a perspective you’ve never imagined before.

Some figures about the project: Over 6 intense months of work, involving an international team with more than 50 professionals, exceeding 4,500 hours of production and development, 3 days of live concert recording, 1 day and two live media concerts with over 600 students from 10 public and private schools, along with international presentations in various media outlets…

Technologies and production software: Insta Pro2 8K 360º cameras, Zoom ambisonic recording equipment, development of interactive virtual worlds, 3D interactive objects, Unity, Blender, Adobe Premiere Pro, ProTools, Tracktion, Bosse, and Pico Neo 3/4, Meta Quest 3 VR devices.

Undoubtedly, an exciting and exponential experience that gives us guidelines for new future evolutions, on which we are already working.

THE JOURNEY

Journey Through the Four Seasons is an immersive interactive virtual reality experience that transports the viewer into the world of Antonio Vivaldi’s musical compositions. Through visually rich storytelling, the viewer will witness Vivaldi’s creative process as he brings his famous concerto «The Four Seasons» to life. Each season is depicted in a unique and captivating environment, where natural elements and music merge to provide a multisensory and magical experience.

Introduction:

The User’s Journey. When experiencing a unique immersive experience, it’s advisable to undergo a prior immersion, to familiarize oneself with the space, how to navigate and manage the devices comfortably and tailored to each individual’s physical characteristics. Only in this way can one fully enjoy the experience. From that moment on, we can embark on the adventure. An adventure that traverses the cycle of life, through the cycle of seasons and day. We’ll feel like a child with a new toy, ready to set off. Upon entering the world, we’ll be in a central position, facing a person… whom we may know, or at least recognize. Represented by a hologram, they’ll address us, proposing a magical journey. And gradually, that dark space where we found ourselves upon arrival, comes back to life.

The Inspiration:

The viewer finds themselves in a space surrounded by mysterious portals inviting them to enter an enchanted forest, enveloped by trees and a gentle breeze. In the center, Vivaldi invites us to immerse ourselves in a magical fantasy, which gradually comes to life as we progress through the experience. Birdsong fills the air as Vivaldi begins to sketch the first musical notes on an imaginary canvas, inviting us to enter the portal representing spring.

Spring:

Upon crossing the portal of spring, the forest comes to life with vibrant colors and blooming flowers. Vivaldi’s «Spring» music begins to play, and the viewer immerses themselves in the sensation of rebirth and growth as they observe how animals and nature shape the melody.

Summer:

Upon crossing the portal of Summer, the atmosphere changes to a warm and sunny day. The viewer can feel the heat of the sun on their skin as they observe nature reclaiming the colors of a hot day. Thunder rumbles in the distance, and the music evolves to reflect the intensity of the heat and the impending storm.

Autumn:

The surroundings transform into an autumnal landscape with leaves gently falling from the trees. Reddish and green hues abound as Vivaldi creates the sensation of «Autumn» through melancholic notes, and the viewer can hear the rustle of leaves and feel the cool breeze in the air.

Winter:

We venture into a cold winter night, illuminated by the moon. The atmosphere becomes icy and snowy as Vivaldi addresses the final season. The viewer is immersed in a snowy forest, experiencing the sensation of cold and hearing the crunch of snow underfoot. The music grows more intense, representing the harshness of winter.

Conclusion:

«The Immersive Universe of Vivaldi, through the Four Seasons» offers a unique interactive experience that combines classical music with visual and sensory elements. Viewers will be transported into Vivaldi’s world and his compositions, experiencing the beauty and magic of the seasons through the eyes and ears of the composer. They can actively participate in the work, interacting with the environment and elements as they please. Discovering the games and challenges offered throughout the experience. This virtual reality project promises to be an exciting fusion of art and technology that will leave a lasting impression on music and visual narrative enthusiasts. Additionally, thanks to its educational and social component, by combining spaces with music, it aims to convey a subtle message of emotional balance and the need to value and respectfully care for the environment over the years.

This is just the first step towards a magical and unpredictable world, where our commitment to the environment, equality, respect for the values of democratic society, and the natural evolution towards a sustainable and better society will set the course for our next steps. Hand in hand with the most innovative and environmentally friendly technology.

«Vivaldi 3.0 has been funded by the Ministry of Culture and the NextGeneration EU Funds, within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.»

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

VIVALDI 3.0. The Immersive Universe of Vivaldi´s four Seasons. I.

How to bring creative arts closer to the new generations to transform society, based on the values of education in democracy, human equality, nature, and the mystical convergence through music.

Over the past few years, artists, creatives, musicians, filmmakers, and other media and entertainment professionals have been increasingly exploring ways to maximize the value of creative work. This enables them to provide their most devoted fans, or new followers yet to be discovered, with new ways to fully immerse themselves in Creative and #MetaphoricalUniverses.

While this concept is not entirely novel, having been explored by artists and creators in past eras, immersive technologies and narratives now offer a new means of communication, engagement, and collaboration that remains largely uncharted even today.

The new trends and innovative ideas uncovered by the younger skills, endowed with extraordinary talent and future vision, are leaving an indelible mark on various industries. Video games, animation, interactivity, participation, and community building are emerging as new forms of expression that are gaining prominence. On the other hand, virtual reality extensions, immersive platforms, and virtual worlds remain hotbeds for spin-offs, with the #Metaverse and #Web3/4 as a prospective amalgamation of these and other virtual technologies.

While mega-productions are making way for new immersive mediums and platforms that are forging ahead in a different direction, yielding results that are still somewhat unremarkable but with high expectations.

When the opportunity arose to develop an idea around Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, involving a prominent international musician and a string orchestra, I felt something truly special deep within me. Immersed in nervousness, passion, and conflicting emotions, I began sketching in images and words everything that came to my imagination, without concern for order.

A myriad of emotions and images flowing freely from my musician’s heart and mind. I would later attempt to organize in my mind, trying to shape it into a project and ultimately a product – an experience capable of being narrated, lived, and experienced like never before. This meant constructing a multisensory, innovative experience where Vivaldi’s innovative magic and the creative magic of the international musician converged.

This was a monumental challenge. While we had previous experiences working on immersive creative performances with artists like #OukaLeele, #Dadri, and integrating #ChemaVilzchez music into virtual worlds or creating the experiential space for #Music5Senses, (around the music of #Mozart, #Tchaikovsky and #Respighi), this new project aimed to be a qualitative leap. We wanted imagination and technology to meet at some possible point, pushing the boundaries of what seemed impossible.
…
to be continued

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Metaverse is ready for Education

«A Reflection on Virtual Worlds and Their Contribution to Education»

Over the course of the past two decades, I have been fortunate enough to engage in groundbreaking initiatives within the realm of digital transformation in education. Today, as we grapple with contrasting viewpoints on whether the #Metaverse holds promise as an educational tool or is merely a rehashed concept, I wish to offer my insights on the matter.

To me, the #Metaverse embodies a realm where Time and Space engage in a game of strategy, akin to a game of chess. Drawing inspiration from Albert Einstein’s musings: A human is an integral part of the cosmos we term the Universe—a fragment confined by time and space. But so what?

The crux of the matter lies here: the interplay between Time and Space.

Metaverse versus Universe, and Human Being versus Avatars—these interactions hinge on the relationship between time and space.

In the spheres of art and music, artists have fashioned #MetaphoricalUniverses or #EphemeralUniverses —spaces and encounters that are unparalleled, transient, experienced in the present, and then fade away.

Virtual Worlds offer us this same potential but with the power to amplify it manifold into new, boundary-defying dimensions. This expansion reaches individuals and groups who might otherwise never have had the chance to connect in such an environment.

The term #Metaverse, though rooted in technological definition, has acquired a mythical aura and has been employed in ways that fail to captivate. Presently, describing or elucidating the societal advantages and opportunities afforded by #ImmersiveTechnologies presents a challenge. This is due to the term’s misappropriation and dilution by entities possessing an insufficient grasp of the profound intricacies and context of the technology at hand.

In 2003, I embarked on a transformative journey that led my past company, eLearning Consulting, to evolve an eLearning platform into a cutting-edge virtual educational platform known as «Edutopia.» This ambitious endeavor marked my foray into the realm of 3D worlds and virtual reality, bridging the gap between schools, educational communities, and innovative technology. Edutopia introduced avatars, interactive games, and an array of tools tailored for teachers, students, collaboration, monitoring, and evaluation—accessible from any PC.

My dedication bore fruit as thousands of students in Spain gained free access to this groundbreaking platform, supported by funding from the Ministerio de Educación, España.

Over two decades, my commitment to innovation in education extended to active involvement in classroom innovation programs and collaborations with prominent publishers. This commitment also manifested through investments in Research and Development programs under the aegis of the European Commission, resulting in the realization of several globally renowned projects.

In 2013, my endeavors expanded beyond education as we developed pioneering simulators and digital twins for the industrial sector. Subsequently, in 2017, I launched the #SmartEducationLabs initiative for the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This groundbreaking project championed advanced education and the digital transformation of classrooms.

This legacy persisted through 2022-23, marked by my instrumental role in establishing Advanced Labs and a Virtual Campus for Madrid’s gaming industry. This Virtual Campus is uniquely focused on nurturing entrepreneurial skills within the realm of video games and immersive experiences, ultimately fostering innovation within the gaming sector.

If you want to know more, please visit #MetaMinutes with my friend Rene Schulte here: https://lnkd.in/d5WXRf3P

If you want to know more about #SmartEducationLabs, visit
https://lnkd.in/dZciTDGa

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

La Frágil Levedad del SER

Muerto el #Metaverso, larga vida a la #AI o #ChapGPT,  debiera decir?

En este mundo tan frágil, efímero e inconsistente en el que vivimos últimamente, resulta muy preocupante la fragilidad de los argumentos que soportan grandes decisiones de la vida diaria.

El duro mundo del influencer, del bloguero, del metaversado, en busca de la última novedad, o al menos así lo piensan ellos, los lleva a ensalzar ídolos y convertirlos en villanos en apenas unos meses. El poder del marketing, y su influencia en tomas de decisiones rápidas, en aquellos que actúan sin pensar (proactivos dicen ellos, desinformados, pienso yo) es realmente brutal. El numero de impactos en este breve espacio de tiempo, supera con creces las expectativas que se podría alcanzar por cualquier otro medio. Una caza sin piedad de desinformados, ignorantes habidos de ser, sin ser.

Nuevas generaciones que buscan respuestas rápidas a problemas complejos, sin importarles la consistencia ni la transcendencia de las decisiones o el alcance de estas.

¿Resultado? lo tenemos a la vista. El presente se nos cruza y abofetea cada día con temas tan trascendentes y relevantes como la canción de Shakira y las historias de Pique. Algo que no se produce como fruto de la casualidad, o ¿ piensas que si?.

Hoy a nadie le extraña que escritores, blogueros o revistas técnicas internacionales, lleven haciendo trampas con sus artículos firmados, y elaborados por una máquina. Por no hablar de grandes ídolos musicales de un solo tema, elaborados íntegramente por ordenador.

El nuevo «Tsunami» golpea nuestras desoladas costas de la educación. Aparecen nuevas voces en el horizonte, cantos de sirena, intentando convencernos de los milagros de la «Inteligenia Artificial» y los chats inteligentes, bla, bla, bla.

En 1988, durante mi etapa de formación en la Escuela de Informática de Siemens en Alemania, llegó a mis manos un libro verdaderamente apasionante: Sistemas Expertos, editado por Siemens y Dieter Nebendahl. Se convirtió en mi libro de cabecera durante algún tiempo y apoyó los desarrollos que llevamos a cabo en los días de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica.

A lo largo de los últimos 5 años, como Co-Chair del Comité de Educación de la Asociación (VRARA), hemos venido realizando una incesante labor de sensibilización, liderazgo y colaboración, con instituciones de primer nivel, en el estudio de implementación de metodologías, tecnologías inmersivas en la educación, tratando de avanzar en el desarrollo de un nuevo ecosistema educativo.

Humildemente creo que, en muchas ocasiones nos hemos anticipado a los tiempos, elaborando trabajos y estudios: El estudio de la VR/AR en Educación, Immersive Learning, Adcanced Simulations, Virtual Worlds and Metaeducation, Augmented Education for Augmented Soceity…

A lo largo de la interesante sesión de la semana pasada «Are we ready for #AI in #Education», se pusieron de manifiesto por un importante panel de expertos internacionales, algunos puntos esenciales, como que uno de los propósitos centrales de la educación es desarrollar pensadores críticos. También que la educación se ve comprometida cuando tratamos de impartirla a grupos grandes. Y cuando la discusión se lleva a grupos pequeños es donde se logra el verdadero aprendizaje. Otro de los problemas que se pusieron encima de la mesa, es que estemos demasiado centrados en hacer trampa en algunos aspectos del desarrollo de nuestras habilidades, lo cual nos puede llevar a un triste escenario de futuros lideres, en donde la sociedad en su conjunto puede verse afectada. ¿Como vamos a permitirnos esta falta de integridad académica y su transcendencia en el desarrollo de los futuros lideres de esta sociedad?.

Es necesario poner el foco en incorporar el pensamiento crítico y el pensamiento basado en la aplicación en el sistema educativo con mayor peso, en lugar de escribir la información aprendida a través de libros (digital/papel) a los que se les puede dar un peso más bajo. En la actualidad podemos decir sin lugar a duda, que la perspectiva desde el punto de vista de los estudiantes, justo la opuesta.

Esto es, «Augmented Education» es un salto cualitativo, en donde metodologías y tecnologías inmersivas en entornos disruptivos, nos hacen visualizar y definir un espacio de educación y formación más práctica, colaborativa, avanzado, adaptado a las necesidades de la sociedad actual y futura. Centrándose en algo más práctico, innovador, basado en experiencias, trabajo colaborativo, etc… algo que está en el polo opuesto a la formación tradicional basada en la lectura, el aprendizaje escrito, etc…

Hace ya seis años, con motivo del congreso internacional #Expolearning, tuve la oportunidad de presentar: La rebelión de las máquinas y la formación disruptiva. Una visión futuristica de la Educación Inmersiva y Experiencial y su posible evolución…y parece que fué ayer.

Y en menos de tres semanas, es cuando aparece la novedad «para algunos» de herramientas como #ChatGPT. Y creen descubrir el nuevo santo grial, saltando inmediatamente a un nuevo futuro… olvidando todos los paradigmas, visiones y avances realizados en estos últimos años.

En realidad, estamos ante un escenario muy similar al inicio de la Robotica. Cuando empezaron a invadir nuestras vidas hace más de 50 años, con orígenes similares y en muchos casos paralelos a la IA… lástima que la memoria sea frágil, la ignorancia tan atrevida y el marketing de las grandes multinacionales tan potente. Alimentando la maquinaria paralela de los blogueros, que necesitan cada día para sus blogs novedades, noticias únicas, aunque no lo sean, y no se procuren de estudiar las cosas, su evolución, orígenes, etc…baste con copiar y traducir un artículo de una prestigiosa revista americana, y publicarlo como propio, o filtarlo por ChatGPT?.

Gracias a dios, no es el caso de los eruditos mortales, sino de los metaignorantes, que cada vez ocupan más la superficie de este maltratado planeta.

Es curioso ver cómo, año tras año, encaminados hacia la transformación digital en la educación, simuladores inmersivos, trabajo en equipo, herramientas avanzadas, mayor interactividad, realidad aumentada en tiempo real… alejándonos de libros, textos, mensajes literales, y apoyándose en el mundo gráfico e interactivo, y ahora…. we go back again?.

No tengo la bola de cristal, pero los tiempos están cambiando en una dirección, en la que necesitamos mas «Human Touch», «Etica», «Honestidad», «Sentido de Sacrificio, del esfuerzo», «Sentido Solidario» y «Educación en Valores».

Estas de acuerdo?…y Tu, que piensas?.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

The Future of Immersive Technologies is to focus on the Value Chain

Today I want to invite you on a journey from the origins of interactive graphics systems to the world of the metaverse with my friend Marlon Molina.

I want to share with all of you the recent interview that the prestigious Computerworld University conducted with me through an old fellow traveler from the early days of Geographic Information Systems, Marlon Molina.

This a unique and passionate opportunity, in which we remember our steps and experiences in the graphic industry, for more than 30 years, Marlon at Intergraph and I at Siemens.

A time in which we feel like authentic active pioneers, and with the luck of being able to share these experiences with the new generations of enthusiasts of the interactive graphic world.

After a brief and charming conversation about the origins of digital image processing, the leadership of Silicon Graphics workstations (all major film productions used this technology, animation and simulation studios, etc…) and its disappearance by complete at present. Coming to the conclusion that the evolution of technology in recent years, leaves us with lights and shadows uncovered, which are repeated today and against which we must remain on guard.

In times of uncertainty, investments must be accompanied by calm reflection when selecting our travel partners and not just service or product providers.

After this brief review of the history of the interactive graphic world, we take a tour of the current state of immersive technologies, #virtual reality, #augmented reality, #Immersive experiences, the #Metaverse, and the new Vision from ONE Digital Consulting.

And one of the first reflections that come to mind is the insistence of the big manufacturers in selling us a wonderful, virtual and better world, without asking me if I am interested, if I like it, or if I simply prefer to solve the problems of this world. from my freedom, intelligence, and personal decision.

Join me in this conversation, only for fans of advanced technologies and their application to real industry. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did during the interview. I am looking forward to hearing your comments.

https://www.computerworlduniversity.es/tendencias/concentrarse-en-la-cadena-de-valor-es-la-clave-para-el-exito-de-la-realidad-virtual-y-aumentada

Have a great and wonderful day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Building the Big Forest

I would love to share a very inspirational and personal conversation with Yoshi Garnica, from Impact Revolution.

Disreality is a fantasy journey into the human psyche that takes you on a ride through the twists and turns of that blurred line between what is real and what isn’t. Along the past recent years, let´s defined it as a hybrid experience, I have been walking around the universe of senses, emotions, arts, and social interaction in virtual worlds, as a real opportunity to build a free, democratic, and more sustainable world.

Nowadays, I am truly convinced that we need to act NOW. Tomorrow is too late.

All these reflections come to my mind during the several interviews, sessions, and talks with very good friends of the XR Community. I must say, thanks to all of you, for allowing me to walk along with you and learn together on these «long and winding road of immersive technologies».

You can watch the complete interview here:

Key insights from the interview:

He is living now in a privileged place: Guadarrama Natural Park – https://bit.ly/3dDukjB

Happiest moment in Life: When he becomes a dad – holding his kids.

Last Impact Message to the world: “Build a big forest” – Metaphor to build a “big community” as a base for sustainability growth.

The Education system is hard to Change.

