Call for Participation! Submit your company for our Storytelling Report! Report to feature best immersive media companies

Submit your info to get featured in our Report here

The VR/AR storytelling industry sector is growing exponentially, as creation engines and game engines are improved to enable rapid immersive content development and delivery. Producers have utilized the COVID-19 pandemic to broaden immersive experiences in areas such as virtual theatre (e.g., ‘Finding Pandora X’), gamified live content (e.g., concerts in Roblox, Fortnite and League of Legends), and virtual location-based entertainment (LBE) (e.g., Metropolitan Museum, Krasner-Pollock House).

The entire VR/AR industry is essentially an exercise in “storytelling,” as virtual experiences deliver a grammar and a narrative structure for educating, informing, and entertaining users/customers/spectators/fans in new ways. The VR/AR storytelling industry is now poised to become a larger part of communications and advertising, edutainment, and enterprise collaboration. What were once utilitarian platforms for enterprise and industrial applications are now broadened to game play, requiring skill sets that are far beyond optical networking, GPU design, or display configurations.

Now, VR/AR storytelling embodies technologists who are as skilled in CAD/CAM, Unreal Engine/Unity, and Blender/Maya as they are in light field optics and field array components. This report will detail companies that embody production, story creation, post-production, transmedia, game development, branded content, advertising and communications, and a host of technical areas that enable the new world of storytelling across the broad VR/AR spectrum.

Deadline to Submit is Feb 19, 2021

Submit here

If interested to Sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

Virtually yours,

Chris Pfaff

VRARA Co-Chair, Storytelling

PACE becomes Unity Verified Solutions Partner

Pacelab WEAVR is an end-to-end platform for creating, managing, and distributing AR/VR training and operations content across all devices, including mobile/tablet/pc. The authoring component is built on top of Unity, and the rest of the platform extends Unity into a full training solution with content management, user management, collaboration and remote instruction, analytics, and a fun end-user application for accessing and using the content. Check out www.pacelabweavr.com for more info (also on www.unity.com/products/weavr).

BERLIN/MILAN, 19 January 2020 – PACE, a TXT company, announced today that it is now a Unity Verified Solutions Partner. Being a Verified Solutions Partner means that the company's flagship product for extended reality (XR) training, Pacelab WEAVR, has been verified by Unity (NYSE: U) to ensure its SDK is optimized for the latest version of the Unity editor, ensuring compatibility and a seamless user experience. Pacelab WEAVR is a fully scalable XR software platform that enables any company, in any industry, to develop and manage immersive training programs. As part of the partnership agreement, Unity will resell the Pacelab WEAVR XR training solution.

"We are thrilled to become a Unity Verified Solutions Partner," said Josh Swanson, Head of Extended Reality at PACE. "We have designed Pacelab WEAVR completely around Unity's real-time 3D development platform. This partnership will take our product to the next level, with greater exposure, meaning more people will have access to next-generation training."

Pacelab WEAVR offers a complete solution for industrial-scale XR training, consisting of three primary product modules which provide companies with everything needed to create, implement and manage extended reality training in-house:

• An intuitive authoring tool that requires no programing skills and significantly simplifies the creation of XR content ("WEAVR Creator")

• A learners’ hub that allows students to easily access and launch training content on the device of their choice, from desktop PCs and notebooks to mobile devices and AR/VR headsets ("WEAVR Player")

• A web portal for collaboration, remote instruction, reporting and managing the overall extended reality platform ("WEAVR Manager")

Immersive interactive training is a form of experiential learning, or learning-by-doing, which has proved to be the most effective way of acquiring and retaining procedural knowledge and technical skills, significantly enhancing not only recall and retention but also overall user engagement. Organizations providing on-demand, device-agnostic training resources to train alone or in groups, with or without instructor guidance, can also greatly reduce the need for employee travel and/or costly physical training equipment.

###

About PACE – a TXT company

Founded in 1995, PACE has built a reputation for developing trail-blazing software products for the global aerospace and aviation industry. As part of TXT e-solutions, PACE advances customers' digital transformation with off-the-shelf solutions for preliminary aircraft & systems design, product configuration, aircraft analysis & evaluation, flight operations and extended reality training.

TXT e-solutions is an international, specialized provider of advanced software solutions supporting customers in high-tech markets in their mission- and business-critical core processes and throughout their product lifecycles. Headquartered in Milan, TXT is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange and has subsidiaries in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

For more information visit www.pace.de and www.pacelabweavr.com

Resources & additional information

PDF version (English)

More about PACE GmbH

More about Unity's Verified Solutions Partner program

New Report: Headworn AR Revenue to Reach $13.4 Billion by 2024

ARtillery Intelligence’s report, Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast 2019-2024 examines the AR glasses market opportunity. Subscribe for the full report. VRARA members get a discount.

