XR Innovator AVATAR Partners Named World’s First Combined Unity Platinum Reseller and Integrator

AVATAR Partners, an innovator in extended reality (XR) software solutions for heavy-duty commercial and military applications, is the first company to be named to dual status as both a Platinum Reseller and a Managed Delivery Partner for Unity, the ubiquitous software development language for augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality applications.

The focus of the relationship between AVATAR and Unity will be on developing and serving opportunities for XR solutions in key industrial sectors such as AEC (architecture, engineering, construction), ATM (advanced transportation and manufacturing) and aerospace where demand for high-performance, reliable XR solutions is growing rapidly.

“This is a very exciting time for real-time, immersive technologies with fundamental shifts going on in the way people work,” said AVATAR Partners CEO and Founder Marlo Brooke. “We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Unity to bring the benefits of extended reality to an even wider range of potential users.”

The appointment of AVATAR to these two prestigious posts follows a successful track record of projects between the two companies involving Unity products such as Reflect, as well as unity-based AVATAR solutions like Avatar CONNECT, SimplifyXR and the Augmented Reality Maintenance Aid (ARMA).

As a Unity Platinum Reseller, AVATAR will provide Unity solutions for any users, regardless of whether they are an AVATAR customer. In its role as a Managed Delivery Partner, AVATAR will provide a complete set of services including hardware/software purchasing, installation and testing for both AVATAR customers and Unity-generated customers. This comprehensive approach will span the evaluation, analysis, development and sustainment lifecycle to ensure that the Unity platform is optimally utilized.

“We anticipate strong results from this special relationship. It will help further open doors in the industrial market and have a positive impact on how Unity is perceived in the marketplace,” said DJ Parenti, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, Managed Delivery for Unity. “Our goal is to work closely with AVATAR as a trusted partner based on their market presence and their solutions that are proven to add significant value in the industries they serve.”

From business and gap analysis, content development and data integration through product sustainment, AVATAR Partners develops easily maintainable, heavy-duty XR solutions. The company’s strengths and accomplishments are based on a highly skilled, closely aligned and comprehensive team that addresses the full AR/MR development lifecycle in agile sprints, producing very high-quality products cost-effectively. Capabilities include mechanical and system engineers, instructional system designers, storyboarding creators, human factors (UI/UX) designers, multimedia and graphic experts, CAD engineers, software developers, database engineers and AR/MR/VR software developers.

For complete information on AVATAR Partners XR solutions and services, visit www.avatarpartners.com

Contact

Name: Shaye McClory

Email Address: shaye@kcomm.com

Website URL: http://www.avatarpartners.com

Immerse Partners with BP to Create Global VR Training Program

Enterprise virtual reality (VR) software company Immerse has today announced a partnership with multinational energy business BP.

BP will integrate their own VR content into the Immerse Virtual Enterprise Platform (VEP). The training will be deployed internationally, and the platform will generate detailed data and reports on learner progress.

Tom Symonds, CEO of Immerse said “The team at Immerse are excited to work with BP to support the global rollout of their VR learning initiatives. Virtual Reality is in increasingly high demand as a learning and assessment tool, especially in an industry where reporting on compliance remains key.

“With Immerse’s platform, the impact of VR is no longer anecdotal, but clear and evidenced: organisations can truly measure the success of the initiative and the upskilling of learners.”

Anthony Del Barto, Learning Technology Manager at BP, said ‘’ VR and Simulation are key enablers to BP’s digital agenda and initiatives to provide our workforce global accessibility to best in class training. The value of data in the workforce is critical, and the Immerse platform allows us to gather the vital information that we need in order to upskill our employees efficiently in an innovative and engaging way. This is both beneficial to us as a company, but also to our staff to ensure they’re getting the best learning and development possible.”

Contact

Name: James Watson

Email Address: james.watson@immerse.io

Website URL: http://www.immerse.io

Watch the recording of our panel on "Getting Around in VR: Advanced Techniques in Locomotion"

Watch the largest panel assembled on locomotion in virtual reality. Playback from the live stream at VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE in June!

Panelists presented their solutions to this unique challenge and Philip Wogart, co-chair of the LBE Committee, and Michael Reiner, Advisor to the Austrian Chapter, moderated the discussion to find out how their tech works. The international gathering included the co-founders of Infinadeck, Curvature Games, Omnifinity & Virtualware!

How we can move in virtual worlds has always been one of the more complicated decisions to make for developers. With any solution (whether hardware and software) comes trade-offs in the user experience. This panel looks beyond the standard Roomscale setups to hear from the experts who are building the future of infinite spaces in VR.

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Recap of our Online Event in India on Mitigating Impact of COVID-19 in Education by VR and AR Technology

See the latest during our VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Conference+Expo Sept 16-18

Amidst this COVID-19 emergency, educational  institutes are thinking about ways for the students to secure their future. The advanced technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have the ability to plan, manage, and support digital transformation needs for the education industry.