Blade Runner 2049 (https://bit.ly/3A1Z5WQ is an example that VR did not change that much since 2017.

Experience with building Smart Education Labs with VR

Important to increase Accessibility of Technology to poorer countries – Reminded me to our last interview with Alfredo Serrano

Favorite professional project: “Music with 5 senses” – Virtual Concerts to CONNECT:

Arts Creativity Values Nature Citizens

VR could help the Coaching Industry facilitate Engagement, Empathy, and Connection. Important the Environment, Story, and Technology used (for interaction). OpenBCI uses Neuroscience with VR.

Last Impactful message to Startups and Entrepreneurs : Unique vision, Build Trust, Work a lot, Value Time, Strong Team, Good mentors, Create a Business Plan (importance of performing a Market Analysis, know your competitors!)

Was a great interview Carlos – Many thanks for sharing your valuable time with us. It’s much appreciated.

Best of luck in Revolutionizing the Education System!

All your thoughts and comments are very welcome.

Have a great time.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez

Remembering my time as a student at Babson College.

One of my very best personal experiences throughout my long professional career was being a student in the International Entrepreneurship program at Babson College.

In 1998, my past company Siemens decided to anticipate the competition, developing a joint program with Babson College to develop the Entrepreneurial spirit within the organization. Raising the talent of high potential and creating high-performance teams, capable of accelerating the transformation of a product company, into high-value-added services.

I was one of those selected for that program and thanks to that experience, allowed me to develop skills and abilities that helped me design and implement new global business areas at an international level, with a focus always on innovation.

A one-year international program, with professors from the most prestigious business schools, the participation of all managers of business centers and CEOs from different regions, in a spectacular and highly collaborative environment.

I seem to remember that this was one of the first international experiences of this type carried out by Babson College, between 1998 and 1999.

An unforgettable experience and I must thank Siemens and Babson College for that opportunity, whose principles continue to be a world reference today.

Carlos J. Ochoa ©

Carlos J. Ochoa “un guiño a la Educación”

“Apostando fuertemente por un nuevo modelo educativo, ilusionante, empático, inclusivo, democrático y sostenible“

Presidente VR/AR Madrid Chapter, Co_Chair del Comité de Educación y miembro fundador de Immersive Learning Association, ICICLE X-Reality for Learning and Performance Augmentation SIG. También es fundador y CEO de ONE Digital Consulting, así como autor del Libro Blanco “Best Practices of VR in Education”.

Entrevista realizada por Sonsoles Gallego para Miranos y Unete 2019

Ayer

Empezamos por su infancia, por conocer a ese niño que todos llevamos dentro.

¿Cómo fue su etapa de estudiante?

Recuerdo mi etapa de estudiante como una sucesión de historias emocionantes, irrepetibles y únicas. Años en los que descubres todo con emoción, ilusión y sorpresa. A pesar de ser tiempos difíciles, como fueron los años de la transición, también fueron una oportunidad única para descubrir el valor de las cosas, la necesidad permanente de aprender y establecer amistades con fuerte arraigo que siguen conmigo hasta el día de hoy.
¿Qué recuerdas de ella?

Tuve la inmensa suerte de comenzar el bachiller en el Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, en la antigua residencia de estudiantes. Un espacio privilegiado, con profesores muy buenos y compañeros extraordinarios. Allí fueron mis comienzos obligados en el baloncesto “Estudiantes” y en la música (otra de mis grandes pasiones), el arte y el cine fórum…en fin. Allí se fue perfilando mi personalidad y algunas de mis aficiones. Tiempos de desarrollo personal, aficiones y bocatas de mejillones…en la Cantina. Y por cierto, íbamos al “insti” en tranvía, el 27, en donde nos colábamos todos los días…)
¿Algún profesor especial?

Bueno, me vienen varios a la memoria. En especial el Sr. Cebada, profesor de matemáticas (una persona entrañable y gran fan del Rock de los 70) y con el que entablé muy buena relación a lo largo de los años. La Sra. Burgos de geografía, historia y arte y que, por casualidades de la vida, coincidí en Siemens con su hijo como compañero de trabajo por varios años. De la Universidad guardo extraordinarios recuerdos de profesores y posteriormente compañeros y amigos. Algunos de aquellos me ayudaron a centrarme profesionalmente y encarar una nueva fase de mi vida con gran vocación disfrutando inmensamente. Recuerdo emocionadamente las clases de Astronomía y Geodesia, las de Fotogrametría y Teledetección, las observaciones a los astros desde la terraza del Instituto Geográfico Nacional… 

¿Cómo fueron sus inicios en la innovación, la realidad virtual y aumentada?

Mi primer gran reto fue en mis inicios profesionales en la Ingeniería, trabajando en Typsa y participando en los años 80 en proyectos de Cartografía Digital, con los primeros ordenadores de Floppy Disk, pantallas graficas Tektronics, los primeros ploters…etc. En Siemens estuve formándome en IT y Geosistemas de Información en Alemania, incorporando la simulación a los proyectos de Ingeniería Avanzada, en los años 90. Y posteriormente en Eptron comenzamos con proyectos de I&D en Realidad Virtual, desarrollo de los primeros navegadores virtuales educacionales y contenidos digitales para el Aula. Esta etapa la recuerdo como la época de Jurasic Park, y las estaciones de trabajo Silicon Graphics. Éramos realmente unos adelantados a nuestro tiempo, en los inicios del nuevo siglo. En 2015 comienzo este nuevo proyecto profesional y me incorporo a la Asociación de VR/AR y el Comité de Educación. A lo largo de estos últimos años, he estado participando en distintos proyectos nacionales e internacionales de VR/AR en la Educación, la Formación y la Ingeniería.

Hoy

Palabra que define su trabajo: Pasión por la innovación.

Proyectos actuales: 

Recientemente he sido seleccionado como experto internacional del iLRN State of XR and Immersive Learning 2019-20. El objetivo fundamental, es crear un Panel de expertos internacionales equilibrado entre líderes académicos y de opinión de la industria, visionarios e innovadores que representen la totalidad del aprendizaje de K-12, a través de la educación superior, el espacio laboral, la comunidad educativa y el aprendizaje permanente.

Así mismo, sigo empujando la iniciativa de “Schools of The Future” que contaré más detalladamente en el Congreso.

Mañana

Haz un guiño a la educación:

Apostando fuertemente por un nuevo modelo Educativo, “Ilusionante, Empático, Inclusivo, Democrático y Sostenible”, capaz de liderar la Transformación Digital, Innovando eficientemente y eliminando barreras de todo tipo.

Especial ponente en el II Congreso de Influencers Educativos

Breve resumen de su Ponencia en el II Congreso de Influencers Educativos:
“Espacios y Experiencias Inmersivas en Educación 4.0”. Las nuevas tecnologías son aplicadas cada día en la industria y nuevos modelos emergentes, que crean importantes oportunidades de empleo y posibilidades de desarrollo empresarial. De acuerdo con las proyecciones establecidas por la Comisión Europea recientemente, la demanda del mercado en especialistas calificados en tecnología de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) no se cubrirán, ya que en 2020 habrá un déficit de alrededor de 500,000 profesionales de las TIC. Siendo los profesionales de realidad virtual y aumentada los que se encuentran entre aquellos más solicitados en el sector de las TIC.

Es en este contexto vamos a desarrollar un Taller sobre “Formación de Profesores” en las habilidades relevantes para la formación en el aula, la formación y capacitación para el empleo y el desarrollo del espíritu empresarial basado en estas tecnologías.

Entrevista realizada por Sonsoles Gallego.

Las Claves para implantar las Tecnologías Inmersivas en la Educación.

Education is a system; teaching is an action; learning is a process. Terry Heick

Regulación y ética para máquinas, un desafío para los humanos
Analizamos el paradigma tecnológico al que se enfrenta el ser humano desde el punto de vista de los profesionales.

Educar, Educar y Educar…

¿Cómo vamos a formar en realidad virtual? La clave está en “educar, educar y educar”. De esta premisa parte Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández , fundador y CEO de ONE Digital Consulting y Co-Chair VRARA Metaverse on Dec 17 Education Committee, quien visitó nuestro auditorio en una de las sesiones del XR Fest.

Educar de forma transversal en nuevas tecnologías y crear documentos dirigidos a los centros educativos que aporten valor y formen al profesorado, es una tarea ardua pero necesaria. El primer paso es analizar el perfil de los profesores. En ocasiones, –comenta Ochoa– “queremos formar a gente o profesionales que son reacios o que no tienen la formación adecuada para luego impartir a los alumnos”.

Desde su organización, proponen un escrito de buenas prácticas donde reflexionan sobre la ayuda que necesitan los colegios, los docentes y los decisores para comprender la tecnología y ver el sentido de su aplicación en los métodos de enseñanza.

Marjorie NETANGE, directora de Desarrollo y Comunicación de la Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, coincide en que “el docente tiene que trabajar su metodología en términos de cómo integrar la tecnología puntualmente”, pero sostiene que parte de su programa debe seguir una línea tradicional.

Según Angeles Heras Caballero, secretaria de Estado de Universidades de Ciencia, Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, es necesario orientar a los alumnos de universidades y posgrados hacia un futuro tecnológico. En España, ya se ha puesto en marcha la construcción de un Comité Científico de Ética, pero es imprescindible que estas normas coexistan con el resto de los actores empresariales, asociaciones e incluso, con otros Estados.

Una sesión, presentada y dirigida por Elena González de la Fuente, responsable del Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

Y con la participación de Ian Forrester, responsable del departamento de I+D de la BBC, el R&D Future Experiences, Pedro Lozano Alcolea, fundador y COO de Imascono, Marjorie NETANGE, directora de Desarrollo y Comunicación de la Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández, fundador y CEO de ONE Digital Consulting y presidente de la Asociación VRARA Madrid y co-presidente global del Comité de VR Education de VRARA Metaverse on Dec 17, y Gonzalo Ruipérez García, CTO en EstudioFuture.

XRFEST , Fundación Telefónica Junio 2019.

Humanos Virtuales en el #Metaverso. ¿Y ahora que?

Fija tu rumbo a una estrella y podrás navegar a través de cualquier tormenta. Leonardo Da Vinci.

Humanos Virtuales en el #Metaverse. Congreso Digital Enterprise Show en #Madrid. Parece que, en los últimos meses, y en particular, desde que Mark Zuckerberg lanzó su proclama sobre Meta, ya todo se ha vuelto Meta-Verso. Y algo más que una metáfora, es una nueva dimensión a un mundo paralelo y finito, y que aún hoy, tiene muchos laberintos por desentramar…¿Estamos listos para ello?

El pasado mes de mayo tuve el inmenso placer de presentar estas reflexiones previas en torno a los Meta-humanos, en el Panel de VRARA del Congreso DES celebrado en Madrid y aquí os dejo el video de la presentación.

https://youtu.be/1QGRvcQiWqE

Desde ONE Digital Consulting, llevamos años desarrollando e implantando plataformas virtuales inmersivas para la educación: Talleres, Masterclasses, Formación de Profesores, Proyectos Colaborativos…en donde miles de estudiantes y profesores han participado de esta experiencia, viviéndola de una manera muy innovadora, inspiradora y positiva.

Estas experiencias nos han permitido desarrollar actividades On-Line, en modo síncrono y asíncrono en varios centros y países del mundo. Desde Estados Unidos, a la India, Rusia, Latino América, Europa, España…y contando con los mejores y mas experimentados colaboradores a nivel internacional. Algo inimaginable hace algunos años, hoy marca un punto de inflexión hacia el nuevo paradigma de una Educación Digital, más inclusiva, participativa, colaborativa, inspiradora, igualitaria, limpia y sostenible.

Cualquier comentario, es siempre bienvenido

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Reimagining Business Performance with Industry XTR

Industry XTR, are we facing the new paradigm?

Never give up on your dreams. John Ford

It is true that Covid has been a serious blow in the advance towards Industry 4.0 in those companies in transition. Being seriously affected the processes of digital transformation, production, logistics, dependence on raw materials, etc., increased by the lockdown of a large number of organizations. Accepting that 4 key pillars of Industry 4.0 are digitization processes, including standardization, development of new skills and workforce, disruptive innovation processes and investments, it is clear that COVID has paralyzed industrial activity worldwide. And we continue to suffer from its impact today …

After participating in the first face-to-face events and conferences during the last weeks, we meet again and discuss the «state of the art» of our companies, markets and new challenges that we will face in this new scenario.

And it is true, that even today, many are not able to assimilate, that nothing is going to be as before. Although the changes do not occur at the speed that some want us to see, it is true that many activation and acceleration mechanisms have already been put in place in some organizations. Strengthening them in leadership positions and others are being left behind, hopelessly.

If we analyze some of the pillars of Industry 4.0, it is in investments, standardization, skills development and disruptive innovation where the greatest imbalances have occurred. Clearly marking a before and after among some companies, which have been able to adapt to the new situation quickly and activate very solid innovation mechanisms. While others continue to try to compose themselves and return to a pre-pandemic scenario, as a valid point of reference.

Reimagining Business Performance with Industry XTR, are we facing the new paradigm?

Perhaps it is time to take a step further, seeking «exponential acceleration» and trying to find solutions to new problems that we would never have thought before would intercept our society in this way. So, continuing with the transition to Industry 4.0 again, today, no longer makes sense.

From my perspective, today, it is absolutely necessary to rethink the industry model, without trying to return to pre-pandemic scenarios, which would be a long delay and would take us back to 2019.

Rethinking Industry 4.0, facing a new Business Performance process, accelerating the digitization processes, through the integration of disruptive technologies, with the training of new skills, incorporating new forms of more efficient and remote collaborative work, developing assessment platforms, empowerment and loyalty of high-performance teams and decentralizing networks of supply and manufacturing in several poles and suppliers, seeking value in competition in efficiency and innovation, and not only in price, not so dependent on a single country.

Anticipate foreseeable future crisis situations, minimizing the risks and impacts of technological threats, lack of talent to lead change, cybersecurity and virtual transactions, new pandemics, energy crises, climate change, shortage of raw materials and logistics. Just to list a small series of them.

Those who have the new vision of Industry XTR, will be able to lead the transformation of society to a safer and more sustainable planet.

These are some reflections, while I have my cup of coffee and listening my jazz session. Today with Kenny Burrel, enjoy.

Thoughts and ideas are always welcome. Good afternoon and good luck from the RealVerse.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Chronicles from the #RealVerse. Chapter II

Don’t run so fast Metaverse. The great trap of the Meta Boomers.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Albert Einstein.

We live in an increasingly ephemeral and unequal society. Where the truth hides behind thick layers of images, headlines, screens … and where the speed of things is unreal. I do not know if this unjustified rush is accelerated by the need to flee or escape from ourselves.

So little do we like each other? Do we want to be immortal? Do we want to be other? We do not accept reality? … what is the real question to this paradigm. Maybe the is another answer to that question.

In the real world, nothing moves so fast, nor does society demand such ephemeral generosity, rather democracy, justice, equality, transparency … Searching for the ubiquity of the human being, ethics, transparency, honesty, goodness … .life, still exist … and are all around us, despite the Meta Boomers.

After more than 30 years involved in engineering, advanced technologies and working on real world projects … believe me if I tell you, I have never lived a similar time before. Where everyone is a futurist, visionary, town crier, spokesperson … without adding the slightest ounce of value to society, or to its real problems. Showing once again, that ignorance is very daring.

One of the great barriers to acceptance of advanced technologies is that they are credible, convey truthfulness, solve real problems, and the majority of society accepts and employs them for their mutual benefit.

Yesterday, without going any further, I saw a TV program about advanced robotics, the complexity of programming. The design of processes to teach robots to learn, to program tasks that are very easy for a human, but highly complex for a robot, until the final test is performed. This is a space for little fantasy and a lot of hard work. Today, robotics, 3D, AI, is taught in schools since childhood, it is understood, its contribution, benefits, risks … it is accepted and it lives with us a little more every day.

But this has required a long period of training, development, successful implementation in production processes, at home, in industry, etc … and this is not easy, nor is it free.

However, the futuristic Meta Boomers, the newcomers to this futuristic world, discovered by them of the «Edge-Science», find a context, where everything seems simple and they give free rein to the verb, without the slightest training and with a wide and generous ignorance of the fundamentals, technologies, risks and benefits that these paradises of the future hide … Oops, how scary …

It seems that, if today you do not talk about the Metaverse, you are not «cool» beings, or you simply are not and you are not even … experts in Creative, Educational, Communicative, Digital, and blablative Metaverse, who go even under the stones, even to dare to prophesy that «The Future is in the Metaverse» … Oops how scary

The news of the day, which sweeps the networks, is that Bermuda is in the Metaverse, everyone retweets, and hallucinates, without knowing the vast majority, not even where Bermuda is … in short, “breaking news”.

Barriers to entry? Here is one that spreads like weeds in a natural forest: the Meta Boomers, who are going to leave the field depleted before we wake up from our first dream.

20 years ago, I was extremely lucky to participate in the development of a virtual educational platform. It included customizable avatars, virtual tutors, virtual tours of natural landscapes, interactive games, spaces for teachers, students and parents. In short, an entire educational community based on client-server architecture with hundreds of value-added services: Edutopia. Thousands of children from hundreds of schools in Spain were online users of this platform, now obsolete and lost in the cloud. I have to honestly say that this was available to the entire educational community for free and was beyond many Goals to be drawn in the short-lived near future.

We will see how this continues in the next chapter of Chronicles from RealVerse, enjoying a cup of Colombian coffee listening to John Coltrane, by the way, something real and extraordinary.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Re-innovate or die. And now What else?

Innovate, change or alter something, introducing new features. This is how the dictionary of the real academy defines this word so repeated and with such insistence in these times. There is no doubt that innovation can be redefined in many ways and in fact, it is done and interpreted that way, but if we want to simplify the definitions and make them understand in a simple way, we could say that it is the process of redoing, reinventing something in a different, efficient way that adds value. Think different, act different, reinvent yourself, anticipate, imagine, dream and carry it out with all the passion you are capable of showing.

These have been the keys to the success of some visionaries of the 20th. century, but also that of man throughout the development of its history, however only a select few are on the list of geniuses. Innovation is permanently linked to the evolution of man and it is enough to look around us in an instant of our life, on a street or in an office and look at the elements that surround us and that just a few years ago did not exist and even were unimaginable to think of its single existence in the near future like today.

And it is the “imagination” that allows us to dream of a new world and innovation that materializes it and turns it into reality. These being the key pieces for the beginning of a new cycle, where integrity, intuition, responsibility and creative thinking will be a benchmark for the new visionary companies of the 21st century.

