Highlights from our Microsoft HoloLens Healthcare Industry Forum: 700+ Professionals from 56 Countries. See Top Sessions & Speakers.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Microsoft HoloLens Healthcare Industry Forum, virtual event on June 7, 2022.

Ticket holders can access the video recordings here

We had over 700 professionals from 56 countries participate!

Featured Speakers included:

• Dr. David Rhew, WW GM Healthcare/Chief Medical Officer, Microsoft

• Megan Augustine, Director, St. Lukes University Health Network

• Dr. Robert Hannan, Cardiovascular Surgeon, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital

• Amar Patel, Chief Learning Officer, CAE

• Andreas Fessler, Chief Business Officer, CMO and Director, apoQlar USA Inc.

• Ted Dinsmore, President, SphereGen

Check out our upcoming events here

Altoura Introduces Immersive Training SaaS Platform at the Microsoft HoloLens Manufacturing Industry Forum

Written by RORY GREENER of XR Today

Long time Microsoft partner Altoura accelerates onboarding for hybrid workers

At a keynote during the Microsoft HoloLens Manufacturing Industry Forum, hosted by the Virtual and Augmented Reality Association (VRARA), Altoura, formerly Studio 216, showcased its no-code authoring platform.

The company’s presentation explored how companies could use its immersive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform to onboard and train hybrid workers as they transition back to frontline positions.

Altoura’s VP of Marketing, Paul Corriveau, spoke about how Thermo Fisher Scientific (TFS) and Wabtec use Altoura software and Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed reality (MR) hardware to create immersive onboarding and training procedures.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

TFS, a US scientific hardware and software supplier, globally operates the Altoura SaaS platform in its Pharmaceuticals Services and Life Sciences Groups.

The Microsoft-Altoura partnership enables TFS to digitally transform its operations and enhance the performance of frontline workers with custom immersive training solutions.

The firm uses the platform to create virtual training scenarios that create a safe and repeatable learning environment to refine worker skills before entering a real-world shop floor.

Immersive solutions showed value during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Chris Binion, Director of Innovation, Immersive Technologies at TFS, who said,

“When Covid hit, we were ready to start mobilising and moving into action. Within a month, we saw dramatic results in sales. An exponential growth in sales! Because, customers all of a sudden found confidence in what we were doing”

Wabtec

Webtec, a supplier of equipment for freight and transit rail sectors, also works with Altoura to create training software for remote employees. The firm plans to offer a remote guidance service solution for customers purchasing Wabtec equipment.

By using a HoloLens 2 headset, Wabtec employees or customers can interact with an MR digital twin of rail equipment, removing parts and learning about the components of complex hardware.

Additionally, the training platform employs hand tracking software, voice assistance, holographic environments, and video guides to prepare employees before entering frontline workshop conditions.

Altoura Immersive SaaS

The Altoura no-code authoring platform enables companies to create custom spatial training software ready for MR devices.

Found in 2015, the firm quickly joined the Microsoft Mixed Reality Partners Programme (MMRPP) the following year, and in 2018, the firm transitioned into a SaaS platform due to rising demand.

During the keynote, Paul said,

“After a year of working with 3D models and helping our enterprise customers. We joined the MRPP and we were one of the very first partners to join the program and build applications for the Hololens. Within a couple of years, a lot of customers were asking Studio 216 for the product. They wanted the software that we were building. In 2018, we transitioned our entire business model to an ISV. We productised our IP and now we are a SAAS company”

Building a Training Platform

The Altoura SAAS platform lets firms package, manage, and distribute virtual training scenarios, and includes an Experience Builder that uses step-by-step instructions to lead users through the authoring and quality assurance stages.

Altoura integrates cloud-computing technology to quickly stream real-time 3D assets and digital twins to individual devices. The platform also uses accurate spatial anchors to track a device’s real-world location to share and place MR content between headsets.

