VR/AR Global Summit 2018 Alex Chuang of Shape Immersive (Video)

Participate in our upcoming Summits in Europe and Boston! More info here

Alex Chuang is the Co-founder of Shape Immersive, a blockchain-enabled augmented reality platform that allows brands to build immersive and scalable location-based experiences. Alex is also the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Launch Academy, Western Canada’s leading tech incubator that helps over 1000 entrepreneurs validate their ideas, raise money and get customers. Prior to Launch Academy, Alex founded a crowdfunding platform called Weeve, which was acquired in 2013. In 2015, he was recognized for Best in Social Entrepreneurship by Notable Awards and was also named Top 30 under 30 by BC Business.

Call for Participation in the VR/AR Enterprise Industry Sector Report - Over 100 to be listed!

If you are interested to be featured in this report or sponsor email info@thevrara.com

We are working on this industry report that will feature companies specializing in VR/AR for B2B Enterprise solutions. This report will be published in March/April 2019 and will be promoted to the industry globally via our Newsletter (25K emails), Website (20K monthly visitors), at our Global Summits, and via our partners.

You can see our other reports here.

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If you are interested to be featured in this report or sponsor email info@thevrara.com

Additional Highlights for our upcoming VRARA Enterprise Summit at LiveWorx

Save $150 by Feb 20th. Click here for more info and tickets

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Tim Merel, Founder, Digi-Capital

Hard ROI from Enterprise VR/AR: Tim will focus on real-world examples with hard numbers. This will give the audience examples and data from both sides of the table - enterprise users and their suppliers. The more examples with numbers you have, the easier it is for management to convince internal corporate stakeholders to move from pilots to full production rollouts. It's also a valuable sales tool for service providers, demonstrating the potential value of their products/services to customers using real-world results.

Tim Merel is a software engineer, investment banker, lawyer and founder, and one of the most connected people for AR/VR/XR at CEO level. He writes regularly about AR/VR/XR for TechCrunch and others, as well as being interviewed, quoted and presenting across all major media and conferences globally. Before founding Digi-Capital, Tim worked for investment banks, News Corp, and Ernst & Young.

Clare Bond, Senior Director, Epam

Beyond FOMO and fence sitting: Making VR/AR good business. Many businesses are wondering how and when to adopt VR/AR and suffer from the fear of missing out. Others are sitting on the fence, reluctant to commit to a considered internal-facing product. The result is half-baked technical POCs that do little to prove the relevance of VR for enterprise. A Gartner report last year stated "The biggest barrier to the wide adoption of immersive technologies is the lack of good user experience." In this talk I will discuss how we bring design thinking, experience design and service design methodologies to VR/AR to create relevant, needed experiences which demonstrate the value of these technologies for business. 

Clare Bond is UX and Experience Senior Director at Epam. She delivered a robust design vision grounded in user research and delivered projects for clients including Adobe, Samsung, Edmunds, Zoetis, Relay Health. She provides training & future vision projects for VR/AR, and Emotional Analytics and 3DUI research for VR.

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Katy Rupp, Architect, Ghafari Associates

VR/AR: Bridging the Gap between the Intangible and the Built Environment

Virtual reality and augmented reality, like many technologies, began as a concept of experiencing intangible objects and environments digitally. As technology progressed, that concept became a reality and has transformed into a multibillion dollar industry that allows the real world to be virtualized and augmented. In today’s AEC industry, architects, engineers, and owners have to deal with intangible project concepts, such as how people experience time and space in the built environment. This presentation looks at the past, present and future of VR / AR in the AEC industry to address the question of how we can use VR / AR to design and develop environments that produce outcomes that better serve the users that inhabit them.

