Now that Facebook has changed their name to Meta to stake their claim on the personal and business use of Virtual Reality (VR) environments — the Metaverse – will this finally establish VR and/or Augmented Reality (AR) as commonplace technologies?

Despite many advancements in the past decade, VR and AR applications seemingly have not taken hold in the same way as our devices and other technologies like new 2D video game platforms or your tablet, or streaming services and social media, have. Why?

To understand why and see its potential, let’s start with understanding the difference between VR and AR.

Understanding VR

Virtual reality requires the user to close themselves off from the real world by entering a specialized room filled with 360-degree high-definition screens, by entering a VR simulator like a professional flight simulator or by wearing a VR headset, so the user can be fully immersed in a virtual reality.

For quite some time now, VR headsets have been used by video gamers, but even today, the number of users is relatively small compared to 2D video gaming platforms. In addition, VR is being used in business for simulations, training, education and design work, but the use is currently still quite narrow and limited.

Understanding Augmented Reality

AR is different. Remember Pokemon Go — the interactive smartphone game that had people wandering around catching creatures only visible through their screens? That created a huge explosion of interest for AR and the general public.

Today, there are a growing number of AR applications you can use with your smartphone camera for fun and for business, but how often do you use an Augmented Reality business application or when shopping at a retail outlet? Most likely not, right?

The Current State of Virtual Reality

As a precursor to where we are as a global society in the realm of VR, let’s simplify the general idea of what VR actually is.

Instead of your traditional video medium, where a screen positioned in front of a user plays footage for their consumption on a smartphone, tablet, TV or a movie theater, VR adds an element of sensory movement including visual, audio, vibrations and body movements into the equation, creating an immersive experience for the user.

Early iterations of VR were largely found in entertainment destinations, such as Disney World. This did not feature individualized, immersive and interactive visuals, but rather a catch-all experience inside a simulator bay for bulk audiences to enjoy.

The latest VR applications, combined with a social media element, have enabled a new VR application. VR social apps like RecRoom, AltSpaceVR, VRChat and others allow individuals to meet in a virtual world and work or play together using a cartoon-like VR avatar that may or may not resemble themselves — the Metaverse.

Professionally, these Metaverse applications will most likely catch on with younger employees who already love VR gaming and creating avatars of themselves, but the virtual workroom alone is a Soft Trend, because it will be a hard sell for most business users.

The Current State of Augmented Reality

AR and its applications are an even bigger unicorn in our current digital landscape, but that will change soon.

In comparison to VR, AR applications do not feature a completely fabricated environment meant to fully immerse a user. Instead, AR takes your actual environment, shown through a digital device, and projects graphics or information that isn’t physically there on the screen as if it is, turning your actual material world into a multimedia experience.

AR is still met with lukewarm consumer reactions, largely due to the lack of devices at which we utilize it. An example of such was Google Glass. From a consumer standpoint, Google Glass turned out to be a flop due to lack of style and few useful applications of AR.

However, Ray-Ban recently collaborated with Facebook, releasing Ray-Ban smart glasses. This functions like wearing a Facebook camera on your face. You can take photos and/or capture 30 seconds of video; yet, improvements still need to be made in terms of quality and privacy issues.

Lead the Charge in VR and AR in 2022 and Beyond with Anticipation

A Hard Trend future fact is that these technologies themselves will only increase in power and performance, creating new growth opportunities for all. Your choice in taking advantage of this growing opportunity is the Soft Trend.

By focusing on the Hard Trend certainty and developing applications based on where the tech is predictably going, you will be using an Anticipatory Mindset to unlock potential for you and your organization to take advantage of the VR and AR space as the near future unfolds!

In the way of VR, one of the biggest potentials it has is in training and education. Consider flight simulators, where the better the virtual environments and physical devices that implement them become, the more powerful the physical training via VR becomes.

AR is already on the cusp of exploding on the software side for consumers; it just needs a physical device counterpart that unlocks its exponential application. Is Ray-Ban’s collaboration with Facebook the push to make AR smart glasses commonplace?

Always keep your opportunity antennae up and be on the lookout for problems to solve both within and outside of your industry in 2022. This allows you to identify the low-risk, high-reward opportunities that VR and AR has to offer.

Boy, you can really get a bad case of whiplash given the market volatility and the revisions to numbers around job creation. It almost is too much to handle when the MBS market bounces around fifty or sixty points a day in either direction, job revisions are in the hundreds of thousands of jobs, then add to it oil going crazy, and it can be a real challenge. All you can do is live in the day! Don’t dwell in the past or try to predict the future; just take it one step at a time while moving forward!

Unemployment numbers this morning and the jobs report Friday morning we add yet more to the pile of potential market movers. So, keep your focus and prepare yourself, your team, and your clients to expect that things can change on any or all the information.

The next thing I wanted to cover was my availability and my programs. All the information is on the www.IMTcoaching.com website if you go to “Store” and then “Services”. You will see the published prices for the three basic options. Please note that these are for one off the street clients and there are discounts for companies or larger groups. I can also tailor programs for specific client needs and their budgets. I bring this up because last week I did the Friday call for Mortgage Coach and as always, there was a good bit of interest in what we were talking about. I always welcome new opportunities, but unlike other programs, I am the only coach, and nothing is boiler plate! Each client/company gets a program or programs that fit their specific needs and markets. While it limits the number of people I can work with, I feel it provides a higher-level experience for those involved, which can lead to much better results! 

