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You enter a workplace. You've never been here before. But you know exactly what to do--and you execute the tasks competently. This is one of the goals of Bit Space Development. They're an interactive digital media studio, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. And their mission says their goal is to build "the best, most innovative and creative interactive learning experiences we possibly can". Bit Space Development Owner/CEO Dan Blair created his startup in 2015. Since then, Dan, who describes himself as an "idea guy" and technology enthusiast, has worked with his team to develop multiple VR and XR projects for experiential learning. Currently, classrooms and on-the-job training are their main applications. But Dan says the possibilities extend far beyond those uses--to social experiences as well. Dan talked about his experiences, explored the ways his company's technology works for hands-on virtual learning experiences and shared some of his favorite resources. On this edition of Over Coffee®, we cover: Where Dan's interest in "building things that solve problems" began; The creative project that served as a catalyst this interest; The story of Bit Space Development (which Dan says he created accidentally!); One very cool XR project Bit Space Development is doing with the schools in their area; How Dan and his team are using immersive technology to work remotely due to the pandemic; A walkthrough of planning an educational experience in XR; How XR can become more accessible; What's ahead, for Bit Space Development; A 360 experience they've created, reconstructing a site in their local community; Dan's recommendations for anyone who's new to XR and would like to learn more.
In this episode, Daniel Blair, owner and CEO of Bit Space Development, chats with Mariette Mulaire about the interesting impact that COVID-19 has had on his business. The company's innovative technology is in high demand for things such as simulated training and classroom education. Daniel speaks about experimenting with different hand and eye tracking technologies and how his company has been able to practice with their own team what they've been preaching to their clients.Bit Space Development is a virtual reality and augmented reality development studio. They develop innovative solutions in interesting ways by using technology to immerse people in a new learning experience.
Access to the Internet can be spotty in Northern Canada. But heavy industry happens up there all the same, and Bit Space Development's Daniel Blair wants to bring those workers the same access to XR-driven training and remote expert assistance as anywhere else enjoys. He chats with Alan about how he hopes to bring that about, in the first XR for Business of 2020. Alan: Hey, everyone, it’s Alan Smithson here with the XR for Business Podcast. Today, we’re speaking with Daniel Blair, founder and CEO of a Canadian VR company called Bit Space Development. We’ll be discussing how virtual reality is revolutionizing industrial training and why it’s vitally important to define your key performance indicators to release you and your customers from the Pilot POC Purgatory. All that and more on the XR for Business Podcast. With that, I want to welcome my good friend Dan to the show. Welcome to the show, Dan. Daniel: Hey, thanks for having me. Alan: It’s my absolute pleasure. Let’s get into what you guys are doin; making serious purposes with VR and AR. What does that mean? Daniel: Basically, what that means is we utilize immersive technologies to create games. But those games are used for training, education, and really serious purposes. We aren’t generally building applications that are going to be sold on Steam or sold on the Oculus store. But what we’re building are tools that integrate with clients infrastructure to help augment their workflow or create a safer workplace. Alan: I know you guys have done a ton of things. One of them was a hand tool training simulator. Maybe walk us through what are these things, and how are people using them? Daniel: For sure. Some of our most recent deployments include exactly what you’re talking about, the power tools simulator, which we created with a provincial organization here. That tool utilizes the room-scale six degrees of freedom tracking of any of the open VR-capable headsets, to put new entrants and kids on job sites and teach them about safe operation of power tools. And that can range from anything from a drill or a hammer drill or a circular saw. But we put some really interesting tools in there, like concrete saws — which would be extremely dangerous for a new entrant to use in real life. Alan: I actually know all about that, cement saws. When I was a kid, my dad was grinding some bricks with a grinding wheel and the wheel shattered and cut both his legs wide open. And I remember as a kid, taking him to the hospital and them having to sew up right down to the bone. I mean, this was a real problem. I know this firsthand. This is a very, very unsafe tool if used incorrectly. Daniel: Yeah. And the worst part of building these applications are the shock value photos that my clients will send me. I’ll wake up in the morning and they’ll say, “hey, this is a good example of why to learn about the safe operation of these tools.” And they’ll send me a photo of something similar to what happened to your dad, which is super unfortunate. And additionally to that, we’ve done a lot of work in the welding space, and on the more promotional side, our most recent deployment is called Level Up VR, which we developed with the USAF Workers of Tomorrow, an organization that promotes safe work sites and safe work practices for both employers and employees for youth. And that tool actually won an Impact Marketing Award for the use of the virtual reality tool in the campaign that was created to raise awareness. So we see both the marketing side and the education side. Alan: That’s amazing. Safe working is something that we need to market to. Tr
