Reality+'s Cinematic VR Piece "The Werewolf Experience" to be featured in the Fantastic Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival and Market. On display from May 16th-24th Reality+ and Belgium production company The Pack will share a booth and exhibition of their work in the Rivera pavilion booth J1.
"Such an amazing opportunity to showcase our piece at the grandest festival and market in the world," said Christopher Morrison the founder of Reality+ and the director of the piece. "Showcasing narrative VR is a tough sell and we're thrilled that the awesome people behind the Fantastic Pavilion allowed us space for a narrative VR piece."
The Werewolf Experience is a branching narrative where the user plays as a werewolf running through 1850's gold rush California. The user is trying to catch the holy white stag in order to cure themselves of their lycanthropy but the townspeople know your secret and are chasing you while you chase the stag. The Werewolf Experience also features a unique immersive element... the user must use their own voice to howl like a wolf in order to trigger the branches in the story. Their decisions lead to one of three endings.
See you in Cannes!
Vivoka challenges the voice assistant giants with its offline solution
Paris, France. April 11, 2023.Written by Anaïs DAUFFER
Vivoka is announcing an NLU (Natural Language Understanding) technology that is as powerful as the cloud, but running in an embedded voice assistant. In doing so, Vivoka is challenging the biggest in voice technology such as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant as the French company stands out for its ability to operate offline and thus advocate data protection and Green IT.
An almost human voice assistant?
The NLU (natural language understanding) allows voice assistants to understand any vocal command as long as the user’s intention is clear. Today, artificial intelligence pushes the limits of what is possible by allowing real interactions between humans and machines.
The voice assistant focuses on the intention and not on the words in particular. The machine, which learns from examples, will refine its understanding to interact more easily, quickly and widely with humans; this is called Machine Learning. Until now, embedded voice assistants have included predefined phrases and voice commands could not go outside of this framework.
“The current boundaries of embedded voice assistants lie in their limited ability to understand complex sentences. The NLU we’re working on will enable tomorrow’s assistants to not only perform as well as those available in the cloud, but also limit energy impact and protect our customers’ data.” said William Simonin, Vivoka’s co-founder and CEO.
The particularity of Vivoka, since the creation of its VDK (Voice Development Kit), is the fact that everything is offline (embedded). Indeed, the voice assistants, implemented in any device, can be used without an internet connection, which allows a total independence on the final product. This independence already takes effect in the development of Vivoka, which does not use any external components for this version of its software.
The disconnection mainly reduces the impact of data and data storage on the environment. Vivoka’s digital sobriety allows its customers to meet their sustainability goals while having a voice assistant as powerful as those connected.
The power of the cloud but embedded?
Vivoka is the first company to achieve this!
“It was time to bring to the industry and to consumer electronic devices, the possibility to control their interfaces by voice, without having to make them dependent on the Internet, for a secure and operational use instantly. Well, it’s done with our voice development software VDK. In 2023, Vivoka brings embedded voice control to life with revolutionary AI functionality.” – confirms Emmanuel Chaligné, Product Director.
Many sectors, such as defense, industry, logistics or even household appliances, cannot depend on an internet-connected solution. As a result, the demand from players in these sectors is growing. Vivoka is not only established in France but worldwide thanks to this not so widespread technology. The development of this functionality based on natural language seemed logical to them:
“Today we export our VDK technology to all five continents and are present in many industrial sectors. We know the demand. Our partners have been waiting for a long time for a high-performance solution that allows their users to talk naturally to their systems, without going through the Internet. The technical barrier that we are going to remove with the first embedded NLU will make this possible. This was the logical next step in our development. It will allow Vivoka to show that the cloud is not an obligation, and that a company should not have to choose between performance and data protection.” says William Simonin.
Here are two examples of how an embedded NLU can be used:
Professional setting:
Voice implemented in dental office chairs will allow practitioners to naturally and easily control patient height and tilt.
The NLU will enable next generation robots to be equipped with speech. Voice is a natural interaction and robots will be able to replicate human actions in many fields such as education, industry or health.
Private setting:
In the future, household appliances will be controlled by voice without the need for the house to be connected and without an internet connection for these appliances. Users will not need to learn ready-made phrases, they will be able to speak naturally, as they would with other humans.
These are only 3 examples among many sectors concerned such as: IoT (internet of things), connected home, transport, logistics, education, connected glasses/headsets, robotics, defense and health.
About VIVOKA
Vivoka is a global leader in voice AI technologies founded in 2015. Thanks to its VDK (Voice Development Kit), Vivoka offers an all-in-one solution that enables any company to create its own high-performance, secure embedded/offline voice assistant in record time. Vivoka has won several innovation awards and has established leading partnerships with major players in the voice market. Vivoka has a portfolio of more than 100 customers from all major industries and is pursuing its goal of bringing people closer to technology through voice.