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Aubrey Tucker, Innovative Technology Developer, Stantec

How immersive experiences change design in AEC The future has happened but most designers and delivery teams are using tools set decades ago. Even BIM has grown profoundly into Digital Twins and common data environments. All of these new delivery paradigms are even further augmented by immersive technology. “Presence” can have its own profound enhancements to the design process and add further value through passive actions within VR/AR. This presentation will cover many of the new advancements within design technology and speak to the benefits of the advancements for practice. Cloud based collaboration and client commentary management will be additional features within the course to discuss the best practices for meaningful dialogue using simply technology.

Aubrey investigates across all architecture and engineering business lines technology change management strategies and proposes business cases to change how Stantec delivers work. He is an Enabler, Technologist, International BIM Speaker, University Lecturer & Revit Expert with an extensive career with skyscrapers, hospitals, schools, airports and technology.

Click here for more info and tickets

Get a copy of our Toronto VR/AR Ecosystem Report. 10+ companies featured, 50+ listed

To get a copy of the report, email info@thevrara.com

10+ companies featured, 50+ listed

As the world's technology epicenter, Toronto have become hotbeds for VR and AR. VRARA positions companies of all sizes to capitalize on this next major computing platform shift.

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Foreword

Toronto leads the energy of our vibrant and intelligent VR & AR community. It is made up of thriving digital startups and established businesses from Toronto and the surrounding cities of Mississauga, Vaughan, Oakville, Burlington, Markham, New Market, Aurora, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Owen Sound, to just name a few. Together our Ontario community makes up the VRARA Toronto Chapter.

Our members include those who have businesses developing volumetric capture for entertainment, augmented art designs, VR arcades, augmented humans, AR battle games, VR & AR for real estate, training simulations in VR and AR vCommerce along with retail experiences. We have XR business strategists and computer visionaries and together we make up a strong VR & AR ecosystem in Ontario and in Canada.

Our Chapter has seen an increased interest in VR & AR from individuals, company training purposes, business applications and the need for strategic planning to find the best solutions in a digital world. While the industry has seen struggles with adoption at times, there have also been many experiences of thriving opportunities with early VR & AR development and years of beta testing and idea implementations. What has been remarkable and inspiring is that our VR & AR economy has seen an amazing influx of organic and self-taught job creation, led by enthusiasts who see the future vision and potential of emerging technologies.

Through our Chapter, we have the acknowledged support of our Municipal Government to the VR & AR industry in Toronto and surrounding partner cities. We are also in contact with our Provincial Government to educate the need to implement VR & AR Education into our school curriculum to prepare students for the job talent needed to develop our digital connections in our places of business and work.

In 2019, the Toronto Chapter envisions the growing life of AR & VR for retail, education, entertainment and continues to foster the technology and innovation in all areas of daily life. Building all developments with ethics, best practices and global standards along with certification approval from our Toronto Chapter is important to our community and clients. We look forward to our growing Toronto Chapter full of energetic, passionate talented people who are developing the technologies that will be implemented into education and business case studies, supporting the VR & AR industry in our communities, and leaping into the global ecosystem.

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Watch the Demo Videos from our Training Webinar

Here are the videos of the demos from the presenters from our Training Webinar:

Webinar Recording

You can watch the recording of our Webinar here

Thank you to our Webinar Sponsor!

Sentireal’s software and media solutions, powered by Immersonal™ provide enhanced learning outcomes by presentation of content using VR/AR technologies.  Learn more at Sentireal www.sentireal.com

VR/AR Hub at Launch Academy In Vancouver, Now Accepting Companies and Founding Partners

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Are you an entrepreneur taking the leap into VR/AR?

Are you a startup that is looking to grow and learn from leaders?

Are you a startup that is looking for a collaborative environment to work from?

Are you an organization looking to be apart of and help build/support a booming technology ecosystem?

Are you from another city/country looking to move to one of the top VR/AR ecosystems in the world?

Let’s talk!

Growing from 15 companies in 2015 to over 220 organizations this year, Vancouver’s VR and AR ecosystem is one of the city’s best stories and the momentum is continuing!

