The State of Virtual Reality (Late 2015)

Good VR is finally here

By

Tzen Szen

on December 17, 2015 10.20am

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Back when I was a kid, virtual reality (VR) was basically fictional.

It was tacky, gimmicky even. It was something that you'd file under "nice to have".

VR came as different forms as seen in sci-fi movies like The Matrix or Tron. Not everyone had the access to games or toys like Battlezone of the View-Master. While considered primitive by today's standards, Battlezone and the old View-Master blew people away due to the immersiveness of their experiences at that time.

Good VR is here

Enter 2015, VR is back from a hiatus; from ’90s futurism to one the largest attractions in tech world. It's been about 4 years since Palmer Luckey built the prototype that would eventually become the Oculus Rift in his parents’ garage in 2011 (the coolest things always start out in a garage, don't they?). It's been three and a half years since that prototype was unveiled at E3 by John Carmack, jumpstarting everything.

VR is a platform that stimulates the senses, notably sight, touch, and hearing. Being part of a research project involving the Oculus Rift in September, I was impressed by what I experienced. The programmes that I tried out felt real. The need to reach out to touch the planets and stars that surrounded me was completely natural. Trying out a rollercoaster programme, my head swayed naturally from left to right as the rollercoaster made sharp turns and loops. The slight feeling of nausea also came with the experience.

The Google Cardboard that I tried out impressed me just as much. Essentially just a piece of cardboard with some lenses and a magnet, the experience that I got out of it was astoundingly immersive for something costing the fraction of the price of the Oculus Rift. A combination of decent haptic feedback, visuals, and audio allows Google's take on VR to punch way above its weight.

VR isn't just a gimmick anymore. It's not something that you will see and go, "That's something nice to have!". It's the real deal.

That's a reason why the largest names in tech are competing to have a say in the VR market; Facebook, Google, Samsung, Sony, and HTC are lining up to show the rest of the world what VR is capable of.

Even non-tech companies are jumping on the VR bandwagon. The NY Times have recently released a mobile app for VR, while also sending print subscribers a free Google Cardboard. Mattel, one of the largest toy companies in the world, have partnered with Google and National Geographic to release a new, VR enabled, View-Master for kids.

We are going to be spoilt for choice with the amount of VR headsets currently in market or about to enter the market in early 2016. Have a look at the graph below and you can see that they come in a variety of price points. This is based heavily on whether they are powered by a desktop or by mobile phones.

The applications of VR are virtually limitless. We've already seen it being used in training pilots and military training. But what about other industries? For example, can we improve surgical training by using a VR headset with haptic feedback? How about better visualising medical imagery using VR for diagnostics and surgical planning? Can children see other parts of the world in just their classroom without having to travel there?

VR is difficult to explain in words

It is thrilling to see where the applications of VR will take us. However, one of its largest challenges is to actually tell people how an experience with VR is like. It is notoriously difficult to express in words.

I can write a 2000 word essay about it and you won't even know what it really feels like. Until you try it out for yourself, it's all just words.

But yes, for now, good VR is finally here. A question that should be asked is whether it will be here to stay.

And my answer to that would be: I certainly hope it does.

5 Important Lessons From My First Hackathon

"Let's do this!"

By

Tzen Szen

on November 26, 2015 10.13am

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It has been just over a couple of weeks since my first hackathon that I participated in. To put simply, a hackathon is an event where people (programmers, designers, etc.) come together to turn ideas into reality.

TELHack, which took place in London from the 6th to 8th of November, is a hackathon aimed at transforming healthcare education. In case you were wondering, the "TEL" in TELHack stands for Technology Enhanced Learning.

Looking back, there was plenty to take away from the hackathon. So, here's 5 of the most important lessons I learnt from my experiences at TELHack.

1. Default to open.

The concept of default to open is woven in the DNA of hackathons. Being default to open means rather than starting from a point where you choose what to share, start from a point where you chose what not to share. Hackathons are an environment which simply thrives on collaboration and openness. Having heard of this concept is one thing, but experiencing it first-hand was entirely different and it blew me away.

Want to know if your idea would be worth working on during a 48-hour period? After sharing my idea about virtual reality (VR) to work on during the weekend, a software developer advised that it'd be wise to consider something else, mostly because there weren't many developers experienced with VR. Not sure what a business model canvas is? Ask the experts who have been involved in numerous startups or have a background in business.

Speak to the people you are surrounded by and share your opinions and problems with them! What better way to get your questions answered or your problems solved by individuals who have/had similar experiences. A hackathon is a friendly event, so meet as many people as possible, make friends, and learn.

