Apple Engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober Working on Anti-Motion Sickness VR Technology for Use in Autonomous Vehicles

[MacRumors]

Engineer and popular YouTuber Mark Rober, who is known for his science-related videos that can rack up millions of views, works at Apple as an engineer in the special projects group, reports Variety.

The site says that Rober has been working on Apple's virtual reality projects, including "using VR as on-board entertainment for self-driving cars." On Rober's LinkedIn page, it says he works as a product designer at an unspecified company he first joined in 2015, suggesting he's been with Apple for some time.

To explain the kinds of things Rober may be working on, Variety points to a pair of Apple patent applications that cover an "Immersive Visual Display" and an "Augmented Virtual Display," which were filed in 2016 and describe virtual reality systems that could be used by passengers in self-driving cars. The patents list Mark Rober as a primary inventor.

Both of the patents describe a VR headset that could help alleviate in-car motion sickness in autonomous vehicles, with one suggesting replacing the view of the real world with virtual environments that include visual cues to match physical motions the passenger is experiencing and the other describing virtual content that appears as a fixed object in the external environment.

One of the patents suggests that a virtual reality system for cutting down on motion sickness could aid in productivity because it would allow passengers (which would include all persons in an autonomous vehicle as a driver would not be required) to perform work while the vehicle is in motion without experiencing motion sickness. It also suggests VR could provide "enhanced virtual experiences" to passengers.

Many passengers in vehicles may experience motion sickness. Typically, this is not the case for the driver. However, with the arrival of autonomous vehicles, the driver becomes a passenger, and thus may want to occupy themselves while, for example, riding to work. Passengers in conventional or autonomous vehicles may, for example, want to read a book, or work on their notebook computer.

Apple is currently working on autonomous driving software that is being tested in Lexus SUVs that are out on the road near its Cupertino headquarters, and the technology is reportedly being implemented into employee shuttles.

Apple has inked a deal with Volkswagen to use Volkswagen T6 Transporter vans as self-driving shuttles to transport employees around its various campuses and office buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's not clear if and when Apple plans to implement the VR technology Rober is working on into the shuttles or other future autonomous car projects, but there are many concepts that Apple patents that never make it into finished products.

Prior to joining Apple, Rober spent eight years as mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he also served as a product designer at Morph Costumes.

He also maintains a popular YouTube channel with 3.4 million subscribers, sharing science-related videos like "Lemon Powered Supercar," "How to Survive a Grenade Blast," "How Much Pee is in Your Pool," and "iPhone ATM PIN Code Hack - How to Prevent."

Article Link: Apple Engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober Working on Anti-Motion Sickness VR Technology for Use in Autonomous Vehicles

 

[FelixDerKater]

How much pee is in the pool, eh?

 

[TheTruth101]

LOL... do you remember when you used to get into the car and just drive it?

What about when the girl on your side wants to "hold your hand"?

All these technologies are rendering people useless. It reminds me the intro of the movie Idiocracy, human evolution used to reward the smartest but there was a point that everything started to be so easy that people became lazy and evolution stop rewarding intelligence but instead started to reward fertility.

 

[zakarhino]

People want a good Mac, not a convoluted VR system for a car that is 4-6 years away from being announced yet alone released (given the delays in Apple products recently) -- nobody is asking for this! I'm sick of hearing the "Not all of the engineers are working on the car/iphone/ipad/homepod/etc." argument, I used to say that to people on here but now I'm beginning to sympathize with the supposed 'haters.' They were never haters at all! Just power users! Clearly the 'not all engineers' argument can't be the case when you look at the current state of the Mac, or the mind-blowing delays in their products (AirPower being released a year+ from announcement? Seriously?). Now we're hearing Ive's team had the balls to consider removing all ports from the iPhone... it's only a matter of time before the MacBook Pro will meet the same fate of being completely port-less, save for a single charge port. Removing all the ports from the iPhone serves no true function and doesn't improve anyone's life, Ive, it just satisfies your aesthetic itch.

Reclaim your title as the leader in professional workstations, Apple, it's what many of us are waiting to give you thousands of dollars for. It's worthless having "a virtual reality system for cutting down on motion sickness [to] aid in productivity" for your car if the passengers don't have a power-user OS in the first place to utilize it. It seems true innovation is dead at Apple. Imagine the state of MacOS if there was a genuine focus on how to make an operating system for power users in this era, something truly groundbreaking and ballsy, instead we're still using the same fundamental OS design from 2 decades ago -- oh, sorry, we have dark mode now! what a relief!