So please, if you or your company is looking for help navigating this market and would like to talk about how I might be able to help, please feel free to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can schedule a time to talk about what might be possible.

 Thanks again, and as always, your questions and comments are welcome!

Just last week the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) declared Mandaloun owned by Juddmonte, an international horse racing enterprise founded by Prince Khalid bin Abdullah, Mandaloun the Kentucky Derby winner just as they had declared Medina Spirit, who tested positive in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, ineligible. Mandaloun had finished second. Medina Spirit was found to have Betamethasone, an illegal substance banned on race day in Kentucky. Medina Spirit died in December 2021 following a workout at the Santa Anita racetrack.

Medina Spirit was trained by Bob Baffert who has been suspended for two years by KHRC This would have been Baffert’s seventh Kentucky Derby win. And, of course, Baffert’s lawyer will appeal. Baffert is a hall of fame trainer and if you read his horse racing accomplishments, it is easy to see why. Unfortunately, if you look more closely and were to compare Baffert’s total career wins and suspensions it is obvious it is less than authentic. He has gained the enmity of his rivals who believe he has persistently cheated. These suspicions were fueled by 29 failed drug tests by his horses over 4 decades.

Looks like thoroughbred racing is under the microscope again. I say again because my family has been in California thoroughbred horse racing for the last 70 years. My father, Jim Sr. was recruited by California Thoroughbred Horse Racing Association and served 20 as a Steward at three California Racetracks. Mind you my dad had never been on a horse let alone knowledgeable about racing rules. However, he was a well-respected sports official and could recognize a foul when he saw one. During his 20-year career, he not only recognized what fouls needed correction but was honored for his authenticity.

Further my brother, Peter Tunney, had a similar role for 30 years as General Manager of Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California. Under his careful eye, thoroughbred racing held steady. My son, Michael, worked at those same California racetracks for a lengthy tenure as well. I’ve watched them all closely.

Thoroughbred horse racing officials as well as those who breed, train, and own these wonderful athletes must strive to maintain a high level of authenticity. The public who attends and wagers demand authentic racing.

Will you ensure in everything you do is authentic?

After she fell asleep for her final evening as a 45-year old, I snuck out of the bedroom to get to work on setting up the kitchen table for her “surprise” in the morning.

I was up quite late, and woke up extra early to get things ready, kids up and dressed, cake and treats set out, balloons and lights ready, snow shoveled outside, so when she entered the kitchen all would be perfect as planned for her special birthday.

At 7 AM we turned on the tunes, cranked to 11, playing The Beatles “Birthday”  song (“They say it’s your birthday!  It’s my birthday, too yeah!”) as the kids and I danced around while Mommy was welcomed to the kitchen & thrilled to see the “surprise” – the table set all pretty for her birthday.

Tami was shocked at how great the table looked this time.

She is the one tasked to set it for every other event around our house, because I can’t do the table quite like she can, but this is my one shot per year to go for it.  I guess I impressed her with how well I did this tradition, as I don’t think I’ve succeeded quite as well in years past.

I feel the unicorn piñata added just as much as the light sign from the photo (of course, all things found around the house).

After the reveal of the table, a few little presents to open and handmade cards to be read, she was happy and ushered back to bed as I drove kids to school, and so went our day.

There is an unspoken Promise in our home that the table will be prepped, the song will be played, the presents will be wrapped, the notes will be written, and it will all be ready for when the person wakes up on their Birthday.

I have not booked performances and events due to this tradition.  I have turned so much money away for this simple thing we do as a family, as bookers ask me what I can’t do their event for and I say, “It’s my daughter’s birthday that morning, I have to be there…”, and the booker understands.

This tradition is not essential, not life or death, nor have we written it down in stone on a tablet by our 10 Commandments poster, saying, “Thou shalt always have a celebration upon waking on thy birthday, unicorn piñata suggested, presents and cake, table set and all, or thou shalt slowly whither into a shrivel of nothingness”, and yet, that’s just how we do things.

To us it’s a very important unspoken Promise as a Family: The Birthday Promise.

There are many unspoken, powerful promises that we make and keep whether we realize it or not:

The Promise to stand, welcome, and greet your spouse or child with love when they return to the house after being gone.

The Promise to go to church every week, just because it’s what your family does.  It’s Sunday, there’s not even a discussion as to whether you will go or not.

The Promise to set your alarm, get up for work, be prompt, show up for your employer and team.

The Promise to not scroll social media while driving, or check texts or emails.

There are plenty of promises spoken and unspoken, kept and sometimes broken, but most important is to show up when you know there is an expectation by those who rely on you to keep the Promise whether it’s been articulated or not.

Many Promises are implied, suggested, subconscious, intangible.

We just assume they’ll be kept to us, such as:

SAFETY – when getting on an airplane – we put our full trust into believing the airline is keeping every promise to let us put our lives in their hands.

HEALTH – we put our trust in a restaurant to handle our food with care, wash or cook it properly, and to make sure we are happy with the result of our meal.

FAMILY – we will stick up for one another, teach the best principles, do all we can to provide in an honorable way.

COUNTRY – we will fight for freedom, lock arms with our brothers and sisters, and pledge allegiance to the flag and beliefs.

If you’ve been watching the news lately, what I’ve just written should hit home and our hearts.  I don’t want to go too far down the political road so that is all I will say, but the question is:

What Promises are spoken and unspoken that you can make and keep this day which will make all the difference?  

Liken it to The Birthday Promise from The Hewlett Home – a simple table decorated and ready for the person to be celebrated!

What are your traditions and unspoken promises?