2. Don't take your ability to learn for granted!

Speaking of learning, I didn't realise how much one could learn in just 48 hours. My experience in coding was fairly limited and even at TELHack, I didn't write much code. But I was surrounded by people who read and write code for a living. I was able to learn through seeing how they did what they did and doing a little myself. That crash course in Python during TELHack is something that will definitely come in handy.

Learning about building scalable businesses was another matter that I had to get my hands dirty in. Coming from a background in healthcare, my experience in business was fairly limited. Through support and advice from Alejandro, one of the lead organisers, we managed to get a business model going. I've never learnt so much in one night, by researching about getting the first users, scaling a business, and how to generate money.

How do companies like Google, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, or Palantir disrupt an industry? How did they start out in the beginning before their businesses started growing? And lastly, how is our prototype more valuable from anything out there already? Those were some questions that we had to learn to ask and answer in less than 12 hours before our final pitch!

A large part of my learning came in the form of actually doing it. Most of the time, doing something for the first time will result in failure. So, the best way to learn in this instance is to fail faster and quickly learn from mistakes; adopt the "shoot, ready, aim" mantra.

3. Money is important.

The rest of my team found it uncomfortable to discuss about the business-end of things. Again, Alejandro managed to help out in this area by explaining why it's important to have a viable business model by the end of the hackathon.

Essentially, what he said was, "It's okay to not want to think about making profits. But not thinking about making any money at all is crazy! Why? Because every business, regardless of their size has to earn some money. Not profiting is fine, but you must make enough money to keep going and sustain the business."

That advice really hit me. I now understand better why money is important. Don't get me wrong, the purpose of doing anything shouldn't be based on making profits. Making profits is a result, a side-effect if you wish. However, not thinking about to sustain a business, even when just starting out, would be madness.

4. Remember to sell the why!

We had around 48 hours to come up with a working prototype by the end of TELHack. It was too easy to focus on building the prototype, in my team's case, a clinical knowledge respository. That was the "what".

Looking back, our prototype functioned well and we clearly communicated its features and how it worked. We even managed to explain how it was different compared to other products already in the market. Stumbling across Simon Sinek's TEDTalk, I finally realised what was lacking.

We didn't communicate the "why" part of our pitch well enough; it wasn't as inspiring as should be! From that TEDTalk, Mr. Sinek said "If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: We make great computers. They're beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. Want to buy one?". That sounds incredibly "meh", doesn't it?

Our final pitch at TELHack was decent but there is always room for improvement. In the future, I'd personally would like to use a better approach and explicitly highlight why a prototype was built for in the first place.

5. Enjoy and have fun.

Sure, most of us at TELHack didn't get much sleep during the hackathon. Yes, it was also stressful and daunting to come up with a working prototype by the end of it all. But at the end of TELHack, I can tell you there wasn't a single person in the room who didn't have a huge smile on their face. From the participants to mentors and organisers, everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time.

I took part in Python crash course and tried some yoga. I met and exchanged ideas with lots of other healthcare professionals, mentors, software developers, and designers. That was all on top of making a difference in healthcare education.

Working on cool things that matter is highly addictive. Hours and hours flew by when I was preparing a business model, writing code, and helping out my team whenever I could. Hackathons are designed to gather like-minded individuals to solve large problems. It's a little like trying to assemble the Avengers.

At the end of the day, nothing is worth doing if you aren't having fun. Also, time spent doing something you enjoy, is definitely not time wasted.

At the start of TELHack, we said "let's do this!" and at the end, we did it. From concept to prototype in 48 hours, my first hackathon was definitely one to remember!

Explained: Superman

Humanity, reflected

By

Tzen Szen

on October 30, 2015 12.10pm

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The Man of Steel, The Man of Tomorrow, The Last Son of Krypton, going by the alias of Clark Kent/Kal-El, is known to many all around the world as Superman. The superhero is a global icon and more importantly, one of the most popular fictional characters around today. Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and has since invaded the rest of pop culture from comic books, to video games, movies, and more.

"Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive."

Most of us are familiar with his origin story where he was born on the planet Krypton as Kal-El and was sent by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, to Earth as Krypton was doomed to destruction. On Earth, he grew up in Kansas as Clark Kent after being adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent.

He was traditionally described as, "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... It's Superman!" which ultimately reflects his extraordinary powers. These powers range from super-strength, flight, near invulnerability to non-magical attacks, super-speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat-emitting, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), and super-hearing. Based on the recent Man of Steel movie, these powers were a result of his cells being drunk in the radiation of our yellow Sun, strengthening his muscles, skin, and senses and also due to Earth's gravity is being weaker than Krypton's was, with our atmosphere more nourishing.

