HP Innovation Journal Issue 10: Fall 2018 | Page 67

We’re all about reinvention at the Innovation Journal. We strongly
believe that some of our best ideas can come from those who are
in the beginnings of their careers, which is why we’re pleased to
announce the creation of a new section of the Journal, Early
Career Talents Innovation. We invite you to experience these
articles, written by early career HP employees providing you with
insight into their world and how we’re leading and innovating
solutions that will one day touch yours. You'll get a taste of
important topics, with a view through their eyes they believe you
should know about. Our junior editors and writers are located at
sites across the globe and fulfill a variety of roles and functions.
Through their fresh perspectives, we will show how HP is helping
to change the world.
DEMYSTIFYING VR
Virtual reality (VR) as a field of study has existed since and objects that either don’t exist in our world or are
the 1960s. However, only over the past few years has too expensive or dangerous to manifest in our physical
it really made the transition into the consumer market. reality. It is thus a uniquely suited computing platform
Due to its nascent stage, it is important that we gather for simulations, collaborations, training, designing,
a clearer picture of VR’s potential, the use cases that are therapy, storytelling, and, of course, entertainment.
uniquely suited for VR and what implications it might At HP’s Immersive Experiences Lab, we believe that
have for us moving forward. VR can drastically change the way we work. Soon, we
Just like a smartphone, VR offers us a platform with
a set of features that allow for unique applications.
Primarily, a VR headset presents a curated virtual world
in a way that introduces the feeling of “being there.”
It helps us to experience and create situations, places
could have VR at every desk—an integral part of our
daily routine as we design, think, visualize, interact
and experience. However, just like any other budding
technological platform, VR also has issues that need to
be solved before it can become ubiquitous.
TWO CHALLENGES + A FEW SOLUTIONS
MOBILITY ISOLATION
For consumer VR devices, mobility seems to be a challenge
that draws a lot of attention. Popular headsets like the HTC
Vive or the Oculus are tethered to a computer and need to
be within a tracking zone. Smartphone-based VR devices
like GearVR do not really allow a person to walk around. HP
provided a partial solution to the mobility problem through
its Z VR backpack PC. Moving the computing power from a
desktop workstation into a backpack PC allowed people to
freely move around within the tracking space without having
to worry about wire tethers. VR is best suited for complete “immersion” in an alternate
curated virtual environment. Increased sense of presence and
intuitive interactions create highly convincing experiences
that feel almost real. As such, VR engages three of our major
senses—visual, auditory and tactile. Visual stimulation
(through the head-mounted display), auditory effects
(through headphones) and tactile sensations (often through
controllers) together turn the virtual environment into a
virtual “reality.” However, this also creates a high level of
isolation, which may often be undesirable. Such an isolation
disconnects us temporally, physically and digitally
from our real-life ecosystem.
Early Career Talents Innovation
67