Banuba, an Industry-Leading Augmented Reality Company, Joins VR/AR Association

HONG KONG, March 15, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Banuba, a leading computer vision company, has become a member of VR/AR Association — a global organization uniting the most prominent companies in the mixed reality industry. Its members' list includes Meta, ByteDance, Siemens, Lenovo, Bosch and many other high-profile AR/VR public companies.

VR/AR Association membership will allow Banuba to participate in weekly meets and industry-specific events (e.g. Healthcare Forum and Education Forum). It will also let Banuba join a number of committees engaged in developing best practices for certain verticals.

Banuba is a pioneer in Face AR, leveraging our patented technology, AI, and effective AR Digitization systems for eCommerce, Telecommunications (including video conferencing), and Social Networking. 

Banuba has also made notable gains in hand tracking - detecting the precise location of a human hand in a picture or video. This technology allows accurately trying on rings, bracelets, watches, and other hand jewelry, as well as controlling electronic devices with gestures.

Banuba offers three products, all of which use AR extensively.

1. Face AR SDK. A premade module that can quickly be integrated in a web, desktop, or mobile application and perform a number of functions: add 3D masks, replace backgrounds on videos and images, allow for virtual try-on of jewelry, headwear, glasses, etc. Besides a blanket decrease in time-to-market, Face AR SDK helps increase conversion rate for eCommerce businesses, boost camera enablement and engagement for video conferencing companies, and enable unique features for other industries. Face AR SDK helps apps get over 100 million sessions with AR features every month.

2. Video Editor SDK/API. A full-fledged mobile video editor with both core (trimming, sound editing, etc.) and advanced features, including AR filters and effects. Installing it helps release the app much quicker than building similar functions from scratch. VideoEditor SDK has one of the simplest integration processes on the market. In practice, it can cut an app's time-to-market by up to 50%. Besides, making video creation more convenient raises the app's k-factor and the amount of user-generated content.

3. TINT. A cutting-edge virtual try-on solution for beauty products. It boasts the most realistic virtual cosmetics on the market, automated seasonal color analysis, and ultra-fast digitization of new products (up to 48 hours for an entire collection). As a result, it can massively boost sales (up to +200%) and decrease returns (up to -60%).

Banuba has more than 20 patents in AR and AI. It employs over 50 artificial intelligence and augmented reality experts and is known for offering the most advanced AR Beauty and Tech Virtual Try-on experience.  

Contacts

Email: info@banuba.com

Website: https://www.banuba.com/

Banuba on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/banuba-development/ 

Viva VOsCE, which stands for Virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examinations has been accepted for funding by Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency.

Viva VOsCE, a revolutionary project aimed at transforming medical education through harnessing the power of Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been accepted for funding by Innosuisse. The project is being conducted in partnership with the Geneva University Hospitals(HUG) and the University of Bern, with ORamaVR S.A. as implementation partner.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) are critical for the practical examination and licensing of medical students. However, traditional OSCE exams can be expensive to administer and often require significant logistical coordination. Viva VosCE will deliver a Virtual Reality platform to assist medical schools in delivering and assessing OSCEs while significantly lowering the cost and overhead. With VOsCE, medical students will be able to demonstrate their clinical skills in a fully immersive Virtual Reality experience that mimics real-world scenarios.

“We are delighted to take part in this innovation project with our collaborators at the University of Bern and ORamaVR. VR can have an immediate impact on medical training and assessment, and we can democratize access to such resources through the Viva VOsCE project.”
Dr. Oliver Kannape, Director of the Virtual Medicine Centre (HUG)

"We are looking forward to the exciting collaboration that will enable students to prepare for OSCE exams more efficiently and realistically and to scientifically evaluate Virtual Reality as a supplement to assessments.”
Prof. Thomas Sauter, Head of Emergency Telemedicine University of Bern and Virtual Inselspital Simulation Lab

“We are excited to support the Viva VOsCE project with our MAGES platform, which aims to revolutionize the next generation of structured clinical examinations with virtual reality”
Prof. George Papagiannakis, CEO & Co-Founder of ORamaVR


More about Geneva University Hospitals:
The Virtual Medicine Centre (VMC) is a transversal center that provides the HUG with the competencies and the technological infrastructure for bringing fundamental and applied XR to the clinical environment – for the benefit of the patient. The VMC enables technology development for research, diagnostics, and medical training in collaboration with academic and industry partners.

