During the Flash Memory Summit 2016, a conference unlikely to be familiar to most gamers, still has an impact on the virtual reality, augmented reality and wearables that are becoming part of many gamers’ lives. Namely, a panel conversation will be taking place this week that covers the role of flash memory in storage and delivery of data and content to and from VR, AR and wearables devices.
Midafternoon on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, this very topic will be addressed in the session, “Augmented Reality, Wearables that Make Great Use of Flash.” The panel will be moderated by Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. During the session, panelists will explore how quickly AR is becoming integrated into all aspects of our lives. The demands AR places on high-performance, high-capacity flash memory technology, in keeping with the focus of the summit, will also be discussed.
Overall, the topic likely deserves a closer look because the wearables market is strong and gaining popularity. Worldwide, shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units by the end of 2016 and are projected to reach 213.6 million units shipped in 2020, which adds up to a healthy compound annual growth rate of 20.3 percent.
In a press release, Peddie said:
“AR and VR technologies are quickly going beyond gaming and video production. To enjoy and take advantage of these technologies, we need a constant flow of information. We’re taking advantage of the power of our pocket computers and connecting them to mountains of data stored in the cloud. At the same time, AR devices become personal recorders, generating reams of data. We need to store and connect to that information in real time and flash memory can play a key role in bringing AR/VR mainstream.
“While the devices and technology will account for only 10 percent of the wearables shipments by 2020, they will be over 40 percent of the market’s total revenues — and storage will be a key component to its success,” he added.
The following will be a part of the AR/VR and wearables-focused panel on flash memory that Peddie is moderating:
- Soulaiman Itani, CTO and founder of Atheer
- Daryl Sartain, director of virtual reality with Alliances, Content and VR at AMD
- Christopher C. Croteau, director of business development for Head-Worn Products, New Devices Group at Intel
- Rick Tewell, vice president of system solutions, Verisilicon
- Manuel Gutierrez Novelo, CTO, founder of Innersion-Vrielia
To further quote the press release, diving into the depths about the panel and its topics it hopes to cover,
“AR is paradoxically about the efficiency of human action in relation to usable data and simultaneously the avoidance of reality in the form of pictures and graphics. The panelists will discuss the challenge of being careful of what you wish for with the technology since too many labels in a scene or too many objects may make it difficult to read/digest the information needed. They will also outline the limits and privacy protection issues that have to be addressed by storage and device manufacturers to keep AR devices from being inundated with unwanted, overwhelming information.”
The Flash Memory Summit 2016, held in Santa Clara from August 9-11, 2016, showcases the latest in flash memory design, production and applications with over 10 simultaneous panel session tracks and 14 keynotes speakers from industry leaders around the globe. Attendance to all of the August 10 wearables, AR/VR technology sessions will be open to FMS registrants at http://www.flashmemorysummit.
