Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) spaces are growing, and their need for specialized teams is too. Such specialized teams are ideally adept at not just creating the most fantastic experiences in these digital realms, but also making them accessible to all. Here are four facts about emerging jobs in digital creative fields as well as three jobs that are needed for a more accessible future.
Content is difficult to access
As much as we wish content in the digital space was easily accessible no matter where or who accesses it, that isn’t the case. Instead, content is difficult to access on the web, especially if you live with a disability.
When things like keyboard navigation, captions, alt text, and audio aren’t available, content becomes inaccessible to a massive pool of people.
The experience isn’t the same for everyone
People also raise awareness about how the digital experience differs between those who are and aren’t living with a situational, temporary, or permanent disability. The whole point of accessibility is to ensure things are accessible and enjoyable for all people.
Many brands and businesses make their respective digital experiences accessible to most people. But unfortunately, they’re hardly the exciting experience that those living without a disability get.
AR and VR Tech isn’t affordable for everyone
AR and VR require tech accessories. You can access AR with a smartphone, while VR requires a headset device to engage. In addition, you might need other accessories like apps and games, a treadmill, hand controllers, a game system, or a joystick to enhance either experience.
Unfortunately, these accessories can be expensive. For example, the best VR headsets can cost you upwards of $500 apiece. If these accessories don’t become more affordable, AR and VR experiences won’t ever be accessible to everyone.
Internet access is still an issue
And what about the internet? AR and VR experiences need some sort of internet connection to work correctly.
Many households struggle to afford internet service, and various others don’t have it at all. So, there’s a continuing conversation about making the internet more affordable to become that much more accessible.
So, who will we need for a better, more accessible future in the digital space?
As we work to solve some of the digital world’s accessibility challenges, we’ll need teams with specific digitally-focused specializations to do it. At the very least, our future is in the hands of individuals who specialize in visualizations and implementation of accessibility in the AR and VR space.
You can pursue many creative careers to help make our future in the digital space more inclusive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of experience, background, or ability. We’ll start you off with three emerging niches rooted in creativity.
3D Artists
The next generation of creators should be well-versed in 3-dimensional art. A 3D artist creates 3D models of products, environments, and other creations in creative projects, virtual worlds, games, AR experiences, and other digital spaces.
For example, let’s say you’re interested in the metaverse. Specifically, the real estate economy within the metaverse platform is booming. As the demand for metaverse real estate agents grows, so does the need for 3D artists.
This is because 3D artists are the go-to source for guidance on making real estate more appealing to buyers in the metaverse. You can help model the things folks are attracted to in real life, like great landscaping and lighting in metaverse real estate.
If you want to build a memorable brand in the metaverse, or one that uses VR and AR effectively, 3D artists can help craft the necessary unique experience.
NFT Designers
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are exploding in popularity. NFTs are essentially digital collector’s items. They’re used in the metaverse and other virtual worlds. They also can’t be replicated because they’re etched into the blockchain.
A digital piece of art, an in-game item, 3D fashion, GIFs, and metaverse real estate are great examples of NFTs. All of which come alive at the hands of an NFT designer. You can create digital artworks for brands and mint and sell them as NFTs once they’re finished. You can also help navigate emerging NFT platforms to find the best home for your creations.
Web Accessibility Specialists
Whether it’s the metaverse, AR, VR, or another digital experience, it should be accessible to everyone. Regardless of ability or background, an individual should be able to access any digital space and be captivated by it.
A web accessibility specialist can test digital experiences for accessibility inefficiencies and improve them to meet accessibility standards. So, if you want to focus more on the technical aspects of inclusion and accessibility, this could be an excellent role for you.
There are many topics surrounding accessibility in the digital world to discuss. Affordable tech accessories and internet, content accessibility, and vying for the same exceptional experience for everyone are just a few. Pursuing your dream job in one of the emerging niches mentioned above can help form a more inclusive, accessible, and enjoyable digital world for all.
Available in camel, navy or black, this Yankees cap by Texas-born Gladys Tamez is an elevated, handcrafted take on a classic. Made from 100% felt velour, the hat features a grosgrain sweatband and a hand-cut felt version of the baseball team’s logo. The artisanal cap comes in sizes XS to L.
If you cannot create sound-proof rooms at your office or co-working space, the next best thing would be acoustic panels. Of course, they will not be able to totally isolate each space but they can help reduce noise and also serve as a divider for the various rooms or desks. To have something that is also sustainable and can be recycled when it reaches the end of its life cycle is of course a great bonus. This new product from the Swedish brand Baux brings all these elements together.
