VRARA Welcomes Hugh Hayden! Our new SF Chapter President!

We’re excited to welcome Hugh Hayden as the new President of the VR/AR Association (VRARA)'s San Francisco Chapter! Hugh brings a wealth of experience from his time at Niantic, Inc., where he’s spent over three years driving innovation in augmented reality. Currently, as Senior Director of Platform Go to Market, he’s been leading strategic initiatives to launch Niantic’s latest platforms and bring engaging AR experiences to a wider audience. 

Before stepping into his current role, Hugh made a significant impact as Director and Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, where he built key collaborations that helped expand Niantic’s AR reach. His earlier role as Senior Manager, Head of Strategic Partnerships, saw him leading major projects that paved the way for groundbreaking partnerships.

We’re thrilled to have Hugh’s leadership and vision guiding the San Francisco Chapter, and we can’t wait to see how he’ll contribute to our mission of growing the VR/AR community through collaboration and innovation. Join us in giving him a warm welcome! Learn more at www.thevrara.com

VR/AR Association (VRARA) | Nathan Pettyjohn | John A. Cunningham | Ariane Fikki | Meg Amsden | Kris Kolo | Gerard Feliciano | #VRARA #VRARASF #VR #AR #XR #Innovate

Beyond Inclusion Scholarship Program: Apply Now And Start Your XR Career in 2024

Apply here

San Francisco, CA, September 2023 - Announcing the continuation of the Beyond Inclusion Scholarship, an ambitious initiative aimed at leveling the playing field in the XR industry. We're joining forces with Jobs for the Future (JFF) and Unity in 2024. Our collective mission? Tear down any financial barrier and unlock doors for ambitious XR talent.

Target Impact: Supporting 150 XR Talents to Find a Job in the XR Industry

We're dedicated to supporting at least 150 future XR trailblazers each year. The XR Bootcamp pipeline nurtures raw talent and cultivates skilled professionals, offering our partner employers a highly skilled and diverse talent pool.

Reshaping XR Industry with Beyond Inclusion Scholarship

Aligned with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we seek underrepresented talents to make their mark in the XR world. It’s not just about inclusivity; it's about reshaping the industry's future.

Unity’s Stamp on Social Impact

As Jessica Lindl, VP Education & Social Impact at Unity, puts it,

Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to equip young people with the skills necessary for future jobs – providing them with learning that translates to earning.

Why XR Bootcamp?

Rahel Demant, Co-Founder of XR Bootcamp, breaks it down:

Having empowered hundreds of students to thrive in XR since 2020, we've cracked the code on success in the industry. We've fine-tuned a proven upskilling journey in partnership with award-winning XR studios. And now, our Beyond Inclusion program connects graduates with job opportunities and drives diversity and inclusion within hiring companies.

Why We Need Diversity in XR Industry?

Many reports and studies show that high disparities still exist in the XR industry today. According to the latest PEC (Policy and Evidence Centre) report on the creative industries, “class-based inequalities are inextricably linked with gender, racial, disability and spatial disparities,” and earlier research by the PEC has shown how these factors interact to compound disadvantage. Specifically looking at the immersive sector in 2018, the quantitative analysis highlighted that only 14% of VR companies had female directors.

Testimonials from 2022 Graduates

After successfully graduating XR Prototyping and Foundation course with the Beyond Inclusion scholarship, the alumni work in a variety of fields. Here are honest words from our graduates about the course in XR Bootcamp and how the Beyond Inclusion scholarship program helped launch and continue their careers in XR.

“I was excited for the opportunity to be a part of this cohort and just learn about how, at least as individuals, and then kind of, as we’re saying now at the end of our course, as a group. I can make an impact and create practical usable XR prototypes out of the visions that I have in my mind.” – Divine Ogbuefi; now, after graduation, he is working as a software engineer at Swing Education

“XR Bootcamp is the sort of oasis for VR and AR information. I didn’t have a fleshed-out coding degree and work experience, but I could still push through their easy-to-digest information, assignments, and video lessons. – Ahmed Eltayeb, now, after graduation, is working as an XR Developer & Doctor at Health Service Executive

“I can recommend everybody to take a course at XR Bootcamp because you get quickly hired for mentors in one-to-one sessions, for example, and excellent knowledge and some tips. Of course, if you would do it on your own, learning all the stuff, it will take much more time, so it’s a real time saver.” – Berenice Terwey; now, after graduation, she is successfully working as a freelance XR Prototyper, and Developer at AVK Terwey

