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The 25 Best Educational Apps for iPhone and Android | Digital Trends

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The 25 Best Educational Apps for iPhone and Android | Digital Trends

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"Educational" is a broad term. When it comes to mobile apps, there's a diverse range of software that falls under the umbrella of education. You could peruse the top educational offerings in any app store, but locating the best ones - and those that aren't merely a fad - is more difficult than you think.

Some educational apps are tailored for high-school students, some for soon-to-be college graduates, and others still, are more apt for those who provide an education or those who still pine for knowledge long after school lets out for summer. We've looked at helpful apps for teachers and educators, so this list is more focused on apps for students.

Whether you're specifically looking for ways to exercise your mind, organize your coursework, or expand your knowledge on King Matthias Corvinus' role in the Hungarian Renaissance, there's more than one app specifically designed to get the job done. Then again, no app is truly tailored for exploring the global repercussions of the Renaissance. You'll simply have to settle for our favorites below.
Are you looking for more education-themed articles? See how AI will completely transform education and explore Google's latest education-oriented Chromebooks.

You can think of the aptly-titled Due as a robust alarm clock, one that functions without an account or Internet connection. With Due, you can set reusable countdown reminders and implement both daily and weekly reminders that capitalize on nearly 60 alert tones. Moreover, reminders sync across your devices and automatically shift as you cross time zones.
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Most students don't have a personal editor to show them how they can improve their writing, one sentence at a time. GradeProof's AI offers concrete ways to improve your style, check for originality, as well as identify complex grammatical issues that other word processors often miss. While the app itself is free, you'll need to upgrade to the $10-per-month GradeProof Premium to unleash the full power of this pocket writing coach.
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Not many kids are excited to practice addition or multiplication outside of school, but they might be more enthusiastic about applying their math skills to run a mean cupcake business. From figuring out the cost of each cupcake, fulfilling orders, to paying back business loans to keep the bakery running, Math Motion: Cupcake brings elementary-level math to life in a deceptively sweet - yet palatable - package.
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Now that Evernote is charging users who want to use its app on more than two devices, Microsoft's OneNote is looking like a decent alternative for your mobile note-taking needs. It helps that the app is usually pre-loaded on new Windows 10 devices, and works across all platforms. Not only can you record a lecture and snap photos while "handwriting" your notes with a stylus or pen, but you can back up your class notes to OneDrive and Office 365.
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Studying is the mainstay of an education. With StudyBlue, you can create and share a plethora of mobile flashcards, study guides, and quizzes, or choose from an extensive collection of student-authored flashcards and flashcard decks. Afterward, accept the score you earn or try again to top it.
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Queried by Apple's Siri, WolframAlpha utilizes a vast collection of algorithms and data to answer any questions you might have about, well, anything. The knowledge engine is surprisingly accurate, culling answers from a variety of sources, with thorough instructions on how it arrived at the answer.
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Moreso a tool for organizing your education than receiving it, Dropbox allows you to access all your photos, documents, and videos on nearly any device. You're given 2GB upon signing up, with options for syncing and adding files to your favorite list for offline viewing on the go. It's very useful for sharing files.
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Get smart: The 25 best educational apps for iPhone and Android

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"Educational" is a broad term. When it comes to mobile apps, there's a diverse range of software that falls under the umbrella of education. You could peruse the top educational offerings in any app store, but locating the best ones - and those that aren't merely a fad - is more difficult than you think.

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50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016

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50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016

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50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016
by TeachThought Staff

What are the best teaching and learning apps for 2016? That's a good question this post looks to answer.

Every year, we put together a collection of what we believe are the best teaching and learning apps for that year. (Here, for example, is our 2015 version of the list below, where you will notice about half the apps are the same, and half have changed. That's not bad for progress, is it?

This year, we were asked by the good folks at Easelly (the infographic and visual data platform) to create a collection of resources that while including their apps, would curate a lot of good stuff teachers would benefit from in 2016. Since we were preparing to release our TeachThought Editor's Choice: 2016 Best Teaching and Learning Apps -and have used Easelly for years ourselves-we combined the two projects to give you something you can use to guide your #edtech integration this year.

Additionally, Easelly has created a free eBook- How to Use Easel.ly in your Classroom-which is a useful tool for teachers integrating Common Core standards, for example, which call for students to work with different mediums to extract key ideas and data. (See Exactly What The Common Core Standards Say About Technology, for example.)

We're going to share our criteria for making these kinds of judgments in a separate post on evaluating edtech. In the meantime, here are the results, a subjective list of 50 of the best teaching and learning apps for 2016.

50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016
50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016 Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored post." The company who sponsored it compensated us via payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016

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50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016

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50 Of The Best Teaching And Learning Apps For 2016 by TeachThought Staff What are the best teaching and learning apps for 2016? That's a good question this post looks to answer. Every year, we put together a collection of what we believe are the best teaching and learning apps for that year.

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They are the ones you catch out of the corner of your eye. They get their exam back, calmly flip through the few (if any) errors they made, and swiftly place their 94% into their bag.

That's right, I'm talking about the top students who make it look so easy.

What we don't realize is that under the surface there is a collection of positive habits and mindsets that make that person so successful in class. Not just a few, but an accumulation of many habits that combine to produce high-level academic performance.

Here are 23 habits of top students that you can use as tips to do better in school:

1. They don't always do all of their homework.

In college, homework assignments generally make up 5-20% of your grade, but can be the biggest time-suck for most students. Yes, working problems is one of the best ways to turn new concepts into working knowledge, but a large majority of those problems that take you hours and hours to work through, you'll never see on an exam.

2. They never "read through" the textbook.

3. They Google EVERYTHING.

It's like an automatic reaction. New concept = go to Google for a quick explanation. Don't think just because your professor gives you a textbook and some examples on the blackboard that you're limited to that information. You have a massive free search engine at your fingertips, so make use of it.

4. They test themselves frequently.

5. They study in short bursts, not long marathons.

Studying in short bursts tends to help you focus intensely because you know there is at least a short break coming.

6. They reverse-engineer solved problems.

Why did this get this value?
Why did they simplify this expression?
Why did they use that type of derivative rule?

By following this process, you begin to understand the interconnections of the concept, and how to directly apply that to a problem. This "working knowledge" of a concept is key to performing well on exams, especially on problems that you haven't seen before.

7. They don't own a highlighter.

Highlighting anything = unengaged reading. If you want to note something that stands out, underline and write a corresponding note to go along with it. Or better yet, write yourself a note summarizing the item in your own words.

8. They sleep-a lot.

9. They engage themselves by asking questions.

What happens if I tell you, "Thomas Jefferson almost single-handedly drafted the Delcaration of Independence in 1776."?

You might say "Hmm.. that's interesting", try to remember it for later, maybe even write down a note or two.

But what if I ask you, "Who was Thomas Jefferson?" What changes?

You start searching your memory, sifting through images of old guys, founding fathers, thinking about the Declaration of Independence. You come up with your own narrative, and then realize that you have gaps.

When was he around again?
And why was he so important?

You'll probably find yourself going to Google to fill in the gaps. Through that process your learning will be much more deeply seated in your brain than anything your history teacher ever told you about him. That's the power of asking questions.

10. They make the best out of lecture.

Yes, your professor sucks. Yes, lectures are boring. Yes, it's either too fast so you can't keep up and miss all the important stuff, or it's way too slow and you start zoning out because you already understand everything.

The best students look at this this way: I'm going to be there no matter what, so what's the best use of my time while I'm in the classroom? Ask questions, bring the textbook and look stuff up, focus on the important practice problems to copy down in your notes, try to anticipate what the professor is going to say, make note of anything they put emphasis on as a potential exam topic. All of these things make the time you have to spend in lecture more productive and engaging. And that's less time you have to spend studying later on.