Designer: Baux
One of the goals of this Swedish brand is to create sustainable acoustic sound absorbers and to use as few materials as they can. With this new line of acoustic panels, they were able to limit materials to two: recycled PET plastic and virgin plastic. As much as they wanted to use just the former, they needed the latter to bind the materials together. The good news is they didn’t need other binding materials like glue which would have made it more difficult to eventually recycle these items.
How they were able to create these felt-like acoustic panels required several processes. First, they had to chip down the PET plastic into small flakes and then melt them down until they become fibers, turning into soft textile. They needed virgin plastic to be able to bind these together and even though this is not the best, sustainable material, it is still better than using glues or more complex manufacturing. The panels are made from two-thirds recycled PET plastic and one-third virgin plastic.
In terms of design, the acoustic panels come in nine different sizes and are available in both floor stand and desk-mounted models. They have a felt-like texture and are pretty minimal in its look. That’s ideal since the purpose really is to serve as dividers for your spaces so decorations and other distractions are not needed. They come in different colors like shades of grey, coral red, khaki, and jade green and so there’s still a splash of something there. These standalone panels are able to absorb and deflect sound and reduce the noise that might disturb the person in the next “room” or “cubicle”.
Since this is a single-material product, when the acoustic panels reach the end of its life or purpose, they can easily be recycled. Baux has been going for “monomateriality” and this product is one proof that it can be done. And all the PET plastic that we have lying around can be repurposed into something useful.
Nerf has never had a mascot—you could argue they don’t need one—but someone in Marketing over there decided it was time. So this month they’re debuting Murph, an apparently non-binary character made entirely of Nerf darts:
“We are thrilled to introduce Murph to fans, a mascot that represents the playful spirit that lives inside us all and is unleashed through Nerf,” Adam Kleinman, Nerf general manager, said in a press release. The brand also states that Murph uses “they, them, their” pronouns.
The character will begin appearing in commercials and on social media this month. My big question is, will Murph remain purely a CG creation, or will some down-on-their-luck actor have to climb into a Murph suit? A photo making the rounds on social media indicates it’s possible:
If that is in fact a person in a suit, how the heck do they see? The character design is already heebie-jeebie-inducing enough–now imagine that with a pair of visible eyes.
As usual, the future has arrived looking a lot different than what we’d envisioned. Flying cars were promised, but as it turns out, the most workable personal flying device is a carbon-fiber bathtub mounted in a tubular aluminum frame with four arms each supporting two counter-rotating rotors. That describes the Jetson ONE, “a commercially available personal electric aerial vehicle that you can own and fly,” Jetson writes.
In a shockingly short three years, the Swedish company has gone from producing their first prototype to selling out 2022’s production models. They’re already taking orders for 2023, bringing their total production count up to 174 units. A $22,000 down payment gets you on the list, and then you’ve got to cut a check for a further $70,000 once your order is ready to ship. “The Jetson ONE is delivered to you in a partially assembled state, where you complete the build,” the company writes. “No special tools are needed. If you receive your Jetson at lunch, you will be flying before dinner.”
To publicize just how do-able it looks to fly the thing, they’ve released this video of company founder and inventor Tomasz Patan using a Jetson ONE to commute from his home to the office, almost troublingly close to overhead power lines:
What jumped out at me is that all other VTOL concepts I’ve seen are squarely aimed at urban markets, with the attendant problems of creating takeoff/landing hubs. In contrast the Jetson ONE really makes sense for rural environments, where there’s plenty of space to land and take off. Furthermore, in rural areas wandering roads tend to follow terrain, meaning straight-line travel would confer a gigantic time savings; Patan reports that flying reduces his commute time by 88%.
My wife and I are on 40 acres of countryside, with plenty of room to land one of these. But I have to ask: Even if we had the 100 grand, what would we actually use this for? A 30-minute drive to the nearest Walmart on our meandering roads might be reduced to just a few minutes, with the Jetson ONE’s 63mph top speed; but only one of us could go, and it doesn’t look like there’s a good place to carry groceries back. If one of us sustained an injury on the farm and needed to be rushed to a hospital, we’d need the other to do the flying, and there’s no room.
Still, that hasn’t stopped 174 people from ponying up, and the list of their order locations (which the company has released here) really drives home how real this is: Customers hail from Alabama, Connecticut, Kansas and Oklahoma, not to mention Japan, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Scotland, Sweden, et cetera. It’s not clear what the regulations and licensing requirements are in each region—how long does it take to learn how to fly one of these?—but the company writes that “We intend to make everyone a pilot.”
