E-Comm Intern Reviews GoPro

I, the Electronic Communications intern for Edmon Low Library Communication Services, recently took it upon myself to follow our own advice and rent something from the Tech to Go desk. I rented a GoPro Hero4, which came in a protective case that also held a remote, a tripod, several cases, two batteries, a charger and numerous screws to attach the camera to a selfie stick. I was surprised by the amount of items I got and astonished they trusted me with it all. After all, I walked away with an armful of technology in exchange for my student ID information.

I chose the GoPro because I wasn’t aware the Edmon Low Library offered them until I became a member of the faculty; similarly, any student I asked also had no idea they were available. The GoPro has gained widespread popularity in recent years for its ability to capture images that larger digital cameras and smartphones simply cannot capture as well. GoPros have also become known for their versatility and adaptability in filming action shots.

The GoPro can film narrow, medium or wide shots, giving you the option of exactly how much you want to capture in a photo. You can see in this photo inside Edmon Low Library that the bookshelves look warped; that photo was taken on the medium setting. By switching the view, you can alter how the images look to fit what you are wanting.

The famous GoPro look is a fish-eye shot, which shows a wide landscape in a panoramic view. This product isn’t ideal for family pictures, but it gives images a neat, angular aspect that would normally require a special lens for an average digital camera.

On our journey through Edmon Low Library, we primarily used a selfie stick attachment to capture footage. Unfortunately, the remote control was inactive, but that was but a minor setback. GoPro has its own smartphone application that acts as a remote, library and settings hub. When the camera is on, you are able to see exactly what the camera is capturing on your phone, which is incredibly useful if you don’t have a GoPro screen. You can use the app to take your photos then view and edit them once they are in the library. It is also an alternative to using the buttons on the actual camera.

The GoPro camera itself has three main buttons. The top button is the shutter used to capture pictures and begin regular or time lapse videos; it also works to activate wifi. The button on the front is the on/off feature, and a smaller button on the side is for changing settings, such as wifi connectivity and view preference. One thing I had an issue with was the default shot setting, which placed the camera in video mode when turned on, so I often started videos when I meant to take one shot.

The only other problem I had during my three day ownership was the quality of the photos. It may have been due to the protective casing, but the majority of my photos came out a little blurry. I look forward to renting a GoPro again soon to determine whether it was user error or equipment malfunction.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the easy operation and unique photos. I would highly recommend a GoPro to anyone who wants to document any type of outing or event without hauling around a bulky (and potentially vulnerable) DSLR camera. With its various cases and attachments, GoPros go beyond normal cameras and provide unbeatable footage, whether that be strolling around a library or hiking through a rainforest.

It may take some practice to get your best shot with a GoPro, but it is much easier to master than a typical DSLR. After the initial process of discovering its uses, I found the GoPro to be a simple and useful gadget, and I hope you will too. When you are planning your next adventure, put the GoPro Hero4 at the top of your packing list, and don’t forget to check it out from the Tech to Go desk in Edmon Low Creative Studios. Watch this step-by-step tutorial for more detailed instructions on how to operate a GoPro.

Do you have any neat GoPro ideas or stories you’d like to share? Comment below!

Post by Jennifer Barnett, E-Communications Intern for OSU Library Communications

Virtual Reality in the Library

In our last post, we discussed augmented reality and its possible uses in OSU Libraries. We briefly mentioned its distinction from virtual reality, which is now our main focus of discussion.

Virtual reality is, by definition, a realistic and immersive simulation of a three-dimensional environment, created using interactive software and hardware, and experienced or controlled by movement of the body. Essentially, it places you directly in a virtual world; think think Star Trek holodeck but without all the walking. The extent of this experience can be simply watching on a screen or becoming fully immersed in a 360 degree virtual space.

Georgia State University offers art history students the ability to travel to places they could not otherwise visit. It is hopeful that such classes will soon be equipped with enough VR equipment to immerse each student in VR to allow visualization of the architectural styles and historical structures they are learning about. Additionally, a team of researchers at University of Maryland have created a program that could revolutionize the study of medicine by allowing students to view surgeries virtually to learn techniques.

