Boeing, the US Postal Service Inspector General and Aisle411 took the stage at the first VR/AR Association Chapter Event in St. Louis on February 11th. Nearly 100 attendees turned out to Venture Cafe to see live augmented reality and virtual reality demos, and hear from some of the leaders who are building and deploying solutions in the market.
John Chicoli who oversees training systems at Boeing discussed how his team is using the latest VR technology to save potentially millions of dollars, while at the same time enhancing training programs. The power of new VR technology allows Boeing to perform training exercises that previously costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and months to build, and now execute for hundreds of dollars and days to build.
Lisa Nieman of the US Postal Service Inspector General discussed how their team is deploying augmented reality experiences to physical mail - which leads to more engagement and more sales for marketers. Ms. Nieman also showcased how the USPS is looking to leverage augmented reality for their workforce, with the implications potentially saving tens of millions of dollars annually.
Matthew Kulig of Aisle411 demonstrated some of the latest applications of Google's Project Tango technology and how brands and retailers are using the technology to create more engagement, more traffic to their aisles, better customer service, and ultimately more sales.
Also attending the event were several new technology, design, university and journalism organizations that are transforming the VR and AR market. StoryUP VR, based in Columbia, MO was demo'ing some of their VR journalism, taking you on an emotional ride all over the globe through their immersive storytelling. The University of Missouri (MU) attended the event and is preparing to launch a VR lab to facilitate research and development coming out of the university. And new start-up MojiLab based in St. Louis, MO with recent funding from Cultivation Capital attended the event. Mojilab creates 2D, 3D and VR shortform content optimized for social media. Mojilab's technology has been used by the likes of Fast Company, and likely many more to come.
Overall, the energy at the Chapter event was off the charts and I'm looking forward to our next St. Louis Chapter event in April -- stay tuned!
Below is the opening remarks presentation:
