A year of immersion: A look back at the Portugal chapter in 2023

2023 was a truly exciting year for the immersive technology community in Portugal, marked by a series of events and launches that significantly boosted our sector. In this article, I'd like to highlight the events held throughout the year, bringing together enthusiasts, experts and partner companies.

The first highlight goes to the meeting at Startup Lisboa headquarters, where a mix of communities had the opportunity to explore the latest innovations in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. The participation of startups and collaboration with Startup Lisboa allowed for a valuable exchange of knowledge, opening doors for future partnerships.

Another crucial moment took place at the Axians facilities, where technological advances and practical use cases for immersive applications were discussed with Portuguese use cases. The presence of experts not only from Axians but also from SAP, Infinite Foundry and Metaphoric offered an in-depth look at the integration of these technologies into corporate solutions.

The community also gathered at CapGemini, fostering a vibrant environment for local startups to present their VR and AR innovations. This meetup not only strengthened our network of entrepreneurs, but also highlighted the growth potential of local startups. 

To wrap up the year, the traditional end-of-year dinner, held as a WebSummit side event in November, provided a relaxed atmosphere to reflect on the year's achievements. The presence of renowned professionals and enthusiasts further strengthened our ecosystem. 

Throughout 2023, we saw a variety of significant releases in the immersive technology field. These advances contributed to the exponential growth of the Portuguese immersive ecosystem, opening up new opportunities and fostering greater integration between members of the community.

Supported by these events and launches, the community sees an even more promising 2024 with new possibilities based on new devices such as Meta Quest 3, Apple Vision Pro and others already announced on the market, which has started off on the right foot.

More events, collaborations and incredible productions are expected to come out of our community, consolidating Portugal as an innovative centre in the global immersive technology scene. 

We would also like to highlight and thank the continuity of great partners such as APDC, Lisboa Games Week, where we participated for the third year in Portugal's biggest gaming event, and SapoTEK, which is still going strong.

Want to know more about joining our chapter? Contact us!


Another great meetup at Lisbon!

Guest post by VRARA Portugal.

Guess what? We just had another great VRARA Meetup right here in Lisbon, and it was a blast! Capgemini took the spotlight as our host, and it was a night filled with immersive tech excitement.

We had a fantastic mix of participants, from industry pros to academic enthusiasts. This diversity allowed us to dive deep into the latest developments within our local tech ecosystem. It's amazing to see how Lisbon is becoming a hub for immersive tech innovation!

But you know what the best part was? Networking! We connected with some incredible folks, the connections that can really supercharge the growth and development of our market. It's all about learning from each other, sharing ideas, and building partnerships.

And here's the juicy part - we're gearing up for the next event, which is just around the corner. You definitely don't want to miss it! Stay in the loop by following us on our social media platforms:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/40816550/admin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VRARAPortugal
- X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/VRARAPortugal
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vrarapt/

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VRARAssociationPortugal


Join us for the next immersive tech adventure and be part of the action. Let's keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible in Lisbon's immersive tech scene!

VRARA Portugal Chapter: We are back with our local meetups!

Technology meetups have become a crucial component of developing local ecosystems in the technology industry. These events bring together professionals, curious individuals, business and technology developers, and other ecosystem agents to learn from one another and exchange experiences through networking. The knowledge-sharing that takes place at these events can lead to new collaborations, business opportunities, and ultimately drive the growth of the industry.

After a long break from in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to announce the return of technology meetups in Lisbon. Our events, as always focus on Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and the metaverse, technologies that are changing the way we interact with the world. Attendees have the opportunity to connect with industry experts, learn about the latest advancements in the field, and network with like-minded individuals.

We invite everyone to join us for this exciting event and be a part of the technology community in Lisbon. Whether you are a professional in the industry, a curious individual looking to learn more, or a business developer seeking new opportunities, this event is for you. Follow our social profiles now to receive update about future events and be a part of the future of technology.

Check out some photos from our second event of 2023 at Axians in Lisbon with speakers from Axians, SAP, Infinite Foundry and Metaphoric!



Download our Portugal Ecosystem Report featuring over 100 companies. Thank you NOS for sponsoring!