In line with this thought the VRARA Pune Chapter in association with  AICTE  and  MIT-WPU organized a webinar  on  Mitigating Impact of COVID-19  in Education by VR  and  AR  Technology on Sunday 28th June 2020. 

Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe (Chairman, AICTE), Mr. Anand Sudarshan (Founder and Director Sylvant Advisors) and Mr. Pradeep Khanna (Director Asia Pacific, VRARA) were among the eminent panellist.  The panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Prasad Khandekar (Dean-MITWPU and Advisor VRARA)  and Mr. Purushottam Darshankar (President VRARA Pune Chapter and Chief Architect, Persistent Systems)      

The discussion in webinar focused on how education sector is reacting to the new reality of "Learning Anywhere, Anytime" and how AR and VR technologies can help students and the educators to stay connected together in the same room via immersive experience?      

Higher education institutes in India are coping with Covid-19 situation by increasing the percentage of courses delivered through flexible online mode, supported with simulation-based virtual labs for experimentation. However it was pointed out that mere shift to online delivery method is not going to enhance the learning experience of the students. There needs to be a shift in pedagogy from content-centric or syllabus driven to experience driven. This calls for transformation in teaching that we call  as outcome-based and transformation in learning that we call as experiential learning.                  

AR/VR technology is highly impactful in giving experiential knowledge and taking the demonstration value to its next level.  AR, VR , MR or XR can be very effective tool for creating immersive experiences. Immersive experiences, demonstrations and simulations can be created for learning IC engines,  human anatomy, neurosurgery , architecture, furniture design , fashion design,  product design  and many more areas including humanities.  Digital twins can give close to reality learning experiences distantly which in real sense is technology-enhanced learning.         

Educational institutes may have to mitigate challenges in (1) imbibing immersive way of teaching in pedagogy, (2) developing good experience studios (3) taking up research in AR/VR (4) training faculty or capacity building and (5) developing solutions. Using these technologies for the sake of using is not recommended.  We need to create value addition by providing solution to societal issues and problems through use of AR/VR. For this to happen a collaborative model is very essential for any educational institution. Educators, hardware vendors,  content developers, investors and policy makers should work in collaborative mode to achieve the real success.                   

There  needs to be initiatives and investments from government in improving bandwidth, establishing centre of excellences and regulating the hardware costs for creating an encouraging ecosystem for the new normal in education.        

The vote of thanks was proposed by Prof. Yogesh Deshpande (Vice President Pune Chapter and  Director Unity Centre of Excellence at Vishwakarma University) 

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AR in the sports industry: How teams & leagues can engage fans remotely using augmented reality & live statistics

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Immersiv.io is a startup working in the field of augmented reality for the sports industry. These last years, the company has imagined the future of the fan experience in stadiums and worked with major leagues such as the Bundesliga and sports events such as the Champions League or Roland Garros.

The creation of AR content for entertainment purposes will be very important to win public favors. Indeed, the sports industry has a role to play, sports fans are always looking for outstanding experiences during sports events, and the younger generations are tech adopters and crave for immersion and interaction with their favorite teams.

With its white label solution, ARISE, Immersiv.io wants to mix live data (such as player’s speed, passes, shoot, heatmap…) together with AR content to enhance the viewing experience of every fan (see the video for more). This way of using AR with player live tracking and match data is really innovative and constitutes an opportunity for sports professionals to embrace innovation for the sole purpose of entertaining fans & engage the younger generations.

ARISE: Bring Home the Stadium Experience

Over the last weeks, the company has understood and explored the importance of creating a strong long-distance relationship between teams and fans during these particular times. With the help of emerging technologies, especially through AR, the company has decided to launch a improve its solution to bring home the stadium experience for every fan during remote events.

With ARISE at home, teams and leagues will have the opportunity to engage fans remotely and enrich the fan experience by immersing every fan at the heart of HIS sports show. It will also be a way for sports professionals to reinvent the interactions with fans by offering them an all-in-one second screen experience in front of their TV.

A personalized & interactive experience

Through a 3D mini-pitch and an animated scoreboard placed on the tabletop, every fan can keep an eye on the live game and interact with the pitch to display live statistics and analyze player’s performance throughout the game thanks to live-tracking integrations. Fans can also get closer to their favorite players by making them appears in their living rooms in AR, with real-size 3D avatars and 360 videos.

An all-in-one channel to engage fans communities remotely

With the timeline, fans have access to an informative channel evolving throughout the game, with every match event, video replays and social interactions. It offers the ultimate live view on the main actions of the game, and also permits teams to share editorial content and then animate their fans community remotely (through polls, quiz, match information, curated social media content).

Drive revenue opportunities through sponsorships

Through this interactive experience, teams and leagues can also highlight their partners by monetizing advertising spaces in the timeline, within the pitch or on the scoreboard, exactly like in a stadium. AR content drives effective commercial opportunities for brands to push sponsor presence and merchandising to remote fans.