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VRARA Vancouver/Launch Academy are now accepting new companies and founding partners for our VR/AR incubator a 12,000-square-foot facility which will feature a device lab to test out new technologies and access to top mentors/influencers, programs, events and workshops to help companies to grow and scale. The existing infrastructure built from Launch Academy of incubating 600+ companies, raising a collective $150M and supporting entrepreneurs from over 35 countries. This initiative was built on our mandate to support and grow the community!

The VR/AR Hub will be the home base for VR/AR companies who are looking to make an impact. This will also be the place for non-traditional VR/AR companies/businesses to test and be connected to innovators in the space, a lab if you will.

Our world-class network of mentors include Super Ventures, the VR Fund, WXR Fund, Outpost Capital, the GFR Fund, Microsoft, Finger Food Studios, Archiact, LNG Studios, LlamaZoo Interactive Inc., Blueprint Reality Inc., Cognitive3D, YDreams Global Interactive Technologies Inc. and the Vancouver Economic Commission.

Some of our mentors:

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“The reason why Launch Academy is successful is because we believe in community first,” says Ray Walia, CEO of Launch Academy “In a nascent industry like VR/AR, it is especially important to cultivate early-stage entrepreneurs, cross-pollinate their networks with other existing emerging tech communities, and provide them with the resources they need to tackle their audacious visions.”

Space at the new hub is in high demand. Membership fees start at $300 a month, with the first 10 permanent desks being offered to VR/AR Association members at a 20 percent discount.

We’re also looking for founding partners to help support this thriving community.

Apply here to be apart of it! Contact Alex Chuang (alex@launchacademy.ca) or Dan Burgar (dan@thevrara.com) if you have questions.

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More Speakers Lined Up for our VRARA Enterprise Summit at LiveWorx

See here for more info and tickets

The VRARA Enterprise Summit will take place on June 10th at LiveWorx in Boston at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The full-day event will bring together the best minds in VR/AR from across the globe. Presentations from industry leaders will include topics on AEC, Enterprise, Healthcare, Real Estate, Training, 5G, and much more. LiveWorx is the world's most respected digital transformation conference for the enterprise. Experience the most innovative and disruptive technologies — VR/AR, IoT, machine learning, blockchain, robotics and more. 6500+ attendees are expected. LiveWorx is June 10-13.

VRARA is the VR/AR Association, an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, research and education, and develops best practices and guidelines. VRARA has over 4200 companies and 25,000 professionals registered, over 50 chapters globally, and 20 industry committees. VRARA programs & initiatives are designed to accelerate anyone’s growth, knowledge, and connections.

LiveWorx is the gathering place for all who thrive on the business of industrial technologies, with a diverse audience made up of C-level executives, managers, engineers, developers, and many more. Whether you’re creating elegant product designs, developing AR applications, or disrupting entire industries, there's something for the entire technology community at LiveWorx.

Today! Attend online 12pm EST, our expert panel discussing "The Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training". Live Q&A. 370+ already RSVPed

RSVP here

Our Training Committee will present the latest use cases and ROI.

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Thank you to our Sponsor!

Sentireal’s software and media solutions, powered by Immersonal™ provide enhanced learning outcomes by presentation of content using VR/AR technologies.  Learn more at www.sentireal.com

Periscape Nomination for USATODAY 10 BEST for Best Airport Experience

Vote here

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Periscape VR was nominated for USA Today’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice 2019 Award.. It’s being presented at the Airport Experience News conference where all the heads of the airports attend. The bigger the platform gets, the more content it can distribute, so there is a benefit for all as Periscape rolls out globally this year. This is a huge honor since Periscape is up against so many large well-established companies.