Speaking to others about Superman or even going through the comments section of YouTube videos, I find the adjectives describing him most notably include "boring" and "overpowered". While it is understandable to see where they are coming from, Superman is miles away from being a boring or overpowered character.

The reason for me stating so begins with that huge, iconic, "S" shield on his chest. It initially had only one meaning, the "S" for Superman. In recent times however, the "S" stands for the coat of arms of the House of El and more significantly, the Kryptonian symbol of hope. True enough, Superman is the ultimate embodiment of hope in the comic books.

It's easy to just paint a picture of him as a big guy, throwing massive punches around all the time. But let's not forget about the Flash, who moves faster than Superman or even Batman (who is still awesome), who goes toe to toe with other enemies usually stronger than he is and still comes on top. Despite his many powers, Superman is a totally relatable character. The themes around his story usually involve themes like isolation, loneliness, restraint, and of course, hope.

Let's break Superman's story down and put it into context. We have this superpowered alien, the last of his species, sent to a foreign planet. No one trusts his intentions; he's a potential threat to everyone, it's hard to trust him. At the pinnacle of his powers, he can literally move planets and easily bring humanity to its knees.

However, he fights for everyone because he is, in his unique way, a fictional character that represents us. Deep down, you know he is the embodiment of the good in all of us due to his strong moral code instilled in him by his adopted parents, the Kents. What does he do when he's not saving the world? He tries to live a normal life as Clark Kent by working at the Daily Planet as a journalist in the fictional city of Metropolis. He shares the development of his sense of right and wrong with the rest of us. As he grows up, Clark is faced with scenarios that allow him to examine and build his moral compass.

What does he do when he's not saving the world?

His struggles are real; how does he exert control over himself with the possession of all those amazing powers and what happens when raw emotions like sadness or anger take over? The Injustice: Gods Among Us storyline explores just that and we see Superman behaving like a god after the murder of Lois Lane and his unborn child.

In Man of Steel, we see Superman making difficult decisions. Should he save his father from a ravaging tornado and reveal himself to the world when it's not ready or should he listen to father but watch him die? Should he act as judge, jury, and executioner by killing General Zod to save his adoptive home or should he not kill the last of his own species? This brought him to question whether humanity was worth saving and protecting. By murdering Zod, he knows that he is now truly alone.

If The Last Son of Krypton has anything to teach us about ourselves, it's that it's definitely not easy to be virtuous and honourable. Superman is many things but being a dull character isn't one of them. But rather, he makes one hell of a character for me to continue reading about.

The Importance of Culture

Making work rock or at least suck less

By

Tzen Szen

on October 25, 2015 1.25pm

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We spend a huge part of our lives at work. Since we spend a lot of our time working, it makes sense for a person to like what they do or at least work on something that we're willing to makes sacrifices for. It is surprising how many people in this world don't actually like what they do for a living. A huge part of this dislike can be attributed to working/corporate culture.

Being part of different organisations in these short 20 years of my life, I have experienced different working cultures, with each of them having their own significant impact on me. A lot of the time, the most important themes that I have noticed about working culture involves the mission of the organisation, the people I'm surrounded by, the values, and practices.

Mission, people, values, and practices

If you perform a Google search on the mission statement of any major company that interests you, you'll probably come up with some interesting results. You might find some really simple ones like the ones found here:

Google - To organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Alzheimer’s Association - To eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

SpaceX - To revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

It doesn't take much to figure out that people can easily relate to these mission statements because they are simple, concise, and ultimately, good. It's undeniable that organising the world's information, eliminating Alzheimer's disease, or getting humans to colonise Mars one day are good things. These mission statements are also great because of what they don't mention. Terms like customers, shareholders, and profits are nowhere to be found unlike, for example with Procter & Gamble. Employees associated with the organisations then have a meaning to their work as their missions are less about profits or business goals but more about having a positive impact on the world. Deep down, nobody wants to just be another cog in a machine.

Values are at the core of any culture. While a mission expresses a company’s purpose, values offer a set of guidelines on the conduct and ethos required in order to achieve that mission. Yes, having a set of values and practising them matter. It matters especially when you are trying to accomplish your mission. Is it really success when you get something done but doing it misguidedly?

Putting values into practice to accomplish a mission doesn't have to mean having free gourmet food, crazy offices, or other various perks. It starts with the most basic things like sharing as much information with everyone or giving people a platform to channel their opinions. Being transparent and open is a large part of companies like Facebook and SpaceX. It's why even Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have regular desks and cubicles respectively like other employees. Google encourages transparency through weekly TGIF meetings on Friday with their co-founders, Larry and Sergey, and other various execs where employees can ask them any question on just about anything. They also have the annual “Googlegeist” survey (response rate of 88% or more) to gather feedback from employees to solve the largest problems at the company.