Press contact:
Floriane Bret
Communication officer
floriane.bret@vivoka.com
L’association VR/AR nomme Ingrid Maes de Vivoka présidente France
L’association internationale VR/AR vient de nommer Ingris Maes de Vivoka présidente de l’antenne française.
Avec plus de 16 ans d’expérience dans la reconnaissance vocale, Ingrid Maes est nommée présidente France de l’association mondiale VR/AR. Elle occupe également le poste de responsable des ventes pour l’entreprise messine Vivoka. «Je suis honorée d'avoir été choisie comme présidente de l'antenne française de l'organisation VR/AR», déclare Ingrid Maes. «Plusieurs clients dans le domaine de la réalité augmentée font déjà confiance à Vivoka, notamment Ama, Vuzix, Rokid, Digilens ou encore Augmentalis. Ces derniers utilisent le VDK Vivoka pour implémenter la synthèse vocale ou encore la biométrie vocale dans des lunettes connectées. Notre mission chez Vivoka et celle que j’aurai au sein de la VR/AR est de rapprocher naturellement l’homme de la technologie, notamment grâce à la voix», poursuit-elle. Cette nouvelle présidente de l’association a été présente à la conférence Immerse Global Summit du 5 au 7 décembre à Miami. L’objectif étant de présenter les dernières innovations de Vivoka en matière de technologie vocale autour de la réalité augmentée et virtuelle.
Zoom sur l’association
Créée en 2015, l’association VR/AR est une institution mondiale conçue pour favoriser la collaboration entre fournisseurs de solutions et les utilisateurs finaux, afin d’accélérer la croissance et aider à développer les meilleurs pratiques du secteur. Elle regroupe les meilleures têtes pensantes de la réalité virtuelle et augmentée, avec des antennes dans les principales villes du monde visant à développer des normes et à connecter les membres.
Recap of our French XR Village at SIDO 2020
Our French XR Village at SIDO 2020 united the French sector and promoted it to the world (more on the upcoming business and international commission very soon!). We had the Microsoft Hololens France, Minsar, Ino-VR and the AFXR team, Speedernet, LIGHT & SHADOWS, France Immersive Learning, Novelab, Sphere, Novelab, TechViz Synergiz, among others!
Join our VRARA France Chapter today!
AR in the sports industry: How teams & leagues can engage fans remotely using augmented reality & live statistics
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/
VR/AR France Ecosystem Report. See how 61 companies in France are advancing VR AR for us all! (New Report)
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.”
Marc Bringuier
Director of Augmented Reality
PTC Vuforia
LAST CALL – Just over 24hrs left to submit for Aurea Award in Immersive Entertainment
The next Aurea Award ceremony and professional conference will take place on Jan. 15 - 16, 2020 at Europa-Park, where shortlisted state of the art experiences will not only show where the industry is all headed, but will also be pitched live on stage in front of an all-star Jury. All stakeholders from the entertainment sector from startups to investors, and creatives to corporates are invited to get involved and help the community grow.
Interested in applying? Submissions are open until midnight November 15, 2019!
Interested in attending? By invitation only. Request a spot here.
About Aurea Award
With just 5 AUREA awards up for grabs, film projects, music experiences, live events, games, mixed reality experiences as well as enabling technologies receive center stage in front of a crowd VR & AR enthusiasts. Besides showcasing and awarding the most exciting products and experiences, the conference also delivers thought-leader talks, candid discussions on panels and a slew of workshops, while leaving room plenty of room for networking and enjoyment. In the setting of one of the world's leading theme parks, the conference offers multiple opportunities for groundbreakers to be heard and seen, to connect to the most relevant pioneers in the ecosystem and to become a part of the vibrant AUREA community.
https://aurea-award.com/
About VRARA
The VR/AR Association is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4500 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and more than 20 committees are working on best practices and guidelines for the industry.
https://www.thevrara.com/
Call for Participation and Sponsors for the VR/AR France Ecosystem Report!
If you’re interested in being featured in this report or sponsoring it, please email info@thevrara.com
The ecosystem report is a simple yet effective way to show what’s happening in France to the world. It will be distributed through the global VRARA network, grabbing attention on a global level with proof that there's something to say about VR/AR in France. We would like to invite you to be part of this report!
You can see reports for other Ecosystems that have been already published here:
About VR/AR Association
The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4000 companies, brands, schools and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and 20 industry committees are working on best practices & guidelines for the industry. Learn more at thevrara.com
