Berkeley Applied Technology Academy

INNOVATION AND
TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY


STANFORD, UC BERKELEY, & SILICON VALLEY

FEBRUARY 3-13

Course

Objectives

The purpose of this experience is to inspire students to imagine a new world by
providing a deep understanding of the fundamentals of the latest technological trends.
Specific emphasis will be placed on augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR), artificial
intelligence (AI), robotics and the Internet of things (IoT). Through both classroom and
hands-on experiences students will work as teams to develop a new idea for applying
technology to solve our modern challenges.
Program Highlights
★ Discover technology trends 2020
★ Gain perspective of VR/AR/AI and Robotics
★ Experience hands-on workshops with current trendsetting technologies
★ Network with successful technology entrepreneurs
★ Visit and explore startup companies and Google
★ Design a new idea for future technology
★ Present your idea in competition with other students
★ Join the largest Lunar New Year celebration outside of China

Saturday

4 February 2017 Introduction, Welcome, and Course Expectations
This introduction to the Excelorators Technology Academy held on the campus of UC Berkeley offers a brief
overview of the areas covered, including artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality
(VR), and robotics, as well as gives students a glimpse of the things they will take away from the program if
they apply themselves to it.
Technology Trends 2020
The reality of today’s technology and the advances being made today will influence its future. This course
examines how current technology trends will shape the technology of 2020.
Campus Tour
Students will have the opportunity to compare what experiencing a campus tour is like in real life and then
in virtual reality. The University of California at Berkeley has created a virtual tour experience of the
campus. We will try our best to recreate this tour in real life and then use this experience as a foundation to
begin exploring VR/AR technologies.
Meet With the Campus Innovation Club

Sunday

5 February 2017 Introduction to VR/AR Technologies
Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology transports us to real or synthetic places that
may be inaccessible, breathtaking, complex beyond our wildest imagination, or just simple and relaxing.
Applications include entertainment, social interaction, virtual travel, remote training, architectural
walkthroughs, cultural appreciation, and learning enhancement (just to name a few).
Although VR/AR has been around for decades, it always came with a high cost to enter the field because of
advanced, expensive equipment and computing resources. Thanks to widespread progress in display,
sensing, and computational technology, the newest VR/AR systems are cheap, lightweight, and easy to
program. This has caused a flood of excitement as almost anyone can pick up a VR headset and start
developing experiences.
Perception, Cognition and Presence in VR/AR
The experience of virtual and augmented worlds depends upon the mediation of perceptual faculties that
can be cognized as 'being in' a virtual or augmented space. This course will first present the perceptual and
cognitive fundamentals of sight, sound and touch and then present ways in which these faculties are
mediated by technology to create a sense of 'presence,' i.e, of being in that world. The course will include
theories of presence as well consider health-related impacts of sensory mediation in VR & AR.
Hands On Technology Workshop with Industry Experts
Augmented reality and virtual reality technologies will have a profound impact on how we access and share
information and experience content now and in the future. In this session students get a brief overview of
the history of VR/AR technologies; learn about technology platforms, including Facebook/Oculus, HTC
Vine, Sony PlaystationVR, Microsoft’s HoloLens, Google Glass, Google Cardboard, and Samsung Gear;
discuss the applications of virtual reality in education, engineering, entertainment, medicine and others;
and discuss current software developers and their projects. Students also get hands-on experience with
offerings from leading platforms.

Monday

6 February 2017 Human Computer Interface and Interaction Design
Human Computer Interface design addresses problems of usability in VR and AR systems. This course will
begin with fundamental techniques of interaction and address progressively more challenging problems.
The course will engage both theory and practice of HCI with hands-on projects. It will include an
introduction to spatial audio relevant to VR and AR for non-audio specialists.
The Future of AR/VR
As early robotics researchers developed machines based on biological models -- human-like robots, for
example -- they quickly discovered limitations. First, biological solutions rarely translate directly into the
engineering domain, and second, when they do, there is little room for improvement on the existing design.
This course examines a better approach: extracting design principles based on the task at hand, and
allowing robot candidates to compete against one another to see which performs the task most efficiently.
Corporate Visits with Successful Startups and Established Corporations
Students will have the opportunity to visit VR/AR industry leaders and startups which may include:

★ The HTC Vive Design Team
★ Samsung Gear/Odyssey
★ Facebook / Oculus
★ Unity Technologies
★ Leap Motion
★ Meta and Others