11. They over-learn.

School is hard enough, with the amount of studying and homework you have to do. And on top of all of that Facebooking you have to get done? It might seem ridiculous to suggest learning more than you have to.

What!? Are you insane!?

But this is precisely what top students do. And paradoxically, they end up spending less time trying to understand how to do homework problems, and less time studying for exams because of it. Because when you "over-learn" past what's presented in class, you build a better framework for the subject.

Think of trying to remember some details about Abraham Lincoln's life. You try to remember the dates of the Civil War, or what he said in the Emancipation Proclamation. You study the same facts over and over and over again... but it's just boring, and you quickly forget. But what if you knew his whole life's story? About how Lincoln suffered from bouts of depression, and his relationship with his wife suffered? You start to learn that the dude was human, and you start to relate to the things he did and the struggles he went through. Now you've constructed a story in your head. And studies show that humans learn best through stories. So yes, it's more information, but your brain knows what to do with it now that all those random facts are linked together. More learning, but less rote memorization and struggling to remember random facts.

Most students get their exam grade back, flip through to see if the professor made any mistakes they can argue about, and then promptly shove it into their notebook, never to be seen again until the mad scramble at the end of the semester to study for the final.

Instead, top students ignore what they got right, and use their mistakes as an indicator of what to improve on.

13. They're busy with work and side projects.

Yes, to do well in a course, you need to focus and put in the hours. But like many geniuses throughout history have shown, involvement in a diverse set of subjects, activities, and skill sets keeps you active, and provides you with a rich and diverse set of mental models to pull from.

Also, as they say, "If you need to get something done, give it to the busy person." If you stay active in multiple areas, you don't have time to procrastinate, and are forced to be efficient with your study time. This generally translates into quicker learning and better performance throughout the semester.

14. They use lecture as a detective mission.

Though completely unaware of this fact, your professor has tells. Yes, like in poker. Tells during lecture will hint at particular types of concepts and problems that will be emphasized on the midterm or final exam. The best students pay attention to topics professors spend a seemingly inordinate amount of time on and make note. Chances are you'll see something related on the final.

15. They don't wait for motivation to strike.

16. They practice under test conditions.

The old adage "practice makes perfect" isn't totally true. Deliberate practice under the right conditions, with the correct mindset, is more like it. Instead of reading through all of the lecture notes and redoing old homework problems, top students make themselves practice exams, and rehearse their exam performance, under time pressure and in similar conditions (no notes, uncomfortable chair, quiet room, etc.) to what they'll see on test day.

17. They use old exams.

Professors aren't the most inventive folk. Along with coming up with lecture material and departmental responsibilities, they're also primarily concerned with research. So typically midterms and final exams more or less look alike for similar courses year-to-year and even across universities. Because of this, old exams are a gold mine of opportunity for figuring out what problems you should be able to solve and study from.

18. They make their own study guides.

The best students don't simply use the study guide the teacher provides, they create their own.

Creating the study guide is half the battle, requiring you to go through your notes, consolidate them, and organize them in a way that you understand-all valuable study activities. You'll also be able to use your equations sheet much more effectively on the exam itself (if allowed) because you know exactly where everything is.

19. They actually write on paper.

Writing out notes on a laptop is efficient. Too efficient. Because it's so easy to quickly type out exactly what the professor is saying, you don't have to do the work of trying to figure out how to consolidate the information into your own shorthand. Some also believe that the act of writing helps retain more information.

20. They use the 80/20 rule.

Yes, some students who get good grades do every reading assignment, finish every practice problem, and attend every study session they can get their hands on. But these students are missing the point. There will always be an endless amount of information you could learn given the time and effort, but having the ability to discern what is worth learning will truly set you apart.

Top students identify the 20% of concepts they need to learn deeply, in order to determine 80% of their final grade. They focus intently on those few things, and simply ignore the rest. This is a formula for high performance, without hours and hours of busywork. And it translates seamlessly into the real world too.

21. They don't complain.

Complaining simply has no place in the smart student's repertoire. If something sucks, change it or ignore it, but don't waste your time, energy, and mental state talking about it. Got a crappy professor? Either switch class sections or focus on teaching yourself. Horrible textbook? Find alternate resources (Google is free in case you hadn't heard).

22. They learn by doing.

Any technical subject can only truly be internalized through use. Just like learning a new language, learning to be fluent in algebra or calculus requires active application of rules and formulas. Top students know there is a big difference between knowledge, and applied knowledge.

23. They take personal responsibility for learning the material.

The best students understand that they, and only they are truly responsible for their own education. So waiting to be spoon-fed by your professor and doing the homework assignments will never be enough. Despite your school's best intentions, they'll never be as committed to your academic success as you can be.

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They are the ones you catch out of the corner of your eye. They get their exam back, calmly flip through the few (if any) errors they made, and swiftly place their 94% into their bag. That's right, I'm talking about the top students who make it look so easy.

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Create a Successful Website in 10 Easy Steps

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Create a Successful Website in 10 Easy Steps

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Anyone can build a website and promote it. How does your website fit into your media brand strategy? If you don't know, you'll never have a successful website and your site could actually hurt you. Your website is only one factor in building your media brand on the Internet but you have to clearly identify your site's role in the big picture. Do you want your site to serve as an extension to your traditional media outlet, stand on its own, be a source of revenue or another way to get your company's name out there regardless of the income potential?

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How to Create a Successful Website in 10 Easy Steps

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Anyone can build a website and promote it. How does your website fit into your media brand strategy? If you don't know, you'll never have a successful website and your site could actually hurt you. Your website is only one factor in building your media brand on the Internet but you have to clearly identify your site's role in the big picture.

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Scratch (programming language) - Wikipedia

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Scratch (programming language) - Wikipedia

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Paradigm

Event-driven, visual, block-based programming language

First appeared

2002 (first prototype)
2005 (second prototype)
May 15, 2007; 13 years ago (public launch)[1]
May 9, 2013; 7 years ago (Scratch 2.0)
January 2, 2019; 21 months ago (Scratch 3.0)

Implementation language

Squeak (Scratch 0.x, 1.x)
ActionScript (Scratch 2.0)
JavaScript (Scratch 3.0)

OS

Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux (via renderer), HTML5

License

GPLv2 and Scratch Source Code License

Filename extensions

.scratch (Scratch 0.x)
.sb, .sprite (Scratch 1.x)
.sb2, .sprite2 (Scratch 2.0)
.sb3, .sprite3 (Scratch 3.0)

Website

scratch.mit.edu

Influenced by

Logo, Smalltalk, HyperCard, StarLogo, AgentSheets, AgentCubes, Etoys

Influenced

ScratchJr[2], Snap![3][4], mBlock

Scratch is a block-based visual programming language and website targeted primarily at children to help learn code. Users of the site can create online projects using a block-like interface. The service is developed by the MIT Media Lab, has been translated into 70+ languages, and is used in most parts of the world. Scratch is taught and used in after-school centers, schools, and colleges, as well as other public knowledge institutions. As of September 2020, community statistics on the language's official website show more than 59 million projects shared by over 58 million users, and almost 36 million monthly website visits.

Scratch takes its name from a technique used by disk jockeys called " scratching", where vinyl records are clipped together and manipulated on a turntable to produce different sound effects and music. Like scratching, the website lets users mix together different media (including graphics, sound, and other programs) in creative ways by creating and remixing projects, like video games and animations.

The Scratch interface is divided into three main sections: a stage area, block palette, and a coding area to place and arrange the blocks into scripts that can be run by pressing the green flag or clicking on the code itself. Users may also create their own code blocks and they will appear in "My Blocks".