When the day comes where the "courage" necessary to remove the headphone jack on the iPhone is applied to taking risks for power users, that's the day I will weep with true joy.

 

[Tech198]

"virtual environments that include visual cues to match physical motions the passenger is experiencing and the other describing virtual content that appears as a fixed object in the external environment."

Any time you have virtual to physical, representing in the real world, that's where problems usually start and finish.. As you'r just introducing more problems that only will need fixing...

I don't see why a passenger would want to see a virtual tree.. vs a real one.

Using tech to "cure" sickness reminds me of exactly the opposite.. It introduces sickness. What sort of self driving car would cause motion sickness?

 

[jclo]

I get motion sick in cars AND from VR headsets so I can't help but imagining something like this making me twice as sick.

 

[Boyd01]

Why would a self-driving car have a special need for motion sickness relief? Are the issues any different from those of a passenger in a taxi, for example?

 

[citysnaps]

People want a good Mac, not a convoluted VR system for a car that is 4-6 years away from being announced yet alone released (given the delays in Apple products recently) -- nobody is asking for this! I'm sick of hearing the "Not all of the engineers are working on the car/iphone/ipad/homepod/etc." argument, I used to say that to people on here but now I'm beginning to sympathize with the supposed 'haters.' They were never haters at all! Just power users! Clearly the 'not all engineers' argument can't be the case when you look at the current state of the Mac, or the mind-blowing delays in their products (AirPower being released a year+ from announcement? Seriously?). Now we're hearing Ive's team had the balls to consider removing all ports from the iPhone... it's only a matter of time before the MacBook Pro will meet the same fate of being completely port-less, save for a single charge port. Removing all the ports from the iPhone serves no true function and doesn't improve anyone's life, Ive, it just satisfies your aesthetic itch.

Reclaim your title as the leader in professional workstations, Apple, it's what many of us are waiting to give you thousands of dollars for. It's worthless having "a virtual reality system for cutting down on motion sickness [to] aid in productivity" for your car if the passengers don't have a power-user OS in the first place to utilize it. It seems true innovation is dead at Apple. Imagine the state of MacOS if there was a genuine focus on how to make an operating system for power users in this era, something truly groundbreaking and ballsy, instead we're still using the same fundamental OS design from 2 decades ago -- oh, sorry, we have dark mode now! what a relief!

When the day comes where the "courage" necessary to remove the headphone jack on the iPhone is applied to taking risks for power users, that's the day I will weep with true joy.

Muster up some courage, vote with your wallet purchasing products that meet your needs, and find happiness in life. The above is just plain embarrassing.

 

[speedbumpnv]

Why would a self-driving car have a special need for motion sickness relief? Are the issues any different from those of a passenger in a taxi, for example?

Conceivably this idea could be implemented into a human driven car as well...? Unless the idea is humans no longer drive taxis or chauffeured cars?

 

[cmwade77]

Here is the bottom line: I will never buy a fully autonomous vehicle. Yes, I said never and I do indeed mean that, there are too many pitfalls and no possible way to avoid all of them, as anyway that they get avoided can still be hacked around.
[doublepost=1530057031][/doublepost]

Conceivably this idea could be implemented into a human driven car as well...? Unless the idea is humans no longer drive taxis or chauffeured cars?

That is the idea that these manufacturers want, they want there to be no accelerators, no steering, no brake pedals, no human control over the vehicle at all.

 

[citysnaps]

Interesting research. I can see where motion sickness induced in a VR world, especially in a moving vehicle decoupled from real visual stimuli, could be an issue.

 

[jclo]

Why would a self-driving car have a special need for motion sickness relief? Are the issues any different from those of a passenger in a taxi, for example?

The patent cites use cases like reading in the car, which makes a lot of people sick. Would also be applicable to a passenger in a taxi, but it's a VR system built into the autonomous car.

 

[zakarhino]

Muster up some courage, vote with your wallet purchasing products that meet your needs, and find happiness in life. The above is just plain embarrassing.

I'm asking for innovation and a larger investment into software/hardware for professionals, what's so difficult to understand about that. There is no 'voting with your wallet' when it comes to innovation, those companies have become comfortable with laziness because we all have no choice. You're probably not old enough to remember but people used to make, discover and design things out of passion and a want for progression, not just to meet a revenue bottom line. I'm not abstaining from using Windows or Android out of some weird devotion to Apple, those platforms do not fit me and they're almost just as static when it comes to innovation as Apple are.

