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An Over Coffee® Valentine special (Photo courtesy of Mitchell Malpartida, and used with permission.) Need a Valentine for someone special? And you'd like it to be much more imaginative than the standard flowers, candy and/or a card? Technologist, maker and educator Mitchell Malpartida has some great ideas. As a regular contributor to the Make: community and the Founder of Masterful Creations STEAM Academy, Mitch teaches workshops on science, technology, engineering, art and math. At the core of his lessons is a sense of fun and creativity, as he visits schools and offers online maker workshops and sessions in his local community. And he's also having a lot of fun teaching maker skills to his own children. Not to mention learning with them, as they come up with new ideas! (You'll find a number of his projects on his YouTube channel.) During our 2022 interview on Valentine's Day-related maker projects, Mitch offered a creative maker's approach to some of the Valentine standards.

Due to a technical issue, Over Coffee® is on a one-week hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022! "Move fast and break things," says multiple award-winning computer science teacher Mark Suter. He's talking about the entrepreneurial approach he takes, as he guides his Elida High School classes through creating virtual-reality experiences. Failure, Mark explains, is a key element in real-world problem solving. And problem-solving is exactly what Mark and his students are doing, as they create VR training simulations for local businesses. An entrepreneurial approach to learning leads his students to collaborate, interact with others to learn what customers need, and adapt their creations accordingly. According to Mark's LinkedIn page, his class is also currently seeking a company that would like them to create some free training prototypes! Part of the curriculum is Grit 9, a student-run business. Students can design VR simulations and websites. They

(Photo courtesy of Vlad Konov, and used with permission.) "All Ukrainians are innovating right now," says Nanit Robotics Founder Vladyslav Konov, as we discuss his latest creation. Vlad, a Ukraine-based engineer, entrepreneur and educator, introduced his ed-tech robot, Nanit, to the U.S. during CES® 2023. This is a kit, designed for all ages (big kids too!). Users can create, literally, a hundred robots from the components provided. For beginners, it's an easy process, based on snapping blocks together. And tutorials and add-ons, available with the kit, allow the user to grow and continue learning. They can also create their own applications--because Nanit is open-source! For Vlad, Nanit is the latest step in his creative journey. He's been creating robots--and teaching others to do so--since 2016, according to his LinkedIn page. Just one of his innovations was the creation of a first-of-its-kind robotics school in Ukraine. (He is also the founder and CEO of RoboHouse, Ukrai

Over Coffee® is on post-CES hiatus. Please enjoy this re-posting of one of our top episodes of 2022! This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional with any health-related questions. Clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Albert "Skip" Rizzo is a pioneer in the field of medical virtual reality. Since the 1990s, Skip, as he prefers to be called, has been using immersive technology to treat his students. (He doesn't call them "patients".) Today Skip is the Director of Medical Virtual Reality at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies. He first began working in research at ICT in 1995, according to his LinkedIn profile. One of his multiple titles is "Ayatollah of VR", listed from 1995 to the present! (We first had the pleasure of hearing him speak at Cedars-Sinai's inaugural Virtual Medicine conference in 2018.) Skip's ground-breaking work has garnered multiple awards. He's researched, designed and

Over Coffee® is on post-CES® hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top interviews of 2022! STEMuli Studios Founder/CEO Taylor Shead is using immersive technology to fulfill her mission. That mission, as stated on their website: "to provide a pathway to an intellectually and economically fulfilling career for all." In 2016, Taylor created her small business: the first game-based learning metaverse in the United States! Ever since then, STEMuli has been navigating students from their current academic capabilities, to the skills and experience needed to secure their dream jobs. Taylor says that's just the beginning, for her Dallas-based startup. Today, according to their website, STEMuli Studios serve more than 20,000 schools. And Taylor's ultimate vision: to serve learners, worldwide, on AI-driven academic and career-based learning journeys in STEMuli's 3D smart city. In our August, 2022, conversation, Taylor shared the story of STEMuli Studios, talked about her vision