ARtillery Intelligence has released a new report that projects headworn AR revenue to grow from $822 million in 2019 to $13.4 billion in 2024. Entitled Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019-2024, the report examines glasses-based AR revenue totals and subsegments – including consumer and enterprise spending. This report follows ARtillery’s separate examination of smartphone-based AR spending.

Enterprise spending holds a commanding revenue share of AR glasses revenues with a projected $1.33 billion in 2020, compared with consumer spending of $22.1 million. These totals consist of both hardware and software. Enterprise spending dominance is due to productivity gains demonstrated in industrial settings, where AR’s line-of-sight guidance boosts speed to task-completion and error reduction. Consumer AR meanwhile trails in revenue, as the technology isn’t yet stylistically viable for consumer markets – a factor that could flip with Apple’s projected market entrance.

“Apple’s AR glasses released in the 2022 timeframe could create a classic Apple halo effect by boosting consumer awareness and demand for AR glasses,” said ARtillery Intelligence Chief Analyst, Mike Boland. “Rather than the common graphically-rich connotations of AR, Apple’s glasses will likely be simple and stylish, while accomplishing tasks such as notifications or LiDAR-powered ways that help people see better. Think of it like the iPhone 1 of AR glasses.”

As is the case across the global economy, AR glasses revenues will be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Given that the consumer AR glasses market is so small to begin with, it will be minimally impacted. Enterprise markets could meanwhile suffer to some degree due to recessionary spending as well as supply-chain impediments. However, enterprise AR use cases support COVID-era demand signals, potentially offsetting those losses.

“Certain flavors of enterprise AR like remote assistance and guided maintenance align with social distancing requirements in field-work and industrial settings,” said Boland. “This could mean that COVID-pressured adoption exposes the technology in ways that lead to new habits for enterprises that sustain into the post-COVID era of semi-remote work.”

Report Availability

Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019-2024 is available from ARtillery Intelligence (VRARA members can get a discount here).

About ARtillery Intelligence

ARtillery Intelligence chronicles the evolution of spatial computing, otherwise known as AR and VR. Through writings and multimedia, it provides deep and analytical views into the industry’s biggest players, opportunities and strategies. Products include the AR Insider publication and the ARtillery PRO research subscription. Research includes monthly narrative reports, market- sizing forecasts, consumer survey data and multimedia, all housed in a robust intelligence vault. To learn more, go to

Subscribe for the full report. VRARA members get a discount.

The time is now! Get ready for our VR/AR Global Summits! North America in June & Europe in Sept/Oct

Our VR/AR Global Summit Online is the largest and fastest growing immersive tech event in the world!

Our June 2020 Global Summit had 11,000+ attendees, 250+ Speakers, Exhibitors, plus 1000s interactive 1-on-1s, 30 networking group sessions on specific topics/verticals, and so much more!

We will have two Global Summits online in 2021:

1. North America on June 2-4 (Summer)

2. Europe on Sept 29-Oct 1 (Fall)

Apply here to Speak, Exhibit, and or Sponsor!

Virtually yours,

VRARA team

P.S. Below are a few testimonials from our past Exhibitors and Sponsors.

"The Summit brought together large audiences who were very interested in and knowledgeable about VR from around the world. With the move toward an online summit, the VR/AR Association team was able to tap into fantastic presenters from so many parts of the world, with such great diverse backgrounds. We were thrilled to present the HP Reverb G2 at the Summit and reach such a powerful community.”

— Joanna Popper, HP

“Our team was able to engage with new potential customers, partners, analysts and media, leading to over 300 qualified leads for our team to follow-up with including multiple Fortune 500 customer opportunities.”

— Mattney Beck, Lenovo

“We found the virtual expo space drew an engaged audience. Attendees embraced the online format, jumped into the booth to ask questions and were eager to learn more about Calgary as a destination to grow their career or business.”

— Chelsea Hallick, Calgary Economic Development

Daimler, KLM, Medtronic, Lockheed Martin to speak at our VRARA Enterprise Forum in March!

The VRARA Enterprise Forum is a very focused event for the Enterprise that will bring together the leading industry players.

Confirmed end-users/brands participating include Daimler, KLM, Medtronic, Lockheed Martin, Toyota, among others!

We expect 500+ executives and we will cover automotive, aviation, manufacturing, mining, telecoms, and address uses case/solutions such as field services, maintenance & repair operations, inspections and surveying, production operations, among others.

In addition to presentations, sessions, and demos, we will have the best-in-class online networking in groups and 1-on-1's that will enable you to connect on video or via chat with all the Speakers & Sponsors and other executives attending!

If interested to speak or sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

If you haven't yet, get tickets here today before the early-bird pricing ends!

In 2020, I attend two VRARA online forums. The networking ("speed dating" / 1-on-1 networking) was exceptional. I met CEOs and industry leaders from all over the world, and it was truly a blast! Having 5 minutes of undivided attention with industry leaders is fantastic (better than at in-person events where people can be distracted). I got 70+ leads for my business to pursue. The content and speakers were outstanding, so I'd say I totally got my money's worth. The online platform ran smoothly so I have zero complaints there. This platform does a great job of enabling you to reach key decision makers in a relaxed yet fun way. I highly recommend it."

- Cathy Edstrom Grochowski

Call for Participation: Industry Report featuring best British companies!

VR/AR Association London Chapter is producing an industry report on the UK’s Virtual and Augmented Reality ecosystem to promote British companies and organizations involved with immersive technologies and media.

The UK's immersive market is growing rapidly. We already have hundreds of companies, agencies and brands developing VR and AR solutions. This ranges from small startups to large organisations with operations in the UK developing immersive technologies for global use.

As well as this group of companies, many Universities, Research Centers, and Training Centers research, discuss and develop immersive technologies all across the country.

There is a lot of social interest, willingness and experience in creating skills and recently the expectation of implementing 5G networks in the country, which should happen in the beginning of 2021.

The potential of immersive technologies and the way they are already changing the reality in many companies and services in the UK, mainly for the end consumer, was well evidenced in the first VR/AR Global Summit Online this year, with several panels dedicated to the UK market.

Our local chapter has developed relevant partnerships with trade associations and important local institutions, such as ETSA (The European Training and Simulation Association), to join forces and work together to be even stronger and to spread immersion technology throughout the country and also looking for the European market.

Our Industry Report will specifically highlight the following:

 • Size of the UK market

 • Number of relevant companies in the UK

 • Local directory and Company info (size: number of employees, revenue; vertical, customers)

 • Reasons why company is based in the UK

 • Needs and hopes from and for the local ecosystem

Our report will be promoted via global VRARA channels and partners, which includes: Our global newsletter to over 35k emails, on our website (20K unique visitors per month), and social media (50K followers). 

If interested to Sponsor, email londonmarketing@thevrara.com

To get featured in the Report, submit your company / org info here

The United States will invest $11B USD into VR/AR, with a primary focus of military innovation. Get featured in our VRARA Defense & Intelligence Report!

Submit your info for our Report here!

“The United States will be investing as much as $11B USD by 2022 into virtual, augmented and mixed reality training systems, with extended reality becoming a primary focus of military innovation.”[1] 

Those in the Modeling & Simulation (M&S) community supporting Warfighters in the United States Military with training and operational solutions have witnessed some major shifts in the needs of the Department of Defense (DoD) over the past few years; the Covid-19 global pandemic has only accelerated these needs. 

The first is a shift from legacy technology that is outdated, expensive, immobile, and requires extensive time and funding to maintain, to the need for lighter, more agile technology that can be easily updated to remain relevant and deployed where and when the Warfighter needs it at a lower cost. This is where virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (extended reality, or XR, collectively) technology comes into play. We have seen the increase in XR technologies across industry events in recent years. 

The second shift is from the need for proprietary do-all platforms and programs, developed and run by a single defense contractor, to modern training systems with an ecosystem "toolbox" that the DoD can choose from, made of common building blocks that can integrate with each other into a modular, open systems architecture (MOSA). This openly innovative, collaborative XR training ecosystem requires a secure, digital infrastructure with open APIs/SDK that supports collaboration between companies as well as with the DoD to ensure these systems and the ecosystem as a whole are agile enough to adapt to the DoD’s evolving requirements. This need has been top of mind for DoD leaders reflected in recent US Military strategic documents.

“The U.S. Air Force must work differently with other Department of Defense stakeholders, Congress, and traditional and emerging industry partners to streamline processes and incentivize intelligent risk-taking in support of the warfighter and the Nation. Navigating the challenging times ahead requires effective collaboration among all stakeholders to acknowledge, balance, and share risk over time—now and into the future.”