“XR Bootcamp was beneficial because we started with the foundations and then we always built on top of it. First, we had weekly homework, and as long as I could complete that homework, my confidence gradually increased. In the second part, we did the prototypes. And as I saw that whatever I was imagining, I could transition it into a working prototype that was helping me. It’s a real boost in my career.” – Fatma Betül Güneş, now, after graduation, a PhD student in the ML4ED (Machine Learning for Education ) Lab

Become a Graduate in 2024

If you're an XR enthusiast, here's your opportunity to enhance your career. The partial to full scholarships offer a value of up to $8,000 per awardee. 

Apply here

Our Beyond Inclusion Ambassadors

If you’d like to support us and make this program able to expand globally and continue for many more years, you can always become an ambassador!

Our Beyond Inclusion Ambassadors help us share the message and information about the scholarship. Anyone is invited to join us as an official Beyond Inclusion ambassador. To thank you, we will announce you on our social media channels and website as a contributor. 

We thank our Ambassadors for their amazing support and for sharing the information about the Beyond Inclusion scholarship program. 

If you want to become an ambassador, connect with us here!

Become an Ambassador

For Media Inquiries:
Contact: Rahel Demant

Email: hello@xrbootcamp.com

About the Companies

About Jobs for the Future

Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a national nonprofit that drives the transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. The organization designs solutions and partners with employers, investors, and education and workforce development providers to transform education and workforce systems that are inequitable.

About Unity

Unity is a cross-platform game engine used to create games as well as interactive simulations and other experiences in three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D). The engine supports C# as a primary programming language and has been gradually extended to support a variety of desktop, mobile, console, and virtual reality platforms.

About XR Bootcamp

XR Bootcamp is a global online academy, offering skill-to-job beginner and advanced XR development courses. Curricula are developed and taught by award-winning VR, AR, and MR professionals. XR Bootcamp's cutting-edge courses are for designers, game developers, managers, and coders who want to learn how to prototype XR Applications and learn AR, VR, and MR development. XR Bootcamp further supports the XR Creators community with free and open access to knowledge, peer-to-peer learning, and networking opportunities. XR Bootcamp is proud that alumni leave outstanding reviews and work at companies like HP, Autodesk, Accenture, Samsung, Snap, Lockheed Martin, Harvard, USC, and Carnegie Mellon University.

https://xrbootcamp.com/

Now Enrolling: Extended Reality (XR) Developer Apprenticeship Program at Cañada College

Background

Cañada College in conjunction with the Bay Area Community College Consortium, California Student Aid Commission, and  State of California-Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) are seeking employers for the Extended Reality (XR) Developer Apprenticeship Program (2023- 2024) cohort. Funded by a California Apprenticeship Initiative (CAI) grant, the Cañada College XR Apprenticeship Program trains, facilitates placement of, and supports eligible candidates in entry level positions with partner employers. Some occupations in XR studios include Junior Developer, Game Designer, and Production Manager.

Eligible Apprentices from the Developer Apprenticeship program will have completed either:

• (a) Approved DAS Pre-apprenticeship Program,

• (b) A certificate, associate degree and/or bachelor degree in a related field

• (c) Art related apprentices’ applicants will have also passed a portfolio assessment conducted by developer apprenticeship faculty consultants.

Employer Role

Once placed in a position with an employer, the apprentice works to fulfill their On-the-Job Training (OJT) and receive Related Supplemental Instruction (RSI) through Cañada College. Successful completion of the program is expected to take six to eighteen months, depending on studio production cycles and the individual schedules of apprentices. While further employment with a partner employer is not guaranteed, a graduating apprentice is certified by the State of California in their chosen occupation and well positioned in the industry with hours of real-world experience and technical training by industry experts.

Funding and Apprentice Support

Cañada College’s Learning-Aligned Employment Program (LAEP) provides funds to offer eligible students opportunities to earn money while gaining career-related experience in their fields of study. For Learning-Aligned employment positions with for-profit employers, the program can provide up to 50 percent of the student’s compensation. In addition, Cañada College will provide mentors, and additional apprentice support free of charge to employers.