In this minimal corner of the cyber-space, we are going to unravel the keys to Innovation, the barriers we encounter on a daily basis, the potential solutions and the escape routes, in order to come up with a mini guide for entrepreneurs who have decided to reinvent themselves or reinvent their business, promoting innovation at critical points in the value chain of their businesses.

However, over the last few years, it has become clear that beyond innovation there is entrepreneurship. And it is vitally important to understand that “Innovation” has no value until you are able to create a business model around this idea and turn it into a product or service ready to be sold. If you are not able to turn an “Idea” into something that creates customers, this does not work.

And that is when the figure of the entrepreneur makes sense. And that is why it is important to clearly identify and differentiate between innovators and entrepreneurs.

An “Innovator” is fundamentally a creator, a person capable of solving or solving problems in a creative and differential way, with great passion for constant improvement. Innovators are fundamentally thinkers. But an “Entrepreneur” is oriented to action, to the construction or materialization of things. This includes the development of a business around an innovative idea, for its subsequent materialization.

Therefore, when an “innovator” approaches us, with that special sparkle in his eyes and says: !!! I have a great idea!!!.

The entrepreneur’s response is immediate: Can we materialize and monetize it? Who is your target customer? What is the business model? Why will customers go crazy with your product?

Investing in Innovation without a developed entrepreneurship model is like throwing flowers into the sea, they will never grow.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Lead or follow the leader?. This is the question.

From the most remote origins of humanity, the need to know and discover things has been a struggle for subsistence and the development of life itself on the planet. With its evolution, scientific discoveries and technological evolution and innovation, it became a fundamental lever of human activity. But it has been from the last centuries and especially in this last decade, when this role has grown exponentially, almost in parallel with the same growth of the world population. The world’s population reached 7.7 billion in mid-2019, having added one billion people since 2007 and two billion since 1994 and with strong and accentuated tensions between rich and poor countries. In which the main viability engine up to now was development and growth, and which from now on must reconsider at a global level a new sustainability model that allows a fair redistribution of raw materials and finite wealth, to do so viable in the medium term.

Faced with this situation, the need for adaptation has always been an exceptional quality of the human being and therefore, the need to seek ways of evolution and sustainable growth necessarily goes through the impulse of research, development and innovation in search of a coherent and sustainable progress in convergent areas of knowledge and at a different time in different spaces. That is, in a global environment, although “knowledge” is accessible to everyone in almost real time, its application in different parts of the planet is affected by the variable time and this must be adapted to the reality of each space in each moment. With this, the potential benefits obtained in a certain place are not always replicable in the same way in other spaces / different territories.

To go beyond space and time in search of common patterns and homogeneous development denominators, or what is the same, geopolitical borders and time, MegaTrends are defined. Definition that comes from the world of research and that aims to redefine a framework of global trends in the evolution of society applied to all its agents (state, society and market). Or put another way, it is the knowledge and prediction of our possible future, where convergent sciences and technologies must deepen the path of sustainability.

After reviewing and reading in depth different works and documents of experts and reference organizations, everything seems to indicate that over the next few years, we are going to find an exaggerated and uncontrolled population growth, especially in countries of the so-called third world, a growth of the countries of the western world close to 2%, while in so-called emerging countries this will be higher than 7%. An aging population in developed countries with a clear inversion of the population pyramid, with all that this entails, is very considerable. If we add to this, that to guarantee this model of average growth of 5%, we have scarce natural resources to supply the planet and finite energy resources to guarantee growth and development, it is necessary to review the model urgently or this process is simply not feasible.

In any case, Megatrends have a different meaning for different agents, states, companies or individuals. The prediction or definition of potential future scenarios does not guarantee in any way that this is the true future to occur, since the development of society and its interrelationships is happening temporarily and the parameters are permanently affected by different situations that affect the total of the formula. That is, the evolution and development over time and the impact on society and its agents, is affecting day by day in the new future or immediate future that is presented to us and therefore the scenario that we draw from our knowledge in Today may not be anything like the one we will achieve tomorrow. But thanks to these models, we will have been able to adapt and theoretically, thanks to the knowledge and application of science and technological innovation, improve it.

In our particular case, we are going to consider “Megatrends” as a methodology for the future strategic and innovative development of society and, in particular, of companies. This methodology, combined with others, can help us to elaborate the development and innovation framework of our company. But this is not a guarantee of success or failure, since the way of applying these methodologies, for some visionaries, is based on the definition of scenarios in which multiple variables interact and therefore, they must be constantly reviewed and updated, to control and evaluate the interferences between all of them and see how it affects the evolution of our prediction model.

The methodology proposed here is a compendium resulting from the study of the analysis of the most prestigious consulting firms, organizations, universities and international magazines in the new technologies and innovation sector.

Imagining a global world in 2030, how we will live and develop our vital activity, we have grouped into five large blocks the Megatrends that will guide the world throughout this period and in particular, what will be their impact on society, on business and how they will affect current companies and how they must position themselves today to achieve success in the immediate future. Development opportunities in the markets, their size and main stakeholders.

Once these Megatrends have been defined, we identify possible ways of development and innovation, as well as possible actions to take into account in different scenarios. Each of these Mega Trends is broken down into trends, moving from an initial global perspective to a more local perspective and its potential geopolitical and temporal impact.

And finally, once all these possible trends have been analyzed, we identify potential actions to consider in each case, by the different agents involved in the process. Development of potential business opportunities, key and strategic businesses, as well as ways and keys for Innovation in them, identifying the value generated in a special way in the value chain of each business.

References: Fundación de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Fundación Telefónica, Fundación Acciona, European Commission, Onu, FAO, Unesco, Frost and Sullivan, e_Consultancy, TrendWatching, IDC, Gartner Group, Siemens, e_Consulting, Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Bertelsmann Future Challenges, MIT, IESE, Babson College Community, Harvard Business Review, LinkedIn Groups …

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Chronicles from the #RealVerse. The New Age of Technology.

The world as we have created, it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. Albert Einstein.

In just 12 months, the world has been turned upside down. And all predictive models, analyzes and future scenarios have become obsolete without being able to identify a single true and predictable answer about the immediate future.

Phrases such as transformation, adaptation to change, permanently reinventing oneself, sustainable and safe models, have become a thing of the past. All these definitions require a new mentality, attitude and mental strength far superior to what we were used to living together to face the day to day and think about a future, to some extent, stable.

And for this, we must be able to quickly change our way of thinking, acting and conceiving the world as we have done until now, or we will not be able to survive these new, unpredictable and uncertain scenarios.

Living in a permanent state of alert requires great mental strength, but above all honesty, ethics, networking and handling of truthful information in real time. In order to be able to anticipate unwanted scenarios, with some success.

And unfortunately, all this is what we are missing right now, as a society and as individuals.

It is enough to go outside and take a walk through our cities, fields, hospitals, schools, offices and homes and see how in just a few months, everything has radically changed.

While it is true that technology has invaded every corner and space of our lives. Changing our habits and ways of doing things, of working, of communicating … this change must accelerate and find a new temporary space, where we can significantly improve our quality of life. From communications, to transport, through health and health, science, energy, food, in short, each and every one of the activities that human beings develop in their day-to-day life must be reimagined in some way. way, allowing us to benefit from the efficient use of technologies.

Despite what we think, the planet earth has been inhabited in its greatest historical period by dinosaurs. And in the timeline, the human being has barely lived a hundredth part of it. The stone age lasted 200,000 years, the agricultural age 10,000 years, the industrial age 200 years and barely 60 years the era of high technology.

And it has been in this short period of time that the greatest technological developments have taken place, accompanied by the greatest industrial development on the planet, accompanied by the greatest environmental impact in known history.

The main technological drivers are all exponential, the development of broadband, the greater storage and data processing capacity, the increase in clean power generation plants, development in the world of medicine and telemedicine, have democratized access and benefit of technologies by facilitating and simplifying access and management of them to citizens.

The interrelationships that occur between major trends “Megatrends”and “Innovation” is a fertile field for scientists and developers in which new business models and opportunities must be modeled for the new society of the Post-Covid Era.

But in this new scenario, society has new expectations and demands that it is willing to lead, to guarantee a model of sustainability and well-being sponsored by this technological revolution. Transparency, honesty, veracity, ethics, environmental impact, sociability, sustainability, are some of the values ​​that emerge from the new society.

The British Alan Turin, considered by some the father of artificial intelligence, laid the foundations of what we know today as the “Information Society”, back in the 1930s and 1940s. One of the founders of modern computing, he was capable of programming everything that could be specified by an algorithm. And on the other hand, the American Claude Elwood Shannon, elaborated the bases and the essence of the communication mechanism, defining the concept of “information”, as the foundation and ability to store and transfer data. Almost seventy years later, those basic foundations and incipient beginnings of information and communication technologies have become fundamental elements of our current society and future evolution and development.

We are facing a unique opportunity, albeit in a very complex scenario. Which leads us to take on new challenges with courage, seek creative and innovative solutions, focusing primarily on those aspects that provide the greatest value and in which the capacity for green and sustainable leadership makes a difference to us to continue betting on life in the blue Planet.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Virtual Humans at the Metaverse. Close to the Edge to the Twin Society

«A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space.» Albert Einstein.

Last week I had the immense pleasure of presenting these previous reflections around MetaHumans, at DES | Digital Enterprise Show during the #VRAR Tech-Session, and it was really fantastic to see the eyes and perceptions of the attendants. I have got this feeling for the very first time in almost a year. Then I felt alive again.

The body we temporarily inhabit has been described by some philosophers, as a temporary home or an unbearable prison for others. A material restriction, which prevented us from giving way to our imagination to our most impossible delusions, dreams, and fantasies. Free ourselves from the body, inhabit other spaces and teleport ourselves from one world to another with a single click.

Surpassing the creativity of Leonardo Da Vinci, is no longer a matter of fantasy, nor is it the fruit of imagination. #METAVERSE is here to stay and it will change everything …

The great evolution and development of immersive virtual platforms, and their massive acceptance and implementation during the time of the pandemic, has been truly spectacular. Virtual worlds, where we can unfold, duplicate and interact with other beings, and free ourselves from our body and limitations, without physical restrictions and face finite spaces, where the space / time concept is only on our computer clock.

On the other hand, the battle of #robotics and #AI, trying to occupy a space that does not belong to them, have caused this reaction of the #Metahumans, taking a giant step, forgetting the material / real world, and evolving to parallel worlds, where robots, at the moment, do not have their defined space.

A really exciting time and open debate, where all the barriers of ethics collapse, starting a new race, perhaps the most exciting ever lived by us, as humans, in the last decades.

Are you ready for it? I am already «ON».

Have a nice and safety day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

#ImmersiveLearning Environments in Disruptive Advanced #Education #Ecosystems. Episode I.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein.

Man is by nature a social animal. From birth, he absolutely needs others to develop physically and socially. Enhancing our intelligence in the face of our physical weakness. We are social creatures by nature and we need to learn how to be part of society, how to interact with groups of people, and how to work as a team. We are emotional, social, rational beings, with conscience and intentionality, will, freedom and personal identity, ethics…

We live in times of complete uncertainty. The world, had never faced a similar situation as we have today. Where there are too many questions in the air, still waiting for the correct answer, if there are any.

During this last months, I have got the perception that we were trying to hide ourselves into an increasingly virtualized world, behind decomposed avatars, robots or new small particles into a new virtual scenario as part of this new reality. Losing the control of our free brain activity, dominated for external unknown forces, as part of a live experiment drive by some kind of superior intelligence. But with some common feelings…the lack of affection, recognition, and human touch.

In this new world, governments face heedlessly to the new academic year, terrified of a new outbreak that will leave the system naked again, yes, let’s contribute something earthly. Let’s say things by their name, since, after several months of uncertainty, the capacity to anticipate, prepare for this new scenario has been nil and we continue to learn from the mistakes of the recent past.

There are no longer shortcuts, online paths traveled by elements devoid of the minimum preparation to face these new challenges in today’s society.

Today I lost my avatar, and I believe that there is only one possible path, towards the digital transformation in Education, from a completely disruptive and non-evolutionary approach. Since there is no time for it and these generations will not allow it.

Do we want to be remembered as responsible? Or guilty?

Episode I

Why do we want, need Immersive Learning Environments? Is it a new fad? is it a trend in education? does it really add value? is there proven evidence? Not it is not new, but what do we want it for.

• Create immersive spaces in the image and likeness of real existing classroom spaces, but that adapt to different subjects.? Where classes are taught with immersive Caves / HDMI devices, etc.
• Create a universal space, accessible by the entire educational community, both inside and outside the classroom, where to share experiences, activities, projects … etc.
• Develop a learning methodology, where virtual spaces are recreated, with scenes adapted to the contexts and where students actively participate as members of the group. Customizing to your image and likeness? Future open worlds? Contributing your vision of the new virtual classroom?
• Turn the classroom into an inspiring experience, each and every day of the year.? Are we ready for it?
• Convert the workshops into creative, interactive and inspiring spaces, where students learn from good practices and develop their skills beyond their limitations?
• Create multiverse spaces, where futuristic experiences are created, anticipating solutions to the world of the future? From the lessons learned from the past and through the use of new technologies? What would have become of … if we had acted …?
• Imagine spaces that are transformed and adapted depending on the needs, the context, the problem … simulating unforeseen situations and seeing how the students react.
• Learn from the silence, the stones, the walls, the art of the works hidden in the walls of history and understand the reason for the evolution of things, the need and the use of inventions … in contexts adapted to time.,

to be continue…

Have a nice and safe day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

#ArtificialIntelligence, #HumanIntelligence and #COVID

Another Brik on the Wall

I have a question. Does anyone have a reasonable answer about that? Today’s COVID data is terrifying: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Hospitals are saturated, professionals are exhausted, the economy collapses, staff morale is on the ground, radical movements are accentuated and mobilize more and more people in unpredictable directions, world leaders are fooled by the pharmaceutical multinationals afterwards to invest millions of euros in the development of vaccines… and all this surrounded by a lack of leadership and incompetence never imagined.

This is not the script of a science fiction or futuristic movie. It is the summary of the real news of today. On the other hand, they tell us, comment, know, that technologies such as AI can help in some way. Artificial Intelligence is a Computer Science Branch that aims at developing intelligent machines that carry out a broad variety of tasks, typically involving human intelligence and expertise. These smart machines are based on experience and historical information, assessing their environment, and conducting appropriate activities.…

So, the question is, as in all this crazy process, we are not capable of applying AI technologies in a way that helps you solve these very serious problems and situations. To design a global health policy, a plan for the sustainability of the planet, a sustainable economic policy… etc. Or it is simply used for the partial benefit of economic interests that do not benefit society as a whole at all. Yes, it seems like an ignorant question,

I know… and I do confess that every day I feel myself more ignorant, because of so much chatter, unable to provide tangible solutions for the benefit of society. Every day we found more digital barriers, more social barriers, more cultural barriers…or it is just another Brik on the Wall?

Have a nice and safe day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

The History Behind the Picture

At the end of the 60s, a small group of young people from Madrid, decided to start entrepreneurial careers in the energy sector. And they planned to go to Germany, the benchmark of heavy industry at that time. A trip to the unknown world for them. An unknown country, an unknown language, an unknown culture,… quite a challenge for that group of people, moved by their concerns, intuition and entrepreneurial inspiration.

Four friends, from very humble families, and with no other financial capacity than the result of their work and personal savings effort, in a small car with their suitcases full of dreams. On the way back, they set up one of the first black heat radiator companies in Spain. Later they created a new industrial facility…and so on. Finally, with a lot of work, effort, and sacrifice, they turned their dreams into reality.

One of those entrepreneurs was my father, from whom I inherited the effort, work, and dedication to developing ideas.

Sometimes, overwhelmed by the artificial speed to which we are subjected, we forget who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. Thanks to your effort and energy, today I can be proud to share this little story in your tribute, recognition, and gratitude to «a good man», my father.

Years later, I started my professional career at Siemens, remembering the first tracks from my father…

In a world where practically everything is trivialized, where irrelevance is rewarded, fake news is the order of the day, our identity is usurped by digital vultures disguised as virtual fairies, many young people pretend to become millionaires by influencing to millions of followers with the most outlandish stupidities, it takes a bit of good sense, to value the things that really have it and to jump a step or two to get out of this crushing mediocrity, to which some ignorantly enlightened visionaries try to lead us.

The picture illustrates the short story related to effort, work, sacrifice and vision of the future, since it is the only toy that I keep on my shelf, and it was his gift from that trip to Germany.

The machine needs to be powered every single day as if it were the last day you are going to go out on the winding and complex paths of life.

Have a nice and safe day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Magical and Mystery Tour around Cultural Heritage. The Immersive Experience

Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to participate in a large number of projects to enhance «Cultural Heritage» through the use of Virtual Reality technologies and, in a very special way, in the reconstruction of ancient spaces in past times, where the architectural recreation of them requires the perfect coordination of experts, archaeologists, artists, engineers, creatives … in short, a group of professionals with highly specialized profiles.

From the reconstruction of the cities of León in Roman or Visigoth times, Soria and Romanesque, Ronda and its natural environment around its Roman origins, Úbeda and Baeza Renaissance period or Cuenca, land of the three cultures, walking through its Islamic origins until the Christian era.

Although, one of the problems that we encountered years ago was the high cost of bringing these spectacular developments to the public in a simple and accessible way. Since, at that time, we spoke of more than 10 years ago, expensive installations were required, with equipment that needed permanent adjustments and maintenance care. What was left only for the access of some privileged or private exhibitions.

Nowadays, thanks to the evolution of immersive platforms, the accessibility of high-quality devices and autonomy, it is possible to make these projects reach the majority of the population in a very simple way, without the need to travel or simply access from home, but not only that.

The opportunity to integrate tools that allow contextualizing the experience and enriching it with augmented, georeferenced information and on a timeline, is something completely new and innovative. Transferring the visitor to a space in time, where they can experience in first person with these spaces, social and cultural contexts and better understand the what, why and for what of all that. The interrelation between space, time and geography are the key to understanding the culture and evolution of societies and the impact around them. Something that allows us to broaden the focus of what we knew up to now and that helps us to know and interpret the reason for things with greater value.

«Magical and Mystery Tour around the Cultural Heritage» , the immersive experience, has been the first step we have taken, to share these ideas and work and evaluate the result of the experiences and perceptions of visitors to a new immersive space and interactive. Where the times and the route are set by the user himself. Discover by experimenting and letting yourself be carried away by the senses.

