Today’s ‘Digital Kids’ Will be the Future Shepherds of Augmented Reality

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I have to admit I’m a bit jealous of students learning about technology today. They will be the first generation to experience augmented reality fully integrated and widely used in their daily lives. Thanks to science fiction films, many of us grew up dreaming of a world full of interactive holograms, and we are just now starting to get just a taste of that experience. Yesterday's dreams are today's (augmented) realities. Kids today will live in that world, and shape it and be shaped by it, for their whole lives.

They will inherit the keys to this new magical dimension and do their best to drive it. As holographic spatial computing becomes interwoven into society, they will face opportunities and challenges never before imagined. To me it feels like the early pioneering days of the Internet, which was a land of limitless possibilities and connections, and very few rules. Eventually the web changed humanity forever and has shaped how we live together on this planet. Digital pioneering is a big opportunity and, as we’ve learned through some epic failures and missteps, it is also a big responsibility.

As pioneers in this space, Enklu Productions creates cutting edge experiences using our acclaimed immersive augmented reality entertainment platform and industry leading headsets filled with stunning visuals and captivating interactivity. We encourage our community to play, create, and share social reality experiences together. Our CEO and CTO transitioned from the traditional video games industry so they could leverage technology to bring people together instead of teaching them antisocial or violent behaviors. Enklu creates life affirming experiences that encourage exploration and learning, and include a healthy dose of sparkles and “WOW.”

Enklu partnered with XR Marin as part of Computer Science Education Week

As a company that is bringing conscious positive purpose into these new dimensions, we were honored to help introduce augmented reality to the students at Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, CA. The goal was to raise awareness of the transformative role of computing in society, and promote computer science education for grades K-12.

XR Marin is a program of Marin County Office of Education for education and innovation in XR: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and 360 Video. They offer student academies, classes, art programs and industry workshops to expand opportunities for students and individuals to build high demand tech skills for college, career, and a future society that will be transformed by immersive technologies that will change human experience in the way we learn, work, and play.

"We are delighted to sponsor this event and we invited Enklu to join in the celebration as they are one of the most interesting companies leading this industry segment in Augmented Reality," - Dane Lancaster, Senior Director Information Technology, Marin County Office of Education and XR Marin

Being a computer scientist does not doom you to a boring life

Sometimes people are surprised to learn that I have a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. Perhaps they are confounded by my purple dreadlocks and colorful self-expression? I love opportunities to shatter any limiting beliefs that they may have. As such, I was delighted to give the XR Marin Industry Insights keynote to 75+ eager students, teachers and school officials about my own journey as a technologist. I was once a teenager too, and I went from crushing on drummers in high school while in the marching band to later taking on advanced studies in computer science. After graduate school, I first worked as a telecommunications consultant for a global consulting firm, then was the head of technology for Burning Man for almost 20 years, and now have been drawn to the wonderful new frontier of augmented reality and working with Enklu. At no point has this ride been boring. In fact, my work as a technologist has enabled me to participate in awe-inspiring innovation and creativity, and have a behind-the-scenes understanding of how to make it all possible.

After my keynote, our Customer Success Manager, Jose Andres, gave a demo of Enklu Cloud, our easy-to-use, real-time, multi-person augmented reality collaboration platform, and we had time for a few questions from the crowded room. Afterwards, we were even able to sneak in a few quick HoloLens demos to several students who had some flexibility in their schedule that day.

This was the inaugural keynote hosted by TL Innovation Lab, a student-led applied computer science enrichment program, celebrating the launch of their school’s new 19 million dollar tech lab -- a facility that will shape the future of education and innovation. Apparently we made quite an impression and the students and administration could not stop talking about it.

“I want to personally thank you both for your inspiring talks and sharing the new worlds of the future created with AR. I am even more blown away by your creativity and amazing work of a start-up that is pushing the boundaries of art and entertainment on new platforms in XR! You both were inspiring, brilliant, and authentic natural leaders and role models for all of us.” - Maya Bartolf, XR Marin