For more information, visit:

• https://canadacollege.edu/businessdivision/apprenticeships.php,

• and/or contact Alex Jones (jonesa@smcdd.edu) and David Gainey (gaineyd@smccd.edu)

Keen Research Announces Web Browser Support for their On-Device Speech Recognition Solution

Keen Research's latest offering, KeenASR for Web, provides on-device speech recognition for web-based applications. KeenASR SDK for Web is a JavaScript library that performs speech recognition locally ("offline") in the browser. KeenASR SDK already runs on iOS and Android platforms, including standalone AR/VR headsets, and the latest update now extends this support to browser-based applications. KeenASR's cross-platform capabilities make it a versatile solution for gaming, education, training, and frontline worker applications.

KeenASR stands out from cloud-based systems as it can perform speech recognition locally on the device without requiring an internet connection. This feature makes KeenASR particularly relevant for applications with limited internet connectivity or where users value privacy, security, scalability, and customization. This approach makes it a valuable tool for AR/VR applications, providing a seamless, responsive, and truly immersive user experience without the hiccups that can arise from spotty internet connectivity.

Find out more about KeenASR for Web on the Keen Research blog page: https://keenresearch.com/blog/keen_research/introducing-keenasr-for-web.html

Unity Becomes Member of the VR/AR Association

San Francisco, March 3, 2021 - Unity is now a member of VR/AR Association and will participate in the Association's initiatives by which Unity’s teams will be connected with VR and AR organizations around the world. In addition, Unity will drive several initiatives in collaboration with VR/AR Association in order to push the usage of those technologies and in several other fields. 

“We are excited Unity has joined our global association. Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D content and we look forward to accelerating the market together with smart growth globally," Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director, VR/AR Association. 

“As a leading platform in powering AR and VR applications, Unity is counted on by brands across gaming, automotive, manufacturing, architecture and construction to bring solutions to their product lifecycle,” said Braelyn Johnson, Product Marketing Manager, Unity. “The VR/AR Association consists of the best virtual reality and augmented reality solution providers within enterprise and media entertainment industries.”

For more information please visit www.thevrara.com

For more info on Unity visit www.unity.com

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About the VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster  collaboration between innovative companies and people in the virtual reality and augmented 

reality ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop 

industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies.

About Unity 

Unity (NYSE: U) is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content. Creators, ranging from game developers to artists, architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and others, use Unity to make their imaginations come to life. Unity’s platform provides a comprehensive set of software solutions to create, run and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. The company’s 1,800+ person research and development team keeps Unity at the forefront of development by working alongside partners to ensure optimized support for the latest releases and platforms. Apps developed by Unity creators were downloaded more than five billion times per month in 2020. For more information, please visit www.unity.com. 

Contact

Kris Kolo  kris@thevrara.com 

Autodesk becomes Member of the VR/AR Association

Autodesk is pleased to announce that they have become the newest member of the VR/AR Association! 

Both the VR/AR Association and Autodesk are dedicated to fostering growth in the virtual reality and augmented reality industries.  As a member, Autodesk will participate in the Association's initiatives by which Autodesk’s teams will be connected with VR AR organizations around the world to accelerate the market with smart growth. In addition, Brey Tucker of Autodesk will lead several initiatives in collaboration with VR/AR Association in order to push the usage of those technologies and in several other fields in the region .

“We are excited Autodesk has joined our global association. Autodesk is the global solutions provider for architecture engineering construction, manufacturing, and media & entertainment industries and we look forward to accelerating the market together with smart growth globally" — Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director, VR/AR Association. 

“We are excited to participate in the VR/AR Association and to interact with all the worldwide members, to see how much we can both learn from and bring to the VR/AR community” — Nic Fonta of Autodesk.

For more information please visit www.thevrara.com.

For more info on Autodesk VR/AR vision, please watch our Autodesk University Talk.

###

About the VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster  collaboration between innovative companies and people in the virtual reality and augmented reality ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies.

Contact

Kris Kolo  kris@thevrara.com 

VRARA San Francisco Chapter in 2020

Hello VRARA Members and the VR AR community,

My name is Everett Wallace.  After four years of building our VRARA SF Chapter, Mike Boland has passed the torch as SF Chapter President to me.