This virtual spin on education could be in the not-so-distant future for Oklahoma State. If you haven’t noticed, the Edmon Low Library has recently added new equipment to the Joe and Jeanne Craig and John C. & Kathryn A. Williams study rooms. They contain monitors and tables for regular study sessions but also have less obvious components in the ceiling corners that act as sensors for VR. When a user is in a virtual environment, the sensors are able to pinpoint where the user is located to allow him or her to move throughout the space without bumping into unseen items.

To take a journey in one of the VR rooms, you will need the proper equipment. The VR goggles are attached to a headset with adjustable straps to fit your noggin nice and snug. This is how you view the environment and its virtual elements. The controllers come in the form of cylindrical joysticks that are held in either hand. These allow the sensors to find you within the room and give you the ability to walk around the VR world.

While price varies on VR equipment, it can be cost-prohibitive for many students, which is why the free access in Edmon Low is such a helpful resource.

The VR rooms can be reserved on the library website, and the necessary VR equipment for the room is available at the Tech to Go desk. If you don’t have time for the full VR experience, you can check out a pair of the VR goggles from Tech To Go. All that’s needed is a free download of the VR app on your cellphone, which is plugged into the goggles as a screen. Once the app is operating, you can put on the goggles and immerse yourself in a variety of locations including a roller coaster and the moon’s surface. Check out the new equipment and experience the fun of virtual reality today!

What environment or place would you like to experience virtually? Share your comments below.

Post by Jennifer Barnett, E-Communications Intern for OSU Library Communications

Augmented Reality in Higher Education

Augmented reality is a view of the physical world where certain elements are enhanced or “augmented.” Virtual reality creates a completely simulated world; whereas, AR only adds distinct virtual elements to the real world. AR is what you see on the Pokemon Go app when virtual images, such as Pokemon, appear in the natural world. A grid in the cellphone camera allows the images to be placed seemingly next to real objects.

Now that the term sounds a little less foreign, let’s talk about augmented reality in higher education. In modern libraries across America, AR is being used for many purposes.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison created an entire documentary of the Dow Day Vietnam War protests that can only be seen using AR. It allowed students to use their mobile devices to find locations of historical protests and see exactly what was happening in that spot on that specific day.

Simpson College in Iowa uses an AR cellphone application to make its promotional banners come to life through visual graphics, giving the impression that the banner is actually communicating to viewers. Additionally, the University of Washington is currently conducting research on a bionic contact lens that would allow users to view entire virtual displays through their own eyes.

A notable pioneer in AR, The University of Canterbury in New Zealand, has recently developed an interactive AR display where virtual planets on playing cards can be moved to create the solar system and further knowledge of astronomy. The university's researchers were also able to develop an AR program that displayed virtual versions of cities. By using a mobile app, users can view the past constructions of buildings and review facts and photos.

Each use of AR has proved useful to the furtherance of education at other universities, so how can this technology be applied to real life situations here at Oklahoma State?

Using AR, OSU Libraries could offer a virtually interactive tour of study spaces. The tour could lead visitors to a selected location, maybe a specific bookshelf, by creating virtual arrows or signs leading to the destination.

Another useful development of AR for mobile devices is spatial immersion and interaction, which allows the digitization of actual humans. Basically, it creates holograms of humans who are able to interact with the viewer and perform certain tasks. By accessing this spatial immersion technology, staff could create holograms of faculty showing visitors how to use the library equipment, such as book check-out and data visualization software. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

Finally, Radio-frequency identification is a separate technology that could be linked to AR. RFID uses electromagnetic fields to track items by reading the tags connected to them. The tags can be attached to a number of things from vehicles to student IDs. RFID can be used for many purposes, notably inventory management and item tracking. Similar to the augmented tour that would assist people in finding a location, RFID could allow this idea to expand to leads users to the exact location of the book they are searching by tracking its RFID tag. It could also be used as a security device for loss prevention.