The Seattle, Washington-based firm allows for secure delivery across a range of devices, including the HoloLens 2, Meta Quest, ISO, Andriod, and PC, so that corporations can best accommodate individual use cases. Also, the platform allows firms to track user metrics after a training scenario.

The tech enterprise secures its platform with the Azure security network that supplies enterprise-grade authentication, security and manageability.

Recap of the Microsoft HoloLens Manufacturing Industry Forum

We have had 1216 attendees for the Microsoft HoloLens Manufacturing Industry Forum we hosted on March 30, 2022. Some interesting highlights include:

The sessions

A New Reality for Manufacturing - We heard from Microsoft about top industry trends, how Microsoft is approaching the opportunities ahead, and why mixed reality needs to be an integral part of every manufacturer’s workforce strategy, and from Applied Materials about how the Microsoft HoloLens improves and enhances frontline worker productivity.

Addressing Workforce Challenges in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing with HoloLens and AR - We heard from PTC about how to accelerate learning and reduce training costs, improve accuracy and reduce production downtime, decrease the costs of human error, scrap, and waste improve adherence to safety and compliance regulations.

Train to work: Immersive Training at Thermo Fisher Scientific - Altoura Introduced Immersive Training SaaS Platform to accelerate onboarding for hybrid workers! We learnt how Thermo Fisher Scientific uses mixed reality to onboard, train, and assist hybrid workers as they transition from remote work to the front lines. It’s end-to-end training from virtual to physical, and its only available from Altoura and Microsoft.

The New Way to Work: Creating Operational Efficiencies with Mixed Reality - Kognitiv Spark discussed how mixed reality tools are positively impacting the industrial sector as a whole by enabling operational efficiencies, worker autonomy and empowerment, and facilitating rapid issue resolution - all while eliminating traditional barriers associated with access to experts and a reduced ability to travel. The session also featured testimony and insights from LeeWay Marine on how they have successfully implemented Microsoft’s Hololens and RemoteSpark to deliver guidance to technicians aboard a vessel at sea.

And, there's more! We encourage you to register for the upcoming Industry Forums to learn even more about HoloLens and mixed reality deployments, successes and best practices.

• Education HoloLens Forum – April 20

• Healthcare HoloLens Forum – June 7

Darren Bennett Microsoft HoloLens from our VR/AR Global Summit 2018 (Video)

Participate in our upcoming Summits in Europe and Boston! More info here

From his first days at Microsoft, Darren has been focused on innovation. His initial prototype contributions to KINECT came early in the platforms development and wowed execs, and he quickly progressed to creative direction of KINECT Adventures. The title offered a new arena for human interaction and was a critical piece in future exploration of human expectation for natural interactions. Darren moved from success at KINECT to leading edge development, from concept to ship, on Microsoft HoloLens. He drove software incubation efforts, creative direction of the experiences portfolio and finally, shipped UX for the first Mixed Reality operating system - Windows Holographic. Today, he's back home in British Columbia and applying the power of Mixed Reality to the modern workplace.

Participate in our upcoming Summits in Europe and Boston! More info here

2017: A Year in Review (Vancouver Chapter)

Where did all the time go?! 2017 was a busy year for VRARA Vancouver, as our first full one year as a chapter in Vancouver. As a chapter, we hosted 6 events in total with 60 new VRARA members.

Vancouver is making a name for developing into a global hub for VR/AR/MR – serving as a home to 130+ innovative companies in this space. We are proud of this homegrown talent, and in 2017 we created VR/AR Ecosystem Map to showcase our local ecosystem. Our first version was launched in Fall 2017, and we plan to update it every quarter – if we missed you in this version or have any suggestions, give us a shout!

We kicked off the year with a sold out event, VR/MR: Beyond Gaming, which took place at the TELUS Garden Flex Space on February 23rd. Kharis O’Connell, author of Designing For Mixed Reality, led the keynote speech on practical usage of VR/MR. Immersive technology is best known to mainstream audience for its usage in gaming. We wanted to break this shell and discuss further on the possibilities of integrating virtual and mixed reality not just in business, but also in our daily lives in the near future.