The Magical and Mystery Tour of the City of Cuenca project aims to integrate Virtual Reality technologies and a methodological and scientific approach for the representation of cultures throughout history. This is the result of many years of work by a great team of professionals, which saw the light in web and multiprojection format in the City of Cuenca and after years of work and study, we have reconfigured and recreated in a new context, enriched and expanded with new interactive tools. This is just a first step towards a more comprehensive and up-to-date experience, which will see the light of day in 2021.

The final sample is a complete «Virtual Tour» through the culture, art, architecture, industry and society of the Muslim Civilization in Cuenca / KunKa during the period from the 10th to the 11th century, (Spain). A recent data has been revealed by the archaeologist Santiago David Domínguez, in which according to carbon 14 tests carried out on lime samples collected in the Muslim area of ​​the Cuenca castle wall and the Huécar park wall, they have revealed that the city was founded between the years 950 and 1032. Something that brings more light to the work carried out to date.

Live a virtual journey to those years, strolling through the narrow streets of this fortress, letting yourself be carried away by the imagination and the smells of a wild nature in a very special geographical context. In this virtual exhibition, you can see and feel in the first person, the evolution of the Islamic origins of the City by visiting the «Virtual Reconstruction of the Islamic City», being able to georeferenced and locate the exact location of the ancient city by means of a project developed with «Google Earth VR Pro». Likewise, we can observe the impact and influence of science, culture and social life of the Caliphate of Córdoba, through the work carried out through the study of the «Thousand inventions of the Muslims» and their development and dissemination in the Iberian Peninsula. Here we can observe and manipulate different elements and objects of the time recreated in 3 dimensions. And finally to be able to visit the actual physical space today, through «360º Videos Tour» around the recreated spaces. From the walls and ruins of the castle, streets and the gorges of Jucar and Huecar.

«Magical and Mystery Tour around the Cultural Heritage» of Cuenca, is a unique experience that was born with the vision of being a cultural and transmedia platform, as a multicultural support where cultural heritage, history, archeology, society and art in its many facets are accommodated.

In short, a space full of life open to imagination and the discovery of magical worlds, from Islamic to Christian times to the present day.

Crossroads of cultures that today can be explored thanks to immersive technologies from a spectacular perspective. More than ten years of work, which are now coming to light, thanks to immersive technologies, incorporating the virtual visit to the City of Kunka in Islamic times, to integration with current 360º videos, or flights through the city from Google Earth to recognize the vestiges of those ancestors who filled the city of Cuenca with magic.

I want to dedicate a special section to the musical contribution carried out by the extraordinary composer, musician and friend Chema Vilchez. We have treated the sound in a very special way, natural and recreating sensations that allow you to enjoy a total immersive experience, transferring the body and soul to a recent past full of nuances yet to be discovered.

The land of the three cultures brings magic and charm to this first phase of the project. Advanced immersive multimedia technologies in 3D are the powerful tool to create value around Cultural Heritage and a support for the promotion of sustainable and valuable Tourism.

Today, more than 3,000 visitors from around the world have registered their passage through the virtual exhibition, something that in a face-to-face way would have been completely unimaginable due to the pandemic and its impact on culture, museums and exhibitions .

And finally and not least, I want to thank the magnificent team of professionals who have collaborated throughout these years in this project, and Frame.VR and ONE Digital Consulting for their amazing contribution and technological support to the project.

Have a nice and safe day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

I fell Like I am Learning to Fly, again…

Every morning I wake up imagining a new different day, imagining when this nightmare will end. When we will back again to look at each other’s faces, smiling without masks, feeling without fear … getting excited when walking through forest trails and nature paths, with friends and hugging around, holding hands and playing all these old songs…

So many things I can imagine but, I am really exhausted, I am tired of forcing my mind to find the way out and jump out of this new reality.

The one that we have arrived alone, where the harbors are empty and the souls are broken in oceans full of nightmares. Without being able to react to our own incompetence that sakes our faces every single day…

Without limits, we are capable of overflowing us due to our myopia and lack of solidarity with ourselves. I want to jump out of this new reality, always going down.

Dinosaurs were able to live on this planet for millions of years in the past, we are still bent on our self-destruction, what else?.

Meanwhile, I keep imagining the long mountain bike rides through the valleys, enjoying the long-awaited freedom of my soul, playing my old Gibson guitar under the moon, and the stars.

To all my «real» friends all around the world;+)

Take care and be safe.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

The New «Immersive Learning Experience» Paradigm.

Personal highlights from the “Immersive Learning Research Network 2020 Conference” #iLRN2020

Last June, I had the honor of participating in the Immersive Learning Research Network International Virtual Conference held in the VR collaboration platform VirBELA, and through live streams on iLRN’s Youtube channel.

During the 5 days Virtual Event, hundreds of speakers from all continents, conferences, panel discussions, networking meetings, poster sessions, showcases, live demos, and many other social events were organized by an amazing team of professionals and volunteers.

It is evident, that due to the #Covid and its impact worldwide, the spread of virtual events has been exponential, and with it, the opportunity to participate in global events around the world, without having to move from one place to another, suffer the terrible jet-lags and the consequent savings for the pocket. But if there is something that, especially for me, has special relevance, it is the opportunity to share experiences with experts from all over the world, which would otherwise be materially impossible. Having this wide spectrum of professionals in the same setting, event, campus, or networking activity is a unique opportunity that not everyone knows how to take advantage of and organize properly.

The organization of a global event like that is something really complex. But if this is virtual, and you have to coordinate equipment, rooms, people, and technology in real-time and at a distance … this is much more complex and is not available to everyone. This requires planning, resources, teamwork, and good technology partners. And all of this was brilliantly accomplished during Immersive Learning Research Network. So, my first words are of recognition, gratitude, and congratulations to the whole team.

Personally, it was a magnificent experience, and having the opportunity to meet great friends and colleagues was very refreshing and healthy for the mind. There is always that moment, in which you see someone, you approach to greet him … and you realize that you are an avatar, talking to another avatar … but it is you and it is him. That is really mind-blowing and fantastic at the same time. But I’m counting the days when I can really come up in person and give my friend a real hug … congratulations on that. Very good work.

Professionally and academically speaking, I found it very inspiring due to the number of conferences and presentations that I was able to attend and in which I was able to see first-hand, the real use cases of VR in academic institutions, its evolution and ongoing projects , as well as its vision and evolution for the coming years.

At this point, an article that I recently reread about «It will be 2016 the year of the definitive takeoff of VR / AR» comes to mind. And every year it seems that we keep asking ourselves the same question, without being really aware that this technology is implanted in those industries where it provides value, competitive advantages, and cost savings. But it is constantly evolving and there are multiple ways of using it and adapting to the environments of use. The truth is that there is still a long way to go and meetings like this allow us to confront experiences, opinions and evaluate the degree of progress and results of these experiences. But we will talk about this later.

My contribution was concentrated in two main activities: a presentation and the presentation of the «Magical and Mistry Tour around the Cultural Heritage» showcase.

The Magical and Mystery Tour around Cultural Heritage of Cuenca, it is a unique project experience that was born with the vision of being a cultural and transmedia platform, as multicultural support where cultural heritage, history, archeology, society, and music are accommodated. In short, a space full of life and spaces for imagination and the discovery of magical worlds, from the Islamic to Christian times to the present day. Crossroads of cultures that can be traveled today thanks to immersive technologies from a unique perspective.

More than ten years of work, from the beginnings of the first Islamic reconstructions to the integration with current 360º videos, or flights around the city from Google Earth to recognize the vestiges of those ancestors who filled the city of Cuenca with magic. Advanced 3d immersive multimedia technologies are a powerful tool to create value around the Cultural Heritage. The Magical and Mystery Tour around the City of Cuenca project is aimed to integrate Virtual Reality technologies and methodological and scientific approaches for the representation of cultures across history.

And last but not least, I want to express my most sincere gratitude to Anna Xygkou for the permanent support, and the amazing intro to my session, and the amazing team with Jonathon Richter, Heather Dodds, Donna McTaggart, Tiago Peres, Mark J. Lee, and all the friends and more I met there…Lorelle Vanfoseen, Karen Alexander, Lucia Binotti, Tim Jackson, Julie Andersen Smithson, Daniel Dyboski-Bryant, Amanda Fox, Rob Theriault, and Patrick O’Shea from Versatilist Podcast…;+)

Have a nice and safe day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

#VIRTUALREALITY platforms for #VR in #EDUCATION and #CORONAVIRUS.

Today, due to the coronavirus pandemic, a large part of the world population is confined at their homes and millions of children around the world have closed schools. A situation that forces all education community, to search for efficient and possible alternatives, in order to keep up the pace of the educational year and keep the attention of students in their educational activity.

These days there are many alternatives offering quickly and running like miraculous solutions capable of solving even the unimaginable.

But the truth is that between 17/22 of February, thanks to the initiative of Educators In VR, a group of teachers, students and volunteers from all over the world, with the sponsorship, among others of the VR/AR Association and the #Education Committee. During these days, we were able to bring together more than 150 speakers, almost 100 volunteers and several thousand attendees to the largest Virtual World Event on Education ever imagined. A six days non-stop Summit, with speakers from all continents, in a marathon week in perfect coordination. An exceptional work and developed with great professionalism and enthusiasm by a group of authentic pioneers, among whom we can give thanks for meeting and having lived that fantastic experience in first person.

2020 Educators in VR International Summit brings together educators, learners, researchers, and experts in VR, AR, and XR to share their passion for integrating immersive technology in education.

We want to thank Daniel Dyboski-Bryant, alma-matter of the Summit and Lorelle VanFossen to make it happened: «More than 150 top speakers from all over the world during more than 100 sessions in 6 days». It was just an amazing experience as «Really Pioneers» and putting in common best practices, lessons learned and case studies in #VR / #AR in #Education.

During this event, the VR/AR Association #Education Committee in collaboration with MetaVRse and ONE Digital Consulting organized the #VRARA Panel.

Julie Andersen Smithson, and Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez ,leaded the conversation with the contribution of Olivia Wenzel and Pat Owens. During the presentation, we talked about our mission and activities to promote and develop a professional VR in Education Global Ecosystem, working with top professionals and top companies all around the world.

The VR/AR Association is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. There are over 70 VRARA chapters, with more than 30 Industry experts Committees around the world that meet regularly in person and online.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez is President of VR/AR Association, Madrid and Co_Chair of Education Committee.

Now you can see the complete session here, and get the immersive perception of what is Immersive Learning in #VRSpaces.

Have a nice day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Education is Open 24/7/365

We are living under complex scenarios of uncertainty. The world faces so many #health & #environmental challenges, and #Immersive Technologies can be part of the solution.

In these new times, we must remain calm and opt for consistent and sustainable solutions and proposals. Sometimes these changes are a band aid solution rather than a long-term fix global problem with short-term measures. There are no shortcuts, since from these unpredictable situations we must learn and take advantage of future scenarios of uncertainty.

Experience, knowledge and imagination must allow us to provide ecosystems of certainty and sustainability. And always in perfect harmony with all the components of the Educational Ecosystem.

During the last years, we have been involved in many «International Projects» regarding Immersive Technologies in Education. In Spain with different organizations and Teachers Associations Grupo MYU, in United Arab Emirates with the Ministry of Education, implementing #SmartEducationLabs in 6 public schools and with the European Union (Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and Spain) #Jobs4Tech program, designing and implementing curriculums and methodologies in VR/AR technologies to train the teachers from Vocational Centers and K12 all around Europe.

Recently, we were involved in Educators In VR global Summit in close cooperation with VR/AR Association Education Committee. Educators in VR made history a couple of weeks ago by holding the largest immersive virtual conference, the 2020 Educators in VR International Summit. It featured 170 speakers in over 150 events on 5 different virtual platforms over 6 days, and an estimated 6,000 people attended.

And last but not least, as Co-Chair of VRAR Association Education Committee and my company ONE Digital Consulting as sponsor of the Committee, we are working in close cooperation with all our members on: Best Practices, helping organizations to implement VR/AR at Schools and organizing «Virtual Meetings» every 2 weeks with the most relevant experts in VRAR in Education around the world.

This experience and global perspective give us the opportunity to offer to the education community our knowledge and contrasted experience to implement realistic and sustainable solutions right now.

For more info, you can contact direct to me: carlos.ochoa@onedigitalconsulting.

Have a nice day.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

VR Day in Madrid 2019

Carlos J. Ochoa, Co_Chair VRARA Education Committee. Madrid 23.11.2019

This weekend the Madrid VRAR Association participated in the VRDayMadrid 2019, within the “Virtual Reality World Day” framework. An event organized by xRWorldMadrid, an independent VR/AR group, sponsored by Everys, GreySkull and butic The New School and supported by VR/AR Association, Samsung, Talent Garden and RealoVirtual.

As one of the world’s referenced VR/AR live events, the VRDay draws industry experts from many verticals and enthusiasts from companies and universities to explore the latest advancements, knowledge and prototypes in VR/AR technology. During the complete Saturday, more than 200 attendants, 20+ speakers, 10+ exhibitors, 5 thematic round tables, 2 workshops and 2 masterclasses and an amazing demo zone with more than 10 VRAR experiences and a live performance, 2019 was the biggest year yet (according the organization).

The VRARA was represented by the Chapter President and Co_Chair of Education, Carlos J. Ochoa and 4 of our most relevant Spanish members and executives from: Seabery, Virtualware, participating in the Industry panel, Visyon presenting the Masterclass ElCano360 and ONE digital consulting in the Education and Training panel.

We were invited to participate in the Roundtable of VR in Education, to talk about future scenarios of «Training of Educators of the Future». An excellent panel of experts with the participation of Chelu Martin from the IE Business School, Gonzalo Mariscal from XRLab of the European University, Carlos J. Ochoa of VR/AR Association and ONE Digital Consulting and the and moderated by Marco Antonio Fernández of Butic the New School .It was a very special opportunity to contrast the state of VR / AR in Education, from different points of view: University labs, teachers and industry. This allowed us contrasting realities materialized in ongoing projects, and new challenges that are drawn on a very attractive and exciting horizon.

We had the opportunity to present the Association Ecosystem and in particular, the activities of the Education Committee, the White Paper of VR in Education and the VR/AR in Education Survey.

I want to express my gratitude to the organization and their team, for the excellent work done hanging the «Sold Out» sign for several weeks before.

“Attending VRDayMadrid was a great opportunity to showcase the strength of the VR/AR ecosystem, and the incredible talent at work, case studies and projection from our members and share experiences and opportunities with other local companies and institutions.” Carlos J. Ochoa, President of the VRAR Association Madrid Chapter.

Media news: Real o Virtual

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Empowering the teachers of today, for the citizens of the future

Carlos J. Ochoa, Co_Chair VRARA Education Committee. Piacenza (Italy) 24.09.2019

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination” A. Einstein

New technologies are an emerging industry creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurial possibilities. Virtual reality and augmented reality represent incredible areas of opportunity for future job skills. “VR” failed to live up to the wildest promises when the new VR systems launched in 2015. Nevertheless, the number of job postings for “VR and AR” have risen 93% since 2015, with 17% of that growth happening in the past year. 

According to projections set out by the European Commission, market demands for qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists will not be met, seeing a shortfall of up to 500,000 ICT professionals in 2020. Virtual and Augmented Reality solutions are amongst those with some of the highest market demand in the ICT sector by Marketwatch. The global market for augmented reality and virtual reality is estimated to reach USD 766 billion by 2025, registering a 73.7% CAGR during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025

New skills development for more complex jobs is a daily industry demand. Technicians and engineers need to be proficient and continue to change rapidly as tasks become more complex. They need to find the right information at the right moment. Technicians need fast access to all integrated data, to take fast, right and complex decisions.

Education is the driver to sustainability of our economy and functionality of humanity. Educating the individual is the country’s most valuable investment. It represents the foundation for progress and development. Every day we seek to learn new information and the way we take the lessons and apply to our everyday lives, is the core of how we explore we grow and we build futures for ourselves. 

If we wish to prepare a generation of citizens, entrepreneurs and leaders for the 21th. century who can face real-world problems, we must give them real-world problems to solve. Future jobs opportunities around VR/AR.

Through virtual and augmented realities, the technology allows the user to immerse themselves into a virtual experience or location and the immersive lesson is retained at a much quicker time frame with a more impactful lasting memory. VR & Learning, by the National Training Laboratory, advised retention rates for lecture style learning were at 5%, with reading rates at 10%. Meanwhile, the teaching method of VR scored a retention rate of 75%.

Understanding we are moving into a world with exponential growth, there is a necessary requirement to update our education system to support innovative technologies to understand how it will be applied to job creation and support digital support systems and processes.

The demand of the companies in the industry sector, with respect to their future workers, is that they have social skills and competencies such as leadership, motivation, perseverance, flexibility, communication, etc. Focusing on the development of skills and abilities aimed at a specific sector, in this case the Virtual Reality subsector ensures its better assimilation, greater effectiveness of training and a more complete response to what companies demand in profiles of these characteristics. For instance, in the Vocational Training includes subjects oriented to career guidance and orientation, but they lack a transversal skills development approach and these are not addressed directly in the itineraries.

The integration of transversal skills required for the sector, as well as technical competencies related to the latest trends, will comprehensively cover the labour market demands of new technologies and will ensure the best inclusion of VET students in the technological labour market of the future. The Future of Work by EAPN.EU.

It is time to take actions and introduce disruptive elements in our education system. Traditional methodologies and normalization already fail to provide rapid solution to the society needs. Velocity and acceleration are key factor for this unpredictable horizon, where education will play a key role for citizens of the future. Disruptive Innovation in Education?.

Humanity is at the beginning of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is building on both VR & AR applications and solutions. The changes to the way we teach, and the curriculum needed to support innovative time is required to support the graduating generations into a workforce rapidly changing and evolving using digital applications not yet taught in our schools’ systems. Day to day operations and day-to-day systems will be using VR and AR systems to be engaged in the operations.

VR & AR for Education is mandated for the following reasons:

• To engage our current students and future generations in the Digital Age
• To provide education of the tools, the technology, the applications of VR & AR to be used in future jobs
• To provide best practices for the classrooms
• To provide engagement tools for Students, Parents & resources for Teachers & Mentors
• To be the leader and resource of VR & AR applications that relate to extending knowledge to support the application, build or creation of the technology to use in our everyday lives

At this moment, some relevant topics need to be include in the Disruptive School Environment and new teacher’s agenda for Schools of the Future:

• Reimagining new Smart Spaces at schools
• Classroom as a set of devices
• 5 Senses learning a immersive learning technologies
• Improve the hierarchy of needs in XR in Education
• Convergence of technologies with and integrated vision
• Soft skills integration with IT in the “Teachers Training Program”.
• Collaboration Platforms. Virtual environments where the educational community can share best practices and experiences in a global and multicultural environment. Videos, presentations and forums integrate education materials from different sources in different formats.