Foreword by VRARA Portugal

Thank you for your interest in Portugal’s VR/AR ecosystem!

We are thrilled to publish this report after a year full of challenges – a special thanks to our sponsor NOS for endorsing our efforts in connecting the ecosystem and making this happen. Cheers!

Through this report, you will access a list of VR/AR stakeholders active in Portugal and, although we are aware this is not a complete list, the quantity (almost 100) and diversity of players in Portugal showcase how positively this market has evolved in recent years.

Hopefully, these numbers and diversity will grow in 2021, along with the VR/AR market worldwide: 5G is rolling out, allowing for new, exciting VR/AR use cases; VR headsets price point is decreasing, while their availability is on the rise and most smartphone makers are now launching smartglasses models.

Besides infrastructure and hardware, VR/AR applications are becoming more and more common in the B2B segment. Of course, this creates a huge demand for VR/AR specific skill sets – and even creates new job profiles.

Moreover, more startups are popping up within the immersive space, looking for smart money, mentorship and all kinds of support to have a better and longer runway, while they prove their business concept and start new investment rounds.

Finally, academic and corporate research centers are now, again more than ever, aware of the transformational opportunity immersive technologies carry and their role in developing knowledge-based solutions.

And of course, to leverage these opportunities, whilst coping with the pandemic, immersive tech businesses are looking to reduce risks in their investment.

Portugal can help with that.

Albeit being a small country,Portugal’s talent pool attracts international professionals looking for a peaceful and stable country, with a muti-cultural background and a high quality of life.

From digital nomads, that find organized peer communities ready to embrace them, to portuguese-speaking talent abroad, that seek to enter other markets and a multicultural setting to develop new language skills. Oh, and we are ranked #7 globally on the English Proficiency Index.

Sitting on the edge of Europe, Portugal has a closer timezone to the American continent than any other country in theEU, which makes it easier to enter the European market throughPortugal, if you’re coming fromCanada, the United States or Mexico. Through theVR/AR Association, we keep in contact with several of these countries’ chapters to streamline partnerships or requests.

Our connection to Brazil is also very important and not just due to our cultural similarities–more and more organizations are looking to tap into a 200+million people market throughPortugal and we are also creating cooperation opportunities with VRARA Brazil.

There are official co-investment opportunities and pre-established partnerships that can help in several ways to soften your landing in our ecosystem. Just reach out to us.

Also, a major thank you to our main partner APDC, that enables and accelerates all our activities - like this report - through its VR/AR section.

You are also invited to attend our webinars and monthly meetups, taking place on the last Thursday of every month.

2021 is only the first year of a decade where 3D content will become the norm. Virtual reality and augmented reality professionals will have a profound impact on how we work, interact with others and even perceive the world. For all the reasons presented before, we firmly believePortugal is a great setting to setup technical, business development and research teams in immersive technologies and we do look forward to a decade where more and more corporate groups, startups and research organizations make that happen.

Have a wonderful year and here’s looking forward to our next report!

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Anesio Neto

portugal@thevrara.com

Luis Bravo Martins

luis@thevrara.com

Tiago Loureiro

tiago@thevrara.com

 

A Word from NOS

With the launch of 5G in Portugal, a new era of digitalization begins where national companies will be able to take advantage of technology to optimize their business and create new disruptive experiences for their customers. Tools like VR/AR are central to this new era, marked by an exponential increase in information consumption and new, immersive formats for it.

Imagining the future has never been easy, but in the case of VR/AR, we have long been witnessing small projects and innovations that surely allow us to unravel not only part of the future but what is already possible to do today. The development we have observed in this area has been exponential, with the maturity of both technologies moving from concepts to ‘ready-to-deploy' in very few years. With 5G, we see the missing piece: a network capable of guaranteeing high levels of experience with total mobility, scale implementations and a reliability unavailable until now.

In the near future, we will undoubtedly see these technologies entering our lives and business operations. Being able to start first, learn without fear and choose the right partners will be decisive for national companies to take advantage of this transformation, in order to differentiate themselves and gain competitive advantages.

NOS is proud to belong to this national ecosystem, helping companies and developers to implement innovative projects capable of driving the country's digital transformation.

