The VR/AR Beat Newsletter & Blog — VR/AR Association (VRARA)

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VRARA Germany Announces Advisory Board

With the relaunch of a German-wide Chapter (see here)…

…advisors have been chosen to help the ecosystem connect with various industry verticals. The Board will continue to grow in the coming months and our first group are veterans out of Advertising, Automotive, Energy, Shipbuilding & Technology sectors. So without further ado let us introduce you!

Jan Pflüger – AdvisXR

Jan was an early adopter of digital technologies for the creative area. The potential of VR was obvious for him, so he started exploring new interaction techniques and developed interaction devices for spatial environments in the field of research. This long-time passion has led him to establish the Center of Competence as a network hub for VR & AR, the place to inspire and influence the XR activities within Audi AG.

With his private label, advisXR, Jan advises startups and fosters network activities to drive and deliver the future in the field of XR. In his mission for an open XR ecosystem he establishes strategic partnerships and supports aspiring as well as established companies on their journey through the digital transformation.

David Thomson – Aveva

David graduated from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow as a Naval Architect, moving directly into the computer aided design industry where he implemented 3D design software in over 20 shipyards. He moved onto a consulting role in IBM Germany where he implemented and consulted leading engineering companies on Product Lifecycle Management systems.  He most recently lead a small team at AVEVA dedicated to developing the next generation of VR and AR apps to realize the vision of the digital asset on the world’s largest engineering projects.

Sabine Georg – Miami Ad School Europe

Sabine Georg has worked in the field of Digital Marketing and Communication since the late 90s. With a background in Fine Arts she actually ended going “digital” and started working for Google in various roles from 2005 up until her leaving in 2019.

Whilst working at Google, Sabine pioneered the Creative Agency Manager role, establishing relations to Germany’s leading creatives and consulting top agencies on “all things Google” with a focus on Digital Marketing and Creative Effectiveness.

Next to her Google Manager role, she worked as teacher and mentor at Miami Ad School Hamburg before she took over as Managing Director in June 2019. Being responsible for both Miami Ad School Europe locations in Hamburg and Berlin, pushing digital transformation and fostering the growth of international creative talent.

Sabine also is a certified Coach and a trained LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator – both qualifications she is now putting at use in her Managing Director role.

Rene Schulte – Valorem Reply

René Schulte is Director of Global Innovation at Valorem Reply working with teams across the globe on emerging technologies like the revolutionary 3D volumetric video telepresence solution HoloBeam and the AR Cloud enabling large, cross-platform user experiences with persistence.

He is a creative thought leader with a passion for UX and deep technical knowledge from more than 10 years in VR/AR/MR/XR technology and 3D programming, developing for the Microsoft HoloLens since 2015, and is listed as VR/AR/MR dev influencer. He also coded AI deep learning neural networks before it was cool and is leveraging modern AI to empower humans.

He also created popular open source libraries like WriteableBitmapEx and the AR library SLARToolKit. He was honored several times for his dev community work with the Microsoft MVP award and recognized as Microsoft Regional Director.

HIs work as part of the Global Advisory Board ties in with the work that we are doing in the German Ecosystem as he lives and works here…with his wife and their 5 children).

Top Ten Announcements from this year's VR/AR Global Summit

Forbes has written that our Global Summit is “one of the year’s most anticipated conferences”. Well, having travelled to Vancouver for the 2nd edition this year I was just blown away. From attendees to speakers to exhibitors, this gathering lives up to our mission of educating, connecting and promoting our ecosystem!

So without further todo here is my Top Ten list of announcements at #VRARGS

  1. Lenovo launches their developer program for ThinkReality and A6 headset with inaugural workshop.

  2. While Niantic couldn't make it official at the Summit and only hinted at some big news, you can see the results of their first Beyond Reality Developer Contest

  3. XRSI's Enterprise Level Information Security Framework for the XR domain coming in Q1 2020.

  4. Launch of the VRARA Women’s Committee with DC Chapter VP Sophia Moshasha and Global Summit Producer extraordinaire Anne-Marie Enns to helm it.

  5. The Vancouver office of Microsoft introduce their in-house on-the-job training application for Hololens 2 that is fully-integrated with their Dynamics 365 CRM/ERP platform.

  6. EPIC & VRARA sign MoU for industry collaboration on immersive hardware standards and advisory mandates.

  7. Cathy Hackl joins Aurea Award Jury for immersive tech entertainment award at Europa Park in January.

  8. 6D.ai to launch AR Cloud app on iOS. Register for with Apple Testflight to get beta access already

  9. 8th Wall launch a brand new WebAR cloud editor and hosting web app.

  10. World Bank showcase their immersive safety initiative for Latin American schools. Image below, but not official online links yet…

Jimmy Vainstein from the World Bank onstage

Jimmy Vainstein from the World Bank onstage

Call for Participation for the German VR/AR Market Report!

If you’re interested in being featured in this report please email germany@thevrara.com

Our reports are a simple yet effective way to show what’s happening in Germany to the world. It will be distributed through the global VRARA network and regionally through the cooperation and partnership with the leading German Associations (Erster Deutscher Fachverband für Virtual Reality, nextReality.Hamburg, The Virtual Dimensions Center – Fellbach, Virtual Reality Berlin-Brandenburg).

Interested companies should use the email link above to learn more about how to participate as the deadline for submissions is December the 6th. Note that members each receive their own page within the report to showcase their company.

The resulting report will help us analyse our ecosystem’s size and potential whilst promoting on the international stage the solutions, services and expertise the German XR industry provides for in various verticals. We will also direct it here in Deutschland towards industry and businesses, the media in general, as well as official bodies who are engaged in decision making at the governmental level.

You can see reports from other European Ecosystems that have already been published.

Download here

Download here

Download here

Download here

About VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4000 companies, brands, schools and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and 20 industry committees are working on best practices & guidelines for the industry.

LAST CALL – Just over 24hrs left to submit for Aurea Award in Immersive Entertainment

The next Aurea Award ceremony and professional conference will take place on Jan. 15 - 16, 2020 at Europa-Park, where shortlisted state of the art experiences will not only show where the industry is all headed, but will also be pitched live on stage in front of an all-star Jury. All stakeholders from the entertainment sector from startups to investors, and creatives to corporates are invited to get involved and help the community grow.

Interested in applying? Submissions are open until midnight November 15, 2019!
Interested in attending? By invitation only. Request a spot here.

About Aurea Award
With just 5 AUREA awards up for grabs, film projects, music experiences, live events, games, mixed reality experiences as well as enabling technologies receive center stage in front of a crowd VR & AR enthusiasts. Besides showcasing and awarding the most exciting products and experiences, the conference also delivers thought-leader talks, candid discussions on panels and a slew of workshops, while leaving room plenty of room for networking and enjoyment. In the setting of one of the world's leading theme parks, the conference offers multiple opportunities for groundbreakers to be heard and seen, to connect to the most relevant pioneers in the ecosystem and to become a part of the vibrant AUREA community. 
https://aurea-award.com/

About VRARA
The VR/AR Association is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4500 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and more than 20 committees are working on best practices and guidelines for the industry.
https://www.thevrara.com/