Tuesday

7 February 2017 Introduction to AI and Robotics
During collaborative tasks involving humans and robots, it is useful for the robot to understand what the
human user is doing, and to anticipate what the user is likely to do in the future. The robot should gain this
understanding based on observations of the user coupled with contextual knowledge of the human's
activity. This lecture examines how computer scientists develop the AI models that allow robots to
intelligently interact with their human collaborators as they simultaneously learn from human behavior.
Extracting Design Principles from Biology
As early robotics researchers developed machines based on biological models -- human-like robots, for
example -- they quickly discovered limitations. First, biological solutions rarely translate directly into the
engineering domain, and second, when they do, there is little room for improvement on the existing design.
This course examines a better approach: extracting design principles based on the task at hand, and
allowing robot candidates to compete against one another to see which performs the task most efficiently.
Interactive Case Study: Uber (Self-Driving Cars)
Interactive Case Study: Apple (Siri and Voice Recognition)

Wednesday

8 February 2017 Robots Recognizing Human Intent
During collaborative tasks involving humans and robots, it is useful for the robot to understand what the
human user is doing, and to anticipate what the user is likely to do in the future. The robot should gain this
understanding based on observations of the user coupled with contextual knowledge of the human's
activity. This lecture examines how computer scientists develop the AI models that allow robots to
intelligently interact with their human collaborators as they simultaneously learn from human behavior.
Robots and AI in the Workplace
Futurists imagine a world where robots perform most tasks, dramatically increasing productivity while
reducing labor costs. But at present, while robots are adept at heavy lifting, they are much slower than
human workers at sorting tasks. This has created a symbiotic relationship between people and their
mechanical workmates that is being augmented by AI, so robots are able to “read” human temperament.
The result for companies like Amazon is not reduced human payroll, but an improved scalability. This lecture
examines the ways humans are made more capable by intelligent robots.
Corporate Visit: Google

Thursday

9 February 2017 The Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items,
embedded with electronics, software sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these
objects to collect and exchange data. This lecture examines how our lives will be impacted by IoT, beginning
with cars that drive themselves and ending with fully automated homes that adjust thermostats, turn lights
on and off, and even prepare meals automatically.
Ants as Instructors of Network Efficiency
Ants are extremely good at estimating the concentration of other ants in their vicinity. The ability appears
to play a role in several community activities, particularly when selecting the site for a new nest -- by vote.
This lecture explores how studying ant colonies may yield algorithms for network communication, allowing
computers to better control robot swarms or even take stations in a distributed computer network on or
offline.
Workshop and Roundtable Discussion With Successful Entrepreneurs

Friday

10 February 2017 New Technology Concept Group Preparation / Presentation
After learning about current technologies and experiencing the trends that will impact 2020, students are
asked to design a new technology concept that will revolutionize the future and present them in a head to
head competition. In our preparation sessions, students work together to develop their concepts, before
presenting them before a panel of judges who will determine which are the best.
Judges Feedback and Presentation of Awards
Closing Ceremony and Celebration Dinner

San Francisco • Stanford • UC Berkeley • Silicon Valley

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
Arrival and
08:00 - 09:00 Check-In Breakfast
09:15 - 10:45
Introduction, Introduction to Human Computer Introduction to AI Robots The Internet of New Technology
11:00 - 12:30 Welcome & VR/AR Interface and and Robotics Recognizing Things (IoT) Concept Group
12:00 - 14:00 Interaction Human Intent
Course Technologies Design Preparation
Expectations

Technology Perception, The Future of
Extracting Design Robots and AI in Ants as New Technology
Trends 2020 Cognition, and AR/VR Principles from the Workplace Instructors of Concept Group
Presence in

Biology Network Presentation
VR/AR Efficiency

Lunch

14:30 - 16:00 Unpacking and Campus Tour Hands-On Corporate Visits Interactive Case Corporate Visit: Workshop and Judges’
Socializing Meet with Technology with Successful Study: Uber (Self Google Roundtable Feedback and
16:00 - 17:30 Campus Workshop with Startups and
18:00 - 19:30 Industry Experts Driving Cars) Discussion with Awards
Innovation Club Established Interactive Case Successful Closing
Corporations Study: Apple (Siri Ceremony and
Entrepreneurs Dinner
and Voice Celebration
Recognition)

Dinner

20:00 - 21:00 Rest Break into Teams Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork, New Technology Free Time
Journaling and Journaling and Journaling and Journaling and Concept Group
Independent Independent Independent Independent
Preparation
Study Study Study Study