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Bringing back the Past with Augmented Reality

Through the X-Plora app, visitors to the historical village of Almeida are now able to travel 200 years into the past and visit the extinct Castle, the inhabitants, the troops and, thus, have a better perception of how everything was in the 19th century.

The X-Plora team embarked on a mission to recreate some key elements of the village. The Castle was entirely digitally recreated. Now visitors can see a recreation and even walk inside one of his old tunnels. A military camp was also recreated, offering a 360º experience and the old monastery of Senhora Loreto was also reconstituted. And these are just 3 of the kind of experiences you're bound to get with X-Plora!

Contact

Name: Mafalda Ricca

Email Address: hello@goxplora.com

Website URL: http://www.goxplora.pt

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

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

Interview: "More people now do 'Social Virtual Reality' because they feel isolated at home"

Participate in our next Online Summit in Sept, click here!

In the last year, Augmented Reality has become mainstream with the effects promoted by Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok and the big companies are betting on the technology. The COVID-19 pandemic was also an accelerator, says Kris Kolo in an interview with SAPO TeK.

Kris Kolo is the global executive director of the VR / RA Association, which last week organized the VR / AR Global Summit Online global conference , 24 hours online, for three days, in three time zones, with almost 12 thousand participants. In the meantime, he still had time to be able to answer some questions from SAPO TEK, and share his enthusiasm and vision about the growth of emerging technologies, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and expectations with 5G.

“In the past year, Augmented Reality has become mainstream with the AR effects of Facebook / Snapchat / Instagram / TikTok and is the most engaging marketing solution for brands,” explained Kris Kolo, looking at the accelerated way in which the context is changing. Virtual Reality also gains space in companies and schools.

"MANY ORGANIZATIONS, FROM GIANTS LIKE WALMART TO SMALL COMPANIES, USE VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF THEIR EMPLOYEES, AND VR IS ALSO VERY POPULAR IN SCHOOLS IN THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT", HE STRESSES.

Growth and potential are also evident on the consumption side, which highlights the reduction in price and quality of content as drivers of a revolution in progress. “Let's compare VR headsets to game consoles like Sony's PlayStation or Microsoft's Xbox. It took years for each of the companies to be able to sell millions of these pieces of equipment, which meanwhile have become commonplace in most homes, ”says Kris Kolo. VR headsets are becoming cheaper, better technically and with better content, but even so “it will take a few more years before we see an adoption of high consumption to virtual reality.

As with digital transformation, where the COVID-19 pandemic is seen as a major accelerator, in immersive technology this also happens. “With COVID-19 I think more people are now doing 'Social Virtual Reality' because they feel isolated at home and alone, and they want to meet with other people in a safe way. And Virtual Reality is in fact an excellent social solution to maintain the 'social distance' ”, says the executive director of the VR / RA Association.

Where is the money in Augmented and Virtual Reality?

The main investment in immersive technologies is coming from the side of industrial solutions and this is where Kris Kolo admits that there will be a higher return on investment (ROI). Remote collaboration tools are growing, and many companies have realized that telecommuting can become the new normal, with video conferencing standing out, which can be a new development opportunity for virtual and augmented reality.

The potential of 5G has not been overlooked, and the executive who has accumulated several years of experience in this area recalls that new generation network technology will allow mobility and “have AR / RV with more data, more capacity and more speed”, the which joins the low latency required in critical applications, such as distance surgery.

It is with positive expectations that Kris Kolo looks at the new scenario that presents itself for immersive technologies, recognizing its growth potential also in Portugal, where VRARA Portugal already lists more than 100 companies working in this segment. This was one of the reasons why Portugal had been chosen to host the Summit, which ended up taking place online and which can now be revisited through the various talks and debates that have been recorded and are available online.

Original source (in Portugeese)

Participate in our next Online Summit in Sept, click here!

VR / AR Global Summit arrives in Europe to Lisbon. SAPO TEK interview with Anne-Marie Enns

Apply to speak, exhibit, sponsor and get tickets here for the VR/AR Global Summit Europe in Libson!!

The annual North America event expands for the first time around the world and Lisbon was chosen to speak about virtual and augmented reality!