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Rotschi, and used with permission.) Switzerland-based startup Scewo is re-imagining wheelchairs. That re-imagination process involves designing them as both a lifestyle item--and as some seriously cool technology. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Rotschi, and used with permission.) Scewo's "Bro" wheelchairs climb stairs! They also balance on two wheels, raise and lower their occupants to reach items or sit at tables of varying heights, and have no problem going up over curbs. And you'll get a chance to see these firsthand, this week in the Eureka Park® startup area of CES® 2023! They're exhibiting in the SwissTech pavilion of the Eureka Park® startup area, booth #61433, Level ! Hall G. At CES® Scewo (pronounced Skee-voh) is presenting their wheelchair to the U.S. market for the first time. Scewo Lead Communication and PR Manager Natalie Rotschi shared the story of Scewo, some of the ways their technology is changing the lives of their road drivers (they do

This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as mental-health advice. Please contact a medical professional with any mental-health-related questions. As CES® 2023 continues, Switzerland-based startup Virtuosis is premiering their new innovation. As Co-Founder Lara Gervaise explains, Virtuosis analyzes participants' voices. By doing so, it can give them feedback on both their soft skills, and their current mood. Then, it can offer tips on improving communication skills or help an individual manage stress or other negative emotions. Lara, who just released Virtuosis during Day 1 of CES® 2023 in Las Vegas, is currently exhibiting Virtuosis in the show's Eureka Park® startup area. Look for her in the SwissTech pavilion, Booth #61433 of the Venetian: Level 1, Hall G. Lara shared the story of creating Virtuosis, explained how it works and talked about what's next. On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover: How Lara's course of study, in her are

"Fun" isn't a word most people would associate with cybersecurity. But for AckTao CEO and Co-Founder Cecile Maye, it's a critical factor in empowering others in their digital lives. And she'll be demonstrating how engagement equals retention, as she exhibits AckTao in Booth 61433 of the Swiss Tech pavilion in CES® 2023's Eureka Park® startup area! Switzerland-based educational technology startup AckTao has created an advanced cloud-gaming digital education program. Participants "play" in different scenarios which educate them on digital security risks. A scenario might take you into an airport store. Or perhaps a restaurant, workshop or office setting. There's even an application for those who work at home. And the system is customized, through AI, to adapt to a user's answers and level of understanding in real time. Areas which AckTao's library of scenarios cover include phishing, cyber resilience, password security--and much more. From experience, AckTao is engaging. We did the

This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional with any health-related questions. What if you could experience your dream travel destination--exactly as it is--as you plan your trip? Or use VR to get a guided tour of someplace you've always wanted to visit? With Weezy VR, those questions are no longer theoretical. Switzerland-based startup Weezy VR is the world's first interactive virtual reality app for travel. And they'll be onsite at CES® 2023. "What you see is what you get," says CEO and Co-Founder Jimmy Kunzli, explaining how the platform works. Users, he continues, see unaltered 360 videos of their destinations. They also get virtual guided tours and filters which can tell them about climates, costs and how they might like the locales they have in mind, depending on the purpose of their travel. Jimmy shared the story of Weezy VR, explained how it works and what's next. And if yo

Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022. And be sure to join us next week, as we profile some of the innovators of CES® 2023! For this Christmas holiday, we plan on going NOWHERE. And it's going to be a lot of fun. That's because NOWHERE is a relatively-new virtual platform, combining Zoom's ability to communicate face-to-face with the ability to travel through, create content for, and host events in, some breathtaking virtual worlds! This past week we visited an enchanting "snow globe", created for the Christmas season. There's currently a breathtaking "Cosmic Lighthouse" world that's new since we last visited, as well as an art show featuring NFTs to empower Brazilian women. Those are just three of the experiences available--along with performance spaces, workshops and just about anything a creator can imagine. This past spring we had the opportunity to talk with NOWHERE Co-Founder and Managing Director Ana Constantino. H

Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Colleen Bielitz, and used with permission.) Futurist Dr. Colleen Bielitz has an invitation for you. She would like to invite you to get involved in XR--or to get further immersed in it, if you're already exploring augmented, virtual and extended reality. Colleen is Associate Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach at Southern Connecticut State University. Her additional professional credentials include: entrepreneur, blue economy pioneer, tech evangelist,, and XR researcher. And her mission: to make XR accessible to everyone. Colleen is Co-Chair of the VRARA Education Committee, as well as serving on the board of XR Women–the global collective of women in augmented and virtual reality. We've virtually attended events which both organizations hosted, and can wholeheartedly recommend them as vibrant communities which encourage both visitors and members to

Over Coffee®is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022! (Graphic courtesy of Deshjuana Bagley, and used with permission.) "Dream big," says State College of Florida Coding Academy Director Deshjuana Bagley. That's exactly what Desh, as she prefers to be called, has done--and what she continues to teach students to do. In addition to her work with SCF, Desh is the founder and CEO of Tampa-based TechPlayZone. As a mom who wanted to create a better future, not just for her own sons but for the next generation of innovators, Desh guides students to become creators, rather than simply consumers, in the metaverse. And she has a special event coming up. SCF Coding Academy is currently preparing for their Winter Break "Super Cyber Camp"! Geared towards students, grades 2 through 7, this promises to be a lot of fun as the young participants program in Minecraft. They'll also learn the principles of cybersecurity in the best possible way: in VR sce

(Photo courtesy of Maxwell Durea, and used with permission.) One Love Machine Band creator Kolja Kugler is, first of all, an artist. He's also a roboticist--which he says he never expected to become. Kolja started out creating sculptures from scrap metal. But the project wound up having other ideas--and he found himself turning those sculptures into robots. And not just any robots. These are robot musicians who play real instruments! (Photo courtesy of Kolja Kugler, and used with permission.) As members of Kolja's One Love Machine Band, they're a real crowd-pleaser. One Love Machine Band has wowed audiences all over Europe--including at the Maker Faire Rome and during Kolja's TEDx Talk in his native Berlin. Kolja enjoys watching audience reactions, especially. A common response: delight. "Everybody became a child, suddenly, when they looked at that bass player, playing," he says. (Photo courtesy of Kolja Kugler, and used with permission.) Kolja explains that he started

Over Coffee® is on Thanksgiving hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2022! ARVRinEDU® Founder Jaime Donally has created an Advent calendar--with new and user-friendly applications for augmented and virtual reality! And that's only one of the XR applications she offers educators. Jaime, who is an author, speaker and EdTech consultant, shares all kinds of fantastic resources on her ARVRinEDU® blog. Just one of the highlights: her collection of AR/VR resources from the free Verizon Innovative Learning HQ portal! And with December approaching, Jaime is once again offering her ARVRinEDU® Advent Calendar. The theme for 2022: "STEAM-Verse". If you'd like to receive these free resources, Jaime invites you to subscribe at ARVRinEDU.com for daily emails. During our conversation in early August, Jaime shared the story of ARVRinEDU®, shared some of her favorite resources for teaching in XR and told a favorite story of the effectiveness of AR from her own experience

This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical or safety advice. Please contact the appropriate professionals with any questions you may have in these or other areas. (Headshot by Mary Rice Photo, and used with permission.) Immersive technology is ready to revolutionize our world, says Cleanbox Technology Co-Founder and CEO Amy Hedrick. Areas in which nongaming uses of VR and XR are blossoming, include education, medicine, retail, and transportation , among other fields. But widespread adoption of virtual reality or other new technologies often requires willingness to engage with shared devices: headsets, laptops, even phones. One possible barrier to that implementation: the fear of spreading germs through shared devices. Accordingly, Nashville-based Cleanbox Technology has engineered and patented technologies which can disinfect a surface in 60 seconds--using UV light! Cleanbox's website says that their products can eliminate 99.999