Paving the way for the Future of Broadcast

AR also permits to create an interactive experience on broadcast by enriching the TV feed, allowing every fan to display multiple screens in front of them. It gives fans the opportunity to interact freely with the content and create their own TV show, by following other games at the same time, displaying replays or exclusive videos in AR directly in their living room at their convenience.

A brand-new solution to reinvent Entertainment in Sport

This experience is set to be available on different devices, from the latest smartglasses (Magic Leap, Nreal, Hololens 2…) to every mobile device (through ARkit & ARcore).
In the near future, AR will have a lot to prove to win mainstream curiosity and show its potential. With the upcoming release of the Nreal Light, the different rumors around Apple AR glasses, or Facebook glasses, the ever-growing importance of Snapchat and its AR lenses... The AR market will continuously evolve and structure itself during the next 5 years.

No doubt that sports professionals, like many other Entertainment industries, must embrace technology to meet new consumer’s expectations. For that reason, working on the future of entertainment by creating original content for smartglasses, which will be a huge trend in the next few years, remains a smart move.

Contact:

Name: Chloe Louis

Email Address: cl@immersiv.io

Website URL: http://www.immersiv.io/arise/

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VR/AR France Ecosystem Report. See how 61 companies in France are advancing VR AR for us all! (New Report)

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This ecosystem report is a simple yet effective way to show what’s happening in France to the world and so that any business interested in augmented reality can quickly identify key partners to streamline their implementation.

Foreword

Augmented reality got its start in 1968 with the first augmented reality system created by Yvan Sutherland.

Since then, 30 years of hardware and software innovations have propelled augmented reality intothe limelight. 2020 has already seen some big strides, as augmented reality is not considered a trend any more by panel analysts, but a revolution for the B2B and B2C markets.

The coming years will see an even bigger breakthrough, with an expected peak coming in2023-2024, as predicted by Apple’sTim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

There is not a day that goes by where AR doesn’t make a an impact It can be through an Instagram filter, innovations in computer vision capabilities, or businesses uncovering valuable new use cases that improve employee productivity and reduce operational costs.

Augmented reality is indeed now a reality, an innovative strategy for companies to stay or become competitive.

However, a lot of new providers are rising up in the augmented reality market as the technology matures.

In the glasses and headsets space, hardware providers are entering the market just as quickly as they are disappearing. Big hardware companies like Lenovo and Apple want a piece of the cake. From a software perspective, only a few platforms can effectively provide scalable and sustainable technology. And finally, there are hundreds of integrators and developers claiming to be augmented reality specialists that only know the tip of the iceberg.

The augmented reality market is constantly evolving and customers are requesting truth and confidence in order to bring their augmented reality projects to life.

Initiatives like the VR/AR Association French annual report are key to achieving this kind of transparency.

That’s why we are sponsoring this report—so any business interested in augmented reality can quickly identify key partners to streamline their implementation.

“Most companies are just getting started with AR, and most have few experts on staff. That’s where partnering with experts is a key factor of success.”

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Marc Bringuier

Director of Augmented Reality

PTC Vuforia

 

Outside3D launches an education app that helps you learn about the world, in augmented reality

Outside3D is an education app that helps you learn about the world, in augmented reality. The app is now live on iOS and Android, and you should check it out.

Some cool features are:

  • High quality augmented reality experiences 

  • A wide category of topics to explore - from Science to History to Art, and everything in between)

  • Simplified Explanations & Interesting Fun Facts

  • High quality voice narrations & even great background music

  • Fresh new AR lesson content added every single week,

  • Download experiences for offline use

Users can download and access featured content and lessons for free, or subscribe at just $1.99 per month for unlimited access to all content and lessons.

iOS App Store (iPhones):

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/outside-3d/id1502408356

Google Play Store (Android):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.raregeneou.outside

Contact:

Email: support@outside3d.com

Website: Outside3D.com

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Thought-provoking ‘Spatiality’ wins VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Student Competition

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At the 2020 VRARA Global Summit, 3D VR company The Wild hosted a virtual design competition, challenging its entrants to showcase their visions for the future of “digital socialization”. The challenge was to design a space that encourages “digital socialization or innovative social distancing” and examples could be the workplace of the future, an office, a public space, a lobby, entry way, room or building or other architectural space.

Six competition finalists showcased their projects during the VRARA Global Summit within The Wild virtual reality platform. Judges Aubrey Tucker (Autodesk) and Amy Peck (HTC) were present inside the virtual environment with the finalists to judge their designs from the inside. Being able to walk around their creations was a unique feature of the competition, and a delight to watch. At the conclusion of the presentations, Peck and Tucker named the winner as Spatiality – a project created by Akshansh Chaudhary.

Spatiality reflects on the Internet, privacy and safety

Chaudhary is a recent graduate of the Parsons School of Design, earning an MFA in Design and Technology. Akshansh originally designed his model using Tilt Brush and Unity and brought his model into The Wild as an FBX. Spatiality features structures representing various social networks and technology companies, and their metaphorical and physical manifestations. To Chaudhary, the project was inspired by his time self-isolating during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic while living in New York City.