"January 1st marked the four-year anniversary of VRARA SF," writes Mike. "During that time, it went from scrappy new networking and meetup group, and one of the very first Chapters, to a regional powerhouse -- analogous to VRARA itself. At this milestone, it's time to pass the torch in the spirit of new blood and growth inflections. After spending time with Everett Wallace, it's clear that he's the perfect candidate for that. Meanwhile, I'm not going anywhere and will stick around as a participant, chapter advisor and VRARA's research subscription steward. I can't wait to see what's to come in this new chapter of VRARA SF.” 

I’ll be very brief. 

First, thanks tremendously to Mike for all he has done.  It’s truly considerable. Thanks also to everyone who has contributed to our Chapter.  I don’t know many of you yet, but I do hope to get to know everyone soon. 

Second, I’ll share a nutshell of my aspirations for my tenure as your new President.

VRARA SF has a great start as a global leader of our industry, but the sky’s the limit!

We all know SF is one of the most vibrant ecosystems of talent and resources in our industry.  We all know we’re going to shake the world with what we are accomplishing. Making the SF Chapter an epicenter of that coming sea-change will bring rewards to its members that are much greater than the sum of our parts. Let’s make the Chapter and its members invaluable to our industry, both locally and globally. 

This is my aspiration for my tenure as your Chapter President.  I hope you will join me?

To get started, in Q1’20 I have a single question for every member.  How can VRARA SF better serve you?  Your answers will underscore the Chapter’s action plan, which will be solely focused on how to achieve the goal above and which I hope to start implementing in the coming months.

Expect to hear from me, but please reach out with questions and ideas for the Chapter.  

Looking forward to meeting every member.

Everett

Everett@thevrara.com

VRARA SF Advisor Shel Israel Offers Ghostwriting to the VR/AR Community

Acomplished author and VRARA SF Chapter Advisor Shel Israel can help craft your VR/AR Narratives

The VR/AR Association tagline is Growth | Knowledge | Connections. And we strive in the San Francisco chapter to embody those principles in all moves. Pursuant to that charter, we announced in April that author, startup advisor and thought leader Shel Israel joined the chapter as advisor.

Now we’re doubling down on that. Israel is offering his services to VRARA members and the broader VR/AR community to ghostwrite a tech-business book or to advise startups on developing narratives. This includes a free hour of consulting for VRARA SF and Silicon Valley members.

Having written seven books on tech transformation, Israel brings historical perspective of past tech disruptions, and business realities that defined them. Specifically for AR and VR, you could say that Israel “wrote the book” on their expected impact. The Fourth Transformation stands out on the bookshelves of our chapter principles, and remains a signpost for the early stages in a long evolution of AR and VR.

“As someone who’s defined tech transformation both with his thought leadership and his hands-on work advising startups, Shel has been a hugely influential figure to all of us in the SF tech community,” said San Francisco Chapter co-president Emily Olman.

Israel just shared with us that he has completed two big projects and is available as a content marketing resource to VRARA members and beyond. Get him now, while available. You can read more about him on his website or email him.

The VR/AR Association San Francisco Welcomes Shel Israel as Advisor

VRARA SF welcomes author, startup advisor and thought leader Shel Israel

The VR/AR Association tagline is Growth | Knowledge | Connections. And we strive in the San Francisco chapter to embody those principles in all moves. Pursuant to that charter, we’re happy to announce that author, startup advisor and thought leader Shel Israel joins the chapter as advisor.

Having written seven books on tech transformation, Israel brings historical perspective of past tech disruptions, and business realities that defined them. This will broaden the knowledge base of our chapter advisors, and thus our ability to be a business resource for members.

Specifically for AR and VR, you could say that Israel “wrote the book” on their expected transformation. The Fourth Transformation stands out on the bookshelves of our chapter principles, and remains a signpost for the early stages in a long evolution of AR and VR.

"Now that the mania of immersive technologies has tapered off, the business of real people using AR and VR to perform more and more tasks and services has begun. Enduring business models are taking form. From the factory to the classroom and the operating table, these technologies are making the world safer, more efficient and more entertaining. I am proud to be an advisor to this pioneering organization and its grown number of members.”

Stay tuned for more news for Shel’s involvement, including our developing event calendar for the remainder of 2019. This will involve advising chapter strategy, involvement in chapter events, and facilitating knowledge and perspective around VR and AR transformation.

There’s also industry news projected for the remainder of 2019, which Israel will help us contextualize, including Oculus Quest and the continued evolution of consumer and enterprise AR. It will be an exciting time for the industry, and we’re excited Israel will experience it with us.