VR/AR Global Summit 2018 Frank Soqui and Raj Puran of Intel (Video)

Participate in our upcoming Summits in Europe and Boston! More info here

Frank Soqui, Vice President & General Manager in VR, Gaming and Esports at Intel Corporation Frank Soqui is shaping Intel’s client business in growth segments such as VR, gaming, and esports. He currently leads the Gaming division after over two years as general manager of Virtual Reality focused on Intel’s commercial and consumer immersive technology strategy. As a 36-year Intel veteran, he has represented Intel in over 50 high-profile interviews worldwide. Previous leadership roles include: Technical Compute Cloud and Client General Manager, Workstation Group General Manager, and General Manager in what is known today as IOT with a highly visible presence in live TV interviews, keynotes, and commercials. Frank has held leadership roles Digital Office, Desktop PC and Telecom groups. Transformation, creativity, and growth are his passion.

Raj Puran is Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, part of the Client Computing Group (CCG) in the Virtual Reality, Gaming and Esports group (VRGE) at Intel Corporation. He is responsible for defining and executing on VRGE’s strategy for Location Based Entertainment and World Wide Commercial VR Experiences. Puran has also executive produce several highly immersive VR experiences with the Smithsonian American Art Museum and several higher education programs including the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. Puran joined Intel in 1995 as a co-op software engineer for the Information Technology group. He has held various development and engineering roles at Intel spanning server CPU technology, enterprise solutions, desktop client, communications, film production technology, content creation and audio technology. Before assuming his current position, Puran was business development manager for the Enthusiast Desktop business segment of CCG, working on audio, film and VR content creation and consumption segments. He holds several patents in audio and video technology and has also represented Intel in many public appearances and at conferences where he has delivered many keynote speeches. His high profile work has been instrumental in the introduction of Intel VR to the general public, the museum industry and has led partnerships with many key players in the VR industry. Puran also is a key advisor to the Intel Capital team on strategic investments in VR. Puran holds two Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science from U.C. Davis and in Economics from University of Phoenix. In addition to his responsibilities at Intel, he is member of the Immersive Technology Alliance, working to improve the viability, advancement and adoption of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, stereoscopic 3D and related future innovations.

VRARA Training Committee Achievements and Plans for 2019

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Register for our upcoming webinar expert panel with Intel, Sentireal, and others here

Join us at our upcoming Summits, see here


A New Year is a good time for reflection on past achievements and setting new goals for the incoming year. The VRARA Training Committee is pleased to highlight the various activities that we completed in 2018 and give a preview of what we hope to achieve in 2019.

During 2018 we significantly increased the number of VRARA members contributing to the work of the Training Committee. We now have over 100 representatives making contributions via our conference calls and team collaboration tools. The Committee compiled and released a comprehensive white paper on best practices for VR/AR based training. We also released an extensive survey on how the training ecosystem is using and will use VR/AR devices, software and media to deliver enterprise training in a variety of market sectors. The outcomes and results of these two initiatives were presented to the wider VRARA community at the previous VR/AR Global Summit. Training Committee members also contributed to a training-specific panel session held as part of the same event.

In 2018 our Committee also shared and showcased several training-related projects, use cases and applications developed by our member organisations through the VRARA news channel and blog posts. We also delivered several presentations in the Training track of the previous VRARA Online Symposium.

Overall, we’re incredibly pleased with the achievements made by our Committee over the previous 12 months. We feel that we’ve made great progress in sharing and promoting best practices, new applications, experiences, projects and products related to VR/AR based training. In 2019 we have a series of goals that we want to realise. Our next VR/AR Training Webinar is coming up on 16th January 2019 and we are determined to make that our most successful online event yet. We are working on gathering together a library of VR/AR training app demos that can be showcased at VRARA-sponsored events. New and updated white papers on VR/AR training best practices and how to maximise return-on-investment from VR/AR training are in the pipeline. We also have an ongoing initiative with our colleagues in the Education Committee on areas of common interest.

We look forward to 2019 and would encourage you to join the VRARA Training Committee to build a stronger and wider ecosystem that delivers higher-quality and more-engaging training through the power of VR and AR.