Saturday

11 February 2017 Golden Gate Park / Fisherman’s Wharf
Golden Gate Park is one of San Francisco’s greatest treasures, attracting some 13 million visitors each year.
Within the park’s 1,017 acres you’ll discover gardens, playgrounds, lakes, picnic groves, trails, and
monuments, as well as an array of cultural venues and activities, including a Conservatory of Flowers, a
Music Concourse, the California Academy of Sciences, a Japanese Tea Garden, and the Sharon Art Studio.
Follow the experience with an exploration of Fisherman’s Wharf for shopping and lunch.
Chinese New Year Community Street Fair and Parade
Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of San Francisco’s exhilarating Chinatown during one of the
community’s most exciting times of the year. You’ll find over 120 booths and concessions, making this street
fair a shopper’s paradise. Then comes the parade! Named one of the top ten parades in the world by the
International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade in
San Francisco is one of the grandest night illuminated Parades in the country. Started in the 1860’s by the
Chinese in San Francisco as a means to educate the community about their culture, the Parade and Festival
have grown to be the largest celebration of Asian culture outside of Asia. Parade highlights include
elaborate floats, lion dancers, folk dancers, costumed elementary school groups, marching bands, stilt
walkers, Chinese acrobats, and a 268 foot long Golden Dragon (“Gum Lung”).

Sunday

12 February 2017 Yosemite National Park
Not just a great valley, Yosemite is a shrine to human foresight, the strength of granite, the power of
glaciers, the persistence of life, and the tranquility of the High Sierras. First protected in 1864, Yosemite
National Park is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you will find deep
valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much, much more.

San Francisco • Stanford • UC Berkeley • Silicon Valley

SATURDAY SUNDAY TUESDAY
Breakfast

Golden Gate Park Checkout and Return Keys
Fisherman’s Wharf
MORNING Yosemite National Park

NOON Lunch on Location

AFTERNOON Chinese New Year Community Street Fair Yosemite National Park Depart Program
Chinese New Year Parade and Celebration

18:00 - 20:00 Dinner on Location

EVENING Free Time Free Time

UC Berkeley &
San Francisco

Stanford University
Stanford University, located in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, is a private research university whose
wealth and societal impact have made it one of the world's most prestigious universities. Since its opening in
1891, Stanford has been dedicated to finding solutions to big challenges and to preparing students for
leadership in a complex world. Twenty Nobel laureates are currently members of the Stanford community.
Areas of excellence range from the humanities to social scientists to engineering and the sciences. It ranks
second in Shanghai's Academic Ranking of World Universities.
The University of California, Berkeley
For the past seventeen years, the University of California, Berkeley has ranked first in the U.S. News and
World Report rankings of public national universities. Founded in 1868, it is currently the home of seven
nobel laureates and 77 faculty Fulbright Scholars. UC Berkeley ranked third, after Harvard and MIT, in the
U.S. News Best Global Universities rankings. The Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley is the second-
oldest business school in the United States, and is one of the world’s leading producers of new ideas and
knowledge in business.
San Francisco
San Francisco is more than just the physical headquarters of our virtual world (home to Airbnb, Uber, and
Twitter). There are some things that haven’t changed, and by themselves, are reason enough to revisit: the
mind-boggling views along that glorious waterfront; the Mission’s still-feisty, freaky, welcome-all-comers
character; the meandering natural pleasures of Golden Gate Park. Even when classic San Francisco rubs up
against new San Francisco, the friction, though at times contentious (Google bus protests, the anti-eviction
fight), is also where the community-conscious activist roots of this city are as vital and visible as ever.

Silicon Valley
Speakers

Robert E. Siegel Allen Yang, PhD

Lecturer in Management Principle Investigator,
Stanford University Department of EECS
University of California,
Riley Edmunds Berkeley

Undergraduate Student Anthony DiPrinzio
Researcher, Virtual Reality
University of California, Virtual Reality Systems
Berkeley Analyst
California Golden Bears
Linda Jacobson
Paul Dravis
Founder, Virtual Reality
Marketer, Executive Founder
Producer Dravis Group LLC
Glass House Studio

EXCELORATORS

1 BROADWAY, 14TH FLOOR
CAMBRIDGE, MA 02142

TEL. 1.800.675.7531

INSPIRING INNOVATION THROUGH

DIALOGUE AND TRAINING