— Gen. Charles Brown, Air Force Chief of Staff

Based on these shifts, I have a few predictions about the requirements and outcomes for future success of companies with XR products in the Defense sector:

• Optimize For All Users: The needs of the Warfighters must be considered as these emerging technologies are being designed and developed. This means ensuring that the user experience of the XR technology, both hardware and software, is flexible and optimized for all users. Gone are the days where technology that supported only military-aged males was good enough.

• Focus and Collaborate: Companies must continue to innovate, but with focus, to contribute the best products in their specialty, and then partner with other companies whose products are complimentary in support of a greater ecosystem. Whether your expertise lies in development of AR or VR apps, headsets, haptic gloves, AI models, instructional systems design support, etc., we predict that the most successful XR companies will be the ones that focus on what they do best and are able to collaborate well with others to provide even more optimal combined capabilities for the Warfighters.

• Create New Capabilities: Bringing all of these complimentary products and services from various companies together will create capabilities for Warfighters that would not be possible with stove-piped systems. For example, when AR and VR training apps are integrated with a secure, open, agnostic LMS platform via APIs, courses made up of multi-vendor, multi-media content can be curated, student performance data can be stored in a common data repository, and AI models can analyze this data to truly personalize learning, not just within applications, but across them.  

• Enable Rapid Innovation: This XR ecosystem of the future will include a common architecture, playbook, and open APIs, democratizing the ability to support immersive training creation and optimal use of XR technologies (e.g. using AR and VR to train different knowledge and skills as appropriate for optimal training effectiveness) so that Warfighter needs can be met at the speed of relevance.  

Ultimately, this ecosystem and pipeline of XR technology will support cutting edge training and operations and will adapt to the changing needs of the Warfighters because the companies and individuals with the best products who work closely with each other and with the DoD will rise to the top. It is certainly an exciting time to be in the XR field, especially in the Defense sector, and we at Dynepic look forward to working with many of you to Invent the Future! 

Don’t miss the opportunity to be featured in our report. Submit your info here!

Virtually yours,

Christina Padron

Director of Partnerships and Growth

Dynepic, Inc.

Open Call for Submissions: Defense & Intelligence Industry Sector Report

Submit here

You get to be featured in this report for free thanks to sponsorships from ARA and Dynepic!

Given the world’s current pandemic situation with the need for preparedness in a socially distanced world, it is imperative for our Defense and Intelligence community to have the tools to be able to deploy true-scale situational awareness, training and simulations at the time of need.

Our goal is to provide an in-depth report of immersive technology companies currently doing work in Defense & Intelligence that are able to meet the growing demands of M&S, visualization, collaboration, training solutions and beyond.

This report will be published on the VRARA and partner's sites and will be promoted to the industry globally via our Newsletter (35K+ subs), Website (20K monthly visitors), at our next VR/AR Global Summit Online, and via our partners.

Submit here

Virtual Reality Training 2021: The Year of Mobile

Where is VR training headed in 2021?

One word: mobile.

Here are our predictions for VR training next year.

Standalone headsets will become the norm for future VR training deployments
Oculus Quest 2 (see our video review), Vive Focus Plus, and Pico Neo 2 all come with enough graphical processing power to effectively simulate realistic environments and equipment.

In terms of cost, standalone or all-in-one headsets are typically less than $1,000 each (including a commercial use license).

With standalone headsets, remote and on-demand VR training become not just a possibility, but a probability.

With mobile VR joining the remote and on-demand trends, it will reduce the need for capital-intensive training rooms, SMEs and equipment.

VR training will become a full-fledged element of the standard curriculum.

When we look back at 2021, we’ll remember it as the year VR training took off.

Contact

Name: Alejandro Echeverry

Email Address: alejandro.echeverry@foundry45.com

Website URL: https://foundry45.com

Lenovo introduces Smart Glasses at CES 2021! ThinkReality A3, the Most Versatile Smart Glasses Ever Designed for the Enterprise

New Smart Glasses Enhance Productivity for the Office Professional and Industrial Worker in Small Business or Global Enterprise, and Everywhere In-between

January 10, 2021 – Today, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES®), Lenovo™ introduced the ThinkReality™ A3 lightweight smart glasses. One of the most advanced and versatile enterprise smart glasses to come to market, the ThinkReality A3 is part of a comprehensive digital solutions offering to deliver intelligent transformation in business and bring smarter technology to more people.

As increasingly distributed workforces and hybrid work models become the reality of a new normal, small and large businesses around the world are looking to adopt new technologies for smart collaboration, increased efficiency, and lower downtimes. From customized virtual monitors and 3D visualization to Augmented Reality (AR) assisted workflows and immersive training, the ThinkReality A3 helps transforms work across many levels of the enterprise.