The stage area features the results (e.g., animations, turtle graphics, either in a small or normal size, with a full-screen option also available) and all sprites thumbnails being listed in the bottom area. The stage uses x and y coordinates, with 0,0 being the stage center.

With a sprite selected at the bottom of the staging area, blocks of commands can be applied to it by dragging them from the block palette into the coding area. The Costumes tab allows users to change the look of the sprite in order to create various effects, including animation. The Sounds tab allows attaching sounds and music to a sprite.

When creating sprites and backgrounds, users can draw their own sprite manually, choose a Sprite from the library, or upload an image.

The table below shows the categories of the programming blocks:

Motion

Movements of sprites like angles and position

Sensing

Sprites can interact with the surroundings

Sound

Plays audio files and effects

Variables

Variable and List usage and assignment

Events

Event handlers

My Blocks

Allows defining functions which have no return value

An offline "desktop editor" is available for Microsoft Windows 10 in Microsoft store and Apple's macOS 10.13; this allows the creation and playing of Scratch programs locally, without an Internet connection. The offline editor can also be downloaded in previous versions, such as Scratch 2.0 and Scratch 1.4.

In Scratch, extensions add extra blocks and features that can be used in projects. In Scratch 2.0 and 3.0, the extensions were all hardware-based. Software-based extensions were added in Scratch 3.0, such as text-to-speech voices, along with some new hardware-based extensions like the micro:bit. The extensions are listed below.

Music, Pen, Video Sensing, Text to Speech, Translate, BBC Micro:bit, LEGO Mindstorms EV3, LEGO WeDo 2.0, LEGO SPIKE Prime, LEGO BOOST, and Go Direct Force & Acceleration

Lego Mindstorms EV3 - control motors and receive sensor data from the Lego Mindstorms EV3

Makey Makey - use the Makey Makey to control projects

Lego Education WeDo 2.0 - control motors and receive sensor data from the Lego WeDo

Lego Education SPIKE Prime -- The main programming language for the Lego SPIKE Prime, including motor control and receiving sensor data

BBC micro:bit - use of a BBC micro:bit to control projects

Lego BOOST - bring robotic creations to life

Go Direct Force & Acceleration - Sense pull, push, motion, and spin.

Many of the digital extensions in Scratch 3.0 used to be regular block categories that were moved to the extensions section to reduce clutter. These include:

Music - Play digital instruments (drums, trumpets, violins, pianos and more)

Pen - Draw on the Stage with a variety of thicknesses and color

Video Sensing - Detect motion with the camera.

New digital extensions have also been added in collaborations with commercial companies. These include:

Text to Speech - Converts words in a text into voice output (variety of voices, supplied by Amazon)

Translate - Uses Google Translate to translate text from one language into a variety of other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Greek, and Japanese

Users can also create their own extensions for Scratch 3.0 using JavaScript.

Scratch 3.0 is a completely new JavaScript-based codebase made up of multiple components such as "Scratch-GUI," now based on a library from Blockly, "Scratch-VM," which interprets code, and "Scratch-Render," the rendering engine. The Scratch Blocks are made using Blockly.

Scratch is used in many different settings: schools, museums, libraries, community centers, and homes. Although Scratch's targeted user age group is 8-16 years of age, but is used by all ages. Scratch has also been created for educators and parents. This wide outreach has created many surrounding communities, both physical and digital. In April 2020, the Tiobe ranking of the world's programming languages included Scratch into the top 20. According to Tiobe, there are 50 million projects written in Scratch, and every month one million new projects are added.

Scratch is popular in the United Kingdom and United States through Code Clubs. Scratch is used as the introductory language because the creation of interesting programs is relatively easy, and skills learned can be applied to other programming languages such as Python and Java.

Scratch is not exclusively for creating games. With the provided visuals, programmers can create animations, text, stories, music, and more. There are already many programs which students can use to learn topics in math, history, and even photography. Scratch allows teachers to create conceptual and visual lessons and science lab assignments with animations that help visualize difficult concepts. Within the social sciences, instructors can create quizzes, games, and tutorials with interactive elements. Using Scratch allows young people to understand the logic of programming and how to creatively build and collaborate.

Scratch is taught to more than 800 schools and 70 colleges of DAV organization in India and across the world.

In higher education, Scratch is used in the first week of Harvard University's CS50 introductory computer science course.

On Scratch, members have the capability to share their projects and get feedback. Projects can be uploaded directly from the development environment to the Scratch website and any member of the community can download the full source code to study or to remix into new projects. Members can also create project studios, comment, tag, favorite, and "love" others' projects, follow other members to see their projects and activity, and share ideas. Projects range from games to animations to practical tools. Additionally, to encourage creation and sharing amongst users, the website frequently establishes "Scratch Design Studio" challenges.

The MIT Scratch Team works to ensure that this community maintains a friendly and respectful environment for all people.

Educators have their own online community called ScratchEd, developed and supported by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this community, Scratch educators share stories, exchange resources, and ask questions.

The Scratch Wiki is a support resource for Scratch and its website, history, and phenomena surrounding it. Although supported by the Scratch Team (developers of Scratch), it is primarily written by Scratchers (users of Scratch) for information regarding the program and website.

Both Scratch 2.0 and 3.0 are open source on GitHub, and developers may contribute to Scratch.

Scratch Educators can gather in person at Scratch Educator Meetups. At these gatherings, Scratch Educators learn from each other and share ideas and strategies that support computational creativity.

An annual "Scratch Day" is declared in May each year. Community members are encouraged to host an event on or around this day, large or small, that celebrates Scratch. These events are held worldwide, and a listing can be found on the Scratch Day website.

The MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten group, led by Mitchel Resnick, in partnership with the Montreal-based consulting firm, the Playful Invention Company, co-founded by Brian Silverman and Paula Bonta, together developed the first desktop-only version of Scratch in 2003. It started as a basic coding language, with no labeled categories and no green flag. Scratch was made with the intention to teach kids to code.

The philosophy of Scratch encourages the sharing, reuse, and combination of code, as indicated by the team slogan, "Imagine, Program, Share". Users can make their own projects, or they may choose to " remix" someone else's project. Projects created and remixed with Scratch are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Scratch automatically gives credit to the user who created the original project and program in the top part

Scratch was developed based on ongoing interaction with youth and staff at Computer Clubhouses. The use of Scratch at Computer Clubhouses served as a model for other after-school centers demonstrating how informal learning settings can support the development of technological fluency.

Scratch 2.0 was released on May 9, 2013. The update changed the look of the site and included both an online project editor and an offline editor. Custom blocks could now be defined within projects, along with several other improvements. The Scratch 2.0 Offline editor could be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux directly from Scratch's website, although support for Linux was later dropped. The unofficial mobile version had to be downloaded from the Scratch forums.

Scratch 3.0 was first announced by the Scratch Team in 2016. Several public alpha versions were released between then and January 2018, after which the pre-beta "Preview" versions were released. A beta version of Scratch 3.0 was released on 1 August 2018 for use on most browsers; with the notable exception of Internet Explorer.

Scratch 3.0, the first 3.x release version, was released on 2 January 2019.

In version 1.4. an .sb file was the file format used to store projects.

An .sb file is divided into four sections:

"header", this 10-byte header contains the ASCII string 'ScratchV02' in versions higher than 1.2, and 'ScratchV01' in versions 1.2 and below

"infoSize", encodes the length of the project's infoObjects. A four-byte long, 32-bit, big-Endian integer.

"infoObjects", a dictionary-format data section. It contains: "thumbnail", a thumbnail of the project's stage; "author", the username of the project's creator; "comment", the Project Notes; "history", the save and upload log; "scratch-version", the version of Scratch used to save the file;

"contents", an object table with the Stage as the root. All objects in the program are stored here as references.

