HMDs to EMDs

There have been a lot of discussions over the years regarding the usefulness of head-mounted displays (HMDs). While there has been a lot of promising research, the big issue is, frankly, the size and bulkiness of the displays (especially when trying to integrate into the gear of Soldiers and Marines who already have helmets and are maxed on what they are carrying). The solution = eye-mounted displays.

This was one of the interesting items I heard while I was over in Singapore (sort of ironic that I had to travel to Singapore to hear about something that was being done in the states). A research team at the University of Washington has created contact lenses with micro-circuitry (read Article 1 and Article 2). The first article touches on some of the applications that this technology could have (i.e. displays for pilots, video-game projections, and telescopic vision for soldiers). Really, the applications are endless (think augmented reality applications for driving, working, etc.). Granted, this is still a long ways off, but definitely has the potential to deliver all of the promises (and then some) of HMDs in the size of a contact lens.

To Singapore and Back

I just returned from a rather whirlwind trip to Singapore in which I held a few business meetings. While I won't (can't) get into the nature of the meetings, there was an interesting story developing while we were over there.

In a story that hasn't made much news over here in the U.S., a terrorist leader escaped from a Singapore jail about 3 weeks ago. While many Singaporeans are embarrassed at this lapse in security, there are some hopes that their advancements in technology will help capture the escapee. In fact, shortly after the escape, all Singaporeans received an SMS message on their cell phones, PDAs, etc. with a picture and description of the individual. That's a text message to 4+ million people!!!! Yet we can't even get a text message out to students on a university campus.

Catch-up

I've been holed up for the past several days (and nights) reviewing over 200 proposals. I'm a little over half way through, but needed to take a mental break before embarking on more reviews tomorrow.

One thing became abundantly clear as I was reading. There is still so much work that needs to be done in the model, simulation, and gaming field specifically and e-Learning field in general. In a way, I guess that should be encouraging since it provides a degree of job security. However, there are many disjointed efforts going on and despite recent attempts to standardize one or more domain (think SCORM, HLA, etc.) there is a long way to go. It's true that many companies thrive off of the disjointed nature, but this is driven largely by financial lenses.

As part of my mental health break, I dusted off Clark Aldrich's book titled "Simulations and the Future of Learning" from my bookshelf in order to see how close we were getting to the "future". His first chapter (called "Do you want fries with that e-Learning") has always been my favorite. In it he discusses what the world would be like if e-Learning truly worked. Some of the epiphanies include:

• Training people would be more powerful than lawyers
• Schools would have class sizes of 5, not 25
• Education would be a multi-billion dollar annual export
• E-Learning would produce buzz

We still aren't quite there:-) Unfortunately, I still think we tend to gravitate more toward Clark's analogy to the fast food industry (i.e. low cost...high profit...at the expense/health of the individual).

SBUX (Retraining or Stunt)

I have to credit my wife for sending me this article (she's more of a Starbucks fan). No doubt, most people were aware of Starbucks recent move to close all of its stores for mandatory training. On the surface, the learning community may applaud the effort as a company puts an emphasis on training its employees.

However, here is an alternative view (and one that I think is probably more in line with the real purpose behind the move). Some consider the move more of a marketing stunt than a real concentrated effort to improve the performance of employees.

Anyone who's spent any time wasting away in 15-minute lines for coffee, watching in horror at the collective incompetence, inefficiency and, often, rudeness of the baristas will know that that training session alone won't do much to fix things.

Wearing my Human Performance Improvement hat, this certainly has the appearance of a marketing stunt used to generate free press. First, I haven't heard of any type of performance analysis done by SBUX, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. The bigger issue is why the only solution seems to be the 3 hours of training. When dealing with a performance issue (which SBUX has certainly acknowledged one exists), training is rarely the only intervention needed. Will this generate a quick turnaround for SBUX's fortunes...perhaps in the short term. Will this generate the long-term improvement that SBUX needs...unlikely.

Wii Fit

Related to my previous post on Wiihabilitation, Nintendo has the Wii Fit that has been out for several months now. I haven't seen much on it since it's release at E3, but it is an interesting technology to keep an eye on.

Check out the video. It looks both fun and...somewhat healthy (gasp). There goes another argument about why video games are useless:-)