Currently, the only augmented experience that OSU Library offers is through the Google Glass demos. These devices offer the advantage of operating a computer through the lenses, which could provide the perfect outlet for all the suggested applications of augmented reality. With a few advancements to its current equipment, the OSU Library could give other libraries something to model their programs after in the years to come.

What are your ideas for applying AR and other modern technologies in the OSU Libraries?

Post by Jennifer Barnett, E-Communications Intern for OSU Library Communications

Expanding Tech with Telescopes at the OSU Library

In response to our recent “What If The Library...” feedback campaign, Edmon Low Creative Studios now boasts a new addition to its hardware lineup: telescopes. The Tech To Go desk now offers a range of equipment for audio, photo, video and nighttime sky viewing.

The decision to purchase telescopes was based on student votes. Other options included checkout for Google Glass, more rolling whiteboards and free faxing. Along with telescopes, the Library also added bean bag chairs and more study rooms on the first floor.

There are currently three types of telescopes available for checkout. The Meade ETC 90 features a removable optical tube, which provides versatility to the model. It has an Audiostar handbox controller with a built-in speaker that offers information about objects in the telescope's’ view. Ideal for learning while stargazing, this is also the best choice for adventures requiring easily portable equipment.

The Meade Infinity 102 is great for beginners. It has everything necessary for amateur sky searchers. Its slow motion option allows the user to track moving objects while capturing bright and clear images. It comes with three eyepieces for varying levels of magnification, and the red dot viewfinder makes locating planets and constellations a breeze.

The Celestron C6N provides incredibly refined images of wide views by using diffraction-limited parabolic primary mirrors. This telescope is high quality and performs as such. It is operated by computer control technology, giving it a vast database and extensive knowledge on a number of identifiable objects. This piece of exploration equipment is ideal for space education.

The Celestron SkyMaster Binoculars present a high quality experience. This device is intended for extended viewing of astronomical and terrestrial scenes, so it would be an ideal gadget for searching across vast landscapes or spotting objects from long distances. Easy to use and equipped with user-friendly capabilities, these binoculars could change the way you see the world.

In addition to the new telescopes, Tech To Go continues to offer GoPros, cameras, microphones and projectors, most of which are available for three day checkout.

Post by Jennifer Barnett, E-Communications Intern for OSU Library Communications

Brianna Marshall on "Embracing Library-Supported Research Data Management Services"

Library employees may find the slides and notes from Brianna Marshall's April 7 presentation at http://www.briannamarshall.com/2016/05/02/library-rdm/

Information on previous Library Futures speakers can be found on the staff drive at U:\LibraryFutures.

Comments and questions on the presentations can be added to the comments section below.

Surplus of Creativity in the Digital Age

In our Feb. 8 blog post, we discussed how artificial intelligence could impact the library. The post's video "Humans Need Not Apply" argues that an economy built entirely on creative works could not exist, but in the age of social media could we see the beginnings of such a thing?

In his book, "Cognitive Surplus" Clay Shirky discusses the impact a globalized network has had on human efforts. The Industrial Revolution brought with it our modern work schedule, complete with time off and television to occupy that time. As Shirky observes, a good deal of our free time in the past had been spent gawking at this relatively new invention. However, the Internet has redirected that energy. The internet provides what Shirky describes as the "means, motive and opportunity" to put our energies into seeking, creating and sharing more personal and meaningful content.

Every time something is seen, enjoyed, or shared by us, we participate in a new content economy. Any time we make a modification, which can be something as simple as an accompanying caption or as transformative as a remix, we contribute to its gross domestic product. The new entrepreneurs in this economy are the ones who devote themselves to content creation. It's easy to view the surface of sites such as YouTube and Facebook and see just that sliver as a representative consensus, but the rabbit hole goes much deeper.

New movements within art, music, film and entertainment are being developed as you read this. Globalized genres of music such as vaporwave have emerged within just the last few years and already you can fill weeks' of continuous playlists and never repeat a single song. According to company data cited by the Wall Street Journal, as much as 12 hours of audio and music are uploaded to independent publishing site Soundcloud every minute.