Version 2.0 uses the .sb2 file format. These are zip files containing a .json file as well as the contents of the Scratch project including sounds (stored as .wav) and images (stored as .png). Each filetype, excluding the project.json, is stored as a number, starting at 0 and counting up with each additional file. The image file labeled '0.png' is always a 480x360 white image, but '0.wav' will still be the earliest non-deleted file.

The ScratchX experimental version of Scratch used the .sbx file format.

Scratch 3.0 uses the .sb3 format, which is very similar to .sb2.

Although the main Scratch website now runs only the current version (3.0), the offline editors for Scratch 2.0 (and the earlier 1.4) are still available for download and can be used to create and run games locally.[citation needed ] You can still upload projects from the 2.0 launcher.[citation needed ]

Scratch 2.0 relied on Adobe Flash for the online version, and Adobe AIR for the offline editor. These have fallen out of favor, and Adobe is dropping support for them at the end of 2020.

In Scratch 2.0, the stage area is on the left side, with the programming blocks palette in the middle the coding area on the right. Extensions are in the "More blocks" section of palette.

The blocks palette in Scratch 2.0 is made of discrete sections that are not scrollable from one to the next; the table below shows the different sections:

In Scratch 2.0, extensions were all hardware based.

Scratch uses event-driven programming with multiple active objects called . Sprites can be drawn, as vector or bitmap graphics, from scratch in a simple editor that is part of Scratch, or can be imported from external sources. Scratch 3 only supports one-dimensional arrays, known as "lists", and floating point scalars and strings are supported, but with limited string manipulation ability. There is a strong contrast between the powerful multimedia functions and multi-threaded programming style and the rather limited scope of the Scratch programming language.

The 2.0 version of Scratch does not treat procedures as first class structures and has limited file I/O options with Scratch 2.0 Extension Protocol, an experimental extension feature that allows interaction between Scratch 2.0 and other programs. The Extension protocol allows interfacing with hardware boards such as Lego Mindstorms or Arduino. Version 2 of Scratch was implemented in ActionScript, with an experimental JavaScript-based interpreter being developed in parallel.

Version 1.4 of Scratch was based on Squeak, which is based on Smalltalk-80. A number of Scratch derivatives called Scratch Modifications have been created using the source code of Scratch version 1.4. These programs are a variant of Scratch that normally include a few extra blocks or changes to the GUI.

Snap! (Build Your Own Blocks)

A more advanced visual programming language inspired by Scratch is Snap!, featuring first class procedures (their mathematical foundations are called also lambda calculus), first class lists (including lists of lists), and first class truly object oriented sprites with prototyping inheritance, and nestable sprites, which are not part of Scratch. Snap! (previously "BYOB") was developed by Jens Mönig with documentation provided by Brian Harvey from University of California, Berkeley and has been used to teach "The Beauty and Joy of Computing" introductory course in CS for non-CS-major students. Both of them were members of the Scratch Team before designing "Snap!".

In July 2014, ScratchJr was released for iPad, and in 2016, ScratchJr for Android. Although heavily inspired by Scratch and co-led by Mitch Resnick, it is nonetheless a complete rewrite designed for younger children-targeting ages 5-8.

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Paradigm Event-driven, visual, block-based programming language First appeared 2002 (first prototype)2005 (second prototype)May 15, 2007; 13 years ago (public launch)[1] May 9, 2013; 7 years ago (Scratch 2.0) January 2, 2019; 21 months ago (Scratch 3.0) Implementation language Squeak (Scratch 0.x, 1.x) ActionScript (Scratch 2.0) JavaScript (Scratch 3.0) OS Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux (via renderer), HTML5 License GPLv2 and Scratch Source Code License Filename extensions .scratch (Scratch 0.x).sb, .sprite (Scratch 1.x).sb2, .sprite2 (Scratch 2.0).sb3, .sprite3 (Scratch 3.0) Website scratch.mit.edu Influenced by Logo, Smalltalk, HyperCard, StarLogo, AgentSheets, AgentCubes, Etoys Influenced ScratchJr [2] , Snap!

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What Makes an App Successful? - App Press

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What Makes an App Successful? - App Press

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What Makes an App Successful? - App Press

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Successful apps don't happen overnight. Keep your focus on what your app needs to succeed, then make it better.

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6 Lessons in How to Build a Successful App

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6 Lessons in How to Build a Successful App

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This story appears in the August 2012 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe "

The winners: Angry Birds, fart generators, doodles. The losers: almost everyone else.

Thanks to fairy-tale success stories, "app-preneurs" abound. But the truth is that most apps lose 76 percent of their consumers after the first three months of use--which means that even in the unlikely event your product is chosen from among the daily App Store deluge, any ad or freemium revenue streams would dry up quickly.

So how do you build an app that will attract loyal users, one that's strong enough to support a profitable company? To find out, we went behind the scenes at Los Angeles-based inMarket, the development firm responsible for CheckPoints, a free shopping app that allows users to check in at more than 1 million retailers to earn discounts toward goods -- essentially digitizing paper coupons, bridging online and offline commerce.

Todd DiPaola, president of inMarket, and his brother Mark, CEO, sold their El Segundo, Calif.-based marketing agency Vantage Media in 2002 for roughly $150 million and used those proceeds to develop CheckPoints, which launched in late 2010. Now they're gearing up for a sequel app, List Bliss--this time, backed by a team of 20 and some lessons from "a month of hard knocks."

What they learned on the first go-round was that rushing the development process can lead to a buggy product. "CheckPoints encountered difficulty with a few bonus features we wanted to add at the launch," Todd DiPaola says. "We wound up removing them until a later version when we could give it the focus it needed.

"Building an app is like building a house," he adds. "You need to put time into thinking about what the rooms are going to look like before you start building." That attention to detail has paid off: The inMarket network has more than 20 million users.

With the launch of List Bliss, inMarket is offering a user-friendly tool for creating grocery lists. It's the first in a suite of planned apps aimed at simplifying mobile shopping. The app allows users to scan bar codes to add items to their lists; it also keeps track of ingredients already in their pantries, enables sharing of lists with family and friends for more efficient trips to the store and incorporates coupons and product reviews. It costs nothing to sign up; an ad-free premium subscription version is $1.99 per month.

"With List Bliss, we've made it a point to keep the feature set focused, so any launch bugs can be corrected easily," DiPaola says. "We have a ton of new features in store for our users a few weeks after launch, but right now our priority is to make a rock-solid version 1.0."

Here's how a critical weekly progress meeting at inMarket went down, along with general tips for businesses to keep in mind for their own app-development processes. But the most important piece of advice may also be the most obvious: As DiPaola says, "It should just work."

For six weeks, Todd DiPaola and his team--vice president of technology Kiran Rao, vice president of production Ricky Juarez and three other development staffers--have been brainstorming. They've checked out the competition, evaluating the features in existing list apps, and they believe they have come up with a product that will appeal to their target market: the Midwestern mom, a "fresh" smartphone user who doesn't even know she needs a better shopping list.

The point of today's meeting--at inMarket's bright, cozy office on hip Abbot Kinney Boulevard in L.A.'s Venice district--is to boil the List Bliss design down to the absolute essentials. "Great apps," DiPaola contends, "aren't bloated."

The login page is a cartoon cow pasture with a nerdy but cute mascot named Mr. Listo, whose purpose is to add "sparkle" to the app. (This worked well with Mr. CheckPoints, who's so beloved, his fans have requested toys and stuffed animals in his image.) Mr. Listo will show up in animations while List Bliss elements are loading; say, chillin' and sipping a drink as items are crossed off the grocery list.

