Author: Samantha

The Glimpse Group has a lot of VR technology that must constantly be tested for new and potential clients. Majority of the time, the VR team will need help with some beta testing. Usually volunteers from other departments would help out and do some beta testing. I liked to volunteer to see what was the latest and greatest in the company.

On this particular day, the VR from Foretell Reality team needed help testing to see how many people can be in one virtual room. The more people, the stronger the VR connection needs to be. The goal was to have 10 people in one virtual room and be able to communicate through the headset and see each other’s avatar while in the room without any glitches.

The testing proved there needed to be some updating to the code as many of the avatars appeared broken and entering the virtual room wasn’t as smooth as it could be, but they were successful in getting 9 people into the virtual room. Progress!

Here’s a LinkedIn post on The Glimpse Group’s page about that day of beta testing

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-glimpse-group_virtual-activity-6559049569089409024-pEQh

Also, here’s a video about The Glimpse Group’s subsidiary Foretell Reality and what I saw when I put on the VR headset

I signed up for a printmaking workshop hosted by NYC Park Arts and attended on December 2, 2019.

Honestly, I didn’t know what I was signing up for. Printmaking really isn’t my forte so I was basically going in blind.

I was lucky enough that my sister-in-law tagged along with me (social events aren’t really my forte either) so with her along, it made the event less intimidating.

Upon our arrival, the host was very nice and helpful and found us a place to sit. Once everyone was settled in, she introduced herself and explained what project we would be working on. The printmaking process we would be doing is called collagraphy.  Collagraphy is a printmaking process in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate. We would be using recycled materials to create our plate or stamp.

She then did a demonstration of different ways to place the materials on the plate. There were no rules or “right way” to making the stamp.  We were to simply have fun and use our creative freedom.

Here is the stamp I created using the recycled materials:

She then demonstrated the steps on the collagraphy process:

 

Once the demonstration was over, it was time to press our stamps!

 

Overall, I had a blast. Despite the snow ruining the commute, I’m glad I attended. I learned something new, I was able to destress, meet new people and spend time with my sister-in-law. All in all, a great evening.

With owning a small business where I sell products, comes prodcut photos! I take hundreds of photos just to find the perfect one. I’m not the best photographer so photo editing is a must to make sure my photos are sharp and showcase the product nicely. VSCO makes photo editing simple.

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VSCO is also a social media where you can share your photos along with discovering new photographers

VSCO also has membership options where it gives you additional presets along with more advanced editing features. Since photography isn’t my field, I am happy with the free version and all that it offers. I would suggest this app to anyone who wants a simple Instagram filter or to someone who is looking to edit their photos a little further. All in all, I’m satisfied with the app!

My first day at The Glimpse Group had finally arrived. I walked in and instantly felt welcomed. I got a tour of the office by my two supervisors Chris and Leo then was introduced to my coworkers and fellow interns.

The three of us then sat down and discussed what my role would be and what a regular day in the office looks like. Chris explained I’d be working with Early-Adopter which is a subsidiary of The Glimpse Group. Early-Adopter creates innovative and interactive products for K-12 users using VR/AR solutions which can increase student engagement and retention. Early-Adopter currently has a project called ChilZone, which they are currently partnered with The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore.

Here’s a video more about Early-Adopter

My role was the design the website for ChilZone. I couldn’t wait to get started as this was way more work then I thought would be expected of a typical intern and I didn’t want to let them down.

Throughout the process, I was to work along side Leo who would help with development when the time came and I was to also work with Sarah who was the UX/UI designer.

My typical day began at 10AM. I came in, made some coffee and got straight to work on the website in Photoshop. After I felt I was at a good place with my work, I would show it to Leo for critiques. If he felt things needed to be changed, I would edit the files accordingly, if not the files went to Sarah. This process of creating the website, forwarding my work, receiving critiques and editing again was the majority of my internship.

I run a small business on the side called Townsy Trinkets where I create dainty accessories and sell them online. A big part of owning a small business is how to reach your audience. I am always on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter promoting myslef and my latests prodcuts. I don’t always have time to sit down on my desktop and create posts for my social media, so I use Adobe Spark Post.

Spark Post has various pre-made posts and stories for social media that are easily editable on your phone. You can choose various types of posts such as animated and collages. They are also simply categorized by premium, lifestyle, business, school, travel, food and much more.

I really like Spark Post because it is so simple to use and the posts can be edited without much hassle. You can change the color, font, size and save your post to multiple locations with a simple tap. Creating a posts takes minutes and they always come out looking amazing. My favorite type of post style is an animation. You can easily animate letters, words or phrases. It also includes different types of animations such as typewriter, flicking text, color shifting, fading and sliding and many more.