Akshansh Chaudhary, winner of VRARA Student Design Competition

Akshansh Chaudhary, winner of VRARA Student Design Competition

“Due to the lack of social interaction in NYC, I wanted to create a space for people to interact and engage socially, and VR has the potential to have that engagement. I was inspired by apps like Altspace VR, VR Chat, and Half Half. The architectural landscape that I have designed is stylistically organic and redefines visits to social media portals. Its design in Tilt Brush makes it a playful interactive experience.”

The floor and the outside shapes in purple are not made up of solid colors, but are layers and layers of text that include his own personal information. According to Chaudhary it includes names and information that would typically be used to exploit privacy – like relatives names and addresses and so forth. Surrounding the space is a gallery of different tech companies – including Google, Facebook and Twitter – in a “technological landscape” that demonstrates both his feelings and impressions of their roles in society and their treatment of private information. In front of Facebook there is a shady looking character which is how Chaudhary “perceive’s Facebook” when it comes to trust around privacy. Each social and tech company has a different feeling and aesthetic, with seating or viewing areas made up of components such as likes, hashtags, or strings that tie people to the technologies that they depend on.

In an interview with SPAR 3D, Chaudhary said his interest in privacy began last year when he was working on a school project on local journalism.

“Journalism is not my domain, but I was reading about fake news and how people perceive it… and as I got involved in the project, I realized that advertisements on news sites are based on infrastructure that is based on data collection – and that gradually became the basis of understanding data being collected, and what we can do as individuals to become more comfortable in understanding the use of that data.”

“As I started researching more, I realized I had to be much more vigilant about [privacy], and it led me to design an interactive experience that allows people to have conversations and create a safe platform that allows for that discussion… My design thesis was about putting people in virtual spaces and asking them to make free decisions on data privacy or data collection and seeing the result of those decisions.”

Inspired by his thesis project, he started to think about how to represent his own feelings and relationships with the social networks around him for the VRARA competition, which where ultimately shaped by his experiences during his isolation from COVID-19. He reflected that he had made Facebook quite dystopian looking, probably due to the news around the platform at the time, and Google is cleaner and feels safer in the space.

“I was starting to get comfortable with having a Google Home at home – I started talking to it more once I was isolated, I was indoors and needed someone to talk to, and it affected the landscape as I created it.”

You can watch a full tour of Chaudhary’s space is below (starts at 33:33 minutes).

Whimsical Lounge Pods earns Honorable Mention

Designed by Nicholas Peruski, Lounge Pods received an honorable mention in the competition. Taking a playful, almost Dr.Seuss-ian design, Lounge Pods models an outdoor work or break space, featuring stairs, viewpoints, and platforms that line up in pleasing curved and circular modalities throughout the space. Peruski created the space in Rhinoceros 6 by manipulating and extruding curved shapes, cutting holes, and drawing shapes. Also a New York City resident, Peruski was inspired by social distancing circles painted on the grass of Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York. The platforms, or Pods, are separated with adequate distance yet allows comfortable groups of friends and families to enjoy the company of those in the other Pods. A collection of stairs and tubes represent a series of passages and thresholds as in a quarantine or disinfection scenario.

If, like me, you are in need of something to be inspired by lately – I encourage you to take a moment to watch the video tour through all six of the competition’s excellent entries (below). The time and inspiration that these students put into their work is exceptional, and we are sure at SPAR 3D that they will be the among the visionaries defining our 3D spaces of the future.

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Schlumberger reveals epic results for Remote Collaboration solutions

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See the latest VR & AR solutions at our VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Conference+Expo Sept 16-18

During our Online Meet for the Energy Committee, Schlumberger presented how they use different remote collaboration solutions from different vendors for different use cases. The case studies were superb. What really stood out was the map graph showing the adoption of these solutions across the globe (shown in picture below).

“The committee knew that this was likely to happen in this new reality, but it was great to see a visual and hear from you directly,” said Co-Chair Susan Spark.

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VIATechnik's uses Virtual Reality to Make Disaster Relief Housing and Modular COVID Care Centers a Reality

Today, VIATechnik presented their solution during our Online Meet for the AEC Committee.

Chicago-based virtual design and construction consultant VIATechnik was already working with the Quebec Wood Export Bureau in March on a generative design solution for rapidly deployed wooden structures for responding to disasters such as floods, hurricanes and refugee crises. Then came the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis, with its attendant healthcare facility shortage.

Working with QWEB, VIATechnik had developed a VDC strategy to optimize not only the generative design but the shipping, assembly and site logistics of temporary, prefabricated relief structures, but the parameters of the project has since changed with the times.

“We kind of did a whole second round with them [as the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic became clear],” says Mac Little, a VIATechnik computational BIM lead who led the generative design workflow on the project. “I said, ‘Hey well why don't we take this idea, re-vet it and then reset all of these things so you can come in and pick surface areas and see how things populate, increase or decrease the area based on a patient flow.”