More about University of Bern:
The Virtual Inselspital Simulation Lab, a national and international center of excellence for Medical Extended Reality in German-speaking countries, focuses on research with and about Medical Extended Reality. VISL is involved in the education and training of all healthcare professionals. The Institute for Medical Education at the University of Bern develops, implements and evaluates examination formats to assess the competencies of medical trainees in order to ensure the best possible education.

More about ORamaVR:
ORamaVR was created to tackle a major health crisis that is currently affecting almost 5 billion people globally: the lack of access to affordable surgical care. We aim to accelerate the world’s transition to medical VR training by democratizing the VR metaverse content creation and offering a low-code authoring platform (MAGES-SDK) to medical organisations, enabling the mass production of high fidelity medical Virtual Reality Simulations at 1/8th of cost and time against current practices. These medical VR training simulations are utilized by hospitals, medical device companies, medical schools and medical training centres to train and assess their medical professionals on current and new surgical, diagnostic or therapeutic techniques.


Media Contact :
Amalia Kargopoulou
Head of Business Development, ORamaVR
Email: amalia.kargopoulou@oramavr.com

“IMT & VRARA COLLABORATION” Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design

International MSc program

We are proudly announcing the collaboration of IMT  Msc Program with VRAR Association !

The Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design (IMT) MSc program of the Department of Computing Science of the International Hellenic University (IHU) is an International MSc  that covers a unique thematic area in Greece and with a very high degree of innovation in Europe, focusing on cutting-edge technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality with an emphasis on Education, Training, and Game design

The MSc program is offered worldwide as it has been structured to correspond to modern scientific and technological needs within the constantly evolving socioeconomic context, employing Distance Learning and Blended Learning educational approaches. The students and the Academic Staff of the IMT MSc Program come from different countries as the program is offered online, and all courses are taught exclusively in English.

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between solution providers and end-users that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry best practices, connects member organizations, and promotes the services of member companies.

The collaboration between the IMT MSc Program and the VR/AR Association aims to achieve several objectives.

Firstly, bring together experts from academia and industry in the fields of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to promote knowledge sharing, best practices, and the latest developments in immersive technologies.

Secondly, the collaboration seeks to provide IMT MSc Program students with access to a network of VR/AR professionals, which will enable them to gain hands-on experience and practical knowledge in the development and application of immersive technologies.

Thirdly, the collaboration aims to facilitate research and innovation in the field of VR/AR, promoting joint research projects and encouraging the development of new applications and tools that can benefit both academia and industry.

Finally, the collaboration seeks to promote the use of VR/AR technologies in education, training, and game design at the Master or PhD educational level,  by highlighting best practices and success stories in these areas and by fostering the development of new educational and training solutions that incorporate immersive technologies.

           
  Professor Dr. Avgoustos Tsinakos,

Director of Advanced Educational Technologies and Mobile Applications  (AETMA) Lab

Director of MSc in Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design

Department of Computer Science

International Hellenic University

CORTEXR data analytics research highlights measurement gap to grow industry

CORTEXR, the XR data analytics company, has published results of a global study into Extended Reality and Metaverse measurement. Research shows the industry is maturing quickly but the computing platform shift necessitates questions about the role of XR in people’s lives and how businesses demonstrate value. Specifically, how does the industry standardise Extended Reality measurement with data analytics to optimise human behaviour in a post-screen world?  

83% think XR data analytics are necessary to grow their business 

There is clear appetite for standardised XR data analytics as the industry matures however a measurement gap exists between the understanding of user behaviour and the business impact of Extended Reality. Most people know that data analytics have not kept pace with creative and technical developments as they’re mainly based on legacy metrics designed for computer mouse and mobile touchscreens, which don’t capture the unique nature of 3D experiences.

“It’s vital for our industry to be able to report on the success of campaigns and attribute that value back to the brand.”

“We struggle most of the time to find ROI metrics linked to increased sales.”

“We want to quantify immersion but don’t know the data fields we can use.”

“We need to have more of the data that shows people that XR is more effective than other approaches.”

