One of the things that I would not have predicted when I first embarked on this two-and-a-half-year blogging odyssey is that, instead of me having to go out and hunt for stories, the stories would start to come to me.
And so it happened that I got the following message via the Contact page of my blog, from a young Swiss man named Emmanuele Leggio:
My name is Emmanuele Leggio and I am the head of a startup project called Polis, the city with infinite space and zero distance. We aim to build a Virtual Co-working / event space. Yes another YARTVRA*, But I do have a peculiarity and that is the VR helmet I patented the Hemosy. This helmet captures the face of the user and projects it in a virtual reality environment. We can do the same [as] the other co-working [apps], but we make sure you can see the real face and emotion of the people around you.
The reason I contact you is because I would like to ask you if is possible to run a questionnaire or pool from your readers. I wish to test my theory that seeing the real person in front of them is worth buying a VR headset.
*Yes! I finally got someone else on the planet to actually use the acronym I had coined, YARTVRA!
So, I took a look at his website, which outlines a proposed project involving two components:
- HEMOSY (HEas MOunted SYstem) is a VR headset which uses cameras to record and transmit the actual facial expressions of the user; and
- Polis, a social VR platform where HEMOSY-recorded video is projected. Among the possible uses Emmauele suggests is a campus for online university courses.
And this ambitious, even audacious, plan is more than just an idea; Emmanuele has already filed for—and received—a patent for his helmet (text is in Italian).
So, suitably impressed by this young man and his bold plans, I agreed to help him by asking you, my blog readers, to fill out an online survey that he has created. (Think of it as market research. I am also quite curious to see what the results of his survey will be, and I will share them with you when it is complete.)
Emmanuele says:
Hello My name is Emmanuele and I’m the founder of Polis, a start up (www.startuppolis.com) that wishes to bring face-to-face meetings to VR. We are in the early stages, and we would like to test same assumptions we have. Here is a quick questionnaire:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BMMV5PF
In case you have questions for us, or you wish to communicate with us, please use this link: https://startuppolis.com/contatti/
We thank you deeply for all your feedback.
So please take a moment to complete Emmanuele’s survey. Thank you!
