Project Empathy hopes VR can change policy / GE finds AR helps workers / Coachella adds AR — Inside VR & AR

Project Empathy, backed by CNN political commentator Van Jones, hopes VR experiences can facilitate policy change. Project Empathy partnered with #cut50, an initiative that hopes to reduce mass incarceration in the U.S. The first series of experiences created by Project Empathy center around criminal justice reform. One experience documents New York Times’ bestselling author Shaka Senghor’s incarceration story and plunges viewers directly into the world of solitary confinement. Another captures the pain of having a mother in prison, through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl. — QZ

General Electric found that augmented reality improves worker performance. AR smart glasses are being introduced in manufacturing, warehousing and field service environments, which can be used to overlay information for training purposes. In a study, GE found that a technician wiring a wind turbine’s control box using an AR headset for instructions was 34% more productive than one using a paper-based manual. GE also found warehouse workers receiving a new picklist order through AR completed the task 46% faster than those using the standard process. The company believes that AR technology will be instrumental in closing the skill gap that is responsible for the shortage of skilled manufacturing workers. — HBR

Coachella is introducing AR experiences to its VR mobile app. Last year, the festival gave ticket holders a cardboard headset and introduced a VR mobile app, which allowed users to explore the festival grounds virtually. This year, the festival will continue to offer VR experiences and will add AR experiences. Vantage.tv and software platform CameraIQ have teamed up to create the app. The festival will be held on April 14-16 and on April 21-23at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.— PE 

HTC’s vice president of global VR content Joel Brenton criticized Oculus’ approach to exclusivity with its studios’ games. Although Brenton acknowledges that Oculus provides funding grants for its developers, he thinks exclusivity is problematic for the developer’s long-term success. “I just feel that they're essentially hampering developers' ability to create large communities by blocking them out from other platforms,” he said to GameSpot. — GAMESPOT 

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