Using a plugin workflow with Grasshopper and Unreal Engine, VIATechnik was able to quickly iterate various site layouts of QWEB’s prefabricated structures, accounting for differences in climate and building orientation, as well as site footprint and terrain, without having to manually redo the modeling work.

The prefabricated buildings are built with renewable materials, such as wood, and can be moved to other locations for healthcare uses such as COVID-19 testing structures, alternate care facilities for patients and as structures for families at home so as not to expose them to infection. Logistics are also including in the project, allowing QWEB's 200 member companies to quickly fabricate the primarily wood-based components of the structures and ship them out via Canada's rail and port network.

By using a generative design, the program can adjust it's parameters as needs rise and fall, and allows disaster-response agencies to quickly plan and test out designs for new locations.

“We looked at the parameters, the sites, how you would actually use this [structure], what that would look like,” asked Little. “What do you want to scale, is it density, is it community spaces, do you want actually more space instead of having these dense populated refugee camps?"

The structures themselves are compact enough to be put together onsite by small teams from agencies or disaster-relief organizations.

Eli Gould, QWEB's U.S. representative based in Vermont, said the structures have already been specified for use in the Bahamas and QWEB would welcome any opportunity to work with relief organizations in the U.S such as the American Red Cross or Team Rubicon. The company is also open to working with U.S. government entities such as the National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which have been tasked with setting up COVID-19 testing sites and alternate care facilities in cities and towns across the country. says Gould.

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Big Cat Rescue VR Tiger Tracking Game Available for Rift in Oculus Store

Carole Baskin speaks out publicly for the first time since Tiger King...well, that is if you don’t count the Jimmy Fallon Show prank and her own words on everything Tiger King got wrong at BigCatRescue.org/netflix. The war against the exploitation, abuse and extinction of the tiger and other exotic cats has always been her focus.

Despite the fact that Tiger King producers chose to focus on the personalities involved in the trafficking of exotic animals, the people at Big Cat Rescue stayed true to their mission, even during the backlash caused by the series and the negative impacts of COVID-19.

In February of 2020, right before everyone was about to go into lockdown around the globe, Big Cat Rescue partnered with Xennial Digital to bring a dream Carol have had into reality. More precisely, into virtual reality. Her goal for decades has been to stop the practice of holding wild cats hostage under the guise of conservation or education. Judging from the tens of thousands of calls, letters, emails and social posts she has gotten after Tiger King aired, it’s clear to her that most people don’t understand that breeding tigers is causing their extinction in the wild, not preventing it. Another fallacy that came into sharp focus was the general public’s belief that captive bred big cats can be set free.

”I felt if I was going to tell people there is a better way to educate people and make them care about conservation than keeping wild animals in cages, then I had to prove it,” Carol said. Thursday June 25th, 2020 @ 10AM Pacific Time, 1PM EST, that proof goes live for free in the Oculus store for Rift owners. It’s a fully immersive game that takes the player on a journey where they learn how to track a tiger in the wild. Along the way they learn about the plight of the tiger in the wild and how the lucrative cub petting industry is fueling the demand for poached wild tigers. In the end the user is empowered with the knowledge and resources to bring the tiger back from the edge of extinction.

In addition to being fun, informative and empowering, the app is free.

Contact

Name: Carole Baskin

Email Address: Carole.Baskin@BigCatRescue.org

Website URL: https://bigcatrescue.org/oculus-rift-tiger-game/

Alteredux launches an All-in-One Solution to Shape the Future of Online Education

Canadian Edtech company Alteredux has launched an all-in-one solution that will change the education sector and reshape the future of education.

Alteredux includes both web and virtual reality platform, it enables educators to create courses, add content, attachments, and provide instructions to students. And create quizzes with images, text, and Boolean results.

Other notable features include integrated online video conferencing with sound, video, and screen sharing. And the ability to create student groups, rather than virtual classrooms accessible via the VR platform.

The platform provides solutions for modern education — with the goal to make it usable and accessible for everyone. Alteredux enables you to create customizable learning games on your own, without writing a single line of code; take students to different environments with 360 immersive experiences; create custom avatars, customize hair, facial and body attributes, and schedule appointments and assignments to create remote class routines, team meetings, and In-person services with calendar integration.

Alteredux is taking privacy and security seriously, the platform is end-to-end encrypted, only communicating parties can read messages.

While many features are not available at the beta launch, Alteredux CEO noted they are coming at the official launch. Also on the slate for the same timeframe: Corporate Training, tones of learning games, AI, and Deep Learning.

Right now, Alteredux is limiting sign-ups to the platform via a wait list plus invite system. Alteredux CEO said that many invitations have been sent to beta users, and people are joining now the wait list — warning it might take “a couple of weeks” before they’re ready to accept direct sign-ups.