The ThinkReality A3 tethers to a PC or select Motorola smartphones1 via a USB-C cable depending on the needs of smart workers anywhere. Versatile, portable, and comfortable, the ThinkReality A3 fits like sunglasses and can be enhanced with industrial frame options for safer and more durable use. Immersive but not isolating, the AR smart glasses are powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ XR1 Platform for high-quality performance and feature stereoscopic 1080p displays presenting the user with up to 5 virtual displays. An 8MP RGB camera provides 1080p video for remote expert use cases while the dual fish-eye cameras provide room-scale tracking.

“The A3 is a next generation augmented reality solution – light, powerful and versatile. The smart glasses are part of a comprehensive integrated digital solution from Lenovo that includes the advanced AR device, ThinkReality software, and Motorola mobile phones. Whether working in virtual spaces or supporting remote assistance, the ThinkReality A3 enhances workers’ abilities to do more wherever they are,” said Jon Pershke, Lenovo Vice President of Strategy and Emerging Business, Intelligent Device Group.

PC Edition for Virtual Monitors

The ThinkReality A3 PC Edition tethers to a laptop or mobile workstation to enable users to position multiple, large virtual monitors in their field of view and use Windows software tools and applications. Virtual monitors expand the value of PCs, creating more productivity, privacy, and immersive experiences for industries like finance, architecture and engineering, as well as for any remote and mobile worker where space and privacy are limited.

Virtual monitors are optimized and compatible with Lenovo’s leading ThinkPad laptops and mobile workstations powered by Intel and AMD Ryzen™ processors.

Industrial Edition for Enhanced Decision Making in Complex Environments

The ThinkReality A3 Industrial Edition tethers to select Motorola smartphones1 for hands-free, AR-supported tasks in complex work environments. The Industrial Edition is supported by the ThinkReality software platform, which enables commercial customers to build, deploy, and manage mixed reality applications and content on a global scale, with global support.

For use in scenarios from factory floors and laboratories to busy retail and hospitality spaces, certified turnkey applications on the ThinkReality platform powers remote assistance, guided workflows, and 3D visualization. Now, industrial workers have a light, flexible and scalable set of smart glasses to increase productivity and safety while decreasing error rates in daily tasks.

ThinkReality Ecosystem of AR/VR Solutions

Lenovo’s ThinkReality platform is helping accelerate adoption of the next generation of wearable computing — offering smarter technology to enable smarter workers. With the growing ThinkReality cloud-agnostic ecosystem of hardware and software solutions, enterprises have more choices in building and deploying mixed reality technologies to improve business.

Lenovo AR devices include the ThinkReality A3 smart glasses and A6 headset. The ThinkReality A6 features a full-featured sensor array, expandable memory, 1080p resolution waveguide optics, and a removable battery for extended use of the head mounted display.

VR use cases in the enterprise are rapidly expanding from training and simulations to immersive experiences for sales and marketing, as well as other applications. The Lenovo Mirage™ VR S3 all-in-one headset is specifically designed for enterprise and is ready to scale for global operations and is ideal for soft-skill training solutions. For advanced, high-performance mixed reality and virtual reality applications, Lenovo offers a portfolio of workstations certified to work with various Varjo XR/VR headsets and is a reseller of Varjo’s human-eye resolution solutions.

Availability
The Lenovo ThinkReality A3 smart glasses will be available in select markets worldwide starting mid-2021. Visit the ThinkReality A3 web page to find out more, or contact your local Lenovo sales representative.

Visit the Lenovo StoryHub CES press kit for images and full specs and Lenovo’s CES homepage for more details.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 63,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society. By designing, engineering and building the world’s most complete portfolio of smart devices and infrastructure, we are also leading an Intelligent Transformation – to create better experiences and opportunities for millions of customers around the world. To find out more, visit https://www.lenovo.com, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Weibo and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

1 Compatible with Motorola smartphones using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series processor or better, and DisplayPort capability.

LENOVO, THINKREALITY and LENOVO MIRAGE are trademarks of Lenovo. MOTOROLA, the Stylized M Logo, MOTO and the MOTO family of marks are trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks of Qualcomm Technologies Inc. Qualcomm Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. AMD and Ryzen are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. USB Type-C® and USB-C® are registered trademarks of USB Implementers Forum. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  ©2020, Lenovo Group Limited.

Using Virtual Reality to Leapfrog The Competition

Virtual Reality (VR) is transforming the way businesses operate, internally and for the benefit of customers. Discover the ways that VR technology can help keep you ahead of your competitors.