 

[citysnaps]

I'm asking for innovation and a larger investment into software/hardware for professionals, what's so difficult to understand about that. There is no 'voting with your wallet' when it comes to innovation, those companies have become comfortable with laziness because we all have no choice. You're probably not old enough to remember but people used to make, discover and design things out of passion and a want for progression, not just to meet a revenue bottom line. I'm not abstaining from using Windows or Android out of some weird devotion to Apple, those platforms do not fit me and they're almost just as static when it comes to innovation as Apple are.

"I'm asking for innovation and a larger investment into software/hardware for professionals, what's so difficult to understand about that."

Nothing. If what you posted were on a thread with that subject. This thread is about Apple's research on VR, motion sickness, and automobiles.


"There is no 'voting with your wallet' when it comes to innovation, those companies have become comfortable with laziness because we all have no choice."

You and everyone else always have choices. Pick those that meet your needs. No need to raise the white flag.


"You're probably not old enough to remember but people used to make, discover and design things out of passion and a want for progression, not just to meet a revenue bottom line."

I'm plenty old enough. And Apple continues to offer products that meet my needs and delight everytime I use them - Macs, iPhone, Watch, HomePod, and iPad.. And Apple has always paid attention to its bottom line - as all companies should.

"I'm not abstaining from using Windows or Android out of some weird devotion to Apple, those platforms do not fit me and they're almost just as static when it comes to innovation as Apple are"

As I said above, we all have choices. Pick what floats your boat.

Several hundred million Apple customers repeatedly reward Apple with their dollars purchasing Apple products at premium prices. Year after year after year. That's why Apple is so successful. Designing and manufacturing products people want.

 

[TheTruth101]

I poop in the car, what Apple would do about it?

 

[citysnaps]

I poop in the car, what Apple would do about it?

Automatically roll down the windows?

 

[Boyd01]

Would also be applicable to a passenger in a taxi, but it's a VR system built into the autonomous car.

And of course, if you're plugged into some kind of Apple device, they will have the opportunity to sell you stuff!

 

[djlythium]

Sooooo, inertial dampers.

Cool!

 

[TimmeyCook]

LOL... do you remember when you used to get into the car and just drive it?

What about when the girl on your side wants to "hold your hand"?

All these technologies are rendering people useless. It reminds me the intro of the movie Idiocracy, human evolution used to reward the smartest but there was a point that everything started to be so easy that people became lazy and evolution stop rewarding intelligence but instead started to reward fertility.

My father is in good health. But one eye is already f**** up.

My parents live in a rural area, where they NEED the car even for basic daily needs like buying bread as everything is far from home.

There are lots of people in that situation and much worse, driving is nice but cars that drive themselves are in need today, and even more in the future where people live longer.

 

[swajames]

Unless Mr Rober himself put this information into the public domain, and from the linked Variety article it doesn't appear that he did, I don't think it's cool to "out" the specifics of his day job.....

 

[ekwipt]

If they want someone to test it I'm the perfect candidate, I get sick on everything that moves

 

[Yvan256]

Muster up some courage, vote with your wallet purchasing products that meet your needs, and find happiness in life. The above is just plain embarrassing.

With Apple, both the OS and the hardware must meet our needs.

So his choices are either macOS with hardware that doesn't meet his needs, or the hardware he wants with Microsoft Windows... That's not much of a choice, is it?

 

[Tapiture]

Mark Rober makes me sick.

I don’t know what it is but I find him kind of annoying.

 

[Baymowe335]

LOL... do you remember when you used to get into the car and just drive it?

What about when the girl on your side wants to "hold your hand"?

All these technologies are rendering people useless. It reminds me the intro of the movie Idiocracy, human evolution used to reward the smartest but there was a point that everything started to be so easy that people became lazy and evolution stop rewarding intelligence but instead started to reward fertility.

Wrong. It’s freeing up people to do and think about other things. It’s called progress.

80% of people used to be farmers. Look how far we’ve come.

If you could press a button and produce everything produced today with machines, it would be a good thing.

 

[farewelwilliams]

LOL... do you remember when you used to get into the car and just drive it?

What about when the girl on your side wants to "hold your hand"?

All these technologies are rendering people useless. It reminds me the intro of the movie Idiocracy, human evolution used to reward the smartest but there was a point that everything started to be so easy that people became lazy and evolution stop rewarding intelligence but instead started to reward fertility.

Americans spend on average 17000 minutes in a car a year. Many people get headaches from trying to read articles or use a laptop while in a car. Would be nice if someone improved that experience.