We plan on growing and expanding the work we’ve done to help build resources, information, and the community for XR training applications. We are looking to host a series of Webinars, starting January 16th, to help introduce key concepts of XR training and to give companies the tools and information they need to begin successful projects in this field.  We continue to build upon some great partnerships with training conferences, allowing us the opportunity to showcase XR training applications to an eager audience of corporate trainers, educators, and decision makers. The Training Committee is excited to begin a partnership with the Education Committee to identify areas of commonality and to co-author useful guides and white papers.

Another goal for 2019 is to bring together a library of member demos. Our hope is that a centralized repository of demos will give the Association and its members the opportunity to choose industry or application-specific demos that can spark a much more targeted conversation about how XR training applies to any given field. Over the past years, we have understood the power and necessity of showing quality, relevant demos, and this collaboration will help members and the community at large in understanding the impact that XR can have on enterprise training.

What's the State of AR Commerce? (New Report)

This post is adapted from ARtillery Intelligence’s latest report. To access the report and full XR intelligence library, subscribe here (VRARA members receive a discount).

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There are several forms of monetization that will develop for augmented reality (AR). In past reports, we’ve examined opportunities for its role in advertising (consumer-facing) and industrial productivity (enterprise-facing). The ROI case continues to strengthen in these and other areas.

One particularly promising area will be AR's role in influencing and fulfilling consumer purchases. Extending from (but different than) AR advertising, AR commerce involves graphical overlays that inform consumers and demonstrate product attributes in physical retail or e-commerce contexts.

For example, AR-pioneering retailers like Walmart let consumers activate product details in store aisles by pointing their smartphones at those items. Employing computer vision and object recognition from product databases, this empowers shoppers and breeds customer loyalty.

Tech giants like Google and Amazon have done similar. By pointing your phone at items in the real world, informational overlays can be triggered to contextualize items. Moreover, transactional calls to action are included to capture consumers’ wallets during these high-intent visual searches.

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This makes AR commerce a key part of the future of these tech giants’ user experiences – mapping closely to their core businesses like search and e-commerce. It therefore holds lots of priority and investment – both of which will accelerate this sub-sector of AR in the near term.

Beyond visual search (pointing your phone at items to contextualize or buy), AR commerce can work in the reverse manner. In other words, “product visualization” is a key AR commerce modality in which consumers digitally place 3D product mockups in their surroundings to see how/if they fit.

As you can imagine, this use case maps particularly well to home goods, or large and bulky items that require a more informed purchase in terms of fit and style. For that reason, furniture players like Wayfair and IKEA have invested in such AR features, as have auto manufacturers like BMW.

Add all of these factors together and AR commerce will be one of the most tangible and revenue-generating “flavors” of AR in the near term. ARtillery Intelligence projects that $6.1 billion in annual transaction value (value of goods purchased) will flow through AR interfaces by 2022.

Beyond near-term benefits and monetization, mobile AR commerce developments will serve a longer-term end: AR glasses. The tactics, business models and consumer acclimation that happen around smartphones will seed next decade’s glasses-based AR commerce – the real endgame.

This post is adapted from ARtillery Intelligence’s latest report. To access the report and full XR intelligence library, subscribe here (VRARA members receive a discount).

The VR/AR Association and Fortune Partner to Cover the VR/AR Sector

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) and Fortune’s branded content division will partner on the launch of a high profile thought-leadership industry platform entitled, “Next Gen VR/AR Technologies." This strategic industry partnership will result in the in-depth coverage of the VR/AR sector in all the original content edit developed by Fortune covering the VR/AR sector.

“We are honored to weigh-in as the leading expert voice in the VR/AR arena,” says Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director, VRARA.  

“The FORTUNE branded content team is enthused to be launching a collaborative working relationship with the VRARA to help meet our readers growing demand for greater in-depth insight into how they can best leverage next gen VR/AR technologies. This important industry initiative will establish the VRARA as the leading authoritative "voice" in all of our original edit that will launch on FORTUNE.com and in FORTUNE’s N. American issue,” says Ron Moss, Director of Business Development.