In the meanwhile, for anyone keen on a closer look at Alteredux revolutionary education solution, you can sign up for the wait list at www.alteredux.com

Contact

Name: Jean-Phillipe Lemire

Email Address: jp_lemire@alteredux.com

Website URL: http://alteredux.com

GP Strategies Partners with Virtual Reality Platform Provider Immerse to Deliver Enterprise VR Training

Immerse, the company that has developed the industry-leading VR platform, has announced a global partnership with GP Strategies, a recognized leader in workforce transformation solutions.

The Immerse integration with GP Strategies provides a scalable way of introducing the next generation of learning technology, giving businesses the opportunity to extend their existing training in ways that weren't previously possible.

Enterprise VR for training is part of a new generation of technology that is transforming Learning & Development (L&D). As VR hardware becomes more flexible and software solutions become more sophisticated, an increasing number of businesses are realizing its potential. In addition to changing how training is delivered, VR can also overhaul the way training is analyzed, helping companies demonstrate the ROI of programmes and improve them through iteration. Beyond L&D, it has the potential to be used in areas such as onboarding, cultural change and recruitment.


Matt Donovan Chief Learning and Innovation Officer at GP Strategies, “As we continue to rapidly move towards effective virtual learning experiences, virtual reality has an important role to play in the work-learning ecosystem. In partnering with Immerse, we see an opportunity to blend top notch content and experiences with a robust platform. It’s a natural win-win for our clients.”

Tom Symonds CEO at Immerse, “Developing an ecosystem of best-in-class partners is a must for Immerse, which is why we are so excited about our partnership with GP Strategies. It combines the business performance consultancy experience and excellence of GP Strategies with the cutting edge technology we have developed over the past 4 years. The opportunity to work with GP Strategies across our target markets and sectors is an excellent fit.”

Bill Finegan, EVP North America at Immerse adds “The combination of the Immerse VR platform with the content development skills of GP Strategies, will allow our customers to evolve their technology roadmap and truly improve the overall customer and learner experience, not only in North America, but globally as well.

Contact

Name: James Watson

Email Address: james.watson@immerse.io

 Website URL: http://www.immerse.io

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APDC and VRARA Portugal join forces in the area of ​​Immersive Technologies

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VRARA Portugal partners with the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), where a new section will be created dedicated to augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. The merger may have practical application already at the next congress, scheduled for April 2021.

The announcement was formalized yesterday during the VR / AR Global Summit Online global conference, in a press conference in which SAPO TEK participated. In practice, the Portuguese association of augmented and virtual reality, VRARA Portugal, will become part of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), creating a new section within the APDC.

“We see the partnership as an opportunity to join forces and strengthen associations in Portugal. We believe that it is better, instead of creating new associations, to join forces and work together to be stronger ”, says Sandra Fazenda Almeida, executive director of APDC. In recent years the association has extended its scope far beyond telecommunications, which was its focus on creation 35 years ago, the immersive technologies area is an important complement, given the growth potential that exists.VR / AR Global Summit Online global

In recent years, three sections were created within APDC, Smart Cities, Portugal Outsourcing, Digital Entrepreneurship, to which VRARA Portugal now joins with the area of ​​augmented reality and virtual reality. "APDC is the association of the digital community and we are bringing together organizations from various areas," said Sandra Fazenda Almeida, recalling that all companies are now technology companies.

This is a partnership that is seen as beneficial on both sides, as explained by Luis Martins, one of the founders of VRARA Portugal. “It is a good combination because when we started the association in 2017 the idea was to create bridges with the business sector”, he explains, recalling that Portugal is a second-tier country and “we need bridges for larger economies and markets, which have investment capacity and hiring that we lack”.

VRARA Portugal's idea is to boost Portuguese talent and innovation capacity to reach other markets, and Luis Martins believes that this way it will also be easier to communicate with large international organizations operating in Portugal.

The number of companies in Portugal working on immersive technologies is growing. “We have almost 100 companies that develop VR / AR solutions exclusively, but also structures that have more than 50% of activity linked to immersive technologies, and also larger companies, such as Siemens, which has a group in Portugal that develops VR technologies and AR globally for the company ”, explains Luis Martins.

But the idea is to continue to grow within APDC as well. “Companies can continue to be members of APDC or VRARA only, but if they are members of both, they have advantages”, he explains.

The experience and knowledge accumulated at VRARA should already be put into practice at the next APDC congress, scheduled for April 2021. Sandra Fazenda Almeida explains that, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, in January, the association had already decided not to hold the congress this year, changing the date to the beginning of 2021. "It is our 30th congress, it is an important date", he explains, adding that digital solutions are being studied to have a hybrid event that can show a virtual reality.

The potential of immersive technologies and the way they are already changing the reality in many companies and services for the end consumer was well seen in the VR / AR Global Summit Online that took place in the last three days, in a non-stop mode through three spindles hours, and that yesterday had several panels dedicated to Portugal.