Content creators in 2016 have the capability to publish exponentially more media than those of a just a few decades ago. You'll only ever have the opportunity to see a minute fraction of these publications. This blog happens to be a piece of it. If it exists, there's an audience for it.

For libraries this is a chance to be a hub for those who wish to engage in and expand their role in this content driven industry. Libraries already house many of the means of production. Computers, books, software, and peripheral hardware are all already in most of our libraries. Makerspaces are an example of this. These resources represent Shirky's means, motives, and opportunity for millions of creative people.

With an explosion of new art and culture occurring that is capable of rivaling that of the Renaissance, it is not unfeasible to imagine that a new generation of Rembrandts and Michelangelos are currently in their early youth, living near libraries that could give them the tools they need to discover their genius.

How do you view the library's role in this age of content? What services could the library provide to not only further the creative abilities of its users but also connect and engage with users beyond its doors?

Symbiotic Intelligence: How A.I. May Create Cooperative Education in the Future

A recent publication in the World Economic Forum titled “The Future of Jobs” asserts that over 5 million jobs may be lost to robotization by the year 2020. YouTube channel CGP Grey, a channel that specializes in discussing various concepts in depth, has created a fascinating video discussing just how technological advances can outpace human efforts:

This video raises many intriguing - and possibly unanswerable - questions. For those of us working in the library space some of those questions might include

• How will robotization and digital intelligences affect the way library services are provided? 
• Where will the librarian fit in with all of this? 
• How will those people whose jobs have been phased out utilize a library? 

As CGP Grey’s video posits, digital entities capable of learning, interacting, and producing creative output can accomplish quite a lot. It’s conceivable that even this blog post could someday be written by a well-educated computer intelligence rather than the intern with a penchant for procrastination. That said, it’s entirely possible these advances could see the creation of more effective libraries, more effective librarians and all around more effective learning experiences.

The path to creating smarter, stronger and more capable machines lies in replicating our own psychological learning needs. The conundrum this presents is that the human learning process is an innumerable sum of different ethereal mental mechanisms.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes a bulk of these processes as "unsupervised learning." Zuckerberg has invested a great deal of time and capital into the development of artificial intelligence, making it one of Facebook, Inc.'s largest development projects.

In a recent Facebook status update about his aspirations for artificial intelligence development, Zuckerberg said, “Unsupervised learning is learning how the world works by observing and trying things out rather than being told what to do... It's key to building systems with human-like common sense because it doesn't require a person to teach it everything they know. It gives the machine the ability to anticipate what may happen in the future and predict the effect of an action. It could help us build machines that can hold conversations or plan complex sequences of actions... We fundamentally do not understand how general learning works... Until we solve this problem, throwing all the machine power in the world at it cannot create an AI that can do everything a person can.”

This is to say that the human mind is a vast, complex and unique thinking machine that cannot be defined by sheer horsepower. Understanding all of the mechanisms in which it learns is the key to not only the creation of artificial intelligence, but also more effective learning and teaching practices. A thinking machine can not only learn from human teachers, but also teach human learners.

Imagine the impact such an entity could have on a library. Makerspaces, writing labs, research, database optimization, all manner of workshops, all could see a dramatic overhaul of how they're performed, delivered and absorbed by they're audience.

As for the librarians, certain functions librarians perform such as the analyzing, management and acquisition of materials or information and data processing could foreseeably be delegated to thinking computers in the future, but the more human functions of librarians - those directly involved with enlightening and educating the users of the library - need not be replaced because such functions are best fostered by human relationships.

For example, people like to use Siri, but no one really respects Siri as a person. "She" is not a mentor, or a teacher, or a researcher or a friend. "She" doesn’t recognize her user’s learning process or where it might be stumbling, and can only provide feedback in the form of suggestions of what "she" believes they might have meant based on her programming. Digital intelligence may be able to replicate operational functions, but the human capacity for learning requires a set of intangible qualities. A machine capable of learning and teaching may enhance a human's education to a degree, but it takes a human to best understand a human.

What does the development of artificial intelligence mean to you? How do you foresee it affecting your role in the library? How will education utilize intelligent technologies? Share your thoughts in the comments section.