Current XR measurements are broad and based on legacy metrics 

This XR and Metaverse research uncovers data analytics currently being used – or tools people are aware of – and current practices are broad with many measurement techniques driven by legacy measures. Interestingly, many approaches reflect those used in the consumer research sector, with metrics adopted from either consumer research or academic psychological practices, which are frequently misused or misinterpreted. 

Time 

Time spent in an XR experience is the most common single metric, with people saying it indicated both enjoyment and willingness to stay in the experience, or as a measure of experience complexity. For Gaming, the length of time spent and break points were important however, for Education, time could be an indicator of learning speed/task difficulty or confidence in completing a task. Time therefore needs to be combined with other measures to be interpreted meaningfully.

Dwell Time on specific elements of an XR experience is considered a measure of interest in specific content such as an area of a VR scene or a specific element of an AR experience. It’s important not to confuse this with eye-tracking technology, which also uses Dwell Time metrics, which is based on eye fixation measures. More on eye-tracking later.

Google Analytics (or similar) 

The most common data capture method is Google Analytics (or similar) which is used by 26% of respondents in this research study to track visits / user numbers, user ID, location, dwell time, clickthrough and social media activity. Time is also tracked by Google Analytics however it’s separated out as there are some specific solutions, most notably in VR. This legacy approach doesn’t deliver metrics unique to XR and Metaverse measurement and doesn’t demonstrate the value of 3D experiences above and beyond traditional 2D digital media. 

“Industry processes and KPIs just go down old paths of metrics and there’s lack of maturity in use of data collection.”

Bespoke feedback 

Specific feedback points coded into the experience (i.e. certain actions were tracked) are used as a test to see when actions were completed and if this action, for example, had been done within a certain time frame. It also indicates which features of an experience were being used, showing where users spent their time and the order of actions. These are unique to each XR project so can’t be standardised across other XR experiences. 

“If an experience has specific triggers we need to know how long it takes the user to notice them and then interact with them.” 

Customer survey and polling data (after the event) can be useful to measure overall experiences however they rely too heavily on self-report which is proven – by Behavioural Science – to not capture real behaviour. Self-report can also be unreliable if the influences over behaviour are those where users are unreliable witnesses to their own actions. 

“With survey data you can’t get all the answers, as there are some questions that can’t be answered.” 

Specific questions coded into the experience to collect feedback on a response at a particular time, or in response to a specific prompt, are unique questions that corresponded to specific actions within that XR experience. Pre/post XR measurement of experiences to test an ability, skill or knowledge prior to using the XR experience and, afterwards, demonstrating any change in that measure. These tests are tailored towards particular goals, such as learning a specific task or skill, however this kind of feedback isn’t diagnostic so doesn’t measure how and why the XR experience changed behaviour. The main interest is in demonstrating that performance had changed. 

Amongst survey questions there are some generalisable questions that are used infrequently. However, these mostly focus on the specifics of what the task had been designed to do. Hence it’s mostly bespoke to feedback action measures and questions related to outcomes that were specific to that experience. The main aim for companies is demonstrating the value of their experience by focussing on the objectives that the XR experience was designed to address. These are limited, as standardised metrics, so these bespoke metrics can’t be scaled to generate a business case for XR. Targeted data showing performance has a role, but there is little diagnostic data showing why the nature of an XR experience was superior at delivering results. 

Heatmaps 

Tracking 6DOF movement in 3D space – the solution which CORTEXR delivers – is still relatively uncommon even though spatial data is reported as being informative about user behaviour. Data visualisations using heatmaps to represent the magnitude of movements provides clear interpretation of complex data with use cases relevant to all XR sectors. Heatmaps are primarily being used on both AR and VR projects to measure user attention towards specific content in order to optimise UX and prove effectiveness. Whilst heatmaps are commonly used to measure attention

on websites, applying complex AR and VR data analytics is an underdeveloped XR and Metaverse measurement approach in the industry.