Despite the connotation of virtual reality to video games and entertainment experiences, technology is increasingly a tool for creating technological solutions implemented in the B2B market. As technology has evolved, becoming more powerful, less expensive and freeing itself from the cables that attached them to computers, VR and augmented reality headsets are solving problems in people's lives and helping companies with their digital transformation.

Tiago Loureiro demonstrates an application that creates a virtual meeting room.

Tiago Loureiro demonstrates an application that creates a virtual meeting room.

In the training area, where it is impossible to have a specialized technician to train new employees, everything can be done remotely, physically away, but virtually in the same room. And whoever speaks in teaching, it can be a qualified technician or a doctor giving precious instructions through a non-physical presence .

VR / AR Global Summit to be held in Lisbon in June

Portugal already has an association, or rather, it is one of the chapters of the VR / AR Association (VRARA), an ecosystem that brings together people, start-ups and companies to create innovative solutions in virtual and augmented reality for business application. VRARA is considered the largest association of virtual and augmented reality, with 4,500 companies, brands and schools and over 29K professionals registered. Its function is to create guides for the best practices in the use of AR / VR technology. Its members come from all areas, not exclusively technological, to support the creation of value for the community, which include meetings between producers and technology enthusiasts.

In Portugal, the association led by Tiago Loureiro, one of the Portuguese gurus in matters of virtual reality, current senior developer at Exit Games (company that created the Photon multiplayer engine); and Luís Bravo Martins, from IT People Group, promotes monthly meetings, giving the voice to its members when presenting projects and exchanging ideas and knowledge.

It was mentioned that there are more than 85 companies in Portugal creating AR / VR projects. However, Portugal is still considered a second-tier country, and therefore, according to Luís Bravo Martins, it is necessary to work to gain recognition abroad.

This week a very special meeting was held at Fujitsu's “home” in Colombo (which also has an AR solution developed for EDP), to officially announce the arrival in Portugal of the VR / AR Global Summit event that is held annually in Vancouver, Canada. The collider of the VR / AR Association and organizer of the technological event, Anne-marie Enns, was present to reveal a little more than can be expected in this first edition out of doors. The event will take place at the LX Factory during 1-2 June in anticipation of the 2020 edition of Vancouver, to be held on 17-18 September.

Anne-marie Enns, Tiago Loureiro and Luís Bravo Martins of the VR / AR Association.

Anne-marie Enns, Tiago Loureiro and Luís Bravo Martins of the VR / AR Association.

Anne-marie Enns highlights the experiences that small producers and companies are doing, and 500 companies are expected to participate in this first year in Portugal. There will be a pitch contest, whose companies can register from March, with cash prizes. “We are very excited to bring this event from Vancouver to Lisbon”. The ticket price will be 199 euros for non-members, and about 99 euros for members, values ​​yet to be confirmed. The event was scheduled to take place in Lisbon last year, but not all the necessary conditions were met, being postponed to 2020.The organization is also open to speakers who have stories and experiences about AR / VR technology. Those interested can apply, undergoing filtration, cured directly by Anne-marie Enns. Luís Bravo Martins shared his experience in Vancouver last year, highlighting the environment of uncompromised conversations, but highly focused on looking for business opportunities. There are also the so-called Speed ​​Dates, in which the participants have an opportunity to exchange impressions, for a maximum of three minutes, with other people connected to the technology.

During the presentation in Portugal, SAPO TEK had the opportunity to talk to Anne-marie Enns about the event and the state of AR / VR technology.

What is your background and how did you get in touch with AR / VR technology, as well as the idea for the event?I was an event producer for 20 years, but in 2012 I made contact for the first time with technology in general with the production of a big hacking meet up in Vancouver. After that, I was offered a place in the production of a VR consumer event in 2016, with a company called Archiact in Vancouver, which I was connected to for two years. After that we worked to transform the event into something more focused on companies, more focused on B2B than on consumption, which is what we have been doing for the last four or five years at the VR / AR Global Summit.

Why a more focused B2B focus?

When we did the first consumer event, VR was something new. So we had about 5 or 10,000 people at the event, who had never experienced VR. The first two years were very good, but then we felt that we were dying, as it was no longer new, in addition to the fact that the content and video games were not keeping up with technological developments. So Archiact decided not to hold this event anymore, focusing only on producing VR games.

