The Key to The Future Is Here
The last article was about my job-seeking process during the second year of master’s. In this post, I will shed light on what I’ve been doing since graduation and why.
Before I get to the point, I wanted to clarify some terms used on this blog with definitions and examples.
Terminology
Extended reality (XR) is an emerging umbrella term for all the immersive technologies. The ones we already have today-Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) plus those that are still to be created. [ Forbes]
In Augmented Reality, virtual information and objects are overlaid on the real world. The most well-known examples of AR are the Pokémon GO game that overlays digital creatures onto the real world or Snapchat filters that put digital objects such as hats or glasses onto your head.
In contrast to augmented reality, in a Virtual Reality experience, users are fully immersed in a simulated digital environment. Beat Saber is one of the most well-known examples of VR games. I love playing this game and this is a gameplay video I recorded:
In Mixed Reality, digital and real-world objects co-exist and can interact with one another in real-time. Microsoft’s HoloLens is a great example that, e.g., allows you to place digital objects into the room you are standing in and give you the ability to spin it around or interact with the digital object in any way possible.
How I ended up in Augmented Knowledge corp.
During my master’s at Inha University, I also worked as a Research Assistant in the Artificial Intelligence Lab. My work was mostly related to AI and Deep Learning. Sometime before summer 2020 our lab started to collaborate with Augmented Knowledge corp. and Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA). The topic of research and development was related to Extended Reality and its applications in industry. We got a new lab with cutting edge equipment in the centre of Digital Media City in Seoul.
From June 2020 I started to work with XR technologies, specifically with HoloLens 2 devices. I learned Unity engine to develop MR applications and co-created real-time voice recognition applications using Mixed Reality Toolkit provided by Microsoft and Azure Speech Services.
As you may know from my previous post, I was in contact with ING at that point and after reject, I reconsidered my values and what I wanted to do in life. It is not a secret that I love video games. I’ve been a gamer all my life and already participated in the development of several games during my free time. I started to think, what if I can turn my passion into something more than just a hobby? Creating games in my free time while working on XR projects at the company, I can become better in Unity Engine from all sides. So, I applied to the XR Developer position at Augmented Knowledge corp. at the end of August. I completed a small assignment from the leader of the developers’ team to demonstrate my familiarity with Unity and Mixed Reality Toolkit. From September 2020 I started my job at the company, and I am there to this day.
What do I do at work?
I am using various technologies and mixed reality libraries such as MRTK, Spectator View, Vuforia, Azure Spatial Anchors etc. to develop and improve the company’s applications. The hardware devices we use include but not limited to HoloLens, LG nreal glasses and HTC Vive Headset.
For example, this video showcases the features of Mixed Reality Toolkit, specifically hand interactions: https://youtu.be/1wgzZ97GKH8
Or we can assemble Mars Curiosity Rover in Mixed Reality with HoloLens 2: https://youtu.be/PU27bGNDMQQ
Another example, which showcases the Vuforia library and its potential for image recognition and mixed reality: https://youtu.be/tRdFC3yaZ4c
Perspectives
I believe that the future of XR and Gaming industries is really bright. According to Hired.com’s “State of Engineering” report, AR/VR and gaming engineers had the highest job growth in 2019, at 1,400% and 146%, respectively.
But this is not the main reason I chose this path. I am doing it because I love it and it’s fascinating. Extended Reality has the potential to change our lives, the way we cooperate and create, going beyond our imagination’s ability to grasp. I’ve seen only the surface of it and it’s already blowing my mind. And of course, I like to feel like Tony Stark while interacting with holograms and in the near future, we won’t be needing bulky headsets to experience it.
Originally published at https://geekart.club on January 1, 2021.