Biometrics 

Heart Rate, Galvanic Skin Response, Respiratory Rate and Pupil Dilation are methods used by a small group of companies however the usage reflects the kinds of claims used in other sectors. Biometric measures are used commonly within psychological research however the best and most comprehensive definition of what these metrics measure is usually termed as arousal which can be both positive (joy) and negative (fear). The pattern of certain kinds of feedback has been used to measure factors such as attention but generally specialised equipment is commonly needed for any accurate assessment. The data is commonly ‘noisy’ and hence large data samples are needed for any clear interpretation. In the consumer research sector, these measures have been claimed as measuring a wide number of cognitive and emotional processes but little empirical evidence exists that they measure what some claim they do!

Eye tracking 

Eye-tracking is used by small number of companies to provide a strong indicator of visual attention and it’s a successful technique across multiple sectors. Eye-tracking indicates where an experience is being visually attended, the order in which things are viewed and the dwell time on specific elements in the XR experience. Accurate eye-tracking requires specialist equipment for HMDs so it is not readily scalable. Some solutions based on front facing cameras do also exist however there are no precise claims for the accuracy beyond those quoted by the manufacturers of the technology, hence any ability to verify efficacy is difficult. 

Facial coding 

Although this wasn’t mentioned in the study, facial coding (where facial muscle movements are tracked using AI) is used by some companies. These data points are similar to front facing cameras used in (non XR) advertising testing. These detect facial responses and infer a reaction however the Scientific American Magazine (2022) points out that these systems only detect muscular facial movements and not the cause. Crucially, there is no linear relationship between facial movement and emotional condition so the accuracy of interpreting internal mental states is questionable. These systems may produce some useful results however the general view is that there is not a 1:1 correlation between facial muscle movements and specific emotions.

XR community want to better understand user experiences 

The panel of experts and companies taking part in this XR and Metaverse research highlighted measurement methods they need to improve understanding of user behaviour. Firstly, the metrics which are clearly defined and readily implementable. Secondly, requests for metrics which aren’t as easy to define and where people had varying ideas about the practical applications. The second category is therefore inconclusive in terms of practical use of these measures. 

Clearly defined metrics with a clear pathway to measurement 

Heatmaps and Attention 

Attention measures were the most requested metric. This includes heatmaps and data visualisations which indicate attention over time, where user attention was directed and when people looked at specific elements. There were a number of reasons given for this. In Educational and Training, the ability to track if attention was being drawn to the correct place or where attention needs to be directed towards an event that was critical for learning to take place. In other sectors, attention is important to indicate which parts of an experience needed the most consideration in terms of aesthetics and detail, and which parts are less important as they are commonly overlooked by users. Attention therefore correlates with awareness of elements within an experience as well as being a strong indicator of user attention. 

“You can get heatmaps for website use, but it would be helpful to have the same capability within an XR experience.” 

“Where they look at the most, gaze tracking, is important, especially in marketing, and you want to understand attention and feed back to what they experience.”

Telemetry and Navigation 

Measuring movement of the device (handset or headset) to track user behaviour in 3D space is important. Understanding yaw and rotation, the direction or orientation, is considered essential to measure a user’s primary visual field. Additionally, metrics on navigation around an object or location as well as direction of travel is seen as valuable. The key objective is to understand whether people can intuitively navigate the experience. Telemetry can also understand reactions, interactions and how users move around/through XR experiences. 

Tracking responses 

Bespoke feedback to assess specific actions within experiences, with reactions measured via an integrated questionnaire, supports current qualitative feedback approaches. As mentioned earlier, whilst this measurement technique is valuable on custom projects, it doesn’t deliver standardised metrics for the industry.

Time, View Count and User ID

Whilst standardised metrics available in Google Analytics are commonly used, they rank low in terms of priority metrics which companies need to advance their understanding of user behaviour. This is symptomatic of the data analytics available to AR/VR creators and highlights the importance of progressive data analytics like CORTEXR which goes beyond legacy tools. 

Not clearly defined metrics with unclear measurement method 

Engagement 

The definition of engagement, depending on who you speak to, differs from enjoyment through to interest and emotional reaction. This demonstrates the breadth of XR practitioner backgrounds and the need for the industry to agree a definition which doesn’t go down the same path as legacy definitions in digital marketing. Engagement, for example, could be measured by the amount of movement in an XR experience based on the volume or distance travelled in a VR environment and magnitude of movement around an AR experience. We have live tests to assess how people engage with XR experiences to see if high movement levels can be associated with high engagement. 