Read more on VR/MR: Beyond Gaming

Consumer Virtual Reality (CVR) can’t be missed when discussing immersive technology in Vancouver! CVR 2017 expanded into three whole days after it received overwhelmingly positive response in its inaugural year in 2016. Oh, and did we mention after party? VRARA Vancouver hosted the Official CVR Industry Day After party on May 5th at the Roxy. The night was filled with sips and bites, networking, Mega McGrath’s live painting auction for the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, and a performance by Alex Maher.

VRARA Vancouver hosted the Official CVR Industry Day afterparty with industry professionals and thoughtleaders from around the globe.

More than before (especially with Apple ARKit launch this year), we’ve heard business discuss more on how they are integrating immersive technology to enhance consumer engagement. We’re already seeing plenty of big players like GE, NASA, IKEA, BMW, Verizon and more getting a head start on VR/AR. Our event Branding For the Future hosted at Hootsuite HQ on September 28th was just about that. We had Alan Smithson, CEO of MetaVRse, and Mira Leung, lead in Google ARCore team, discuss how businesses can start strategizing now to get ahead of the game before the technology becomes mainstream.    

Read our highlights and watch the keynote and panel discussion.

Last but not least, we wrapped up our year with Growing Innovation: Investment Opportunities for VR/AR on November 30th at BCIT Downtown Tech Hub. By 2020, VR/AR will be a $150billion industry and with Vancouver leading the charge, we wanted to start a discussion on how to venture into this rapidly developing ecosystem. We brought together VR/AR thought leader Tom Emrich from Super Ventures, along with expert panel fireside chat with notable investors and tech executives, and finish with a round of 10 lighting pitches from local VR/AR startups – something we’ve done for the first time!

Highlights from our event held by the VRARA Vancouver at BCIT Downtown, Nov 30th, 2017. Our keynote was Tom Emrich from Super Ventures.

A lot has happened in the VR/AR/MR industry globally in 2017. Here are some highlights from what’s happened right here in our city of Vancouver.

Vancouver’s first ever VR film festival (YVRFF) was a huge success with a sold out weekend.

Chapter President Dan Burgar represented the VR/AR tech sector with Archiact / VR AR Association at the United Nations Peacekeeping Conference.

Motive.io successfully won the contract of $482,000+ through the Government of Canada to bring Canada's history to Ottawa.

Microsoft President Brad Smith promoted Vancouver as a virtual reality 'supercluster.'

BC Tech launched The Cube, Canada's First Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality Hub.

LNG Studios worked with Concord Pacific on their Brentwood development project and used virtual reality to showcase the new condos before any were built.

VRARA Vancouver would like to thank you all for being part of our community and making all this happen in 2017! We are working on many exciting ways to bring value to our members in 2018 so stay connected through our social channels and subscribe to our monthly newsletter. If you would have any suggestions or feedback, please contact Chapter President Dan Burgar at dan@thevrara.com.

Vancouver's Chapter of the VR/AR Association Makes VR/AR/MR accessible

Article originally posted by The Georgia Straight, can be found here and written by Kate Wilson, March 9th, 2017. 

Imagine a world where you can hold up a cellphone in front of a restaurant, and instantly see Yelp reviews, flip through a digital menu, and have the option to book a table. Then consider driving a car with a smart windshield, which displays digital graphics on top of the driver’s real-life view. And then try to wrap your mind around a world where screens have become completely obsolete—because individuals can conjure computer displays through contact lenses or glasses.

According to Dan Burgar, president of the Vancouver chapter of the VR/AR Association, that day is almost upon us. Working to develop awareness of virtual reality (VR)—the technology where users wear an immersive headset to experience three-dimensional environments—and augmented reality (AR)—the practice of superimposing computer-generated images onto a user’s view of the real world—Burgar finds it difficult to think of an industry where the hardware would not generate a huge leap forward.