Lastly, some stats: The Jetson ONE weighs 190 lbs, can carry a further 210 lbs, and has a max flying time of 20 minutes. A speed governer caps out at 63 mph. The battery takes 2 hours to charge on 110V, down to 1 hour if you’re on 220V.
If you’ve got six figures to spare, get yours here.
With a visualization that has a cartoon head barfing out rainbows when you play music, Hultén’s Doodlestation is a wonderfully absurd synthesizer made for the modern age.
If you haven’t treated yourself to any of Love Hultén’s work, it’s definitely a ‘do no miss’ from us. The Sweden-based audiovisual artist and woodworking aficionado makes some incredibly eclectic synths and modular electronic instruments (even including one made from plastic dentures) using his unmatchable imagination along with synth-building and electrical skills. The Doodlestation is no different from his past creations in that regard, but purely on its own, it’s a rather fun instrument to play. For the most part Hultén combines existing instruments with custom enclosures and graphics, and the Doodlestation does it too. When you play a key or a set of keys together, a custom MIDI visualizer pops up on the screen in the form of a Nyan Cat-ish cartoon boy that barfs out rainbows. The rainbows, cleverly enough, take the shape of the waveform the synth is playing, going between sine, square, sawtooth, or triangle.
Designer: Love Hultén
The Doodlestation is a Frankenstein monster mashup of a Sequential OB-6 module, Moog DFAM, Hologram Microcosm, Theremin setup, and a Tape Echo, combined with Hultén’s custom visualizer and a custom keybed. The color combination seems pretty on-point considering the Frankenstein monster reference with an olive-green paint job, combined with a few colorful keys, plugs, and cables adding a bit of vibrance to an otherwise old-school-looking setup.
The name Doodlestation and the visualization come courtesy a partnership with Evan Keast, founder of the Doodles collection of NFTs. Hultén has made commissioned synths in the past and mentioned that this was a commissioned piece too, on his Instagram. The visualization is one of the key mascots of Evan’s Doodles NFT project.
Proof that you can’t buy good taste: The Huayra Codalunga is a limited-edition hypercar of which just five will be made, at a starting price of €7 million (USD $7.35 million). For starters, the exterior looks like someone tried to create a series of expensive-to-fabricate surfaces that bear no relation to one another:
Then you get to the car’s inside:
Well, I just have a million questions.
– Why the hell do the seats have crotches?
– Where do you store the chess pieces that you play on the seat bottoms with?
– Which element on the Periodic Table wasn’t used in the manufacture of the dashboard?
– Does this car come with a fun helmet that has my call sign printed on the front of it?
– Why are there only four individual LED lights to illuminate the grab handle on the door, when you could’ve used 8, preferably blinking and in different colors?
– No cupholder, I see; maybe you could design one I can plug into these USB-A ports?
– Do I have to unscrew the shift knob to use it as a honey dipper, or does it just pop off?
– Out of the €7 million I spent on this, which million was spent on not covering the shift console, leaving the linkages exposed?
All in all, this is the visual version of Han Solo’s olfactory experience on Hoth.
The hotel’s cultural advisor on what it means to have visitors come to his home
For mindful travelers, it’s crucial to respect and celebrate the places they visit and the people who live there. Curiosity is often a cohort of mindfulness, thus authentic and educational experiences are of utmost importance. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s at the The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua where some of those kinds of experiences can be had. The hotel’s Celebration of the Arts program attracts visitors and locals alike, and has been helmed by Clifford J Nae‘ole, who was born and raised in Maui and works as the Hawaiian cultural advisor at the hotel, for over 20 years. Nae‘ole wants the program—which includes demonstrations, workshops and rituals led by cultural practitioners, artisans, craftspeople, musicians, dancers and chefs—to encourage participants to “engage, participate, create, learn, share and teach.” We experienced Celebration of the Arts earlier this year and found that Nae‘ole (who was given the Historic Preservation Award from the Historic Hawaii Foundation last year) is intrinsic in the endeavor’s success and spirit. We spoke with him about everything that Maui offers and what it means to have visitors come to his home.
For me, Maui offers a dose of reality. Visitors can come to Maui and find all kinds of experiences. So one day maybe that dose of reality is shopping, restaurants and resort areas. They can go and visit all these things within five to 10 minutes of where they are. Then of course you can run away to another dose of reality, which would be spirituality. You could find a beach by yourself, hold your significant other’s hand, or just walk and just think. That’s the opposite side of the spectrum.
You can find a dose of rustic reality from the big swank-looking hotels to rustic towns like Paia and Haiku and Makawao and just go back 20, 30 years. Even the environmental side: you can go from a very hot, humid section and 10 minutes down the road you see a line where it’s raining and you can actually go through this rain. Then you’re in an environment of green, of wetland, of an upland forest. Go another 10 miles and you’re in a black lava desert of people who live in Kaupo. It’s a stained glass window of colors and experiences for a person to behold. Maui offers everything.
When and, more importantly, why was Celebration of the Arts created?
It was created in 1992 and it stemmed out of the errors and the trials and tribulations that occurred at the inception of the [Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua] hotel, where the hotel was taking precedent over the culture. The hotel was going to be built over the human skeletal remains of our people. Thankfully, at that time the Hawaiian renaissance had began and the Hawaiians said, “no, enough is enough”—we have the right to protect our skeletal remains, artifacts, etc. And so we protested. The Ritz-Carlton was the first hotel to listen and take heed of what the native Hawaiians had to say.
So the agreement was made that the hotel would no longer be a low-rise ocean-front but a high-rise ocean-view. The land the hotel was mostly built on is now state land, which we caretake. Because of that, new laws have come into effect to protect remains, and the Burial Council is in charge of determining whether or not a building will affect any artifacts, any sacred sites. We preserve that land in perpetuity now.
Because of the Ritz-Carlton, that happened. It was bad, yes. But sometimes when you make a mistake, there’s only good to kick out of it. The hotel says, “We could easily just stop now; we did the job,” but they said “Let’s continue to set precedent. Let us dedicate ourselves to the culture and show that this is not a one-stop deal.” We created Celebration of the Arts to honor all things Hawaiian.
From problems that may be facing contemporary Hawaiians now to the history of the Hawaiians—their accomplishments and mistakes—to asking for solutions from our visitors. I think it is really great to have visitors ask “what can you do? Tell us what you’ve experienced in your lifetime? Your country, your county or state, or city?” It’s a conglomeration of Hawaiianness and asking for solutions for the future from our visitors. They become partners in the future of these islands, because visitors play a huge part here in Hawaii.
If you come into my house, learn, listen, share, and perhaps contribute
Everything we do at the hotel, we honor our ancestors first. We pay tribute to them first. You see it at opening ceremonies and with the chanting and all of that. It’s very moving and it’s very real. That’s what we want to do, to keep it real. Celebration of the Arts will always include that reality, that emotion that spiritual reward and commitment, and at the same time, invite everyone in to the house. If you come into my house, learn, listen, share, and perhaps contribute.
Regarding the problems that occurred when the hotel planned to build on sacred sites and land, were you part of those conversations back then?
I was a student of the dialogue at the time. I had not found my Hawaiianness until I was 35 years old. I was living in California and I came back to Hawaii when all of this was happening. I was reading about it, and I was studying Hawaiian hula and chant and spirituality. I remember distinctly driving to the hotel to apply for a job and thinking, “Am I sleeping with the enemy? Am I selling myself out?” But I was hired as a PBX operator—”good morning, this is your 5:30 wake-up call,” blah blah blah. But also being a student of Hawaiian history and protocol, I saw things that were amiss at the hotel. I started to open up and tell them. And thankfully, they listened. They created the position of cultural advisor.
I was wondering what the lesson is in this—and the lesson is sometimes the kuleana or responsibility chooses you rather than you choosing the responsibility. When that comes, you’ve got to open your ears, your eyes, your soul, because it’s on your shoulders. They chose you. You take your profession here and do what you do because you’re a professional. They chose you. Your ancestors made you who you are.
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From that point forward was the hotel completely on board in finding this this balance, this harmony?
I can honestly say 100% they were. When we say to the [local] community, “Come to the Ritz-Carlton, enjoy this,” a lot of them think it’s going to be expensive. Absolutely not. The only thing the hotel charges for is food and beverage. All the experiences are free. The hotel has never made a penny out of this. The success is because the hotel has been able to listen and allow a Hawaiian crew to run a Hawaiian event, rather than to have a corporate team try to design a Hawaiian event. They say, “Just go and do it.” And that’s what I do. I bring my sister, my brother, my children, aunties, uncles, kahuna, senior citizens—they’re all here and they want to help because now you have the ability to navigate your own canoe.
Courtesy of Ritz-Carlton
Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of conversation about how mainlanders should stay away from Hawaii for the islands to stay intact and be preserved, both environmentally and culturally. I’m curious what your thoughts are on that idea.
