Linguisticator Set to Release VR Memory Palace Platform
As people, we easily remember places we’ve been and things we’ve done. What if we could learn and recall academic subjects in the same way? Thanks to medieval memory techniques now brought to life in Virtual Reality, that’s exactly what Linguisticator’s new software, Macunx VR, allows users to do.
Cambridge, UK: Set to launch as early access 20 June 2018, the first version of Macunx VR will be available to use for free with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and can be downloaded from Steam here. After running a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised almost 400% of its target, Cambridge startup Linguisticator has developed the memory palace software with two graduates from the University of Westminster, twin brothers Aleksandar and Milos Kojic.
The first version will offer a free-build mode, enabling users who are familiar with the concept of building memory palaces to create their own in Virtual Reality. It is designed to work in conjunction with Linguisticator’s own memory and language training programs.
A memory palace is essentially a mental library, a way of using spaces and images to organize information and memories. Playing to the strengths of our visual and spatial memories, Macunx VR makes learning and remembering things easier than ever before. Users are able to learn large and complex subjects – like languages, history, and anatomy – with the same ease of learning the layout of a new building.
Based on memory systems from the Middle Ages, the software has been featured in a TEDx talk delivered by inventor Dr Aaron Ralby which can be found here. After the upcoming release of the free-build mode, Linguisticator intends to release a more powerful premium version, as well as pre-built memory palaces for specific subjects. Already under development, these guided modules will allow users to learn different subjects just by exploring virtual spaces and adding their own mnemonics.
“Macunx VR is a game-changing software”, says Dr Aaron Ralby, inventor of Macunx VR and CEO of Linguisticator. “Memory palaces have been around for a long time, but they have been difficult to explain and share because they have traditionally been built in the imagination. Now, we can actually see each other’s imaginations with our own eyes and literally walk around inside of them. This makes the memory palace accessible to everyone without the need for extensive training; it also makes it easy to create and use memory palaces for very large and complex subjects.”
Trials of the memory palace technique led by Dr Aaron Ralby also suggest that Macunx VR could hold huge potential in helping individuals with dyslexia circumvent some of the learning challenges they face.
The word Macunx is short for Magical Quincunx and is a 2D design developed by Dr Aaron Ralby. This geometric pattern uses the quincunx (the shape of the 5 side of dice) to create a memory structure that allows you to learn 100 pieces of information in sequence and by number. The inspiration for the structure came from a 12th century treatise by Hugh of St. Victor on how to memorize all 150 Psalms by number and line number.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Macunx VR
Macunx VR is an immersive, educational platform under development at Linguisticator Ltd, a startup based in Cambridge, UK. Company founder, Dr Aaron Ralby, has spent years developing ways of applying memory techniques to learning large and complex subjects. This expertise is now being applied to the development of Macunx VR, a platform which will allow users to build memory palaces in 3D and Virtual Reality.
About Linguisticator
Linguisticator Ltd is a language training programme development company based in Cambridge, UK. Linguisticator began producing programmes for specific languages in 2013 when the Ministry of Defence contracted it to develop a scalable means of English language training for North Africa. The resulting programme, ELT Tiger, was trialled successfully in Tripoli, Libya, with the Libyan military in 2013–2014. Over the last year, Linguisticator has completed five foreign language programmes (Arabic, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) as well as courses in memory and a free course in Time Management for Language Learning (http://courses.linguisticator.com/courses).
CONTACT:
Aaron Ralby, PhD – Founder and CEO
Linguisticator Ltd
https://www.macunx.com
https://www.linguisticator.com
aaron@linguisticator.com
+44 (0) 7577937418