“I think the thing that will blow people’s minds the most is the practical applications,” he tells the Straight, reached by phone at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona. “The gaming stuff is really fun, and the entertainment side is really interesting, but what I get most excited about is how widespread it’s going to become in everyday life, whether it’s in professions like healthcare, where people can operate without having a human body in front of them, or just walking around on the street.

“It’s already beginning to be used in areas like building development, where it gives architects the tools to manipulate their creations in three-dimensions,” he continues. “Real estate is using it to allow customers to visualize unbuilt spaces, and to view properties without actually having to visit them. And it’s becoming important in education, where it’s possible to train individuals in areas like oil and gas extraction by just putting on the headset. That allows you to get as close as possible to a real-life experience before entering a dangerous situation.”

Vancouver is fast becoming a hub for VR and AR—a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the B.C. government. Not only has the province invested $100 million in venture capital for British Columbian tech companies, it’s recently started offering a tax credit specifically for virtual and augmented reality. It’s that forward-thinking approach, Burgar says, that inspired him to create a VR/AR Association chapter in the city.

“If I had to sum it up, I’d say that the VR/AR Association is a community of the best minds making use of virtual reality and augmented reality,” he comments. “So far there are 28 branches, including places as far-flung as New Zealand, Russia, and the UAE. The goal is to connect businesses and organizations with the developers and service providers working with the technology. We want to band together with companies to figure out what the best practices are, and how we can connect together to move the industry along.

“Our Vancouver chapter has about 30 members,” he continues, “but there are more than 50 companies here that are dabbling in virtual reality or working on augmented reality development, and that number increases every day. We are continually connecting local businesses with Vancouver developers, and figuring out how to use this technology creatively.”

As well as pointing out its versatility in a business to business setting, Burgar is keen to bring VR and AR to the local public. Recently organizing an event at Canuck Place—a hospice that offers palliative care services for sick children in B.C.—the VR/AR Association staff spent a day introducing the kids to the headsets.

“Community engagement is really important to our organization,” Burgar says. “We live in such a great city, and any way that we can give back is big for us. It feels great to be able put a smile on the kids’ faces by putting them in VR goggles and getting them out of the hospital with games, or transporting them to different virtual locations, and letting them immerse themselves in fantastic worlds. We want to continue cultivating and helping out Vancouverites in any way possible, and we have some initiatives we’re working on that will bring this technology to the community.

“Our next big VR and AR event is called CVR,” he continues, “which is the Pacific Northwest’s leading virtual, augmented, and mixed reality expo. We’re expecting between 8000 and 10,000 people. The Friday will be an industry day, and people like NASA, CNN, and the government of Canada will be there to discuss where VR and AR fit in their industry. Then we open it up to the public for the weekend, where anyone can come and try it out. We think it’s important that this technology is accessible to everyone—because this is the future.”

CVR is at the Vancouver Convention Centre from May 5 to May 7. More information about the VR/AR Association can be found here, and the official page for the Vancouver chapter can be located here.

VR AR at Microsoft in NYC

It was an awesome event at Microsoft NYC filled with demos and fun next-generation experiences. One demo that stood out was the VR Motion Simulator. Virtual reality has long been a dream of gamers everywhere. Given Microsoft’s interest in VR (i.e., HoloLens) and games (I.e. Xbox), the next big opportunity could be this motion simulator “unit” that I took for a test-drive, which combines motion with VR. Playing a car racing game, the unit gave me an immersive experience that I “felt” like never before; In addition to “seeing” the experience in VR, the unit also enabled me to “feel” every turn, spin, or accident with other cars by simulating the motion.  The prototype cost is about $3500, pricy, but cost will come down with mass production of these units. Coming near you at your local amusement park, arcade room, or your future in-house set!