People are the spine of any organisation or company and having great people surrouding you makes such a huge difference. From product managers to the CEO, the right people in any organisation will definitely make or break it. Take my medical school in Sheffield, in the UK, for example.

When treating others nicely is the norm, you'll be called out for doing otherwise

Entering a completely new environment is naturally a very daunting process. But I found it quite amazing how relatively easy it was to adjust to my new environment, which was largely due to being surrounded by the amazing people I now call my friends and colleagues. It's difficult to find distasteful people around (although people like that exist in any large organisation) because it's just unnatural be a horrid person when you are in a nice community. When treating others nicely is the norm, you'll be called out for doing otherwise.

There are other factors that influence culture at work but these few components can largely influence and shape any company or organisation. While work is still a large part of our lives, it doesn't necessarily have to suck.

Products to Platforms

Utilising the power of the people

By

Tzen Szen

on October 12, 2015 10.25am

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It's always easy to define the term product, which simply means goods or services produced or refined for purchase. The same can't be said for the term platform, however. A quick Google search of the word will show you the definitions of the word which include "a raised level surface on which people or things can stand", "the declared policy of a political party or group", and "a shoe with very thick soles".

In the world of computing, the word platform is utlised to denote a complete software programming development environment and underlying subsystem. Today, a platform is somewhat different; many industries consider it to be anything that you can build upon. Platforms are a huge part of many of our lives now and a significant amount of enterprises now have a focus on transitioning their products into platforms.

Some of the amazing platforms I interact with on a frequent basis include the Android operating system (OS), Facebook, Youtube, and Quora (a personal favourite of mine). As long as platforms continue to have a large impact on their millions of users everyday, they are definitely here to stay. In fact, platform-based companies have higher chances of impacting many more users than traditional businesses which produce one or more closely related product or services.

A win-win-win situation for everyone

Let's take Google's Android OS as an example. Android now has more than 1 billion 30-day active users and the Google Play Store boasts more than 1.5 million mobile apps. The success of Google's mobile OS is largely due to the fact that is a great platform for mobile app developers and enthusiasts to build great products for the platform, essentially creating a thriving ecosystem. Offering tools such as application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) allows developers to build and sell better apps to help solve their users' problems on top of driving inovation for Android - a win-win-win situation for everyone.

Platforms are great for users as they are empowered to create content to upload, view, and share with other users around the world. The generation of fantastic content is even more evident on websites like YouTube and Quora. How many of the videos uploaded to YouTube are done individually? The popular video-sharing site has content like reviews, tutorials, and vlogs from a wide range of topics that contain a wealth of information which even sparked permanent careers for some YouTubers.

On the Q&A website, Quora, users are allowed to follow multiple topics of their interest while also asking questions and providing answers to other questions. It really is refreshing to find how Quora combines various experiences and curiousity to provide cumulative intelligence.

Consumers buy products, not platforms

Products are still relevant today as they tend to be at the front-end of what users see. Consumers buy products, not plaforms. In today's world, however, it is increasingly important to think about platforms as a framework for businesses before products. It is this framework that should pave the way for product strategy; what a platform does is to allow multiple products to be built in the same framework.

Google started off as a search engine all those years ago. Dominating Internet search allowed Google to pave the way for other products such as Gmail, Maps, Chrome, and Android, among others, allowing an expansion of the platform. Amazon started as an online bookstore and then started allowing other third-party vendors to sell their products on their site. At the same time, their retail platform gathered a huge amount of data about how people carry out shopping online on top of making their "one-click" shopping experience available for those third-parties to use as well.

Facebook is another platform worth mentioning. The website is first and foremost, a social networking site. You can log in to it online to use as a web service or you can download the mobile Facebook app to your device and log in through the app. The Facebook platform is now more than just a social networking site. It sets itself apart not just because of their 1 billion active users, but because of their extensive knowledge of their users' interest. Having the "Like" and "Share" buttons across the web allows them to understand their users beyond the boundaries of Facebook.com. Allowing external parties to plug into this information generates a multiplier effect of sorts by gaining more data about users when they access those external parties.

Consumers, not governments or enterprises, are driving today's economy more than ever. Building platforms are tough, but the return of investment of strong, consumer-driven platforms is clearly evident with the generation of great content, solving real-world problems, and boosting innovtion at the core of these returns.