First on the agenda is user sign-up. The process for Facebook and e-mail logins gets the OK from the team. But a proposed one-step Register and Subscribe button is nixed; the developers figure that even if 10 percent of users want the premium version, the 90 percent who would want only a free version might see the option as a roadblock and get turned off or confused.

Lesson learned: The fewer registration buttons, the better. Impatient users will look for any excuse to back out of downloading an app.

The home screen has three proposed feature buttons: Grocery List, Pantry Inventory and History. But some on the team think not enough people will use History to justify the effort and expense it would take to build it. However, shelving it for a future release or premium feature is a possibility.

"It's a cool feature, but let's see if users want it," Juarez suggests. "If they do, we'll add it, and it will show them that we're improving the app and listening to them."

Lesson learned: Watch out for feature creep. A great app is designed with a specific set of purposes in mind, and when you add unnecessary items, you dilute that functionality.

The heart of the product, the Grocery List, went through many iterations as the team considered potential uses. "There were, like, 87 versions of this," DiPaola estimates. The challenge is to offer functionality that appeals to a broad spectrum of users--from those who want the app to work as a simple digital notepad, to "power users" who want the ability to keep track of very specific items (e.g., Golden Delicious vs. Fuji apples), make notes, create categories and even break the list down into price per item for budgeting ease. The solution? The app opens to a default Grocery List screen, with an Edit button that takes power users to their own page for additional functions.

Lesson learned: To make people devoted to your app, offer features no one else has--but make sure the design is flexible, customizable and intuitive.

The most heated discussion revolves around the Save buttons on the Edit page. Some on the team argue that app users are aware that changes are saved automatically, so there's no need for buttons that take up precious screen space. Others think moms need to be reassured their changes are "safe." A compromise is reached: A large, central Save button stays, but a redundant button that had been in the upper-right corner is eliminated to cut down on screen clutter.

Next, one developer pulls out his iPhone to demonstrate a problem on the working List Bliss prototype. He shows that moving items on a list by dragging them around interferes with the Delete action. To fix this, the team decides that accessing the drag function will require an additional action--a tap or a hold--to distinguish between the two gestures.

Lesson learned: Sweat the small stuff. Every design element must be considered in terms of efficiency and functionality. Also, keep testing even the most minor functions, because as the app goes through its iterations, new problems can be created where none previously existed.

To celebrate the launch of List Bliss, DiPaola has commissioned a Mr. CheckPoints piñata. But even before the party is over, there will be troubleshooting (not to mention the scramble to create tablet and Android versions of the app). "It's inevitable there will be at least one bug, or a developer will get sick, so we try to prepare before the hurricane hits," he says.

It helps to have beta testers give perspective on simplifying user experience. "Sometimes you're just too close to the product," DiPaola says, noting that a great last-minute change made by his team involved consolidating two input fields into one. Bigger changes will be deployed in version 2.0.

Additionally, a few weeks before launch, inMarket built up a customer-support system. The team partnered with a company that establishes the infrastructure for a customer-support ticketing system and spent time bolstering the self-help section of the List Bliss landing page. That last item is one many developers don't realize they need until after launch, when they start to see the bad reviews from unhappy users.

Lesson learned: Don't be afraid to make last-minute tweaks or to let a trusted outsider test your product. Obvious solutions might not seem so obvious at the beginning of the process or to those deeply involved in the development. Try to anticipate potential usage problems and have customer-service options in place.

Although List Bliss has a big head start on user acquisition because of CheckPoints' existing user base, inMarket has planned a comprehensive marketing strategy for the new app: going after coverage in media and blogs; search-engine marketing; in-app advertisements; and Facebook data mining. And DiPaola is trying to keep things creative.

"For CheckPoints, we did a fun video showing Mr. and Mrs. CheckPoints shopping that was well-received," he says. "We're working on one for List Bliss, because it's good to have something entertaining that people can relate to, and will hopefully go viral and reach more users."

When it comes to reviews, it's important to hit the App Store "hard and high," DiPaola says. The more four- and five-star reviews you get at the beginning, the higher your app will rank on Apple's charts--and the easier it will be for people to discover your product.

Lesson learned: For the few apps that manage to go viral, great. But don't expect users to grow on trees. You need to get out there and woo them.

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6 Lessons in How to Build a Successful App

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This story appears in the August 2012 issue of Entrepreneur . Subscribe " The winners: Angry Birds, fart generators, doodles. The losers: almost everyone else. Thanks to fairy-tale success stories, "app-preneurs" abound.

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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How to Create an iBook Step By Step Comprehensive How-To Guide (Part 1) - YouTube

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How to Create an iBook Step By Step Comprehensive How-To Guide (Part 1) - YouTube

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How to Create an iBook Step By Step Comprehensive How-To Guide (Part 1)

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How to Create an iBook Step By Step Comprehensive How-To Guide (Part 1)

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How to Create an iBook: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

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What is augmented reality (AR)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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What is augmented reality (AR)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with the user's environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality, which creates a totally artificial environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it.

Boeing researcher Thomas Caudell coined the term augmented reality in 1990, to describe how the head-mounted displays that electricians used when assembling complicated wiring harnesses worked. One of the first commercial applications of AR technology was the yellow "first down" line that began appearing in televised football games sometime in 1998. Today, Google glass and heads-up displays in car windshields are perhaps the most well-known consumer AR products, but the technology is used in many industries including healthcare, public safety, gas and oil, tourism and marketing.

Augmented reality apps are written in special 3D programs that allow the developer to tie animation or contextual digital information in the computer program to an augmented reality "marker" in the real world. When a computing device's AR app or browser plug-in receives digital information from a known marker, it begins to execute the marker's code and layer the correct image or images.

AR applications for smartphones typically include global positioning system ( GPS) to pinpoint the user's location and its compass to detect device orientation. Sophisticated AR programs used by the military for training may include machine vision, object recognition and gesture recognition technologies.

Learn how augmented reality is being used by phlebotomists:

Continue Reading About augmented reality (AR)

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What is augmented reality (AR)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with the user's environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality, which creates a totally artificial environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it.

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An operator controlling The Virtual Interface Environment Workstation (VIEW)[1] at NASA Ames

Virtual reality ( VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings). Other distinct types of VR-style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality, sometimes referred to as extended reality or XR, although definitions are currently changing due to the nascence of the industry.

Currently, standard virtual reality systems use either virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments to generate some realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display with a small screen in front of the eyes, but can also be created through specially designed rooms with multiple large screens. Virtual reality typically incorporates auditory and video feedback, but may also allow other types of sensory and force feedback through haptic technology.

" Virtual" has had the meaning of "being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact" since the mid-1400s. The term "virtual" has been used in the computer sense of "not physically existing but made to appear by software" since 1959.

In 1938, French avant-garde playwright Antonin Artaud described the illusory nature of characters and objects in the theatre as "la réalité virtuelle" in a collection of essays, Le Théâtre et son double. The English translation of this book, published in 1958 as The Theater and its Double, is the earliest published use of the term "virtual reality". The term " artificial reality", coined by Myron Krueger, has been in use since the 1970s. The term "virtual reality" was first used in a science fiction context in The Judas Mandala, a 1982 novel by Damien Broderick.

Widespread adoption of the term "virtual reality" in the popular media is attributed to Jaron Lanier, who in the late 1980s designed some of the first business-grade virtual reality hardware under his firm VPL Research, and the 1992 film Lawnmower Man, which features use of virtual reality systems.

Researchers with the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany, equipped with a VR headset and motion controllers, demonstrating how astronauts might use virtual reality in the future to train to extinguish a fire inside a lunar habitat

One method by which virtual reality can be realized is simulation-based virtual reality. Driving simulators, for example, give the driver on board the impression of actually driving an actual vehicle by predicting vehicular motion caused by driver input and feeding back corresponding visual, motion and audio cues to the driver.