Upskilling or reskilling learners

With VR, you can provide a more dynamic learning and assessment experience. By immersing your learners in a lifelike environment, they can quickly and easily upskill without disturbing normal business operations. They can also practice carrying out tasks safely in this risk-free environment, e.g., learning to operate expensive machinery, such as construction equipment, or working in remote, potentially hazardous, situations – something that would impossible to do in the real world. You can also eliminate the need to have expensive, full- scale equipment prototypes that you only use for training.

VR is also having a profound impact on other sectors, such as healthcare, with medical teams successfully learning how to operate new pieces of critical equipment in a virtual, safe and risk-free environment. They are then fully prepared for when the need to use the equipment for real.

Improving knowledge retention

A study from the University of Maryland showed that learning through a VR experience increases both the quality of the learning and the retention rates, with overall improvements in recall accuracy. Using eNetReality for VR assessment means that not only can you check your learners have absorbed the material, you can be confident that you have a competent, compliant workforce who can quickly put into practice what they have learned - a major advantage for your organisation.

Helping to onboard new starts

You can use VR training with your new starts, using immersive learning simulations to bridge any skills gaps. This will bring them up to speed much faster than traditional training by giving them hands-on experience of tasks they will be expected to carry out for real. For example, new starts in the industrial sector would benefit from a virtual hazard-waste training experience before taking an assessment inside of the same VR experience, which they must pass before working with chemicals in real life.

Improving recruitment

Companies are also beginning to explore how VR might improve the interview process. By putting candidates through a virtual assessment you can check their proficiency and aptitude for the niche skills they’ll need for the role inside a consistent assessment environment. As well as this, the robust reporting capability inside eNetReality will help you gather better data during the hiring process to support your decision-making.

Measuring learner proficiency

Compared to traditional assessment methods, an assessment undertaken in VR can capture comprehensive data that can be analysed to measure learner proficiency. With VR assessments built using eNetReality you can set up reports for managers so that they can offer feedback to learners and help them adjust their behaviour accordingly.

Collaborating on a global scale

eNetReality is cloud based, so users in multiple locations around the world, e.g., various teams, experts or branches, can contribute to the creation of your VR assessment, ensuring the best possible experience for your learners.

14-day FREE Trial

With eNetReality you have everything you need to create and deliver your own VR learning and assessment experience for your workforce, helping you keep ahead of your competitors and getting the best out of your learners. It’s cost effective and easy to use, no coding experience needed. Why not experience it yourself by signing up for a 14-day FREE trial. 

Contact

Name: Allan MacLean

Email Address: allan.maclean@ecomscotland.com

Website URL: http://www.ecomscotland.com/news/using-vr-to-leapfrog-the-competition/

Cory Heizenrader appointed as Co-Chair of our VRARA Healthcare Committee

We are pleased to appoint Cory Heizenrader as Co-Chair of our VRARA Healthcare Committee.

Cory Heizenrader has consulted and collaborated over ten years with leading medical institutions and technology manufacturers such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Medtronic, Becton Dickenson, GE, Siemens, and Philips, to produce innovative and immersive digital education product solutions for accelerated learning.

My passion is to accelerate knowledge transfer and empower individuals with understanding of form and function with innovation.

- Cory

The committee is working on setting industry standards for the meaningful use of immersive technologies. We are committed to creating and sustaining the conditions that enable all healthcare practitioners to facilitate the transformative power of VR/AR to improve patient care worldwide.  We do this through our commitment to educate and unite healthcare providers around the globe on a single mission to disrupt current standards of care. The Committee is striving to become the number one network providing invaluable in- depth information for anyone looking to engage VR/AR technology for social impact within the realm of healthcare.

Attend our Online Meets, check schedule here

New Report: Mobile AR Revenue to Reach $21 Billion by 2024

ARtillery Intelligence’s report, Mobile AR Global Revenue Forecast 2019-2024 examines mobile AR’s market opportunity. Subscribe for the full report. VRARA members get a discount.

ARtillery Intelligence has released a new report that projects mobile AR revenue to grow from $3.9 billion in 2019 to $21.02 billion in 2024. Entitled Mobile AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019-2024, it dives deep on mobile AR revenue totals and subcategories – including consumer and enterprise spending.

Enterprise productivity is the leading revenue category in 2020 ($2.58 billion), followed by AR advertising ($1.41 billion) and consumer in-app purchases ($1.38 billion). The latter comes mostly from player spending in Pokémon Go. Advertising will be the leading mobile AR revenue category by 2024 ($8.02 billion) as brands continue to recognize AR's ability to demonstrate products in visually immersive and conversion-boosting ways. AR commerce-enablement software will be driven by similar factors.