Source in Portugueses

Untethered headsets are changing the VR training landscape. Immerse announces that its Virtual Enterprise Platform (VEP) now integrates with Oculus

Immerse, a leading provider of virtual reality (VR) software for business, has announced that its Virtual Enterprise Platform (VEP) now integrates with the Oculus Quest and other standalone devices, enabling companies to easily track and capture employee training data.

Justin Parry, Founder and COO of Immerse, said: “The combination of our enterprise technology and cost effective, portable headsets such as the Quest will allow more businesses to provide VR training to their employees.”

Immerse’s open VR platform helps companies create, scale and deploy VR training to maximise employee performance. The Oculus Quest is an all-in-one VR system, allowing users to engage with a virtual world using just a headset and controllers.

Immerse’s new integration allows businesses to easily track all Quest users and content. An employee opens the Immerse VR application on the device, enters a PIN, and then launches the training program. As training is completed, detailed data is generated, and can be saved to a central store and sent to a company’s Learning Management System. VR training sessions can also be broadcast via a browser to other users.

Parry explains: “Integration with Immerse allows Oculus Quest experiences – and all of the user data that is generated from a session – to be plugged directly into existing enterprise systems. It provides secure access for users, and standardised methods for extracting data from all Quest applications.

“Untethered headsets are changing the VR landscape. This is an important moment for enterprise VR, and we’re delighted to be introducing this exciting integration to the market.”

Contact:

Name: James Watson

Email Address: james.watson@immerse.io

Website: www.immerse.io

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Next steps for VRARA Universities & Colleges Committee, and Welcome Jon Gress as Co-Chair

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See the latest VR & AR solutions at our VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Conference+Expo Sept 16-18

We are thrilled to announce Jon Gress (see bio below) as Co-Chair for our University & Colleges Committee. 

Join our next Online Meet on July 1st!

“I’m very excited about the amazing progress I’ve seen in the VRARA and all the incredible people, talent, events, meetings and developments. I’d be pleased to co-chair the Committee and look forward to helping the VRARA continue to lead these exciting new immersive technology industries to a future of excellence.”
— Jon Gress

Feel free to email Jon with your ideas for projects or research for the Committee.


About the Committee

This committee shares and creates best practices, guidelines, and call to actions for university curricula and research relating to VR and AR. We meet every month online (next Online Meet is July 1st) to present recent case studies, projects, research, and enable a forum to discuss common problems and solutions. We have published a Report that features over 40 institutions that teach VR/AR. Plus, the active participants get preference to speak at our chapter events and Global Summits.

Jon Gress Bio

Jon Gress is the Academic Director, The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL

With over 30 years of experience in motion picture, visual effects, immersive media technologies & production, Jon Gress has been on the cutting edge of digital production technologies since their beginnings. He has trained thousands of filmmakers and visual effects artists from all over the world, who have gone on from his training to secure jobs in top visual effects companies and have worked on blockbuster movies and award winning television series including:

24, 47 Ronin, Almost Human, Ant Man, Assassin's Creed, Captain America, Conan The Barbarian, CSI, Die Hard, Dredd, Fringe, Game of Thrones, GI Joe, Godzilla, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Harry Potter, Hawaii Five-O, Hugo, Iron Man, James Bond, John Carter, Life of Pi, Lost, MIB 3, Mirror Mirror, Narnia, Need for Speed, Oblivion, Olympus Has Fallen, Oz, Pacific Rim, Pirates of the Caribbean, Riddick, RIPD, Serenity, Snow White and the Huntsman, Spiderman, Stolen, Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Terra Nova, The Avengers, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Expendables, The Fast and the Furious, The Great Gatsby, The Green Hornet, The Green Lantern, The Hobbit, The Hulk, The Hunger Games, The Mechanic, The Twilight Saga, The Walking Dead, The Wolf of Wall Street, Thor, Titanic, Total Recall, Transformers, White House Down, Wolverine, X-Men, and many many more).

Jon is an active member of The Visual Effects Society, a published Pearson Higher Education author ("Digital Visual Effects & Compositing", the complete college curriculum textbook & instructor’s guide used in colleges all over the world), has been a regular writer/columnist for motion picture industry trade publications and has produced, directed and supervised hundreds of motion picture, television, VFX and cutting edge interactive multimedia & immersive productions (for institutions ranging from small independent to Fortune 100) since 1998.

Jon brings to The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School at Universal Studios, Orlando FL decades of expertise, research and development in cutting edge visualization technologies such as 3D Stereoscopic Imaging, 3D Photogrammetry, 360 & 180 VR photo/video, 3D motion tracking, capture & motion control, the integration of these into a the real-time visualization, VR, AR, MxR & Virtual Production development for Motion Pictures, Games, 3D Visual Effects and Fully Immersive Virtual Experiences.

Futurotec launches 3D Hologram Table with Interactive 360 Degree Holograms with Multiuser Support

Innovative use of advanced 3D visualization technologies has become value and result driven in modern days. 3D contents have become modern form of information which brings lot of visual insights, ease of subject communications and immersive experience.