With avatar image-based virtual reality, people can join the virtual environment in the form of real video as well as an avatar. One can participate in the 3D distributed virtual environment as form of either a conventional avatar or a real video. Users can select their own type of participation based on the system capability.

In projector-based virtual reality, modeling of the real environment plays a vital role in various virtual reality applications, including robot navigation, construction modeling, and airplane simulation. Image-based virtual reality systems have been gaining popularity in computer graphics and computer vision communities. In generating realistic models, it is essential to accurately register acquired 3D data; usually, a camera is used for modeling small objects at a short distance.

Desktop-based virtual reality involves displaying a 3D virtual world on a regular desktop display without use of any specialized VR positional tracking equipment. Many modern first-person video games can be used as an example, using various triggers, responsive characters, and other such interactive devices to make the user feel as though they are in a virtual world. A common criticism of this form of immersion is that there is no sense of peripheral vision, limiting the user's ability to know what is happening around them.

An Omni treadmill being used at a VR convention

A Missouri National Guardsman looks into a VR training head-mounted display at Fort Leonard Wood in 2015.

A head-mounted display (HMD) more fully immerses the user in a virtual world. A virtual reality headset typically includes two small high resolution OLED or LCD monitors which provide separate images for each eye for stereoscopic graphics rendering a 3D virtual world, a binaural audio system, positional and rotational real-time head tracking for six degrees of movement. Options include motion controls with haptic feedback for physically interacting within the virtual world in an intuitive way with little to no abstraction and an omnidirectional treadmill for more freedom of physical movement allowing the user to perform locomotive motion in any direction.

Augmented reality (AR) is a type of virtual reality technology that blends what the user sees in their real surroundings with digital content generated by computer software. The additional software-generated images with the virtual scene typically enhance how the real surroundings look in some way. AR systems layer virtual information over a camera live feed into a headset or smartglasses or through a mobile device giving the user the ability to view three-dimensional images.

Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of the real world and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time.

Simulated reality is a hypothetical virtual reality as truly immersive as the actual reality, enabling an advanced lifelike experience or even virtual eternity.

View-Master, a stereoscopic visual simulator, was introduced in 1939

The development of perspective in Renaissance European art and the stereoscope invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone were both precursors to virtual reality. The first references to the more modern-day concept of virtual reality came from science fiction.

In 1968, Ivan Sutherland, with the help of his students including Bob Sproull, created what was widely considered to be the first head-mounted display system for use in immersive simulation applications, called The Sword of Damocles. It was primitive both in terms of user interface and visual realism, and the HMD to be worn by the user was so heavy that it had to be suspended from the ceiling, which gave the device a formidable appearance and inspired its name. Technically, the device was an augmented reality device due to optical passthrough. The graphics comprising the virtual environment were simple wire-frame model rooms.

The virtual reality industry mainly provided VR devices for medical, flight simulation, automobile industry design, and military training purposes from 1970 to 1990.

David Em became the first artist to produce navigable virtual worlds at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1977 to 1984. The Aspen Movie Map, a crude virtual tour in which users could wander the streets of Aspen in one of the three modes (summer, winter, and polygons), was created at MIT in 1978.

NASA Ames's 1985 VIEW headset

In 1979, Eric Howlett developed the Large Expanse, Extra Perspective (LEEP) optical system. The combined system created a stereoscopic image with a field-of-view wide enough to create a convincing sense of space. The users of the system have been impressed by the sensation of depth ( field of view) in the scene and the corresponding realism. The original LEEP system was redesigned for NASA's Ames Research Center in 1985 for their first virtual reality installation, the VIEW (Virtual Interactive Environment Workstation) by Scott Fisher. The LEEP system provides the basis for most of the modern virtual reality headsets.

By the late 1980s, the term "virtual reality" was popularized by Jaron Lanier, one of the modern pioneers of the field. Lanier had founded the company VPL Research in 1984. VPL Research has developed several VR devices like the DataGlove, the EyePhone, the Reality Built For Two (RB2), and the AudioSphere. VPL licensed the DataGlove technology to Mattel, which used it to make the Power Glove, an early affordable VR device.

Atari, Inc. founded a research lab for virtual reality in 1982, but the lab was closed after two years due to the Atari Shock ( video game crash of 1983). However, its hired employees, such as Thomas G. Zimmerman, Scott Fisher, Jaron Lanier, Michael Naimark, and Brenda Laurel, kept their research and development on VR-related technologies.

In 1988, the Cyberspace Project at Autodesk was the first to implement VR on a low-cost personal computer. The project leader Eric Gullichsen left in 1990 to found Sense8 Corporation and develop the WorldToolKit virtual reality SDK, which offered the first real time graphics with Texture mapping on a PC, and was widely used throughout industry and academia.

The 1990s saw the first widespread commercial releases of consumer headsets. In 1992, for instance, Computer Gaming World predicted "affordable VR by 1994".

In 1991, Sega announced the Sega VR headset for the Mega Drive home console. It used LCD screens in the visor, stereo headphones, and inertial sensors that allowed the system to track and react to the movements of the user's head. In the same year, Virtuality launched and went on to become the first mass-produced, networked, multiplayer VR entertainment system that was released in many countries, including a dedicated VR arcade at Embarcadero Center. Costing up to $73,000 per multi-pod Virtuality system, they featured headsets and exoskeleton gloves that gave one of the first "immersive" VR experiences.

That same year, Carolina Cruz-Neira, Daniel J. Sandin and Thomas A. DeFanti from the Electronic Visualization Laboratory created the first cubic immersive room, the Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Developed as Cruz-Neira's PhD thesis, it involved a multi-projected environment, similar to the holodeck, allowing people to see their own bodies in relation to others in the room. Antonio Medina, a MIT graduate and NASA scientist, designed a virtual reality system to "drive" Mars rovers from Earth in apparent real time despite the substantial delay of Mars-Earth-Mars signals.

In 1992, Nicole Stenger created Angels, the first real-time interactive immersive movie where the interaction was facilitated with a dataglove and high-resolution goggles. That same year, Louis Rosenberg created the virtual fixtures system at the U.S. Air Force's Armstrong Labs using a full upper-body exoskeleton, enabling a physically realistic mixed reality in 3D. The system enabled the overlay of physically real 3D virtual objects registered with a user's direct view of the real world, producing the first true augmented reality experience enabling sight, sound, and touch.

By July 1994, Sega had released the VR-1 motion simulator ride attraction in Joypolis indoor theme parks, as well as the Dennou Senki Net Merc arcade game. Both used an advanced head-mounted display dubbed the "Mega Visor Display" developed in conjunction with Virtuality; it was able to track head movement in a 360-degree stereoscopic 3D environment, and in its Net Merc incarnation was powered by the Sega Model 1 arcade system board. Apple released QuickTime VR, which, despite using the term "VR", was unable to represent virtual reality, and instead displayed 360-degree interactive panoramas.

Nintendo's Virtual Boy console was released in 1995. A group in Seattle created public demonstrations of a "CAVE-like" 270 degree immersive projection room called the Virtual Environment Theater, produced by entrepreneurs Chet Dagit and Bob Jacobson. Forte released the VFX1, a PC-powered virtual reality headset that same year.

In 1999, entrepreneur Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab with an initial focus on the development of VR hardware. In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of "The Rig", which was realized in prototype form as a clunky steel contraption with several computer monitors that users could wear on their shoulders. The concept was later adapted into the personal computer-based, 3D virtual world program Second Life.

The 2000s were a period of relative public and investment indifference to commercially available VR technologies.