"Several of these mobile AR revenue categories represent what we call AR as a Service, which are SaaS like AR offerings that enable companies to build AR experiences," said ARtillery Intelligence Chief Analyst, Mike Boland. "Those experiences can be visually-guided productivity in enterprise settings, or consumer-facing experiences -- an area we call B2B2C. In either case, these AR 'picks & shovels' will represent a large opportunity to meet the demand for democratized experience creation and accelerated time to market."

As is the case across the global economy, mobile AR sub-sectors will be impacted unevenly by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Given that software and digital products fare well in global lockdowns, the impact on mobile AR will be mostly positive. For example, quarantine-friendly consumer AR like social lenses are trending up; and social distancing compels enterprise remote-AR support.

"Covid-era dynamics will have a net-positive impact as sheltered-in entertainment, visually-enhanced shopping and socially-distanced productivity play to AR's strengths," said Boland. "This means that Covid-pressured adoption in the near term could expose the technology, thereby accelerating its longer-term sustained adoption."

Report Availability

Mobile AR Global Revenue Forecast 2019-2024 is available from ARtillery Intelligence (VRARA members can get a discount here).

About ARtillery Intelligence

ARtillery Intelligence chronicles the evolution of spatial computing, otherwise known as AR and VR. Through writings and multimedia, it provides deep and analytical views into the industry’s biggest players, opportunities and strategies. Products include the AR Insider publication and the ARtillery PRO research subscription. Research includes monthly narrative reports, market- sizing forecasts, consumer survey data and multimedia, all housed in a robust intelligence vault. To learn more, go to

Subscribe for the full report. VRARA members get a discount.

Call for Sponsors for our VRARA Education Forum in April!

This is a one day event in April. The date will be confirmed ASAP. 

The VRARA Education Forum brings together the best minds in the Virtual & Augmented Reality ecosystem in the education sector!  Meet the top vendors and end-users who are leading in this space!  

In addition to presentations, sessions, and demos, we will have the best-in-class online networking!  We will have group networking, plus, a 1-on-1 networking area that will enable you to connect on video or via chat with all the Speakers & Sponsors and other executives attending, where you can preview each other's credentials and bio, and talk business!

We expect 800+ executives from leading vendors and top end-users, education organizations, brands.

If interested to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com 

2020 Year in Review

In this final episode of 2020, we highlight some key takeaways from some of our favorite episodes! At the Everything VR/AR Podcast, our goal is to give a voice to the technologies. We are so grateful for our loyal listeners and guests! Here’s to an exciting 2021, filled with endless opportunities for collaboration, advocacy and continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible with immersive technology!

Call for Sponsors for our VRARA Enterprise Forum in March 2021!

We expect 500+ executives from top vendors and end-users/brands, rapid presentations, sessions, and best-in-class online networking! Email info@thevrara.com for more info!

Atmos VR announces £1m investment and plans to open the UK's first 4D Fully Immersive VR Venue in 2021

• Digbeth, Birmingham, chosen for new venue with eight more planned across UK

• Atmos VR providing expertise and vision for new public entertainment venture

• £1million investment secured for new VR business, expanding on B2B credentials

• Warehouse is opposite the one used to film Ready Player One

Atmos VR has announced plans to open a new multiplayer ‘free roaming’ interactive game which has been developed with post-COVID audiences in mind and will offer restricted numbers of players in socially-distanced entertainment across the one-hour shows.

The new venue in the West Midlands, will be the first of eight planned to be rolled-out across the country over the next five years. As a UK first, the venue will offer free-roaming four-dimensional experiences with senses enhanced on every level. This could include: moving floors, the ability to feel things around you, pick up and touch virtual objects in the game and smell the atmosphere.

Founder, and event technology strategist, Kevin Blair, brings long-term military and commercial expertise in the VR space that he has spent the last three years developing the concept.

Kevin Blair, explains “Atmos VR’s aim is to bring creative content to life using the latest immersive technology, constantly evolving VR and beyond and pushing the experiential boundaries of immersive experiences. According to a recent study, three-quarters (76%) of immersive entertainment companies successfully haveattendance up to 10,000 per year, meaning we can provide immersive experiences aimed at smaller audiences who are already seeking a more personal setting. 

The immersive entertainment industry was valued in 2018 at more than $4.5 billion2 globally. Currently there are around 5,700 locations worldwide where consumers can experience VR outside of their home. This number is expected to rise to 45,700 by the end of 2022.