Contemporary 3D platforms provide highest level of interactivity to collaborate and communicate in most efficient ways. Futurotec Solutions LLP based out of Ahmedabad, India brings a breakthrough innovation in AR segment with introduction of 3D Hologram Table which displays Interactive 360 degree Holograms of objects with multi-user support. The objects can be displayed up to 70 cms. in height and 1 meter in depth.

3D HOLOGRAM TABLE - Unique Features
- World’s first Multi-user, Multi-Color, Interactive & IoT integrated Hologram Table.
- Projection of Holograms up to 70cms high and 1meter deep.
- Projection Area of 1.2m square with external screen for larger audiences.
- Easy to use controls like 3D Crystal Lens Glasses and Holographic Control Wand.
- 4 people can get experience of complete 360-degree view.
- Support all major 3D formats including existing CAD/ 3DS models and animations.
- Programmable Interfaces and Interactivity is possible.
- Loads Gigabytes of point cloud data in fraction of seconds.

REAL ESTATE - USE CASE
Real Estate Sector can use this innovative technology to display immersive 3D experience of their large projects using state of the art 3D Hologram Technology for rendering on 3D Hologram Table. Following unique features will make the experience truly immersive:

- Complete 3D aerial view of real estate project with zoom in and zoom out to minutest details.
- Showcasing the key area near to project locations.
- 3D sample floor plan for residential/commercial area rendered on 3D Hologram Table.
- Showcasing important amenities available in the real estate area by displaying 3D Models with
bookmark features.
- Animation of entry and parking area of the project.
- Day & Night view of the area surrounding the Real Estate project can be shown using unique torch
feature on 3D Hologram Table.
- Measurable distance of nearby locations can be shown on 3D Hologram Table.
- Bookmarks of key locations of Real Estate project can be programmed for microscopic view of each
location.

There are many more sectors like Architecture, Defence, Smart Cities Planning, Tourism, Museums, Education, Healthcare where customized use cases can be developed.

Our state of the art 3D Experience Centre in Ahmedabad, India showcases the 3D Hologram Table with many use cases across several sectors. Our contact details are as follows:


Contact

Email: info@futurotec.in
Website: www.futurotec.in

Boeing Conducts First-Ever Astronaut Training in Virtual Reality using Varjo Headsets

Today, Varjo announced that its virtual reality headsets will be used by Boeing's Starliner program to augment astronaut training, adding a new dimension to spaceflight preparations. The unmatched human eye-resolution and high visual fidelity of Varjo's VR device allows Boeing to replicate each phase of a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station - including pre-launch to docking and undocking to landing - entirely in virtual reality for the first time. 

Boeing Conducts First-Ever Astronaut Training in Virtual Reality using Varjo Headsets

 

Photorealistic VR allows Starliner crew members to experience the most demanding and safety-critical scenarios in all phases of spaceflight 

 

Helsinki, Finland – June 11, 2020 – Varjo, the leader in industrial-grade VR/XR headsets, today announced that its virtual reality headsets will be used by Boeing’s Starliner program to augment astronaut training, adding a new dimension to spaceflight preparations. The unmatched human eye-resolution and high visual fidelity of Varjo’s VR device allows Boeing to replicate each phase of a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station – including pre-launch to docking and undocking to landing – entirely in virtual reality for the first time. 

“We are proud to be delivering the technology that is pushing industrial training applications to their furthest reaches – even to space,” said Niko Eiden, CEO and co-founder of Varjo. “With our devices, astronauts can see and virtually interact with the switches and control panels inside their Starliner capsule and read the real-time data on their crew displays. Advancements like this have the potential to transform the way any pilot is trained.”

Using Varjo’s headsets, astronauts in the program can train remotely without the need for multiple physical simulators in different locations. The Varjo VR-2 is the only device to deliver immersive content in pixel-perfect clarity, allowing crew members to experience the same interactions, voice and switch commands, and visuals as they would in the Starliner commander and pilot seats. This allows training for even the most challenging and safety-critical procedures of spaceflight, such as docking to the International Space Station, to be conducted in virtual reality. Further, the system extends the astronaut training program by enabling training through the two week-quarantine period in crew quarters before launch.

The Boeing Starliner is developed in partnership with NASA and is designed for researchers and adventurers alike. The company’s first corporate astronaut and the commander of the Starliner spacecraft, Chris Ferguson, will soon start using the Varjo VR training system regularly in preparation for the program’s Crew Flight Test, which will be the first Starliner mission with humans on board.

 

For additional details about how Boeing is conducting immersive virtual reality training, read the full case study here.

 

About Varjo: 

Varjo is based in Helsinki and is creating the world’s most advanced virtual and mixed reality devices for industrial use, merging the real and virtual worlds seamlessly together in human-eye resolution. www.varjo.com

Media Contact:

Jessica Kaiser
jessica@carvecom.com / 512.517.3610

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