It is in this context where Carlos J. Ochoa, Co_Chair of VR/AR Association Education Committee and Co-Founder of ICICLE ( X-Reality for Learning and Performance Augmentation, collaboration with Acer Education presented “Immersive Realities in Educational 4.0 Ecosystems” in the framework of Scuola e Virtuale in Piacenza.  Scuola e Virtuale, an international event along with Liceo Melchiorre Gioia, Impara Digitale, Indire and Microsoft, to spread awareness about immersive technologies in education, where more than 1000 professionals attendants ( teachers, students, managers and experts from different industries and sectors).

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

Best Practices in VR in Education. Chapter ONE

Throughout this year, I had the opportunity to write the «White Paper» of «Best practices in VR Education» for the prestigious international VR/AR Association, in collaboration with some reference members of the Education Committee and sponsored by ONE Digital Consulting and Vuze Cameras.

A reference document that aims to be support for managers, teachers, students and professionals who in one way or another are within the educational ecosystem. Throughout several chapters I analyze the status and evolution of the implementation of IT in Education, current technological trends and the benefits of Virtual Reality in Education today.

This document is only a small part of the entire work, which took me more than two years of study, analysis and editing. So I am in the revision phase of a second edition, much more complete and detailed, where I enter much more in depth and detail in the chapters of creation of immersive content, ecosystems, project orientation, experiential developments, levels of sensory perception and immersion and VR/AR ecosystems adapted to the different levels of education, as well as implementation methodologies and use cases.

This new version will be published throughout the month of June / July and will be presented exclusively at the Míranos y Únete in Madrid, where hundreds of teachers will take the opportunity to evaluate and participate in different live workshops.

Meanwhile, you can download the previous version in this link.

https://www.thevrara.com/blog2/2018/11/27/the-vrar-association-publishes-best-practices-for-vr-amp-ar-in-education

Any questions to this respect, I am at your disposal at carlos.ochoa@onedigitalconsulting.eu.

Good day and good luck.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez (c)

Future Jobs Opportunities around VR/AR

Versatilist with Carlos Ochoa Fernandez Podcast.

New technologies are an emerging industry creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurial possibilities. Virtual reality and augmented reality represent incredible areas of opportunity. VR failed to live up to the wildest promises when the new VR systems launched in 2015. But the number of job postings for VR and AR have risen 93% since 2015, with 17% of that growth happening in the past year.

According to projections set out by the European Commission, market demands for qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists will not be met, seeing a shortfall of up to 500,000 ICT professionals in 2020. Virtual and Augmented Reality solutions are amongst those with some of the highest market demand in the ICT sector.

Education is the driver to sustainability of our economy and functionality of humanity. Every day we seek to learn new information and and the way we take the lessons and apply to our every day lives, is the core of how we explore we grow and we build futures for ourselves.

Through virtual and augmented realities, the technology allows the user to immerse themselves into a virtual experience or location and the immersive lesson is retained at a much quicker time frame with a more impactful lasting memory. VR & Learning, by the National Training Laboratory, advised retention rates for lecture style learning were at 5%, with reading rates at 10%. Meanwhile, the teaching method of VR scored a retention rate of 75%.

Understanding we are moving into a world with exponential growth, there is a necessary requirement to update our education system to support innovative technologies to understand how it will be applied to job creation and support digital support systems and processes.



It is in this context where Patrick O’Shea and myself, both from ILRN (Immersive Learning Research Network) and ICICLE ( X-Reality for Learning and Performance Augmentation, IEEE IC Industry Consortium on Learning Engineering) talk about Immersive Education around Cup of Coffee.

Thanks Patrick, for this amazing conversation.

Join the podcast here

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernádez ©

Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training II

You asked the questions, and here are the answers.

David Trainor, Jeff Meador, Marlo Brooke, Carlos Ochoa, Tyler Forster

Committees, Training Committee

Our Training Committee held a very successful webinar on “The Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training” on 16th January 2019.

You can watch the Webinar recording here

You can also watch the solution demos here

It proved a popular event, with over 300 people registering to watch four enlightening presentations on very different Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality training applications. During the lively question-and-answer session it became clear that the number of great questions was larger than the time available to answer them all! This post allows the presenters to respond the questions that couldn’t be answered during the webinar.

Presenter 1 : David Trainor, Sentireal

Presentation Theme

David presented the “AppUccino” software, which delivers AR experiences for special-needs trainees to learn how to be a barista and work successfully in a commercial coffee shop. AppUccino directs trainees through the process of making americano, espresso, latte and cappuccino drinks. It generates AR overlays on the physical coffee-making equipment, including the industrial coffee machine itself, the separate coffee bean grinder and the separate water heater. A short video of part of the AppUccino AR experience can be seen here. Trainee performance measurements are taken as they prepare the drink using AppUccino and these measurements are uploaded to a cloud application, which analyzes them and presents training progress information to authorized training managers. An initial pilot with AppUccino indicated that trainees retained twice the amount of information and developed their skills 50% faster using AppUccino.

Webinar Questions for David Trainor

You said it took ~9 months of definition and dev, how many people were working on your team in which roles in order to accomplish this?

We used one media/content creator and one software developer. The work was carried out over the course of 9 months, but neither the content creation nor the software development role was full-time.

How were the analyses done? Observation? Performance against criteria on task?

The analyses were done based on (i) time taken for the trainee to perform certain tasks (ii) measurements of how accurately the trainee performed certain tasks and (iii) estimates of where the trainee’s attention and focus was at specific points in the procedure.

How many users has Appuccino had? What has been the impact? In how many months after development did you achieve that impact?

We’ve just completed an initial evaluation/pilot involving 15-20 trainees within a coffee shop managed by a partner training organization. At some point in February 2019 we intend to expand this to all barista trainees within that training organization.

How long did it take to create AR content for training?

The 3D models for the AR overlays were completed in approximately 1 week. The media is actually quite simple. Strong, simple content proved to be the best way to present the required information to special needs trainees who are affected by autism, Downs Syndrome or general learning difficulties. However we needed to spend much more time – about 4 months – on the instructional design and the directions, animations and transitions within the AR scenarios.

How did you already go about gathering data on ROI prior to the development (and also launch) of the app?

The data was gathered from a pilot study at one location. This was after the app was developed but before it was publicly released.

Very exciting project! Curious why you selected that small, unique demographic to start? Unique requirements? Expect to scale up to other populations?

We picked barista training as it’s an area where there is expected to be a lack of qualified employees in the future. In the UK, where I’m from, it is estimated that there is a shortfall of 40000 trained baristas. We selected special-needs barista trainees because there is a high degree of underemployment in that group and if we can create a good intuitive solution for special-needs trainees then it should scale up well to other groups and other types of catering or hospitality training applications.

Are these analytics published somewhere?

Not yet – the small pilot study that we’ve carried out gave us some indications on the training improvements and return on investment from AppUccino but we’re starting a larger evaluation in February 2019, when more trainees start to use the app at our partner training organization. We plan to publish the detailed outputs from this larger study.

Presenter 2 : Jeff Meador, Portico

Presentation Theme

Jeff presented Portico’s Diversity and Inclusion VR Seminar, which provides learners the opportunity to practice and master their skills with inclusive language. This program was designed to complement traditional classroom learning by preparing learners with practical applications of the skills discussed during classroom sessions. With Portico’s software, learners speak directly to AI-powered digital avatars and engage in simulated conversations that put their skills to test. Learners also get real-time feedback on their performance through a virtual trainer, who uses AI to guide users towards better language choices.

Webinar Questions for Jeff Meador

How did you factor in orientation to the VR experience to overcome novelty or unfamiliarity with the technology to get straight to the experience?
We didn’t want to rely on the learner having any previous experience with VR. We give users time to look around and explore prior to beginning the scenario. This gives them a chance to understand the parameters and boundaries of the exercise. We also engage in some light chit-chat (“how’s the weather” sort of stuff) to let the learner know that they are expected to talk and that the AI is listening and will respond.

Do you need a quiet room?

A quiet room certainly helps. Current speech-to-text technology is very strong, but having a quiet place for the training is very helpful. It also helps the learner concentrate on the task at hand.

Is Portico looking at including body language (proximity to client gestures, etc.)?

Yes; we’ve done some preliminary work with this and have set some behaviors that change based on the learner’s position and/ or focal point during the training.

How is the real time interaction happening? is it a sort of multiplayer training and a mentor is interacting with you? or the AI is giving you feedback?

Everything within our scenarios is driven by AI, including the feedback. Our goal is to have these role playing experiences run without the need for actors or facilitators.

Presenter 3 : Marlo Brooke, AVATAR Partners

Marlo presented a Mixed Reality Training System for aircraft and aircraft subsystem maintenance. Primarily an Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality solution, this high-fidelity, industrial-grade maintenance training system scales from a tabletop model design, to a full-sized aircraft, allowing the maintainer to train on the job, hands free, at the point of need, without any jitter or drift. The system utilizes object tracking (as opposed to stickers or markers) to ensure highly accurate lock on target, even as the user moves around the aircraft. It also  integrates to any backend system to both retrieve and record/send information about the maintenance task. It supports collaborative tasks and remote assistance.

Webinar Questions for Marlo Brooke

How did you come up with your pricing for your offerings?

Pricing is based on the specific requirement of the customer. AVATAR Partners can develop the application in its entirety, and/or the customer can purchase SimplifyXR to build/extend all or some of the functionality. Furthermore, because we use open source products such as Unity, the customer does not need to purchase SimplifyXR to extend any AVATAR Partners built XR solutions.

Is SimplifyXR proprietary to you or is it 3rd party?

SimplifyXR is is developed by AVATAR Partners using open source development tools, and can integrate to any backend system through APIs. It is licensed and sold through AVATAR Partners and its certified resellers. SimplifyXR is not required to extend any AVATAR Partner XR applications.

Could you please clarify how 97% reduction was calculated? Does it mean that instead of 100 hours of training without glasses only 3 hours with glasses are required?

You are correct. The training task was calculated based on the current training method for that particular wire failure, which involved an experienced maintainer gathering information from 3 different source materials (ETM, Wire Illuminator, and 2D schematics) to trace and identify the wire failure. The current training method is documented as taking 4 hours on average. The AR training experience is 7 minutes in duration, which is a 97% reduction in time to train.

Marlo, you said you have offices around the country.  I didn’t hear if Portico has the same, but do either of your companies look to establish satellite offices in more remote locations? If so, what type of environments do you look for? Developed workforce, local colleges, etc?

AVATAR Partners has regional offices in Huntington Beach CA, Arlington (Crystal City) VA, Virginia Beach VA, and Patuxent River MD, with personnel working in 8 different states within the USA. AVATAR has teaming partners with offices in Atlanta GA, Orlando FL, San DIego CA, Dayton OH, and Fort Worth, TX. We are expanding based on a variety of factors including the locations of teaming partners, certified resellers, and universities both within the USA and Allied Nations.

Marlo, how did you measure those analytics?

The performance metrics were derived from test results by AVATAR Partners based on the comparison of the current methodology versus the use of XR. These tests included accuracy,  time to train, and time to complete the task. Cost savings were derived based on an assumed reduction of errors based on increased accuracy, and will vary depending on the application and cost of parts. We also discussed other studies such as the Boeing/Iowa State Study on wing assembly (Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2014).

I’m not familiar with SimplifyXR — can you describe what that is and whether that is proprietary to AVATAR?

SimplifyXR is a software product developed by AVATAR Partners that allows non-programmers to develop their own Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and Virtual Reality experiences. It also speeds development time by tenfold by using a user-friendly interface. The product also evaluates the user’s desired XR application and notifies the user whether or not the application is well suited for XR, or if a different training media (e.g. video training) would be more effective. SimplifyXR is owned and licensed by AVATAR Partners, and is developed using open-source tools and industry standards, and also integrates to any backend system using APIs. The product is available directly through AVATAR Partners or certified resellers.

Was there a problem using AR on an object as large as an aircraft?

We overcame several challenges to make the solution commercially usable. Using the basic development tools and markers didn’t work – it caused significant drift, jitter and an inability to accurately track the object as the maintainer walked around the aircraft. AVATAR Partners was able to overcome all of these issues by developing algorithms to lock on target without any drift or jitter to the user. Our solution being hardware agnostic, we found the Microsoft Hololens and android tablet supported higher fidelity. Also, we used Mantis Vision 3D scanners to scan the aircraft, gaining an accurate 3D model so that we could use object tracking (instead of markers). This along with our programming algorithms provides the maintainer with absolute precision as they walk around the aircraft, regardless of the unit’s size (from 1:6 the model size, to full aircraft).

Presenter 4 : Carlos Ochoa, ONE digital consulting

Presentation Theme

Carlos presented XR platform for immersive training, operation and maintenance of industry plant services, eolic farms, which includes advanced reality technologies in 3d interactive environments (extended reality, 360º video and digital data integration), methodologies in a modular architecture (on/off line). Innvestion deploy an intelligent XR ecosystem with the specialized know-how to turn unstructured data into value-adding information, for specific subject when providing services such as preventive maintenance, security management or operational management. Simulation-based training, prefaced with traditional training methods on process fundamentals, is the most efficient and fastest way to train new employees and prepare them for their daily work providing huge added value and benefits.

ONE digital consulting has been working for more than 20 years in the eLearning and Training arena, and with our selected partners network in Europe, Saudi, India, Africa and Latam.

Webinar Questions for Carlos Ochoa

What hardware configurations are everyone on the panel currently using for their XR applications?

For a full INNVESTION experience, the user only needs a mobile device and VR glasses that fit the device. The training centre will need an internet connection to download different modules.

INNVESTION can be used in a single “low cost” VR environment based on Samsung Gear Mobile VR, through the most advanced VR Oculus Rift, HTC Vive configuration. The key issue of INNVESTION is data integration in one device. From reality to virtual reality or vice versa.

INNVESTION can be used in a multi window spheric environment, for multiuser training environments.

What are KPI’s?

The acronym KPI sounds for Key Performance Indicator. This is a general business term referring to any metric used in understanding how an organization is doing. While the term can be tossed around the business world ostentatiously or irrelevantly, the fundamental rationale derives from the simple concept that if you don’t know how you did in the past, you don’t know if you have improved in the future. Because every business has its own economic niche, customer acquisition models, geographic localities, production methods, etc., each business must define for themselves what makes them successful. Therefore, the “key” in KPI, should be a metric key to your enterprise. These indicators are as varied as your imagination, but a number of familiar indicators include monthly recurring revenue (MRR), cost to acquire a customer (CAC) and the term used in this webinar’s title, Return on Investment (ROI).

When you are looking to improve your ROI in your training strategy, you need to understand clearly the training savings metrics, saved commute hours, lifelong expense of your LMS solution, overall productivity and revenue increase, other factors specific to your business and training model.

In conclusion, we can see selected companies  transforming their business opportunities for the XR technology and adopt it regardless of cost and ‘clunkiness.’ Today we see leader enterprises utilizing XR for training, maintenance, engineering, and marketing purposes. These companies eventually pull everyone else in their direction as the industry caters to their operational needs and chases enterprise benefits.

Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training

“We must develop a comprehensive and globally shared view of how technology is affecting our lives and reshaping our economic, social, cultural, and human environments. There has never been a time of greater promise, or greater peril.” — Klaus Schwab

We are just starting 2019, with new hopes, ideas and projectsaround Innovation in Education and Training.

The opportunities that will be available to enterprises when the Fourth Industrial Revolution begins to take shape, like increased productivity and efficiency, improved customer quality service, faster access to data and value information, and massive improvements in enterprise. These are the 4 key success factors for the next years.

Investment increasing competitiveness: A clear majority of companies believe that the digital transformation to Industry 4.0 will increase their competitiveness. Utilise opportunities and reduce risks: Industry 4.0 represents a number of major opportunities for all companies. It will open up new ways for companies to integrate their customers’ needs and preferences into their development and production processes.

Standardisation through Integration IT Tech and Digital Data: There is some confusion with companies trying to innovate as to which standards will be adopted in the next five years. A huge challenge to overcome will be to derive a standardized system that works for all parties and allows for both horizontal and vertical integration, and results in maximum value for both present and future investments.

Workforce and new skills development: Adjusting talent and IT resources. Most of the companies noted that in many areas, they do not have all the staff they need to make the digital transformation to Industry 4.0. The need for efficient and effective workforce training and operation in the industry worldwide has become acute. Thanks to VR/AR, «advanced reality technologies and» digital information, technicians can focus in operation & maintenance task enables them to cut down on time spent on administrative tasks, significantly increasing productivity.

Disruptive Innovation through empowering exponential technologies: A majority of companies agreed that there are several key technologies “AI, IoT, BC, 3D printing, XR or Digital Twins” will accelerate the transformation process. Most companies are only just beginning to use these technologies and there is a risk that they may miss the opportunity, because some competitors have already been implementing it for several years and are developing the next generation of applications.

Simulation-based training, prefaced with traditional training methods on process fundamentals, is the most efficient and fastest way to train new employees and prepare them for their daily work providing huge added value and benefits.

Imagine how data transmitted from a Wind Turbine engine while operates can provide advance notice of potential failures. How use digital twins for engines to monitor their performance and carry out preventive maintenance. How digital twin technology is helping Companies understand and manage the operation of machines operating around the world, and craft next generation wind turbines and engines.

What is the digital twin?: A digital twin, according to Gartner, is a digital representation of a physical object. It includes the model of the physical object, data from the object, a unique one-to-one correspondence to the object, and the ability to monitor the object.

Digital twins have been around since 2002, but only gained momentum in 2017 when they became cost-effective thanks to an increase in the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technologies, which enable low cost, high storage and compute, high throughput messaging, security, and more.

Now, you can join Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández and ONE Digital Consulting at VR/AR webinar to discuss the ‘Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training‘ released last January 16, 2019. With David Trainor, Jeff Meador, Marlo Brooke. With 300+  registered attendees for this live session including Q&A.

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández

VR/AR Platform for Industry Base Training Simulation. Digital Transformation 4.0

Introduction

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein

New technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence are rapidly changing people’s jobs and lives. Technology will likely change many of the existing jobs, requiring workers and companies to adjust. While maybe only one in seven jobs may be lost to automation, many others will change significantly. OECD suggests in their study (2018), that around 14% of all jobs across 32 countries analyzed have a high risk of automation, 32% of existing jobs may experiment significant changes to how they are carried out.

In the other hand, and according the OECD study, It is now essential to ensure that schools prepare students for a world in which they will constantly be adjusting to new technologies, new business models, and new ways of working. People, including young people, need to be equipped with the type of skills that will allow on average 25 job changes throughout their lives.