ERICA at the Japan section of Eureka Park® during CES® 2020, Las Vegas. "ERICA (isn't just a laughing robot)," clarifies researcher Dr. Divesh Lala. "The laughing is just a small part of the whole." Kyoto University researchers first began working with ERICA, or ERATO Intelligent Conversational Android, in 2015. Their goal: to develop her as a social robot who can function in conversational situations. Currently, that objective includes teaching the robot to laugh--an appropriate laugh, at the right time. Divesh, who is a JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Kyoto University, specializes in the area of artificial intelligence. For almost six years, he's been a researcher on the ERATO Ishiguro Symbiotic Human-Robot Interaction project. In other words, he's had the opportunity to work with ERICA, from the very early days. Using gaze behavior, speech and gesture, Divesh creates engaging conversations with this humanoid robot. He's published numerous research papers on his work--in

(Images courtesy of Andrew Wright and used with permission.) "It's all geared around creativity," says EDUmetaverse creator, owner and lead consultant Andrew Wright. "And so when they're (learning), they're constantly making, as well." He's talking about students' experience in his collection of customizable virtual worlds, designed to enhance the learning experience in classrooms across the globe. An innovator in the educational-technology space for more than a decade, Andrew is the owner of Sydney-based iTeacher. Nevertheless, he says the pandemic provided a catalyst for him to explore new worlds--virtually. His response: the creation of EDUmetaverse. Today, Andrew has built more than 50 customizable virtual worlds. In these experiences, students can travel to any location imaginable. Collaboration and creativity are center stage. So is learning retention: students are experiencing and interacting with, rather than memorizing, the subject matter. Naturally, those experie

At first glance, a casual observer might mistake Omega Mart for a supermarket. But after about ten seconds, they'll realize they're in for an adventure--and a lot of mind-bending fun. Omega Mart, the second permanent art installation by Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment collective Meow Wolf, is a surreal, and interactive, immersive experience. Secret passageways, slides, Easter eggs and surreal worlds are all part of the fun. So is storytelling with a sense of humor, as visitors can explore the lore of "Dramcorp"--or not--as they choose. Comprised of sixty different rooms with work from international and local artists, Omega Mart opened in Las Vegas' Area 15 in 2021. It could accurately be described as a "show", with psychedelic lights, tall overhead flowers, a playable laser harp and portals leading to unexpected places. The artists of Meow Wolf have even designed "products" for the "supermarket" area--and they're unlike anything you'll find in your local grocery. And their goal

(Photo courtesy of Kate Porter/LVNHM and used with permission.) Uh-oh. Mad scientists are just about to descend on Las Vegas Natural History Museum, for "Dino-Ween"! And it's going to be a blast. "It's one of the most fun days of the year, at the museum," says LVNHM Co-Executive Director Kate Porter. "Dino-Ween" is LVNHM's annual Halloween celebration--with the "resident" dinosaurs center stage. And the goal: to relate natural science to everyone's world, while showing just how cool science can be. Think: special effects, maker activities and thermodynamics. In a setting that's part Halloween haunt, part educational experience and completely fun. Items appear to float in mid-air. Staff don "mad scientist" lab coats and conduct Venus flytrap and bat-making workshops. And some of the pumpkins may not be feeling too well...with astonishing results! This year's "Dino-Ween" happens Friday, October 28th, at Las Vegas Natural History Museum, from 10 am to 3 pm. The theme: "Mad Science

Award-winning artist and metaverse designer Juliana Loh has a challenge for you. And it's going to be fun. Not to mention beautiful, interactive and you may just find yourself coming back to it more than once. Juliana accomplishes these goals with her latest metaverse world, Awaken the Giants, accessible on Altspace. Awaken the Giants, Juliana explains, is both a social experiment and a way of connecting to explore our highest aspirations. Created on Tiltbrush, Juliana's immersive world allows you to explore concepts, share ideas and experience a sense of wonder as you literally "get inside the heads" of her giants. Plus, you get to fly! The first thing that will happen, as you enter Juliana's immersive world, is that you'll be asked to turn on "flight" mode to travel. Then you zoom through a lighted tunnel to sparkly areas, taking as much time as you would like and investigating what you see on the platforms, the figures you encounter and the ideas that result from your experience. And-