the most powerful 3d computer in the
world we have evolved to think and store
memory in three dimensions in fact when
we look at information on a flat piece
of paper on a computer screen it takes
some time for a brain to translate that
back in into 3d for us to use it you all
have seen TV shows featuring memory
artists those amazing human beings who
can remember sequences of thousands of
numbers and names
well memory artists they use a trick
they create a 3d image of a familiar
Street or room in the head and then they
store the information along the street
to be able to recall it later I’m
actually using this trick right now to
remember this talk so why am I telling
you this because the fact that we can
tap in to our 3d computer in our head is
the biggest promise that a technology
called augmented reality holds for all
of us this technology will dramatically
change how we interact with data it will
decrease our learning curve and it will
increase our brain’s productivity I
believe that augmented reality is going
to be the next big platform for
productivity in general but for sharing
information in particular like Iron Man
we will soon be surrounded by data in 3d
models that we can actually grab and
interact with some say as soon as the
year 2025 another promise that augmented
reality holds for us is that instead of
isolating us even more it will free us
from the tiny addictive
screens in our hands and we’ll take the
data and place it all around us even
though recent news stories would want to
make you believe augment reality is all
few years ago I took my wife to visit a
Holocaust Memorial in Germany as we
walked through the old building of this
concentration camp we stopped in a room
that didn’t seem to have much
significance until we read the tiny sign
on the wall while we’re reading the
description of the room we could feel
the cold chill of the history of this
room running down our necks at the same
time I remember a group of teenagers
probably a group of high school students
passing through the room some of them
chatting but most of them engaged with
their phones none of them had noticed
the sign on the wall we knew that the
room we were standing in was a room
where prisoners had been dissected after
being exposed to brutal and forceful
experiments with poisonous gas and
experimental drugs for the students this
information was completely lost this
theme of trying to improve how we share
information has always fascinated me as
a communications expert I’ve always
looked for some sort of solution to make
knowledge transfer easier faster and
more Universal augmented reality will
completely change how we learn how we
work and perhaps how we think and I
would like to give you a little example
of that this is the work desk of the
future and this is the meta to the most
advanced augmented reality headset on
the market this device allows me to put
3d images and Holograms
me and put them in space and let me
interact with them so let me take you on
a little thought experiment
imagine I’m an engineering student and
I’m writing a paper about something that
is engineered and is an engineering
genius
and because I’m a space nerd I want to
write about the International Space
Station so what I’m doing is I’m
probably going to Wikipedia and look up
some information here it is I pulled up
a browser window and I pulled up a
browser window and I look at it and now
I touch it and I see a higher energy 3d
model of the International Space Station
in front of my face instead of the
picture that only gives me one angle I
have multiple angles now I can actually
look at it and see how it works and how
everything works together and then I can
look at it from a different angle and
truly understand how this is floating
above us in space because I want to
obviously get an a on my paper I need to
know a little more about how this device
works so how this building works so with
a flip of my finger I can explode it and
look at all the detail and if I want to
see a little bit what’s happening here I
can zoom in and take a look and see how
this all is working together but I don’t
know what some of these parts are to be
honest so there’s some information
embedded in this 3d model so again with
a flick of my finger I can pull it up
and I look at it and I understand how
this all works together so I guess this
is the Columbus module well this is an
example of what you can do with any 3d
model in the world and the worldwide
database of 3d models is only growing by
so this was just a quick example what
you can build with a toolkit that is
available from us for the worldwide
community of developers this toolkit
will let you build truly immersive
augmented reality experiences
applications that actually work best
with your brain augmented reality is
currently in the developer phase some of
the smartest people in the world are
creating apps and applications that will
dramatically change the way how we
interface with data but soon this
technology will be available for all of
us through smart classes or even contact
lenses I really believe that soon
augmented reality devices will surpass
the current 2.6 billion smartphone users
in the world through augmented reality
and neuroscience we can create amazing
things we will improve education and
productivity and we will unlock amazing
untapped potential within the next few
years
similar to how emerging economies skip
the landline and went straight to the
cellular phone system
I wonder why don’t we skip the tablets
and the screens in the classroom and go
straight from the chalkboard to the
imagine a surgeon explaining an upcoming
brain surgery with a 3d brain scan to
her patient imagine a professor teaching
the human genome with a DNA string
floating in front of his students
imagine students walking through a
museum or through nature exploring the
concepts with information in augmented
reality
the applications are truly endless this
is the future we’re going to live in it
is up to us the thinkers the artists the
scientists and the educational experts
to create something meaningful something
that will let us build a more connected
and a better world thank you very much [Applause]