Therefore, learning systems will need to adapt to the changes brought about by automation and teach students that allow them to take full advantage of the current wave of technology adoption. This includes skills such as cognitive and social intelligence but also extends to the skills needed to work effectively in a digital context, both as specialists and users of digital technologies.

The Problem

New technologies are an emerging industry creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurial possibilities. According to projections set out by the European Commission, market demands for qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists will not be met, seeing a shortfall of up to 500,000 ICT professionals in 2020. Virtual and augmented reality solutions are amongst those with some of the highest market demand in the ICT sector.

Skills, and skills development, are an essential component of all efforts in this challenging society. Too many workers are simply unprepared to meet the needs of firms, particularly in more competitive economic environments.

New skills development for more complex jobs. Technicians need to be proficient and continue to change rapidly as tasks become more complex. Find the right info at the right moment. Technicians need fast access to all info to take fast and complex decisions.

• High Training cost. Time, resources, maintaining and quality standards.
• High Digitalization cost (paper, no automatization processes, decision taking.
• Data integration and maintenance. Manuals, documents, files…
• Data visualization. Format, devices, availability, usability
• Risk and performance. New complex and unpredictable situations. Actions based training methodology.
• Quality, standards and sustainability
• Expensive or difficult hand on practice (no experimental, no real world scenarios…)
• Difficult assessment process.
• Most of existing solutions are isolated, expensive and not VRAR designed. Also have a gap about learning processes, methodology and instructional approach.

Industry 4.0 Demands

Industry 4.0 is the of automation information and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.

• Enhanced productivity through optimization and automation
• Provide real-time data and information for real-time decision makers
• Business continuity through advanced maintenance and monitoring possibilities
• Higher quality products as a result of real-time monitoring and technology convergence
• Better working conditions and superior sustainability

The Solution

Engineers with the right skills, with excellent experience and experimental training, are the demands in the industry worldwide has become acute.

The need for efficient and effective workforce training and operation in the industry worldwide has become acute. VR/AR technology is the most efficient and fastest way to educate new employees and prepare them for their daily work. In the other hand, thanks to VR/AR and digital information, technicians can focus in operation & maintenance task enables them to cut down on time spent on administrative tasks, significantly increasing productivity.

VR/AR and Simulation-based training also helps increase professionals confidence because they can practice procedures until they master them. Further, trainees become more aware of safety procedures because they have to follow them in the simulations.

• Reducing Training cost. Experiential training based on VRAR give real-time feedback and improve the efficiency of skills transfer, increased knowledge retention.
• Reducing delays & mistakes. Using collaborative VR/AR and digital documentation, we can integrate “all in one”. Minimizing time to action in decision taking providing technicians the complete background on an asset, detailing all historical data and repairs to quickly perform the task in hand.
• Improving Safety. Dangerous or difficult to replicate scenarios can be safely simulated with VRAR. This allows monitors to repeatedly practice critical or unpredictable scenarios while preventing damage to equipment and persons.

• Improving quality, and standards. Experiential Training through VRAR actively participation in the activities obtaining higher retention rates. VRAR training allows employees to receive hands on training, in a virtual environment. This prevents expensive down time and disruptions in normal operations
• Improving assessment process. Monitors can create specific complex situations to be resolved, where Technicians will deal with different task according their role or responsibility. They will be evaluated based on their performance on the relevant work items. This information can be integrated with the company’s internal record keeping systems for certification and/or administrative action.
• Improving preventive maintenance. Integrating applications such as electronic job sheets and work orders, on-site workers are now able to focus on the task in hand while using VRAR with tablets or smartphones. This enables them to cut down on time spent at the end of each day on administrative tasks, significantly increasing productive-time.
• Faster and better decisions. Decision-making processes are shortened and problems, as well as defects, can be resolved quickly and efficiently

Imagine a solution, that deploy an intelligent VR/AR ecosystem with the specialized know-how to turn unstructured data into value-adding information, e.g. when providing services such as preventive maintenance, security management or operational management.

INNVESTION is an innovative platform for training, operation and maintenance of plant services, which includes advanced reality technologies in immersive environments (extened reality, 360º video), methodologies in a modular architecture (on/off line).

A cloud platform will allow users to download the different modules. For a full INNVESTION experience, the user only needs a mobile device and VR glasses that fit the device. The training centre will need an internet connection to download modules, and these can be accessed offline, only needing a connection to update new content.

INNVESTION can be used from a single “low cost” VR device based on Samsung Gear Mobile VR, through the most advanced VR Oculus Rift, HTC Vive configuration.

The Results

Simulation-based training, prefaced with traditional training methods on process fundamentals, is the most efficient and fastest way to train new employees and prepare them for their daily work providing huge added value and benefits:

• Faster project execution, commissioning and ”time to market“ through improved collaboration
• Cost savings through consistent plant information available at all times
• Higher plant availability, integrating real time data and 3d visualization
• Safe and efficient plant operations

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

More information:

www.carlosjochoa.com

www.onedigitalconsulting.com

Transformando la Educación con Tecnologías Inmersivas. Parte 1ª.

Durante estos últimos tiempos, se está especulando mucho sobre si la Realidad Virtual será o no la nueva “killer app” en la Educación en un futuro inmediato.

Pero quizás el error comienza con la pregunta, que intenta llevarnos a un callejón sin salida ni sentido. No se trata sólo de Realidad Virtual o Aumentada. En la actualidad, podemos reconocer la Realidad Avanzada, como la convergencia de tecnologías inmersivas en donde además se integran otras tecnologías emergentes aportando un abanico de herramientas que permiten afrontar problemáticas y proyectos, con soluciones jamás antes imaginadas y mucho más próximas a la realidad. De esta manera, se puede «interconectar el mundo físico con el real», creando un espacio digital interactivo, en donde desarrollar experiencias reales. O como dice el inventor de HoloLens Alex Kipman: el mundo de los átomos y el mundo de los bits

Si volvemos a la pregunta del inicio, vemos que esta pierde realmente el sentido desde la propia definición de estas tecnologías. Ya que no estamos hablando de aplicaciones, de dispositivos o de contenidos…Estamos hablando de una evolución de las tecnologías de la información, que revoluciona completamente la manera de interactuar con los ordenadores o las maquinas. Un nuevo ecosistema tecnológico y con nuevas metodologias a emplear.

Podemos decir sin ningúna duda, que es mucho más fácil aprender algo haciéndolo por nosotros mismos que siendo meros observadores, lectores o escuchando una lección. Por tanto, no resulta tan sorprendente que las tecnologías que te sumergen en escenarios inmersivos sean experiencias y acciones que se sientan dentro de ti de una manera natural, como tus propias experiencias y que sean un poderoso vehículo para entrenar varias habilidades y compartir conocimientos.

Por ello, y tal como he explicado en varios artículos anteriores, creo firmemente que el aprendizaje experiencial es el futuro de la educación.

Y de todo ello hablamos en la Feria de la Educación y en Aula 2018.

Seguimos…

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

ESCUELAS DEL FUTURO

La realidad avanzada (virtual, aumentada, mixta) es hoy en día una de las grandes tendencias tecnológicas y en particular en la educación. Sin embargo, si preguntamos a un profesor tipo sobre cuáles cree que son los beneficios de usar la realidad virtual en sus clases, muchos mirarían hacia otro lado, o simplemente no contestarían. Y esto lo hemos podido contrastar en nuestros talleres llevados a cabo a lo largo del curso pasado. ¿Por qué? Porque muchos profesores/educadores se suben al carro de las nuevas tecnologías sin hacer sus deberes previamente. Y al final, los estudiantes se resienten y esto afectará a su proceso de educación y formación de futuros solicitantes/oferentes de trabajo.

Y tras este primer año de experiencias nos preguntamos…¿Está la comunidad educativa preparada para afrontar este gran reto?

Por ello, desde nuestro programa de “Schools of the Future” nos focalizamos especialmente en los profesores y educadores, con el fin de ayudarles a comprender las capacidades y beneficios de las tecnologías avanzadas, su empleo en el aula, la definición de ecosistemas de aprendizaje y su interactuación con metodologías innovadoras.

Según todos los estudios publicados recientemente por las más prestigiosas universidades y consultoras, los estudiantes se sienten atrapados por la tecnología, pero no acaban de dominarla en profundidad. Por lo que el trinomio Profesor/Estudiante/Tecnología debe acoplarse en un nuevo ecosistema, que permita optimizar de una forma eficiente los procesos de aprendizaje y los resultados requeridos para los ciudadanos del futuro.

Es cierto que, mediante un sencillo dispositivo de VR y un dispositivo móvil, los estudiantes pueden ser transportados a lugares y entornos inimaginables. Esto mejora su experiencia de aprendizaje, ayudándoles a visualizar cosas que anteriormente solo eran teóricas. Pero esto no es suficiente. Es necesario que el nuevo ecosistema encuentre su espacio, su porque y el cómo. Dando contestación a problemas de la vida real, algo que de otra manera sería muy costoso, por no decir, casi imposible.

Espacios Inmersivos

Una de las experiencias más apasionantes que hemos puesto recientemente en marcha han sido los “Learning Resource Centers” en 6 colegios públicos de los Emiratos Árabes.

Cuando uno pasea por los colegios alrededor de su país, todos, o la mayor parte guardan una similitud en lo básico. Pupitres en perfecta alineación enfrentados a una pared, de la que cuelga una pizarra digital o similar.

Algo que uno no encontrará en su futuro puesto de trabajo. La creación de nuevos espacios, más inspiradores y prácticos, que permitan transformar las aulas en lugares para la creación, la inspiración, la colaboración y el aprendizaje, facilita enormemente un nuevo ecosistema educativo.

Un espacio, en donde la tecnología no es un recurso más. Es un espacio de convergencia, en donde los distintos instrumentos, herramientas y tecnologías están al servicio de la comunidad para resolver situaciones, ejercicios y problemas del siglo XXI. La posibilidad de realizar actividades inmersivas, vivir experiencias o practicar en un laboratorio virtual tantas veces como sea necesario, permitiendo la experimentación sin riesgo, son sólo algunas de las ventajas que hoy ofrecen estos espacios. Los estudiantes realizan excursiones virtuales en lugar de simplemente leer un texto; están creando medios en lugar de solo mirarlo. El espacio de recursos de aprendizaje está conformado con tecnología integrada, lo que significa que los estudiantes no solo usan estas cosas, sino que también están entendiendo cómo usarlas para lograr un objetivo específico.

Además, algunos de estos espacios de aprendizaje ni siquiera están en el aula. Algunas facultades y universidades están creando espacios de aprendizaje más informales en el campus, porque entienden la importancia de crear y colaborar sin horario ni restricciones y no solamente durante el tiempo lectivo.

Resultados clave

Existe un creciente interés y la adopción de aplicaciones de realidad virtual y aumentada en la educación, particularmente enfocadas a simulaciones, experimentación y exploración virtual.

El renovado interés se debe en parte a la importante reducción de los costes que se está produciendo en estos últimos años, la disponibilidad de banda ancha, el aumento de la disponibilidad de contenidos educativos y la explosiva popularidad de los juegos de realidad virtual (realidad virtual) y de realidad aumentada (AR) como Pokémon GO.

Sin embargo, todavía existen barreras de entrada importantes a la hora de tomar decisiones de inversión. Y la decisión estratégica de cómo abordar un proyecto de esta envergadura, bien desde la adquisición de dispositivos baratos y contenidos genéricos o con una visión más global y de futuro, desde espacios de futuro y aprendizaje disruptivo. Por otro lado, hay una compensación significativa entre precio y calidad en muchas de las herramientas VR / AR disponibles.

La adopción de estas herramientas a gran escala todavía se encuentra en sus primeras etapas, y es probable que veamos un desarrollo sustancial de nuevas aplicaciones en los próximos años.

Trascendencia

El valor de la aplicación de tecnologías disruptivas viene avalado por los problemas que es capaz de resolver y los beneficios que aportará a corto y medio plazo. La nueva generación de aplicaciones y herramientas VR y AR promete respaldar una amplia variedad de actividades de aprendizaje, que incluyen:

Laboratorios Virtuales para su uso en el currículo de Stem: una aplicación obvia que proporciona la capacidad de lograr la manipulación de objetos que de otro modo serían difíciles o imposibles de usar en clase. Como por ejemplo MyStemLabs.

Experiencias: que permiten a los usuarios experimentar virtualmente viajes a lugares remotos o poco probables, incluidas reconstrucciones históricas, así como la oportunidad de crear relatos y narrativas alrededor de estas experiencias, que fomentan la empatía.

Crear aulas virtuales en las que los profesores puedan simular eventos y experiencias; por ejemplo, la plataforma SmartEducationLabs.

Aplicaciones de Realidad Aumentada, que facilitan la comprensión interactiva con objetos y elementos, Aurasma o ARKit.

Los avances en el uso de VR / AR en los juegos están alimentando las expectativas de los consumidores sobre entornos de aprendizaje atractivos. El interés por crear entornos de juego cada vez más realistas está fomentando las capacidades de la tecnología disponible para su uso en un contexto educativo (mientras que los costos continúan cayendo).

Pero lo que será clave en todo caso, es alinear la tecnología con el plan de estudios. Alinear cuidadosamente el contenido y las herramientas de VR / AR que se centran en las necesidades educativas específicas y la aplicación de metodologías de aprendizaje enriquecido serán la clave del éxito.

Recomendaciones

Diseñe un programa piloto, incorporando al equipo de profesores desde el inicio y un plan de formación del profesorado. Identificando objetivos, indicadores y métricas de seguimiento.

• Incremente el nivel de confort de los profesores con contenido de valor y el proceso del programa educativo.
• Potencie el nivel de conocimiento de los profesores sobre los hechos relacionados con el uso de la tecnología mediante seminarios y talleres específicos ampliando el repertorio de métodos, herramientas y acciones a llevar a cabo en el programa.
• Identificar oportunidades de éxito que permita experimentar con pilotos sencillos y contenidos con necesidades de currículo que coincidan con los productos disponibles, para comprender mejor el alcance del soporte requerido y el tiempo del personal cualificado necesario para administrar el proyecto.
• Desarrolle un conjunto potencial de casos de uso para la realidad virtual y aumentada a fin de ayudarlo a identificar las tecnologías VR / AR que funcionarán bien en el aula y evitar errores costosos. Recomendamos emplear la metodología de trabajo, ajustada a la realidad del centro.
• Cree sus propios contenidos y compártalos con la comunidad educativa, será una experiencia muy enriquecedora y apasionante.

Y finalmente, cree un programa de innovación y convergencia tecnología, para estar al día y evolucionar rápidamente de manera que los estudiantes y los profesores jueguen un rol de equipo. Esto será muy productivo y beneficioso para la comunidad.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

REIMAGINANDO EL FUTURO

¿Y si imaginamos un escenario de futuro, en donde todo lo que visualizamos ya está aquí? ¿No deberíamos repensar el pasado, reimaginar el futuro y afrontar este reto de una manera creativa y enriquecedora? ¿Porque nos obsesionamos con negar la evidencia?

¿Y en este escenario, real y que nos rodea, como afrontamos la educación de nuestros hijos? ¿Desde un punto de vista tecnológico, moral y ético? ¿Estamos preparados para ello? ¿O simplemente creemos que no va con nosotros?…

Hoy en día, basta con visitar fabricas (Tesla, Amazon…) y verlas llenas de robots, oficinas dotadas de inteligencia artificial, procesos automatizados y nuevos modelos de negocios disruptivos que rompen las reglas establecidas.

En definitiva, un nuevo escenario impredecible, en donde la incertidumbre es constante y nos debe preparar para hacerla frente con variables nuevas que aporten certidumbre a nuestras decisiones. Una nueva economía que se dibuja bajo nuevas reglas y relaciones empresariales, en donde la mayoría de las personas trabajan en red y de forma autónoma.

Este nuevo escenario, emergente en algunas sociedades y más consolidado en otras, no puede analizarse de forma aislada, ya que perdemos el foco real de lo que está pasando. Si nos alejamos a vista de dron, veremos un panorama general más real de lo que nos imaginamos.

La evolución e impacto de la tecnología, la evolución demográfica, los nuevos empleos y demandas profesionales requeridas por este nuevo modelo que ha ido surgiendo de la post-crisis, recupera todo el sentido gracias a las interconexiones. La red ha sido el gran detonante de este modelo, eliminando barreras y emergiendo una sociedad de pequeños Davides, capaces de hacer frente a grandes Goliats en cualquier lugar del planeta. Y esto está marcando las reglas no escritas de este nuevo escenario impredecible.

Todas aquellas actividades rutinarias y carentes de valor podrán ser realizadas de una u otra manera por maquinas, robots y con la ayuda de la inteligencia artificial, de una manera mucho más eficaz y productiva. El valor de la mano de obra se reduce al mínimo, y además sin horario. La capacidad de producción se multiplica exponencialmente.

Entonces, en este punto nos cabe la reflexión fundamental, ¿qué papel debemos o podemos jugar los humanos? ¿Y cómo nos debemos preparar y formar para ese nuevo escenario, real e impredecible? Y lo que es más importante, ¿Cómo garantizar que los modelos de aprendizaje, educación y formación evolucionen conforme a la demanda actual y además sea sostenible?. Y como adaptarnos a la evolución demográfica, ya que a medida que la fuerza laboral global crezca, sea más joven y más diversa, ¿cómo tendrán que adaptarse los líderes y la cultura de las organizaciones? Y ¿cómo adaptar a las generaciones más mayores a estos nuevos retos y que papel pueden jugar?

Ante un escenario de incertidumbre, que va más allá del mero cambio cultural o la transformación digital. Es necesario aportar certidumbre y soluciones realistas, que permitan mejorar a la sociedad en su conjunto, beneficiarse de este impacto tecnológico.  Esto lleva consigo la necesidad de reimaginar las relaciones laborales, la formación permanente y continua y la revisión del emprendimiento y autoempleo.

Todo ello conlleva así mismo el reimaginar nuestro futuro lugar de trabajo, como nos comunicamos, nos desplazamos, las relaciones con socios, compañeros y clientes, incluso las relaciones globales con partners globales. El acceso a grandes cantidades de datos, su análisis y utilización de manera eficiente y rápida, será un factor diferencial a la hora de tomar decisiones. Así como el empleo de tecnologías avanzadas, como la VR/AR en prácticamente todos los sectores de la industria, integrada con otras tecnologías igualmente emergentes. Para lo cual hay que prepararse rápidamente o nos quedaremos fuera de juego, estableciéndose una brecha digital y ruptura del sistema, de graves consecuencias.

