The History and Future of Spatial Computing in the PTC Reality Lab

This talk will present a journey of spatial computing, spanning from MIT’s spatial programming research to the future of spatial AI. Spatial computing enables us to interact with digital content that is anchored to the physical world, and to solve spatial problems, such as understanding the shape, motion, and behavior of objects and environments for remote collaboration. In this talk, we will share the history and vision of the PTC Reality Lab, a research group that has been exploring spatial computing for over a decade, from the MIT Reality Editor to the Vuforia Spatial Toolbox, and from industrial metaverse applications to spatial AI. We will showcase some of the key projects and insights that have shaped our research agenda. We will also discuss the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for spatial computing, such as spatial multitasking, multi-user collaboration, reality capture, and holoportation.