In 2001, SAS Cube (SAS3) became the first PC-based cubic room, developed by Z-A Production ( Maurice Benayoun, David Nahon), Barco, and Clarté. It was installed in Laval, France. The SAS library gave birth to Virtools VRPack. In 2007, Google introduced Street View, a service that shows panoramic views of an increasing number of worldwide positions such as roads, indoor buildings and rural areas. It also features a stereoscopic 3D mode, introduced in 2010.

2010-present

An inside view of the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype headset

In 2010, Palmer Luckey designed the first prototype of the Oculus Rift. This prototype, built on a shell of another virtual reality headset, was only capable of rotational tracking. However, it boasted a 90-degree field of vision that was previously unseen in the consumer market at the time. Luckey eliminated distortion issues arising from the type of lens used to create the wide field of vision using software that pre-distorted the rendered image in real-time. This initial design would later serve as a basis from which the later designs came. In 2012, the Rift is presented for the first time at the E3 video game trade show by John Carmack. In 2014, Facebook purchased Oculus VR for what at the time was stated as $2 billion but later revealed that the more accurate figure was $3 billion. This purchase occurred after the first development kits ordered through Oculus' 2012 Kickstarter had shipped in 2013 but before the shipping of their second development kits in 2014. ZeniMax, Carmack's former employer, sued Oculus and Facebook for taking company secrets to Facebook; the verdict was in favour of ZeniMax, settled out of court later.

HTC Vive headsets worn at Mobile World Congress 2018

In 2013, Valve discovered and freely shared the breakthrough of low-persistence displays which make lag-free and smear-free display of VR content possible. This was adopted by Oculus and was used in all their future headsets. In early 2014, Valve showed off their SteamSight prototype, the precursor to both consumer headsets released in 2016. It shared major features with the consumer headsets including separate 1K displays per eye, low persistence, positional tracking over a large area, and fresnel lenses. HTC and Valve announced the virtual reality headset HTC Vive and controllers in 2015. The set included tracking technology called Lighthouse, which utilized wall-mounted "base stations" for positional tracking using infrared light.

In 2014, Sony announced Project Morpheus (its code name for the PlayStation VR), a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 video game console. In 2015, Google announced Cardboard, a do-it-yourself stereoscopic viewer: the user places their smartphone in the cardboard holder, which they wear on their head. Michael Naimark was appointed Google's first-ever 'resident artist' in their new VR division. The Kickstarter campaign for Gloveone, a pair of gloves providing motion tracking and haptic feedback, was successfully funded, with over $150,000 in contributions. Also in 2015, Razer unveiled its open source project OSVR.

By 2016, there were at least 230 companies developing VR-related products. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Sony and Samsung all had dedicated AR and VR groups. Dynamic binaural audio was common to most headsets released that year. However, haptic interfaces were not well developed, and most hardware packages incorporated button-operated handsets for touch-based interactivity. Visually, displays were still of a low-enough resolution and frame rate that images were still identifiable as virtual.

In 2016, HTC shipped its first units of the HTC Vive SteamVR headset. This marked the first major commercial release of sensor-based tracking, allowing for free movement of users within a defined space. A patent filed by Sony in 2017 showed they were developing a similar location tracking technology to the Vive for PlayStation VR, with the potential for the development of a wireless headset.

In 2019, Oculus released the Oculus Rift S and a standalone headset, the Oculus Quest. These headsets utilized inside-out tracking compared to external outside-in tracking seen in previous generations of headsets.

In 2020, Oculus released the Oculus Quest 2. Some new features include a sharper screen, reduced price, and increased performance. Facebook (which became Meta a year later) initially required users to log in with a Facebook account in order to use the new headset. In 2021 the Oculus Quest 2 accounted for 80% of all VR headsets sold.

Robinson R22 Virtual Reality Training Device developed by VRM Switzerland[60]

In 2023, Sony released the PlayStation VR2, a follow-up to their 2016 headset. PlayStation VR2 comes with inside-out tracking, higher-resolution displays, controllers with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, and a wider field-of-view.

In June 2023, Apple announced the Apple Vision Pro. This marks their first venture into the VR headset market. The device uses a mix of AR and VR to produce visuals and is one of the only mainstream headsets to purely use hand-tracking and nothing else for controllers.[citation needed ]

The Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML), first introduced in 1994, was intended for the development of "virtual worlds" without dependency on headsets. The Web3D consortium was subsequently founded in 1997 for the development of industry standards for web-based 3D graphics. The consortium subsequently developed X3D from the VRML framework as an archival, open-source standard for web-based distribution of VR content. WebVR is an experimental JavaScript application programming interface (API) that provides support for various virtual reality devices, such as the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard or OSVR, in a web browser.

Paramount for the sensation of immersion into virtual reality are a high frame rate and low latency.

Independent production of VR images and video has increased alongside the development of affordable omnidirectional cameras, also known as 360-degree cameras or VR cameras, that have the ability to record 360 interactive photography, although at relatively low resolutions or in highly compressed formats for online streaming of 360 video. In contrast, photogrammetry is increasingly used to combine several high-resolution photographs for the creation of detailed 3D objects and environments in VR applications.

In order to improve the feeling of immersion, wearable multi-string cables offer haptics to complex geometries in virtual reality. These strings offer fine control of each finger joint to simulate the haptics involved in touching these virtual geometries.

Special input devices are required for interaction with the virtual world. Some of the most common input devices are motion controllers and optical tracking sensors. In some cases, wired gloves are used. Controllers typically use optical tracking systems (primarily infrared cameras) for location and navigation, so that the user can move freely without wiring. Some input devices provide the user with force feedback to the hands or other parts of the body, so that the human being can orientate himself in the three-dimensional world through haptics and sensor technology as a further sensory sensation and carry out realistic simulations. This allows for the viewer to have a sense of direction in the artificial landscape. Additional haptic feedback can be obtained from omnidirectional treadmills (with which walking in virtual space is controlled by real walking movements) and vibration gloves and suits.

Virtual reality cameras can be used to create VR photography using 360-degree panorama videos. 360-degree camera shots can be mixed with virtual elements to merge reality and fiction through special effects.[citation needed ] VR cameras are available in various formats, with varying numbers of lenses installed in the camera.

Minimal Angle of Resolution (MAR) refers to the minimum distance between two display pixels. At the distance, viewer can clearly distinguish the independent pixels. Often measured in arc-seconds, MAR between two pixels has to do with the viewing distance. For the general public, resolution is about 30-65 arc-seconds, which is referred to as the spatial resolution when combined with distance. Given the viewing distance of 1m and 2m respectively, regular viewers won't be able to perceive two pixels as separate if they are less than 0.29mm apart at 1m and less than 0.58mm apart at 2m.

Most small-size displays have a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which adds about 15ms of additional latency. The number is reduced to less than 7ms if the refresh rate is increased to 120 Hz or even 240 Hz and more. Participants generally feel that the experience is more immersive with higher refresh rates as a result. However, higher refresh rates require a more powerful graphics processing unit.

In theory, it represents participant's field of view (yellow area).

In assessing the achieved immersion by a VR device, we need to consider our field of view ( FOV) in addition to quality image. Our eyes have a horizontal FOV of about 140 degrees per side and a vertical FOV of roughly 175 degrees. Binocular vision is limited to 120 degrees horizontally where the right and the left visual fields overlap. Overall, we have a FOV of roughly 300 degrees x 175 degrees with two eyes, i.e., approximately one third of the full 360-deg sphere.

Virtual reality is most commonly used in entertainment applications such as video games, 3D cinema, amusement park rides including dark rides and social virtual worlds. Consumer virtual reality headsets were first released by video game companies in the early-mid 1990s. Beginning in the 2010s, next-generation commercial tethered headsets were released by Oculus (Rift), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR), setting off a new wave of application development. 3D cinema has been used for sporting events, pornography, fine art, music videos and short films. Since 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have incorporated virtual reality to match visual effects with haptic feedback. VR not only fits the trend of the digital industry but also enhances the film's visual effect. The film gives the audience more ways to interact through VR technology.