La innovación, la educación y la formación juegan hoy en día un factor crítico de éxito para el desarrollo de la sociedad que quiera ser competitiva para mantener sus estándares de bienestar en el futuro inmediato.

Llevamos años inmersos en el futuro inmediato, pero si bien la velocidad es evidente que marca la evolución de la sociedad, la diferencia del momento actual con el pasado es la aceleración. Y en este punto es donde se diferenciarán las sociedades modernas y adaptadas a las que se irán envejeciendo y perdiendo sus estándares de calidad.

Es el tiempo para el cambio, ya. No podemos perder mas tiempo.

En ONE Digital Consulting trabajamos en la transformación y formación de las empresas a este nuevo escenario. Somos miembros de la VR/AR Association y Co-Chair del Industry Committee of Education.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

HACIA UN NUEVO ECOSISTEMA EDUCATIVO

“La realidad virtual aplicada correctamente a la educación, aporta un valor incalculable”. Entrevista completa realizada a Carlos J. Ochoa en el diario el Mundo y el Economista en junio de 2017.

Aprender inglés en una clase simulada en el fondo del mar sirve, además de para perfeccionar el idioma, para conocer el impacto del hombre en el fondo marino y descubrir así la importancia de la conservación del medio ambiente. Pero, ¿cómo lograr que una clase entera esté rodeada de peces exóticos y corales sin movernos del aula? No es ciencia ficción, es la “Realidad Virtual aplicada al entorno educativo”. La empresa española ONE Digital Consulting, con amplia experiencia en proyectos educativos internacionales, ha creado la plataforma “SmartEducationLabs” para lograr sumergir a profesores y alumnos en innovadoras experiencias educativas.

Vivimos en un mundo que evoluciona a una velocidad nunca antes vista. En el ámbito de la educación, ¿de qué forma pueden mejorar los procesos de aprendizaje gracias a la realidad virtual bien aplicada?

La realidad virtual no se circunscribe únicamente al aula, traspasa los muros de la escuela y puede ser utilizada en cualquier parte, a cualquier hora y tantas veces como se desee. Se trata de una tecnología totalmente disruptiva que crea un entorno de aprendizaje en el que se potencia la creatividad de los alumnos, la motivación y la educación en valores. Creando nuevas experiencias que aproxima la realidad al contexto educativo, en un ciclo de aprendizaje y mejora continuo.

Esta tecnología, ¿ya ha llegado a algunos centros educativos españoles?

Como viene ocurriendo en los procesos de innovación en nuestro país, lo que aparecen son pequeñas “islas de innovación”. Que se ponen en marcha a partir del esfuerzo aislado de profesionales en una labor de “misioneros”, y en base a pasión e iniciativa individual con muy poco apoyo institucional. Y esto no permite crear un auténtico ecosistema de innovación sostenible, que permita replicar modelos de éxito de unas experiencias a otras.

A lo largo del pasado mes de enero realizamos una primera encuesta a nivel nacional a través de redes sociales, con el fin de evaluar el conocimiento e impacto de la realidad virtual en el entorno educativo. Sobre una muestra de 20.000 potenciales usuarios, al analizar los resultados de la misma, pudimos evaluar de primera mano la realidad y expectativas inmediatas de los participantes. Esto nos animó a poner en marcha una experiencia piloto, en la que seleccionamos cuatro centros educativos en España (tres públicos y uno privado) para sentar las bases de proyecto pionero de la plataforma “SmartEducationLabs” a través de talleres de formación de profesores. Es fundamental, y así lo creemos desde nuestra empresa, crear un ecosistema sostenible e implicando a todos los agentes en el proceso de innovación tecnológica educativa. Y por ello, empezamos por la base, la implicación y formación de los profesores.

¿Existe una barrera de desconocimiento entre el profesorado?

En muchos casos sí y quizás sea más el desconocimiento del valor añadido que aporta y las metodologías a emplear, sin olvidarnos de la falta de recursos en los centros educativos. Hemos analizado detenidamente varios estudios de prestigiosas consultoras americanas sobre el impacto de las tecnologías en la educación y sus agentes, desde los profesores a los alumnos y los padres. Y el resumen siempre es el mismo, hay que implicar a todos los agentes desde dentro y no dejarlos fuera pensando que son el problema y no la solución. Algo que se ha manipulado desde grandes players con el fin de inundar de dispositivos los centros escolares, sin aportar un valor añadido real. Y esto si provoca un rechazo frontal entre los profesores.

Sin embargo, la plataforma “SmartEducationLabs” que desarrollamos durante nuestros proyectos educativos fuera de España, fue creada para simplificar y facilitar el acceso a la tecnología de cara a que el profesorado pudiera trabajar con ella simplificando al máximo su uso. Y hacemos especial hincapié en este asunto, el de la formación de los profesores para minimizar las barreras de acceso, a través del programa de talleres de formación para profesores que hemos puesto en marcha de forma paralela a la implantación de la plataforma.

En cuanto a la falta de recursos, hay que tener en cuenta que implantar este sistema en las escuelas no es costoso, de hecho, si lo comparamos con los costes de puesta en marcha de laboratorios de física, química o tecnología, el coste sería infinitamente menor. Pero incorporando un valor añadido adicional, la plataforma es aplicable a todas las asignaturas y se puede acceder a ella en la clase o desde casa a cualquier hora. Esto es, la accesibilidad y disponibilidad de un Laboratorio Virtual, es total, tanto para profesores como alumnos, minimizando costes y optimizando el rendimiento de su uso.

También hemos creado una comunidad educativa virtual, en donde incluimos materiales educativos siempre actualizados y validados, además de nuevas metodologías didácticas. Nuestra propuesta es un nuevo escenario en dónde el alumno es el auténtico centro y protagonista del proceso y el profesor actúa como coach. Los contenidos que ponemos a disposición de la comunidad educativa están validados por nuestro equipo de expertos en educación quiénes discriminan y contextualizan la información.

¿En qué consiste el programa de talleres que imparten a los profesores antes de comenzar a utilizar la plataforma?

Tenemos claro que este proyecto de realidad virtual solo puede tener éxito si pasa por una fase de formación, adecuación e inmersión de los profesores en esta tecnología. De esta forma, les convertimos en alumnos para que vean cómo perciben los estudiantes este nuevo ecosistema educativo.

En este sentido, desde ONE Digital Consulting no entendemos que la realidad virtual sea una nueva herramienta tecnológica como en su día fueron las tabletas o las pizarras electrónicas. Es un nuevo ecosistema que cambiará el concepto de la formación y del aprendizaje aportando a los alumnos un valor incalculable y facilitándoles una aproximación más real a su futuro escenario laboral. Proponiendo problemas reales a resolver desde entornos tecnológicos avanzados. Tal y como se encontrarán en la vida real.

¿Está España preparada para este nuevo ecosistema educativo?

Durante el pasado año hemos estado realizando la implantación de uno de nuestros proyectos educativos referentes a nivel mundial para el Ministerio de Educación de los Emiratos Árabes dentro del Smart Learning Program. En colaboración con un consorcio internacional, participamos en el diseño y puesta en marcha de seis “Learning Resource Centers”, en seis colegios públicos de otras tantas ciudades. Nuestra aportación fue la consultoría y conceptualización del proyecto global y el desarrollo e implantación del proyecto de Realidad Virtual y Aumentada en seis centros de referencia. Hoy en día, podemos decir, sin lugar a dudas, que esta experiencia es absolutamente replicable en nuestro país. Si bien, el cambio debe ser paulatino y gradual para que la utilización de la realidad virtual en el entorno educativo sea realmente eficiente.

En España contamos con un bagaje y una experiencia digital muy valiosa en el sector educativo que nos permitiría ser un auténtico referente a nivel mundial, pero hay que apostar seriamente por ello. “Si queremos formar una generación de profesionales líderes y emprendedores que afronten un nuevo futuro cambiante, complejo y global, debemos dotarles de herramientas y metodologías con las que resolver problemas reales, de lo contrario, seguiremos en el vagón de cola”.

Para finalizar, ¿qué experiencias destacaría de las vividas hasta el momento con este proyecto educativo?

A la hora de crear experiencias educativas inmersivas, reimaginamos nuevos escenarios en donde el alumno o profesor que va a vivir la experiencia sea participe desde dentro. Esto es, debe ser parte de la narración, tanto objeto como sujeto de la misma. Y para ello, asistimos inicialmente a una clase…por ejemplo de idiomas, la grabamos y analizamos lo que allí ocurre. Y elaboramos un nuevo guion, con una narrativa diferente, respetando las reglas de la clase, pero reimaginando la narrativa y contextualizándola en un nuevo escenario. Siempre en consenso con el profesor y los alumnos.

De esta manera, una vez grabada y producida, comparamos los resultados y comentamos la experiencia con profesores y alumnos…y los resultados son sorprendentes y extraordinarios.

Uno de los beneficios que aporta esta metodología de trabajo, es que podemos poner en marcha formas de aprendizaje explícitas o implícitas, jugando con la guionización, el escenario y la interactuación con los alumnos. El rol del alumno virtual, también se puede definir en función de en donde se ejercite la actividad: en clase, en casa o de forma individual.

Una de las experiencias más interesantes que hemos grabado fue una clase de música en el Instituto Tecnológico Rosa Chacel de Colmenar Viejo. “Carros de Fuego”

Asistimos un día cualquiera a una clase de música en el Instituto, grabamos todo lo que allí ocurre, las explicaciones de la profesora, las interacciones con alumnos, la interpretación de una obra, las reacciones de los distintos alumnos a lo largo de la hora de clase…etc.

Una vez visualizada la experiencia, hablando con la profesora, decidimos reguionizar la práctica, creando un nuevo espacio más inmersivo, en donde situamos a todos los alumnos en círculo alrededor de un visitante “teórico” virtual, que les observará desde cualquier lugar del mundo. Se elabora una introducción a la lección, se prepara un video de introducción sobre el objeto de la obra a interpretar “Carros de Fuego” y se introduce a los alumnos en el mundo de Vangelis (músico y compositor de obras de Cine entre otras). Se distribuye a los alumnos en círculo, seleccionando los distintos instrumentos conforme a la mejor sonoridad espacial y conseguir el mejor efecto inmersivo, así como permitir que todos se involucren en la interpretación y creen un clímax especial.

Los alumnos se dejaron llevar de una manera natural, siguiendo la narrativa de la profesora y siendo ellos auténticos protagonistas de la clase dejando que ocurriera algo mágico y espontaneo. Gracias a la experiencia inmersiva, conseguimos que los alumnos se involucrasen e interactuasen interpretando de manera magistral la obra de “Carros de Fuego” Creamos una historia en la que todos eran partícipes y a su vez, ellos recrearon el guion con su involucración e interpretación.

Pero esto no terminó aquí. Una vez terminada la clase y de forma natural, se agruparon alrededor del piano y comenzaron a improvisar distintas canciones, creando un nuevo escenario mágico, en donde fluía la creatividad, la participación y la felicidad en sus rostros. Aquello lo habían creado ellos mismos y por ello se sentían tan felizmente involucrados y desarrollados.

En este caso, estamos trabajando una experiencia centrada en los conocimientos del profesor y por otro lado, en la experimentación, manipulación y aplicación de los alumnos

Inicialmente, el profesor de música quiere enseñar a los alumnos como interpretar y sentir una obra musical, en un determinado contexto. En un aprendizaje explícito el profesor empieza explicando la solución correcta a sus alumnos o ayuda a los alumnos a encontrar la solución correcta.

Realiza una introducción a la obra, presenta un video de la película para introducir a los alumnos al contexto y a partir de este momento, diseña y aplica una serie de conceptos en los cuales espera que los alumnos hayan escuchado su instrucción, la recuerden, la entiendan, la integran en sus esquemas de conocimientos, la apliquen y la integren en su patrón de comportamiento a la hora de interpretar la obra.

Para optimizar el procedimiento, el profesor emplea la retroalimentación en donde involucra a los alumnos en la búsqueda de soluciones ante los planteamientos que les propone el profesor.

En base a estas dificultades encontradas a la hora de enfocar la interpretación, el profesor cambia el enfoque y en vez de aportar las soluciones a los alumnos, les crea dudas que deben ser resueltas por los alumnos. Por ejemplo, que diferencias han encontrado entre la interpretación original y la de los alumnos, el porqué de ese enfoque, que han sentido a la hora de interpretar la obra, como podrían mejorar la interpretación…etc.

Y son los alumnos los que analizan el proceso y aportan las soluciones de forma espontánea y consensuada. En donde nuevamente, se genera una interactuación de retroalimentación en donde la relación entre profesor y alumnos es extremadamente valiosa.

Esta experiencia está integrada dentro de la plataforma “SmartEducationLabs”

Una segunda experiencia la desarrollamos en el Colegio Lope de Vega de Madrid. Acordamos con la dirección del colegio y previa autorización de los padres de los alumnos, recrear una experiencia inmersiva única. Esta fue desarrollada en colaboración con Mr. Charly, un atentico mago de la educación de niños, y que lleva innovando muchos años, a pesar de su juventud.

Conjuntamente diseñamos una experiencia, en la que, a partir de un guion original teatralizado, íbamos a sumergir a niños y niñas de seis-siete años en una clase de inglés en el fondo del mar. El objetivo inicial, era crear una experiencia inmersiva en la que los niños además de aprender la lengua, interactuasen con el medio y descubrieran el impacto del hombre desde el punto de vista medioambiental. Intentándoles sensibilizar a través de la visualización de distintos escenarios naturales con el medio ambiente y el reciclado.

Esto era todo un reto y lo afrontamos sabiendo cómo iba a empezar, pero nunca como iba a acabar. Y al final, se convirtió en una experiencia fue realmente espectacular, emocionante e inolvidable.

Preparamos un escenario de cartón recreando distintos espacios naturales. Así mismo se colocaron varios contenedores de recogida de material para reciclar, a lo largo de la clase y se esparcieron distintos tipos de materiales de basura alrededor del escenario, simulando una playa altamente contaminada.

Todo aquello servía para introducir a los niños en un escenario casi real y muy parecido al que se encuentran cuando salen de vacaciones a la playa o al campo.

Los niños, sentados alrededor de este mundo imaginario, ya habían volado con su imaginación a varios kilómetros de su colegio, y cuando apareció Mr. Charly con sus mascotas, todo se volvió mágico.

La participación, involucración y capacidad de imaginación era desbordante y superaba con mucho las expectativas iniciales…y nos dejamos llevar por el desarrollo de los acontecimientos. Sin saber hacia dónde nos llevaría la experiencia, hasta que fuéramos capaces de visualizarla con los dispositivos de realidad virtual y vivirla por nosotros mismos desde dentro.

En este caso aplicamos el aprendizaje implícito. Esto es, un aprendizaje no-intencional, en donde los estudiantes no tienen consciencia sobre qué están aprendiendo y que resulta en la ejecución automática de una conducta motora. Los niños y niñas atienden las explicaciones del profesor, pero no son conscientes de que están aprendiendo inglés, cuidar el medio o reciclar. Pero con el tiempo, serán capaces de ejecutar esa conducta de una manera automática.

En este momento estamos realizando nuevas experiencias creativas 360º que podrán disfrutarse muy pronto en la plataforma “SmartEducationLabs”.

La tecnología al servicio de la educación

ONE Digital Consulting nació tras varios años de experiencias cosechadas en diversos sectores por el ingeniero Carlos J. Ochoa. En los años noventa, Ochoa trabajó junto a Siemens en proyectos de simulación, y entrados en el nuevo milenio, comenzó a involucrarse en el tema de la realidad virtual de la mano de proyectos impulsados por los centros de I+D europeos de mayor prestigio. En esta época investigó acerca del tratamiento digital de la imagen, sobre el procesamiento de la misma, investigó también en sistemas 3D, en la integración de realidad virtual y realidad aumentada, en el desarrollo de mundos virtuales, navegadores educacionales, etc.

Todo este conocimiento y experiencia acumulada se volcó, en primer lugar, en proyectos innovadores de puesta en valor del patrimonio cultural. Resultado de ello fueron los proyectos de reconstrucción de la ciudad de Cuenca en la época islámica, o la época medieval de Soria. Este complejo desarrollo conseguía que todo este conocimiento llegase al público de forma sencilla. Una vez “conquistado” el ámbito del patrimonio cultural, vio en la educación un área por explorar y en el que la realidad virtual inmersiva tendría un gran potencial por descubrir.

Desde ONE Digital Consulting han trabajado con éxito en proyectos educativos pioneros a nivel mundial en distintos países como los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, Arabia Saudí, Italia o Malta, entre otros. Ahora, esta tecnología disruptiva está llegando, poco a poco, a los centros educativos españoles.

ONE Digital Consulting es miembro de la Asociación Internacional de Realidad Virtual y Aumentada VRA/AR y Carlos Ochoa es Global Co-Chair de la Comisión de Educación.

www.onedigitalconsulting.com

www.smarteducationlabs.com

 “Si queremos formar una generación de profesionales líderes y emprendedores que afronten un nuevo futuro cambiante, complejo y global, en un entorno de incertidumbre, debemos dotarles de herramientas y metodologías con las que resolver problemas reales para afrontar con certidumbre su futuro”.

El Mundo y el Economista junio 2017.

 

¿Real o Virtual?. El nuevo paradigma en la Educación 4.0.

La Realidad Virtual se ha convertido en el nuevo «Big Bang» de la innovación tecnológica y lleva rumbo de convertirse en otra «Nube Explosiva«, si no lo remediamos a tiempo. Cuando el “mundo” de las nuevas generaciones descubre algo novedoso, “lo último” lanzado por el “mundo” de la industria, epata y se deja llevar por imágenes, experiencias virtuales, anuncios…y olvidan filtrar y analizar toda esa información, procesarla convenientemente y ponerla a la disposición de su cerebro, para que de una manera inteligente aporte valor a su vida.

Si, desgraciadamente nos hemos convertido en una sociedad que se mueve a modo de impulsos, titulares y tweets y todo lo demás es información que sobra. Nuestro buffer sólo es capaz de procesar 140 caracteres y los 10 primeros segundos de un video en YouTube.

Aquel que dijo “que la información no ocupa lugar”, era un auténtico ignorante. Ya que el gran reto de la sociedad tecnológicamente avanzada, es almacenar, procesar, analizar y operar las grandes bases de información y convertirlas en datos de valor. E insisto, “VALOR”; no toda la información tiene valor, ni todo dato es susceptible de convertirse en información para crear valor.

Y con la innovación y las nuevas tecnologías y su aplicación en el día a día, ocurre algo muy parecido. Inteligencia artificial, digitalización, fotogrametría digital, robótica, realidad virtual…son conceptos del siglo pasado, en los que algunos hemos estado investigando y desarrollando durante años. Aplicando nuestros conocimientos y experiencias en distintos sectores y ámbitos de nuestra vida.

Y sin embargo aparecen hoy en día ante nosotros como los estandartes de la nueva revolución tecnológica. Reivindico la “memoria histórica”, la necesidad de estudiar en las escuelas y centros educativos, la evolución de la sociedad y en paralelo el impacto de las tecnologías en ella, aprender del pasado y afrontar los retos del futuro con imaginación y creatividad.

En particular, en el sector de la Realidad Virtual, algo que parece que está de moda total, el gran avance en los últimos años, ha venido de la mano del desarrollo de los dispositivos móviles. La oportunidad de poder disponer de soluciones complejas en un entorno móvil, sencillo, de fácil manejo y precios razonables. Esto es, innovación disruptiva en los terminales y democratización del acceso a aplicaciones, hasta ahora sólo accesibles a través de sofisticados dispositivos de hardware y software avanzado.

Pero lo que sin duda se convierte en una oportunidad, puede revertir en un gran fracaso si no se comprende y adapta convenientemente la tecnología a los entornos de uso o aplicación.

A lo largo de estos dos últimos años, hemos estado desarrollando aplicaciones para el sector educativo, turístico y artístico, basándonos en nuestros más de 15 años de experiencia aplicada y participación en proyectos de I+D europeos. Y vamos realizando nuestra labor de “misioneros avanzados”, explicando la tecnología, formando a usuarios en el manejo eficiente de la misma y presentando los beneficios y valores que aporta en los distintos ámbitos de aplicación.

La respuesta que encontramos habitualmente es de asombro, sorpresa…y en muchos casos de incredulidad ante lo que ven y pueden trasladar a su mente con un poco de imaginación y creatividad.

Por otro lado nos encontramos con otro grupo de usuarios, teóricamente algo experimentados, que cuando observan nuestras experiencias y proyectos, se sorprenden de una manera singular y particular…Se quitan lentamente el dispositivo de la cabeza, nos miran…y nos dicen con asombro…·esto es otra cosa”…y yo les pregunto, ¿ qué es otra cosa?…¿qué es lo que habías experimentado hasta ahora?…pero, esto será muy caro?, insisten, no?…

Y descubres, con cierta preocupación, que no sorpresa, que han experimentado algo, que realmente no sabría cómo calificar…” malas experiencia o malas prácticas”, a través de un “dispositivo” por llamarlo de alguna manera. Caja de cartón, con lentes de plástico y con un móvil sin “giróscopo” ni “acelerómetro” …sin resolución suficiente para el fin que pretende…etc. En definitiva, algo parecido a las gafas de diapositivas que nos vendían el siglo pasado en las puertas de las iglesias y monumentos de las ciudades, para pasar fotos con el dedo.

Esto no es tecnología avanzada, es más, no es tan siquiera tecnología, no es Realidad Virtual, no es SERIO. Y desde grandes multinacionales, se fomenta el uso de dispositivos muy dañinos para niños de corta edad, que además de no cumplir con unas mínimas normas de sanidad, no cumplen con la misión, ni objetivos que pretenden cumplir, según su publicidad. Internet está lleno de videos y fotos de niños menores, sentados en sus pupitres, mirando fijamente una pantalla de cartón, tras la cual, nadie sabe lo que pasa…o quizás si…eso no parece divertido, más bien un castigo ¡!!

Según algunas encuestas realizadas en centros escolares de EEUU, se dice que una de las barreras de entrada de la tecnología VR en la educación, es el precio de las gafas de Realidad Virtual. Hablamos de Gafas VR, y sinceramente, creo que no se está diciendo la verdad (por desconocimiento o falta de información). Ya que la diferencia entre unos dispositivos económicos y otros profesionales apenas varían en unos 30 euros, sin embargo, la calidad de los mismos en cuanto a óptica, funcionalidad, prestaciones y usabilidad, no tienen nada que ver. Por otro lado, ambos dispositivos requieren del mismo nivel de calidad y características del terminal móvil o Smartphone, hablando en el entorno Samsung, S6 mínimo. O dicho de otra forma, no se puede confundir un patinete con una moto GT.

Y la pregunta es…qué sentido tiene adquirir unas gafas VR por 10/20 euros vs un dispositivo profesional de 35/50, si el terminal móvil mínimo que necesito será el mismo en ambos casos y el coste final estará entre 300/500 euros?…O estamos hablando de otra cosa?.

No hay atajos a la tecnología, al igual que no hay atajos en la educación. Pero si hay métodos, formas y tecnologías que facilitan el acceso, la comprensión y la práctica de casos y experiencias reales a partir de entornos simulados o virtuales. Al igual que los ordenadores y las tablets entraron en las aulas, la Realidad Virtual y los dispositivos móviles entrarán, pero de otra manera.

No con el afán de sustituir a los terminales antiguos, que ya intentaron sustituir a su vez a los libros, no. Será para definir un nuevo entorno de aprendizaje disruptivo, en donde profesores y alumnos descubrirán experiencias conjuntamente, desarrollaran actividades siguiendo procesos aleatorios e interactuando con distintas tecnologías que facilitaran el acceso a soluciones reales y la compresión global de las actuaciones que se planteen, desde la concepción hasta el desarrollo final o solución. El desarrollo de experiencias, los métodos de trabajo orientados a acciones, la colaboración de equipos multidisciplinares, el manejo de distintas tecnologías para afrontar problemáticas diversas, acercan a los estudiantes a la realidad, pudiendo comprender la relación entre la teoría y su aplicación práctica de una manera más cercana y real.

La realidad virtual en la educación puede aplicarse de innumerables maneras, pero yo las simplificaría en dos: Bien y mal.

Una tecnología que permite desarrollar la creatividad de profesores y alumnos para aportar valor al conocimiento, facilitar el acceso a situaciones de la vida real, que de otra manera seria imposible y muy costoso, comprender las materias en su contexto, interactuar con situaciones reales en entornos virtuales. En fin, afrontar y resolver problemas del mundo real desde un entorno virtual, tan complejos como sean y tan sencillo y divertido como interactuar con un video juego.

Desde SmartEducationLabs, apostamos por la tecnología avanzada, aportando valor real a la comunidad educativa, a partir de buenas prácticas, soluciones avanzadas y metodologías contrastadas, al servicio de la comunidad, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de una sociedad más sostenible, justa e igualitaria.

SmartEducationLabs, es la primera plataforma de Educación, diseñada y desarrollada en España, por un equipo multidisciplinar con más de 20 años de experiencia en las tecnologías avanzadas y su aplicación a la Educación.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández ©

LA CRISIS SILENCIOSA (1ª parte)

Ha sido un largo periodo de espera y de cambios de todo tipo, pero finalmente estoy de vuelta y esta vez para quedarme…

A lo largo de estos últimos años, estamos asistiendo y padeciendo una serie cambios drásticos y profundas transformaciones en nuestra sociedad y que nos afectan en mayor o menor manera a todos. Y no es menos cierto que debemos aceptar que el “cambio” es un estado de permanencia en nuestra agenda, pero los ciclos entre fases se acortan y eso nos obliga a un esfuerzo de activación mental y física permanente.

Hay cambios y trasformaciones que vemos, percibimos, sentimos o sufrimos. Pero hay otras que ocurren a nuestro alrededor de forma muy sutil, en mundos paralelos y que aparecen de repente, como por casualidad.

Independientemente del tipo de cultura o régimen político que gobierne en cada lugar del planeta, sociedades democráticas, religiosas o dictatoriales, estamos siendo dirigidos por una misión casi “mesiánica” cuya base es la economía del crecimiento y la rentabilidad, sin demasiadas preocupaciones en la sostenibilidad del modelo. La inmediatez prima sobre el largo plazo y el beneficio individual sobre el colectivo.

Este proceso no es nuevo y se viene labrando desde hace décadas. Y su primer foco se centra en las bases: la educación y la formación de niños y adolescentes. Los modelos educativos de la actualidad son casi ancestrales y basados en la lección magistral, cuyo actor principal es el profesor y no el alumno. Desde niños, a los jóvenes se les dirige y forma bajo una fuerte presión de “utilidad a corto plazo”, a cubrir las demandas del mercado inmediatas, independientemente de su vocación, aspiración o misión. Aniquilando de esta forma los sueños de millones de jóvenes. Limitando su creatividad, coartando su imaginación, su espíritu descubridor e inspiración, con la idea de crear maquinas perfectas, con una capacidad mínima de pensar y decidir por ellas mismas.

Nos encontramos pues, en un escenario en el que los jóvenes se ven forzados a dirigir sus objetivos en una única dirección, transformando los procesos y planes educativos y formativos en una herramienta para el desarrollo y crecimiento económico de un modelo “universalmente” aceptado. Lejos de un modelo de desarrollo de sociedad sostenible a largo plazo, inteligente, democrática y respetando los valores “universales”, la ética y el medio ambiente.

Esta transformación, vertiginosa, está produciendo grandes cambios cuyo impacto “global” e interrelacionado no se sometió a un estudio y análisis profundo y absolutamente necesario para analizar sus potenciales consecuencias en nuestra sociedad a medio plazo. Esto puede llevarnos a un escenario de futuro realmente incierto, preocupante, que puede afectar directamente al modelo de democracia y libertades actual. En donde las incertidumbres superan con mucho las previsiones más pesimistas de organismos internacionales.

Estamos viendo como distintos estados nacionales, están descartando deliberadamente en sus sistemas de educación materias, aptitudes, valores, que casi sin advertirlo, son absolutamente necesarias para mantener la viva la creatividad, la imaginación, la diversidad, en fin, viva a la democracia.

Y ante esta situación, asistimos silenciosos sin cuestionar en profundidad el estado de la cuestión: El que y para qué.

Esta crisis o estado de crisis permanente en la que vivimos y que a grupos de interés les interesa que así se perciba por la sociedad, con el fin de mediatizar la toma de decisiones que en una situación “hipotéticamente” asumida como de normalidad no se aceptarían, pone en fuerte tensión y en conflicto la idea de la educación universal.

Una educación concebida como una herramienta para el crecimiento económico —poco o nada preocupado por una reflexión seria, honesta y sensible sobre la equidad en el acceso a la misma y las oportunidades. Por el contrario, la educación debe estar en el ADN de los países y estados, bajo una “Visión” más allá del decálogo político de un partido, ideario político y mucho más allá de acuerdos cortoplacistas entre grupos de interés. Una “Visión” que defina un modelo de país/estado y que entre sus pilares básicos y prioritarios se encuentre la educación y la formación de sus ciudadanos. Una educación que nivele las necesidades de la sociedad con las vocaciones personales, inspirada en valores, la igualdad de oportunidades, el acceso libre y gratuito a la educación deseada, que afronte con decisión las grandes brechas de la sociedad del siglo XXI (digital, envejecimiento, pobreza, conocimiento…) y que permita el modelo de desarrollo humano de una educación liberal, indispensable para cultivar las democracias del mundo global.

Para algunos expertos y estudiosos, en la actualidad hay una fuerte tendencia a considerar que el principal objetivo de la educación es “enseñar” a los estudiantes a ser económicamente productivos, y según parece, las cosas que sí importan son aquellas que preparan a los individuos para acceder a una carrera laboral. Esta visión limitada de la educación, basada en el desarrollo de habilidades rentables, limita considerablemente la capacidad para pensar de una manera distinta, enriquecer el pensamiento desde distintos puntos de vista, criticar a la autoridad y para sentir solidaridad por las gentes que son diferentes o están marginados.

Esta fuerte tendencia a educar en un pensamiento “único” comúnmente aceptado, se ha convertido en un obstáculo para el desarrollo de nuestras capacidades para tratar los problemas globales complejos aportando soluciones distintas. Limitando infinitamente nuestra capacidad de ser humano libre y con capacidad para pensar y tomar decisiones justas.

Va pasando el tiempo y nos vamos sumergiendo en una especie de burbuja virtual, que a medida que se hace más grande, sus paredes se vuelven más débiles y sensibles. Una burbuja compleja, que no obedece a ningún tipo de reglas físicas ni químicas y que navega sin rumbo, en un espacio cada vez más etéreo e imprevisible.

El impacto de las redes sociales es fundamental, pero cambiante y mutante a la vez. Internet se nos abrió como “un nuevo mundo de oportunidades” para compartir libremente nuestros conocimientos, una oportunidad de democratizar las opiniones y globalizarlas (entre otras muchas cosas). Pero hoy asistimos, que además los medios y las redes se llenan de demagogos y charlatanes de feria, desinformados parlantes generadores de difusos titulares, cuyo único objetivo es obtener una rentabilidad personal a corto plazo sin importarles las consecuencias que esto pueda acarrear para la sociedad, la sostenibilidad del modelo y los logros conseguidos a base de mucho esfuerzo y trabajo a lo largo de décadas.

Es posible que si hacemos una reflexión macro sobre el nivel de riqueza y su reparto a nivel global, la sociedad se encuentre mucho mejor que hace 50 años. Y si esto es posible, es debido a un mayor reparto de la riqueza sobre el planeta, beneficiándose nuevas clases sociales emergentes en los países en desarrollo.

En apenas 15 años, la pobreza extrema se ha reducido en el planeta del 46% al 22%. Y esto es positivo, sin duda. Y debido mayormente al esfuerzo realizado por los ciudadanos de la Unión Europea, que han contribuido con más del 60% de esta ayuda. (*)

Pero por otro lado, este beneficio global no se ve reflejado en la medida que aparentemente cabría de esperar desde la perspectiva de los países desarrollados. Esto es, a través del desarrollo de una clase media, con un nivel de formación y cualificación importante y homologado con el de los países desarrollados y por tanto, en disposición de contribuir en mayor medida a la generación de valor añadido local y conseguir la sostenibilidad del modelo en estas nuevas regiones.

Este modelo de crecimiento viene desarrollándose a través de modelos que podríamos definir como “burbujas virtuales”, modelos especulativos y que sólo buscan rentabilidad inmediata, con fuerte inversión en mano de obra poco cualificada, alta competitividad en precios y escasa o nula cobertura social, profesional o educativa. Lo que provoca desajustes sociales importantes, fuerte impacto medioambiental y que se ponen de manifiesto en múltiples formas a lo largo y ancho del planeta.

Hace algunos meses, con motivo de un Congreso Internacional celebrado en Berlín, tuve la oportunidad de compartir mesa con personalidades ilustres del mundo de la política y la economía europea: Wolf Rüdiger Bengs, la Baroness Neville-Jones y Klaus-Peter Willsch entre otros. Debatiendo en “petit comité” sobre cómo afecta la profunda crisis europea a los presupuestos de seguridad y defensa de los distintos países de la Comunidad y las consecuencias que esto puede tener en la sociedad.

Y como suele ocurrir en estos actos, la deriva intelectual tiende a la política primero y a la economía después. En cualquier caso, mi primer motivo de preocupación y consecuente alarma, se disparó ante el terrible y casi apocalíptico mensaje lanzado por alguno de los contertulios sobre el estado de la economía actual y los riesgos inmediatos de inestabilidad en la zona euro y por consecuencia, el impacto a nivel global. Y todo esto ocurrió antes de la “crisis migratoria” en Europa.

Cierto es, que en aquellos meses la percepción y el estado de la Unión Europea estaba siendo vapuleada en sus cimientos. Falta de entendimiento político, falta de ambición europeísta a la hora de plantear grandes políticas unitarias, absoluta falta de liderazgo, falta de rigor a la hora de implantar las medidas estructurales comprometidas en Europa y garantizar su seguimiento y cumplimiento, dualidad en los discursos entre lo que se dice fuera de las fronteras y lo que se hace dentro, visión cortoplacista con mas preocupación por el sillón electoral que por la situación de la moneda única y en consecuencia, el desplome de las economías de los países más débiles.

Si bien, se puede decir que no hubo nada nuevo bajo el sol, si resulta interesante escuchar de primera mano estas reflexiones desde el corazón de Europa, y como se nos ve y percibe desde la distancia. Que por cierto y dicho sea de paso, estamos muy lejos de ver el problema con la misma óptica.

En resumen, la visión de los políticos y los economistas, si bien acaba coincidiendo en el análisis y los motivos de la situación coyuntural, no acaban de aportar soluciones sólidas y serias a largo plazo, más allá de las vagas generalidades que ya todos conocemos de memoria. Pero sin embargo si tendrían un impacto negativo en las políticas de seguridad, defensa y educación en los países de la UE, por las fuertes reducciones presupuestarias. Algo que se puede constatar en estos últimos meses de forma manifiesta a través de las últimas amenazas y ciber amenazas globales, la crisis migratoria, las crisis de identidad europeísta de algunos miembros, los movimientos antisistema y nacionalistas.

Dentro de esta crisis silenciosa, cuyos resultados y evidencias vemos emerger como inmensos icebergs, se producen una serie de daños, nada colaterales, que empobrecen y endeudan a los países de por vida. Desprendiendo de una mínima oportunidad de igualdad a niños y jóvenes que han nacido y vivido en países en permanentes conflictos y/o guerra.

La falta de recursos materiales y humanos para acometer un proyecto educativo “libre”, sólido y sostenible, que permita regenerar a una juventud que no tiene memoria histórica de haber vivido un tiempo de paz. Que no tienen, ni tendrán en años, acceso a los niveles de educación, formación, tecnología, comunicación…de las sociedades avanzada, creando una brecha aún mayor que la imaginada hace años. Unos lugares en donde el ordenador es un objeto más valioso que un coche, y en donde el acceso a internet está restringido a situaciones y localizaciones privilegiadas. Esta desigualdad “extrema” y provocada, es una barrera que bloquea el desarrollo real “global” de los niños y jóvenes del mundo, ante lo que sólo queda imaginación, voluntariado, dedicación y mucho trabajo.

En algunos países, a través de iniciativas “libres y creativas”, han puesto proyectos de educación en pequeñas escuelas o centros a través de antiguos dispositivos móviles, en los que los profesores graban historias, cuentos, lecciones…como mensajes de voz y texto, que es compartido por los niños de escuela en escuela. De esta manera intentan recuperar la ilusión de los niños, las ganas de vivir, de estudiar para ganar la libertad de poder pensar en igualdad de oportunidades, de imaginar un mundo en paz, más allá de las tierras en las que les ha tocado vivir.

“Sería catastrófico convertirse en una nación de gente técnicamente competente que haya perdido la habilidad de pensar críticamente, de examinarse a sí misma y de respetar la humanidad y la diversidad de otros” (El cultivo de la humanidad, 1999). Martha Nussbaum