This was a result of the pandemic because we were running 100 miles an hour for so long and when the pandemic hit, it went back down to 10 miles an hour. Our eyes opened. One of the major goals during this 100-miles-an-hour thing was connecting the host to the hosted, but when the pandemic came we realized it was time for the host to reconnect to the host. It’s time for us to open our eyes and see the water’s clearing, the fish are coming back. I had space to go camp with my family. We had to slow down to reconnect with ourselves. Now we’re asking, “How do we maintain this status?” I will say this: I don’t want visitors to come; I want visitors to arrive here with a different type of respect. Respect for a culture that has accomplishments. I want them to come into this space like they are going to visit their home where they were born—they’re going to come with respect. I want them to come into my home, but I don’t want them to demand the master bedroom.
With the influx of cultural advisors at the hotels, with their Hawaiian renaissance, we’ve rethought our priorities. Lei-making classes are not just lei-making; it’s the discipline of lei-making—the why, the who, the what, when and where. There’s responsibility with that. Now we will be teaching hula as if we are being taught by our elders. The disciplines that go into hula, the male, the female, the positioning, the pain, the physicality that you need. The kaona and the double-entendre of the word. The bombastic hula of the ancient days versus the flowing motions of the contemporary days. We are opening up and saying, “You’re coming into my house. Here’s my rules. Here’s my disciplines. Enjoy it, because this is what Hawaii is all about.” If you elect to come to Hawaii, come here with an open heart and mind and be prepared to learn.
The TIE Fighter is perhaps one of the most distinguishable fictional spacecraft in the Star Wars universe. You see one, and you know it’s something related to the Galactic Republic, but you would still recognize it even if you’re not a fan of the epic franchise. With hundreds to thousands of Star Wars-inspired creations worldwide, it may be challenging to track them all, but some items make a remarkable impression, especially if they have special functions. We don’t want any more useless stuff, so if we are presented with a new object like a sculpture, it better be functional. If it is a furniture item, it should have another function, so the effort isn’t wasted, so multi-functional items are very much appreciated by those who want to keep their lives compact, minimalist, and small.
Kross Studio is a relatively new company, but it has been introducing exciting products from several collaborations. The Studio’s identity includes collaboration as an integral part of the business, and so far, its partnerships have been successful. We remember that 1989 Batmobile Desk Clock as the perfect sidekick to a geeky desk setup. Star Wars fans will never forget the Death Star Watch and the Boba Fett Tourbillon Watch and today, we’re showing you the TIE Advanced x1 Watch Winder, described as the next chapter of the brand’s Star Wires-inspired collaboration.
The latest collectible is functional but is available in a limited release only, but the dark universe-inspired TIE Advanced x1 watch winding sculpture can be considered a magnificent piece of art by hardcore Star Wars fans. However, it is mainly a watch winder in its solid aluminum glory with an integrated winding engine to keep an automatic watch always running even when not worn. This operational art object weighs 4kgs and measures 20cm long, 28cm wide, and 17cm high—made from a solid black anodized aluminum.
Kross Studio is known for its excellent design and manufacturing skills, which are clearly evident in the TIE Advanced x1 Watch Winder. The functional sculpture has been machined, finished, and assembled in-house, resulting in a piece that harnesses the force of movement to keep any automatic watch going while within the capsule. The Kross Studio TIE Advanced x1-inspired watch winder sculpture is activated when an infrared sensor detects a watch. It stays in standby mode if there is no watch available to conserve energy, but the battery can last for more than two years. If you need to change the batteries, you may need to use a key inspired by the Galactic Empire.
Everything about the TIE Advanced x1 watch winder proves Kross Studio’s principles when it comes to disruptive design. The studio has big collaborations and ambitions that have been successful since its launch in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. This watch winder is no different and we believe more projects with other franchises will be introduced by Kross Studio.
Born in Wales but raised in Minnesota, recording artist Thomas Abban returns with “Don’t Leave,” another spectacular showcase of his exquisite vocal capabilities and impassioned lyrical storytelling. The track will appear on Abban’s forthcoming EP, Ambienic, out 24 June. “This EP was made alone by me,” Abban explains in a statement. “It consists of songs predating my last album which I was unable to release. The EP was crafted with certain styles and emotions in mind. I had a particular sound I was pursuing for this project that I wanted to explore within a smaller medium like an EP. I wanted something with a more immediate core yet with deep and distant surroundings.”
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