In social sciences and psychology, virtual reality offers a cost-effective tool to study and replicate interactions in a controlled environment. It can be used as a form of therapeutic intervention. For instance, there is the case of the virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), a form of exposure therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD) and phobias.

A VR therapy has been designed to help people with psychosis and agoraphobia manage their avoidance of outside environments. In the therapy, the user wears a headset and a virtual character provides psychological advice and guides them as they explore simulated environments (such as a cafe or a busy street). NICE is assessing the therapy to see if it should be recommended on the NHS.

Virtual reality programs are being used in the rehabilitation processes with elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This gives these elderly patients the opportunity to simulate real experiences that they would not otherwise be able to experience due to their current state. 17 recent studies with randomized controlled trials have shown that virtual reality applications are effective in treating cognitive deficits with neurological diagnoses. Loss of mobility in elderly patients can lead to a sense of loneliness and depression. Virtual reality is able to assist in making aging in place a lifeline to an outside world that they cannot easily navigate. Virtual reality allows exposure therapy to take place in a safe environment.

In medicine, simulated VR surgical environments were first developed in the 1990s. Under the supervision of experts, VR can provide effective and repeatable training at a low cost, allowing trainees to recognize and amend errors as they occur.

Virtual reality has been used in physical rehabilitation since the 2000s. Despite numerous studies conducted, good quality evidence of its efficacy compared to other rehabilitation methods without sophisticated and expensive equipment is lacking for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. A 2018 review on the effectiveness of mirror therapy by virtual reality and robotics for any type of pathology concluded in a similar way. Another study was conducted that showed the potential for VR to promote mimicry and revealed the difference between neurotypical and autism spectrum disorder individuals in their response to a two-dimensional avatar.

VR can simulate real workspaces for workplace occupational safety and health purposes, educational purposes, and training purposes. It can be used to provide learners with a virtual environment where they can develop their skills without the real-world consequences of failing. It has been used and studied in primary education, anatomy teaching, military, astronaut training, flight simulators, miner training, medical education, geography education, architectural design,[citation needed ] driver training and bridge inspection. Immersive VR engineering systems enable engineers to see virtual prototypes prior to the availability of any physical prototypes. Supplementing training with virtual training environments has been claimed to offer avenues of realism in military and healthcare training while minimizing cost. It also has been claimed to reduce military training costs by minimizing the amounts of ammunition expended during training periods. VR can also be used for the healthcare training and education for medical practitioners.

The first fine art virtual world was created in the 1970s. As the technology developed, more artistic programs were produced throughout the 1990s, including feature films. When commercially available technology became more widespread, VR festivals began to emerge in the mid-2010s. The first uses of VR in museum settings began in the 1990s, seeing a significant increase in the mid-2010s. Additionally, museums have begun making some of their content virtual reality accessible.

Virtual reality's growing market presents an opportunity and an alternative channel for digital marketing. It is also seen as a new platform for e-commerce, particularly in the bid to challenge traditional "brick and mortar" retailers. However, a 2018 study revealed that the majority of goods are still purchased in physical stores.

Starting in the early 2020s, virtual reality has also been discussed as a technological setting that may support people's grieving process, based on digital recreations of deceased individuals. In 2021, this practice received substantial media attention following a South Korean TV documentary, which invited a grieving mother to interact with a virtual replica of her deceased daughter. Subsequently, scientists have summarized several potential implications of such endeavours, including its potential to facilitate adaptive mourning, but also many ethical challenges.

In June of 2020, Jean Michel Jarre performed in VRChat. In July, Brendan Bradley released the free FutureStages web-based virtual reality venue for live events and concerts throughout the 2020 shutdown, Justin Bieber performed on November 18, 2021 in WaveXR. On December 2, 2021, non-player characters performed at the Mugar Omni Theater with audiences interacting with a live performer in both virtual reality and projected on the IMAX dome screen. Meta's Foo Fighters Super Bowl VR concert performed on Venues. Post Malone performed in Venues starting July 15, 2022. Megan Thee Stallion performed on AmazeVR at AMC Theaters throughout 2022.

On October 24, 2021, Billie Eilish performed on Oculus Venues. Pop group Imagine Dragons performed on June 15, 2022.

There are many health and safety considerations of virtual reality. A number of unwanted symptoms have been caused by prolonged use of virtual reality, and these may have slowed proliferation of the technology. Most virtual reality systems come with consumer warnings, including: seizures; developmental issues in children; trip-and-fall and collision warnings; discomfort; repetitive stress injury; and interference with medical devices. Some users may experience twitches, seizures or blackouts while using VR headsets, even if they do not have a history of epilepsy and have never had blackouts or seizures before. One in 4,000 people, or .025%, may experience these symptoms. Motion sickness, eyestrain, headaches, and discomfort are the most prevalent short-term adverse effects. In addition, because of the virtual reality headsets' heavy weight, discomfort may be more likely among children. Therefore, children are advised against using VR headsets. Other problems may occur in physical interactions with one's environment. While wearing VR headsets, people quickly lose awareness of their real-world surroundings and may injure themselves by tripping over, or colliding with real-world objects.

Virtual reality sickness (also known as cybersickness) occurs when a person's exposure to a virtual environment causes symptoms that are similar to motion sickness symptoms. Women are significantly more affected than men by headset-induced symptoms, at rates of around 77% and 33% respectively. The most common symptoms are general discomfort, headache, stomach awareness, nausea, vomiting, pallor, sweating, fatigue, drowsiness, disorientation, and apathy. For example, Nintendo's Virtual Boy received much criticism for its negative physical effects, including "dizziness, nausea, and headaches". These motion sickness symptoms are caused by a disconnect between what is being seen and what the rest of the body perceives. When the vestibular system, the body's internal balancing system, does not experience the motion that it expects from visual input through the eyes, the user may experience VR sickness. This can also happen if the VR system does not have a high enough frame rate, or if there is a lag between the body's movement and the onscreen visual reaction to it. Because approximately 25-40% of people experience some kind of VR sickness when using VR machines, companies are actively looking for ways to reduce VR sickness.

In January 2022 The Wall Street Journal found that VR usage could lead to physical injuries including leg, hand, arm and shoulder injuries. VR usage has also been tied to incidents that resulted in neck injuries, and death.

Children are becoming increasingly aware of VR, with the number in the USA having never heard of it dropping by half from Autumn 2016 (40%) to Spring 2017 (19%).

A 2022 research report by Piper Sandler revealed that only 26% of U.S. teens own a VR device, 5% use it daily, while 48% of teen headset owners "seldom" use it. Of the teens who don't own a VR headset, 9% plan to buy one. 50% of surveyed teens are unsure about the metaverse or don't have any interest, and don't have any plans to purchase a VR headset.

Studies show that young children, compared to adults, may respond cognitively and behaviorally to immersive VR in ways that differ from adults. VR places users directly into the media content, potentially making the experience very vivid and real for children. For example, children of 6-18 years of age reported higher levels of presence and "realness" of a virtual environment compared with adults 19-65 years of age.

The persistent tracking required by all VR systems makes the technology particularly useful for, and vulnerable to, mass surveillance. The expansion of VR will increase the potential and reduce the costs for information gathering of personal actions, movements and responses. Data from eye tracking sensors, which are projected to become a standard feature in virtual reality headsets, may indirectly reveal information about a user's ethnicity, personality traits, fears, emotions, interests, skills, and physical and mental health conditions.

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Virtual reality ( VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings).