Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagThomas Furness

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Amazed young girl experiencing virtual reality with a VR headset on the head

Bingecast: Thomas Furness on Virtual Reality

In this Bingecast episode, Dr. Thomas Furness – the grandfather of virtual reality – tells the story of how he became involved in the development of virtual reality. Listen in as he shares gripping stories about his time in the Air Force, and how virtual reality has been used in medicine, to help mitigate pain, and in making new and Read More ›

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Augmented reality application for retail business concept. Hand holding smart phone with A/R application on screen to finding interested product in the store.

The Amazing Things We Can Do with Virtual and Augmented Reality

The “father of virtual reality,” Thomas Furness, talks to Robert J. Marks about his vision for the future

In a recent podcast, “Robert J. Marks and Thomas Furness on VR and AR,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks continued his discussion with the “grandfather of virtual reality,” Thomas Furness. They focused on the cutting edge of virtual reality today. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-094-Thomas-Furness.mp3 Transcript. Partial transcript: Robert J. Marks: So, Dr. Furness, we have been talking about a number of fascinating things, but there’s still some things that I’d like to talk to you about. Another one is ARToolworks. Now, AR stands for augmented reality. Thomas Furness: Now, the difference really is between the VRs generally, where you are completely immersed in a computer-generated environment. That’s all you see is the computer generation of images. AR, on the other hand, Read More ›

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person playing Pokemon Go during daytime

Dr. Thomas Furness and Applications of Augmented Reality

How is augmented reality different from virtual reality? What are the applications of augmented reality? Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss augmented reality, virtual reality, and peripheral vision. Show Notes 00:26 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 01:20 | Virtual reality vs. augmented reality 04:57 | Interacting with Read More ›

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Senior man in a wheelchair using a virtual reality device

VR Pioneer Founded Off-Campus Lab to Work On Practical Uses

RATLab, founded in 2005, gave unlikely students a chance to work on serious virtual reality projects

In a recent podcast, “Rats in the Technology lab” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks continued his discussion with the “grandfather of virtual reality” Thomas Furness. Furness shares his tribulations and triumphs with RATLab (Rats in the Technology lab), which is an “incubator” for innovative ideas in technology. All the employees are RATs (Rocking and Thinking). Furness is, of course, King Rat. So how did it get started and what happened then? https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-092-Thomas-Furness.mp3 Transcript. Partial transcript: Thomas Furness (right): Well, I was enjoying my activity at the university, certainly a wonderful place to do research. But it is a bureaucracy, and I’ve found that sometimes having worked for the Air Force for the Department of Defense for 23 years, Read More ›

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Animal Laboratory, Rat

RATs in the Technology Lab

Dr. Thomas Furness started the RATLAB, which was designed to explore innovative ideas in technology. All the employees are RATs (Rocking and Thinking). Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss the uses of virtual reality and other exciting new ideas in technology. Show Notes 00:26 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University Read More ›

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smart medical technology concept, doctor use smart glasses to use augmented reality to show the anatomy body of the patient for analysis and find the way to treatment in surgery room at hospital..

Virtual Reality Joins Actual Reality — and It’s a Real Advance

The grandfather of virtual reality explains how everyone began to think of ways VR might help them

As a result of media reports of his success in pioneering virtual reality for the US Air Force, many people contacted Thomas Furness. asking about civilian uses for virtual reality. In a recent podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks continued his discussion with the “grandfather of virtual reality.” And the people who contacted Furness were not asking for better computer games. They were talking about really serious issues: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-086-Thomas-Furness.mp3 Transcript. Partial transcript: Thomas Furness: One question that came, one of the first ones I received, was from a mother who had watched a program that, apparently I was talking about the virtual cockpit. She called me and said, I watched this program. I want you to know my Read More ›

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Dentist examines female patient with dental tools

Distracted by Virtual Reality

Experimenting with virtual reality led to the discovery of some unintended, but beneficial uses of VR. Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss applications of virtual reality — including for pain management, medical training, and vision problems. Show Notes 01:11 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 01:46 | The Read More ›

Creative team of young proud ceo experts working together on new strategy planning during meeting in office interior,group of employees discussing ideas during brainstorming briefing and collaboration
Creative team of young proud ceo experts working together on new strategy planning during meeting in office interior,group of employees discussing ideas during brainstorming briefing and collaboration

Applications Everywhere: When VR First Went Viral

Once virtual reality had been invented, new applications for it started appearing everywhere. Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss the Human Interface Technology Lab, some of the applications of virtual reality, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Show Notes 00:22 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 00:58 | Exploring other applications Read More ›

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HUD Futuristic Screen Design Element Virtual Reality Aerial View Escort Security Technology. UI Information Interface In Cyberspace Scanning Landscape Geometric Wireframe..

VR Was Invented by an Air Force Engineer

Real world concerns drove his inventions, long before Comic Con

In a recent Mind Matters podcast, “Thomas Furness and the invention of virtual reality,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed Thomas Furness, an engineer who wanted American fighter pilots to be able to see what was really happening around them in the air. It seemed that they needed virtual reality to do it. And that’s how the technology that powers so many computer games today got started. The transcript can be downloaded at the bottom of the page here. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-085-Thomas-Furness.mp3 Here is is a partial transcript of highlights from the interview: Virtual reality was pioneered by Thomas Furness during his Air Force service in 1966 when he served as a Second Lieutenant at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Much Read More ›

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F/A-18A Hornet

Thomas Furness and the Invention of Virtual Reality

The United States military had a major impact of the development of  virtual reality. How did virtual reality even come to be invented? Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss tactile displays, sensors, and the history of virtual reality. Show Notes 00:36 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 02:58 Read More ›

Business colleagues review automotive design concepts wearing a virtual reality headset.

Abandoning Reality: Getting Lost in Oculus Quest’s VR

Amazing. And time to remember the history. I was the chair of the first serious conference dedicated to virtual reality twenty-five years ago

Virtual reality got its start in the US Air Force’s investigation of heads-up display for pilots. Just as you see a candy wrapper on your dashboard reflected in the windshield while you drive, pilots could have nearly a instantaneous view of instrumentation simply by focusing their eyes from far objects to near.

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