b'Partner News Summer 2021 25EnterpriseHowever, some new ones have been added,Problem 4: Many sectors need to be able for a completely friction-less operation. Letsto audit and trace learners and certification look at some of the friction points that haveback to the training session to validate the been addressed from tethered devices tonamed learner matches the person in the standalone and solutions incorporated byreal world, should any onsite incidents occur many enterprises, to reduce that faff factor. and verification of competence needs to be defined within a court of law. Problem 1: Unless very specific use cases require high-end graphical fidelity, manySolution 4: Skill Shield enables the video enterprise organisations do not want tocasted from the standalone VR headset to deploy tethered VR, citing health and safetybe live composited alongside the feed from reasons, or wanting to avoid complicatedthe webcam, encoding learner record and setups, or the cost of VR PC hardware. the training session into one, single video file, with associated learning outcomes tracked Solution 1a: More recent tethered VRand relevant information embedded into the headsets have incorporated inside-outmetadata.tracking capabilities, removing the need for the external sensors and additional socketsProviding a software bridge to drive them. However, the cost of the high- between hardware devicesend VR PC remains. Once the standalone VR headset has been paired to the recording laptop via USB, the Solution 1b: Standalone devices remove theVR training applications and sessions can need for the VR PC, since all the compute,be operated untethered, as long as both battery and sensors are contained withindevices are on the same WiFi network. This the device without need for anything else.can be provided by a standard WiFi access However, the ease-of-use comes at a costpoint without requiring internet access to be of graphical fidelity. enabled.Problem 2: Standalone devices are self- Like all things digital video related, the contained, so without that tether to a VR PCspecification and capabilities of the laptop and monitor, it is not possible to see whatcapturing the VR application cast and is happening inside the headset. This makeswebcam streams affects the final encoding it difficult to assist and troubleshoot issuesquality, as does the WiFi network bandwidth and makes for a less impactful demo, whenavailable. Skill Shield is designed to allow the non-VR audience cannot see whatsthe facilitator to set the video stream and going on. recording bandwidth accordingly to ensure quality of image and playback and review Solution 2a:Some standalone VR headsetsperformance.can cast to a Google Chromecast device plugged into a HDTV, as long as both devicesThe added bonus of this combined video are connected to the same WiFi network.feed being recorded is it can be live-This brings back the mirroring capability ofstreamed to remote viewers, who may not tethered devices to see what the user isbe present physically for the training session. Since the shipping of the Oculus Rift DK1seeing. The training facilitator is also able to scrub in 2013, the KickStarter backer reward, andthrough the video, to review performance the initial consumer VR launches in 2016,Solution 2b: Oculus Quest standalone VRand highlight with the learner where enterprise organisations have dabbled inheadsets can cast to a web page within theimprovements could be made next time, or a number of ways with deploying VR for aoculus.com website domain as an alternativeassessment fails were made.variety of use cases. This new 4th wave of VRto using a Google Chromecast.revived an interest but was still full of frictionEnterprise organisations, especially within points for operation, requiring high-endProblem 3: Chromecast operates by creatingthe construction sector, have been deploying gaming PCs to power the experiences anda temporary private YouTube stream andSkill Shield in order to create irrefutable external tracking systems to provide a fullrequires external internet access to function.learner video records, so they can track 6DoF (6 degrees of freedom) experience. Many enterprise IT policies block YouTubeand trace who undertook the training in access and/or external internet accesscomparison to who is on-site, necessary With the launch of standalone devices inentirely. when on-site incidents occur. Skill Shield acts 2019 onwards, incorporating inside-outas the bridge between VR hardware and tracking, combined CPU and GPU computeSolution 3: There are some Android system- existing PCs to reduce these fuss-factors for and battery, scaled-up deployments havelevel ADB commands that developers can usewider-scale deployment and training integrity occurred as many barriers have beento provide a video stream, but this requires anot before possible.reduced, or removed entirely.USB cable and a PC to operate fully.'