Access to the Internet can be spotty in Northern Canada. But heavy industry happens up there all the same, and Bit Space Development’s Daniel Blair wants to bring those workers the same access to XR-driven training and remote expert assistance as anywhere else enjoys. He chats with Alan about how he hopes to bring that about, in the first XR for Business of 2020. Alan: Hey, everyone, it’s Alan Smithson here with the XR for Business Podcast. Today, we’re speaking with Daniel Blair, founder and CEO of a Canadian VR company called Bit Space Development. We’ll be discussing how virtual reality is revolutionizing industrial training and why it’s vitally important to define your key performance indicators to release you and your customers from the Pilot POC Purgatory. All that and more on the XR for Business Podcast. With that, I want to welcome my good friend Dan to the show. Welcome to the show, Dan. Daniel: Hey, thanks for having me. Alan: It’s my absolute pleasure. Let’s get into what you guys are doin; making serious purposes with VR and AR. What does that mean? Daniel: Basically, what that means is we utilize immersive technologies to create games. But those games are used for training, education, and really serious purposes. We aren’t generally building applications that are going to be sold on Steam or sold on the Oculus store. But what we’re building are tools that integrate with clients infrastructure to help augment their workflow or create a safer workplace. Alan: I know you guys have done a ton of things. One of them was a hand tool training simulator. Maybe walk us through what are these things, and how are people using them? Daniel: For sure. Some of our most recent deployments include exactly what you’re talking about, the power tools simulator, which we created with a provincial organization here. That tool utilizes the room-scale six degrees of freedom tracking of any of the open VR-capable headsets, to put new entrants and kids on job sites and teach them about safe operation of power tools. And that can range from anything from a drill or a hammer drill or a circular saw. But we put some really interesting tools in there, like concrete saws — which would be extremely dangerous for a new entrant to use in real life. Alan: I actually know all about that, cement saws. When I was a kid, my dad was grinding some bricks with a grinding wheel and the wheel shattered and cut both his legs wide open. And I remember as a kid, taking him to the hospital and them having to sew up right down to the bone. I mean, this was a real problem. I know this firsthand. This is a very, very unsafe tool if used incorrectly. Daniel: Yeah. And the worst part of building these applications are the shock value photos that my clients will send me. I’ll wake up in the morning and they’ll say, “hey, this is a good example of why to learn about the safe operation of these tools.” And they’ll send me a photo of something similar to what happened to your dad, which is super unfortunate. And additionally to that, we’ve done a lot of work in the welding space, and on the more promotional side, our most recent deployment is called Level Up VR, which we developed with the USAF Workers of Tomorrow, an organization that promotes safe work sites and safe work practices for both employers and employees for youth. And that tool actually won an Impact Marketing Award for the use of the virtual reality tool in the campaign that was created to raise awareness. So we see both the marketing side and the education side. Alan: That’s amazing. Safe working is something that we need to market to. Tr
Daniel Voth is a super nice guy who’s always gone out of his way to say hello to me at events. He’s also a major contributor in the Winnipeg gaming scene. He’s a project manager at Bit Space Development, administrator of IGDA Winnipeg, and co-coordinator of Winnipeg Game Jam. After talking about how Daniel got […]
Daniel Blair founded Bit Space Development in 2015, working in interactive digital media focused on developing augmented and virtual reality experiences for serious purposes. He serves as technology advisor for North Forge Technology Exchange where he founded the Advanced ICT Lab. Dan also sits on the board of directors for New Media Manitoba where he works to grow the IDM industry in Manitoba. In 2016 Daniel received the future leaders of Manitoba award as well as the CICAN award. Daniel enjoys working with emerging technologies and will tell you he is almost addicted to new tech.
December is a hectic time for everyone, but the buildup to the holiday season has been awesome on the Alley! There are a number of events going on over the next few weeks which Emelia updated us on and we had a chance to talk about Crowdfunding Fails and Minimal Viable Products with Dan Blair from Bit Space Development and Scott Macaulay from Red River College on this weeks Innovation Alley Podcast.