With your blessing, I took the idea and turned it into what is currently the VR / AR Global Summit, a business event. And it became very popular, even though games and entertainment were not excluded, but it also had hardware, solutions, software, immersive art, education, training, and others, covering almost the entire spectrum. In the last year we have had user cases, good practices, how to use technology to practice good actions, bringing renowned companies and organizations, such as NASA, to the event.

Do you have any idea how much the AR / VR market can currently be worth?

I don't have the exact numbers, and I don't want it to be badly recorded, but at the last event in Vancouver, we noticed a big difference with the launch of Oculus Quest, with a large number of people using and showing business user cases, because it is wireless he sees. The price of the equipment has also gone down, which facilitates its access. There are many solutions in the training area, but there are also many video game producers who have switched to the business side of training, because it is the business where the money is. They say that the industry can become multibillion-dollar and create thousands of jobs.

Do you think technology is still in its infancy?

It all depends on where you are. It is funny that Portugal has been at the level of Vancouver for five years, but much more creative. Vancouver is the second largest technological ecosystem in the world, behind San Francisco, but although it is not exempt from its problems, it has seen a large government investment. There are countries like Portugal, which are starting to open innovation hubs and train people, and to bring universities on board, so they have a greater advantage than starting from scratch.

Portugal has already started to invest and has more advantages than other companies in Europe, due to the low cost of living, innovations, and it is important to show these projects on global stages, what they have to offer. It is like the Vancouver event, which showed the world what local businesses and start-ups had to offer.

And why did you choose Lisbon for the event, it is the first city outside Vancouver?

Yes it is the first and I chose Lisbon for several reasons. The culture and innovation here is fantastic, creativity is magic. There are so many things being done here that you don't even dream of in North America, and are far ahead of other places. It is also a very beautiful destination to attract people, very appealing. There are many events taking place in northern Europe or in Germany and the Netherlands, but there is something magical happening here. There are already made products here, but also pitches with good ideas.

For you, what is the practical future of AR / VR systems?

It will be quite common when training people. I have seen it used a lot in education and in the medical field. It will be interesting to see distance training in the future, even if people need that physical contact, that's why there are mixed reality solutions. But in terms of training their jobs, systems like HoloLens have been used for more technical learning, such as defense and aerospace. In terms of culture it is very important, as I know that last year we had speeches by specialists who trained soldiers about to go into battle on cultural approach, so that they are sensitive and attentive to cultures. UNESCO has used it to showcase historical cultural sites, poverty and climate change. They’re using VR as a medium for storytelling.

What will 5G introduce in AR / VR systems?

I think it will really be a “game changer”, when we work with speeds without lag. If we have the technology, the speed and the content, we will have a perfect experience. Headsets continue to evolve, we have already reached the wireless generation, and will continue to change to be less intrusive, like smart glasses, which are easier to use.

A virtual reality experiment recently appeared, in which a mother interacted with a virtual version of her deceased daughter. Do you think that the future of VR can pass through interactive memories?

I saw it, and it really bothered me, as a mother, I think that nothing replaces the real touch, and the real emotions. I think it might work for some people as an escape mechanism, but I think it draws a very fine line, and I was not comfortable seeing that experience. I don't consider this to be a great innovation provided by VR. Brain surgery is an innovation, not this. This bothered me, ethically.

Source

Call for Participation in the Portugal Ecosystem Report

If interested to get featured or to sponsor, email portugal@thevrara.com

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) Portugal Chapter is producing an industry report on the country's VR/AR ecosystem to promote Portuguese companies and organizations involved with immersive technologies and media.


The report will specifically highlight the following:

  • Size of the market

  • Number of relevant companies in region

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

  • Reasons why company is based in the region

  • Needs and hopes from and for the regional ecosystem

Our report will be promoted via VRARA channels and our partners, which includes: 
Our global newsletter to 27.000 emails, on our website (20.000 unique visitors per month), and social media (1M user reach), over 70 events around the world.

See examples of our publications here:

If interested to get featured or to sponsor, email portugal@thevrara.com