If you have the time to sit on your desktop, Spark Post also has a web application. All of your posts from your phone are automatically accessible via the web since it all under once account. No need for uploading. Also, all the same features are included.

Overall, Spark Post is a life saver because it cuts my post editing time in half and I don’t need to worry if I’ll miss posting on my social media because I didn’t have time to sit at my desktop. The app is free but you do need an Adobe subscription in order to use premium features. In the end, I would definitely recommend that app to anyone.

The Glimpse Group is a virtual reality/augmented reality group. “Founded in 2016, The Glimpse Group now has  10 subsidiary companies, employing over 40 software developers, 3D artists, and VR/AR specialists. Our Management Team leverages their extensive business, operations and technology experiences to drive value, mentor and work closely with our entrepreneurs.” source: https://www.theglimpsegroup.com/about-glimpse

The Glimpse Group’s 10 subsidiaries are:

• Adept Reality provides VR/AR Corporate Training Experiences
• D6 VR provides a comprehensive Virtual Reality-based workspace with multi-dimensional tools for data visualization
• Early Adopter creates innovative and interactive products for K-12 users
• Foretell Reality provides VR co-working spaces, collaboration, and interpersonal interaction between individuals and groups in various B2B and B2C settings
• Immersive Health Group (IHG) provides outcome-driven and evidence-based VR & AR solutions for the healthcare industry
• KreatAR‘s tools help users rapidly and easily create, edit and deploy targeted, personalized AR presentations i.e: Post Reality
• Mezmos utilizes Virtual and Augmented Reality experiences to support brands
• MotionZone provides immersive data analysis and visualization tools focused on the Sport industry
• Pagoni VR understands the challenges and opportunities in 360° and 180° immersive video workflow and distribution
• QReal provides photorealistic, lifelike 3D models and apps for digital experiences

After emailing with Professor Van Buren, a couple of weeks later I got an email from his colleague Leo Santana who was also a former classmate of mine. Leo is the  Lead Web Designer and Developer of Early-Adopter which is a Glimpse Group Company subsidiarity. He emailed offering me an interview! I have to say, I was excited but also very nervous. It had been a while since I had done an interview, so I felt a little rusty. Not only that, a few weeks before I sprained my ankle playing basketball. I was so worried about traveling to the interview since it was downtown and I wasn’t fulled healed. I had to prepare myself both physically and mentally.

The day of my interview came quickly and I was ready! I made sure I had everything ready the night before (resume, outfit, etc) and set my alarm very early since I knew it was a bit far but also because I’d be walking slow due to my sprained ankle. I made it to the interview with time to spare. My former classmate Leo and the Director of Product and Business Development of The Glimpse Group, Chris, both interviewed me.

Some things that were discussed:

• Tell me a bit about yourself.
• Are you in school right now, if so when will you be graduating?
• What’s a project that you’re most proud of? Can you show it to me?
• What are somethings you can improve on?
• What are some of your strengths?
• What can you contribute to the company?
• What kind work do you expect to be doing here?

After the interview, Chris and Leo invited me to use some of their VR (virtual reality) technology, to get to know more about The Glimpse Group. Leo showed me their current project Arcana: The Lost Library, which is an educational VR experience all about outer space. The VR headset that was provided for the experience was the HTC Vive. I had never experienced VR before so to try it for the first time was exciting! When you first put the headset on and begin the experience, you must walk along a narrow rocky path and as you walk it, it begins to crumble. You actually feel like you’re about to fall! Once you reach the end of the path, you’re taken on an elevator and you enter the secret space library. There are many different interactions for learning different things about space.

Overall the VR experience was exciting! Using their technology only made me want to intern there more and learn about all the projects they are working on. At the end of the day, I knew the interview was a success and was really hoping I got the internship

After some time, I finally got a response back from the interviewer Chris. I got the internship!

My internship hunt started early spring of 2019, knowing I’d need an internship for the summer session. I had been applying everyday, but I never received any calls back. I started to get discouraged and wanted to give up.

Summer was steadily approaching, and still no calls back. The time to register for the summer session began and I was getting worried I wouldn’t have an internship on time. Unfortunately, that ended up being the case and I couldn’t take the internship course in the summer.

I then had no other choice but to enroll in the internship course for the fall semester. So, throughout the summer, I continued applying for internships.

I decided to take my internship search to LinkedIn. My professor Jay Van Buren, had posted a summer web internship opportunity at his job on his LinkedIn profile. I saw it and immediately applied once I saw I met all the credentials.

I then emailed him separately letting him know I applied for the position and telling him I was very much interested. He responded and gave me some details about the internship.