VRARA is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, research and education, and develops best practices and guidelines. VRARA has over 4200 companies and 25,000 professionals registered, over 50 chapters globally, and 20 industry committees. VRARA programs & initiatives are designed to accelerate anyone’s growth, knowledge, and connections. Join here


Participate in our VR/AR Industry Report on the Training Sector, sponsored by HP (Last Call!)

If you are interested in being featured in this report or sponsor it, email info@thevrara.com for details!

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The VR/AR Association Training Committee is working on this industry report that will feature companies specializing in VR/AR for Training solutions. This report will be published in Q1 of 2019 and promoted to the industry globally.

Thank to our Sponsor!

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. With the broadest technology portfolio, HP delivers solutions for customers’ most complex challenges in every region of the world and gives businesses new ways to create, design, experience, and train with VR. Learn more here

Register for our upcoming webinar, “The Impact and ROI of VR/AR in Training” here

Join us at our upcoming Summits! Sign up here

Watch Vinay Narayan of HTC from our VR/AR Global Summit 2018 (Video)

Participate in our upcoming Summits in Europe and Boston! More info here

Vinay Narayan is the Vice President of Product Management and Operations for HTC VIVE as well as a Board Member and Advisor for various VR and AR companies. As a customer focused product strategist, he oversees the portfolio of products for HTC including XR, Mobile, 5G and other emerging tech. He's always looking at how to scale teams to build the products to solve tomorrow's problems. Vinay is very active in the XR community including board advisory, keynote speaker and strategy guide.

Call for Speakers! VRARA Enterprise Summit at LiveWorx Taking Place on June 10th in Boston

More info about the Summit and sign up to Speak here

The VRARA Enterprise Summit will take place on June 10th at LiveWorx in Boston. The full-day event will bring together the best thought-leaders in VR/AR from across the globe. Presentations from industry leaders will include VR/AR in the Enterprise, Training, 5G, and much more.

VRARA is the VR/AR Association, an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, research and education, and develops best practices and guidelines. VRARA has over 4200 companies and 25,000 professionals registered, over 50 chapters globally, and 20 industry committees. VRARA programs & initiatives are designed to accelerate anyone’s growth, knowledge, and connections.

LiveWorx is the world's most respected digital transformation conference for the enterprise. Experience the most innovative and disruptive technologies — VR/AR, IoT, machine learning, blockchain, robotics and more. 6500+ technologists are expected. LiveWorx is June 10-13.

More info about the Summit and sign up to Speak here

Cost Effective VR - A Quarter of a Million Reasons

There are a number of concerns around the provision and efficacy of fire safety training in the UK, especially for the managers of staff on sites where general public attend for healthcare purposes.

The National Health Service (NHS) employs an estimated 1.5 million staff across the UK and treats around 1 million patients every 36 hours across the full spectrum of human health - its an exceptional organisation and well loved by the UK people.

With the vast numbers of public attending NHS health services throughout the UK the potential damage that may be caused by fire to property and people is very high. We're working with Health Education England and St Bart's in London on a Fire Safety VR pilot to reduce and manage risk while streamlining costs. 

The forecasts for the one trust we're on pilot with is for savings of around £250,000. There are 600 trusts throughout the UK so there's huge potential behind the trial for cost saving and increased effectiveness of training - it's an exciting chance to prove VR can build knowledge in a cost effective manner.

If you'd like to find out more, drop us a line on learn@absorbreality.com

Watch Highlights from our VRARA Malaysia Event Q4 2018 (Video)

The eventful launch of the Malaysia Chapter of the VR/AR Association. Jointly hosted by VRARA members Asia Pacific University and Ministry XR, there were talks by Malaysia Chapter President Dr. Andrew Yew, Asia Pacific University Vice Chancellor Prof. Ron Edwards, and CEO of Epiphanik Manu Menon. Also on display were AR and VR demonstrators by Asia Pacific University, Ministry XR and Spix.