“As someone who’s defined tech transformation both with his thought leadership and his hands-on work advising startups, Shel has been a hugely influential figure to all of us in the SF tech community,” said San Francisco Chapter co-president Emily Olman. “We’re thrilled to formally welcome him to our team.”

San Francisco VR AR Ecosystem Report: 25 Companies Featured, 100 Listed

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See all of our other reports here

Foreward

Tech revolutions seem to happen all at once. But in reality, it’s often a gradual progression of factors. And sometimes they happen in the unlikeliest places. The first computing revolution was set in motion by eight embittered electrical engineers who were under the management of a domineering founder named William Shockley. Starting a now-prevalent trend, the “traitorous eight,” left well-paying jobs to found Silicon Valley’s first startup in 1957: Fairchild Semiconductor.

These engineers included Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore who later co-founded Intel. Moore wrote the law that’s defined chip-based computing and technological progression to this day. They also included Eugene Kleiner, who founded the industry’s most prolific venture capital firm among other things. Altogether, they branched out from Fairchild -- the original tech ‘mafia’ -- to seed AMD, National Semiconductor and ultimately what we now know as Silicon Valley.

More importantly, those seeds took root in fertile conditions. A combination of weather, network effect and educational institutions reinforced the region’s talent inflows, tech transfer and concentration of knowledge. Revolutions kicked off every 10-15 years: mainframe computing, the PC, the commercial internet and the smartphone era. It is now on that same soil where the next revolution is underway.

And, like the gradual progression of events that started with the traitorous eight, the XR revolution continues to emit sparks all around us. First ignited by Facebook’s 2014 acquisition of Oculus, something big is happening.

It’s happening behind the walls of glass cities in Cupertino, Mountain View and Menlo Park; nondescript office parks in San Mateo, Dorm rooms in Berkeley and co-working spaces throughout San Francisco. WeWork is the new HP garage. There’s even a good chance that one of the companies that defines the next era of technological innovation and Silicon Valley lore is a member of the VR/AR Association. We see tremendous creativity, innovation, and pedigree at companies like 6D.ai, Ubiquity 6, Avegant, Umbra, Kineviz and Portico. We see individuals carrying the XR torch and creating value such as Amy LaMeyer, Amy Peck, Kristin Dragos, Annisa Kau, and Rika Nakazawa.

We now publish this report to document, give credit to, and provide a map for those future (and current) all-stars of Silicon Valley. They sprout from fertile soil, with a birthright, and responsibility, to design the technology that will drive the world’s progression and economic growth. With 60 years of evidence, we believe probability and statistics theory apply to regional innovation: past behavior is a good indication of future outcomes.

Get your Company Featured in our VR AR Ecosystem Reports

VRARA's 50+ Chapters are producing industry reports on the regional VR/AR ecosystems to promote companies and organizations involved with immersive technologies and media from NYC to Sydney, across the world.  The reports will be promoted by VRARA and our partners reaching potentially a 1M audience. 

Would you be interested to have your company featured in these report or sponsor the report? If yes, then let us know at info@thevrara.com 

Each report will specifically highlight the following:

• Size of the local ecosystem market

• Number of relevant companies in the ecosystem

• List of companies and company info (size: number of employees, revenue; vertical, customers)

• Reasons why company is based in the local ecosystem

• Needs and hopes from and for the ecosystem

If you have any questions or are interested in being featured or sponsor, please reply to this email or email info@thevrara.com

Call for Participants: San Francisco VR AR Ecosystem Report

VRARA SF Chapter is producing an industry report on the San Francisco VR AR ecosystem to promote SF companies and organizations involved with immersive technologies and media. Would you be interested to have your company featured in this report or sponsor the report? If yes, then let us know at info@thevrara.com 

As the world's technology epicenter, San Francisco and Silicon Valley have become hotbeds for VR and AR. VRARA positions companies of all sizes to capitalize on this next major computing platform shift.

The report will specifically highlight the following:

• Size of the SF market
• Number of relevant companies in SF
• List of companies and company info (size: number of employees, revenue; vertical, customers)
• Reasons why company is based in SF
• Needs and hopes from and for the SF ecosystem

If you have any questions or are interested in being featured or sponsor, please reply to this email or email info@thevrara.com