Bob Clarke, CEO, Samahoma Media Advisors, who negotiated the £1m investment from Insight Media Fund explains: “As part of the Fund’s focus on media investments for a post-COVID world, bringing back live events is very much on its agenda and free-roaming VR provides a genuine antidote to the reasonable lingering fears people may have of being part of an uncontrolled large audience crowd. Atmos VR has developed a cutting-edge proposition with plenty of hooks for repeat visits - with the Fund’s support we believe it can be scaled for a UK-wide rollout and international franchise opportunities.”

There are five million people living in the West Midlands providing a focused audience during Tiered restrictions and Birmingham4 has been named the most entrepreneurial UK city outside of London with more than 14,500 business start-ups in 2019. Contracts have been finalised for a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse at the Custard Factory in the Digbeth Canal Corridor regeneration zone. Once the first LBE (location based entertainment) venue has been established, Atmos VR will be looking to expand across the country with locations in Tyne & Wear, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Glasgow, Cardiff and the South East being considered. 

Atmos VR is set to join the largest regional tech and digital cluster outside of London, with the West Midlands Combined Authority area now home to 66,300 people employed across 12,500 tech and digital companies. The West Midlands Region economy is worth more than £141.4 billion.

Spending in the recreation sector was £10.5 billion in the UK in 2018.  Whilst investment in the public entertainment sector has tended to focus on the heritage and family offering, there is enormous scope within the commercial sector to develop innovative and targeted high tech experiences for gamers and other younger audiences. The Fund hopes to help unlock opportunities in this sector.

What Makes a Great Virtual Reality Experience? Top 7 things to consider

In the era of digital devices, we have the opportunity to enable better learning with technology, such as using a Virtual Reality (VR) experience to train your workforce.

This is not just the latest fad. It’s an extremely powerful tool for training, helping learners to more easily absorb knowledge and dramatically boost retention rates. However, to do this well, there are certain things you need to get right.

So here’s our top 7 things to consider when creating VR content, to help your learners get the most from the experience. 

1. Content is still important

VR education transforms the way content is delivered but it still has to be beneficial content for your learners and you need to make sure they are truly getting what they need from their VR experience. Remember you want to utilize the capabilities of VR technology not just create a 360 quiz that looks fancy.

2.Consider the length of your course

Time is a valuable commodity so make sure the length of the learning experience is appropriate for your learner's needs. Consider a shorter, more focused VR experience to improve learner retention. This will also stop learner fatigue: the learner becoming overwhelmed and unfocused.

3. Think about how things are reported

It’s important to know what reporting is being pulled from the experience- our product eNetReality can capture a lot of data and it’s worth taking the time to define what you want when creating the experience so that you get what you need from the reports. eNetReality has the option to do xAPI reporting, so you can get data that’s as granular as you like. It’s also worth making sure you understand what the data is telling you- this is an important piece that adds a lot of value.

4. Consider your footage material

Make sure the footage you use is as true to life as possible- get footage from the actual scene if at all possible. Simulations can be helpful but a simulated experience created from 3D models of being on top of a structure, e.g., a bridge and 360 footage of being on top of one are completely different. 

5. Teach new skills

VR actually helps learners learn in a different way by making the connectors in the brain stronger because your brain thinks you’re actually doing the task. As you can perform a task within the safe environment of your VR experience, it opens the door to learners trying things out for themselves and learning a new skill with no risk. It allows you to train people on the most complex equipment with no consequences.

6. Instructions are Vital

It’s important to make sure you set the user up with instructions. VR is still new to many people which is why it’s so exciting. Ensure they have a good experience by setting expectations and giving proper instructions on how to get started such as setting up the area for the VR experience. If individuals are using it with a headset, ensure they know how to set up a space and whether they should be standing or sitting. We've all seen those videos of Wii controllers flying into TVs; let’s not make that happen!

eNetReality offers cross-platform deployability which means people can take the experience on a phone, or with headsets such as google cardboard or oculus quest.

7. Don’t go overboard

Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Make sure the VR experience is easy to use and understand.  VR is here to enhance the experience not overcomplicate it.  By following the above points you will be on the road to VR success and a better way of learning.

Try it for yourself

eNetReality™ gives you everything you need to create and deliver your own VR learning and assessment experiences for your workforce. Why not try it for yourself with our FREE 14-day trial.

Contact:

Name: Allan MacLean

Email Address: allan.maclean@ecomscotland.com

Website URL: https://ecomscotland.com/news/what-makes-a-great-vr-experience/