Assessing Behaviour 

There’s clear desire to assess overall patterns of behaviour in XR experiences however the exact behaviours are not defined and are likely to be different by sector and for each experience. It is, from a cognitive science perspective, possible to assess behaviour with navigation and attention measures.

Immersion 

Interestingly, immersion was rarely mentioned in this study, but we think it’s an essential benchmark metric for the immersive tech industry to quantify. The unique nature of AR, VR and Metaverse experiences requires these phenomenological experiences to be fully understood which is why CORTEXR launched our Immersion Index after 3 years of R&D and live tests with beta customers.

Ease of use 

This measure was prioritised by a small number of XR creators, probably because it’s a subjective definition, however the suite of metrics provided by CORTEXR allow you to understand ease of use and optimise experiences.

XR metrics most likely to drive future business value 

What is clear from this XR and Metaverse research is that – whilst the industry have lots of ideas about the metrics which will advance AR, VR and Metaverse measurement – the definitions and methodologies aren’t always consistent. A set of closed multiple choice questions to surface the metrics which are the most important to the XR community did however highlight attention and navigation as standardised metrics.

Attention 

Measuring attention to specific content elements and assessing the content areas which are viewed the most (i.e. what people look at) is important to the XR community. This consolidates the fact that attention measures are also the highest priority in terms of perceived value. This is seen as the best way to assess the greatest level of interest given to content in the experience to optimise content development as it shows which elements are the most engaging. Attention is also highly valuable as a metric to demonstrate business value e.g. brand activity in the experience.

Navigation 

Analysing navigation around the experience, the user journey and the sequence of user events (i.e. how do people move in 3D environments) is also a highly rated metric. This supports telemetry as a measurement technique with a clear benefit to the XR industry. Measuring user position and pathways is essential to understanding how people travel through VR environments and navigate AR objects or portals. Heatmaps are considered the most valuable type of data visualisation to interpret and understand user journeys. 

Immersion 

Understanding immersion involves measuring an internal mental state. Immersion and sense of presence are very similar with presence a subjective–phenomenal interpretation (i.e. people ‘feel’ like they are in the virtual environment in contrast to the real world) and an objective–functional interpretation of presence is the ability to interact. Presence in VR is telepresence (i.e. people feeling they are transported into a virtual place) and the sense of presence in AR is effect of content overlayed onto the real world. Our Immersion Index algorithms compare movement within a particular project to baseline databases to score the overall level of immersion.  

Surveys 

Questionnaires (bespoke feedback) in AR and VR experiences are considered the best way to address specific answers to questions about custom brand or user objectives. 

Standardised metrics are required for XR industry to grow 

This global XR and Metaverse research demonstrates a consistent pattern. Companies are creating a broad range of creative solutions for clients and end users however, beyond human interpretation, there is little consensus on the definition of a good AR or VR experience. Critically, there isn’t a consistent data analytics approach or agreement on metrics which can be applied across companies, sectors and different types of XR experiences. 

This is an essential challenge for the industry to compete with traditional forms of ‘media’ which have established measurement standards to demonstrate ROI. There is therefore a significant gap in the ability of XR creators to produce business results and benchmark one experience against the other. For the XR industry to flourish, standard measures across different experiences are essential for companies to demonstrate the effectiveness of XR as a solution for multiple business challenges. 

Attention is highlighted as a strong candidate for the industry, especially as this metric is commonly used in other industries, most notably Media and Advertising. It’s a strong measure of interest and evidence of cognitive processing with the ‘Attention Economy’ associated with more positive results in the Media and Advertising industry. There are clear benefits to the XR community in understanding attention better, specifically time spent viewing content, what gets attention first and the priority and order of viewed content. Attention is seen as an important metric across multiple XR sectors, as well as AR and VR formats, as it measures interest in the content, helps optimise user experiences and can be attributed to brand or company objectives. Importantly, this metric is scaled through current technologies using CORTEXR. 

Navigation is also important across both AR and VR formats to track position, pathway and user journeys in 3D environments. This represents a significant divergence from legacy measures designed for 2D screens as ease of navigation and ergonomics are entirely different behaviours in 6DOF experiences. The relationship between headset or handset devices and the AR or VR content can be tracked using device sensors so this metric is also scalable across current platforms with a CORTEXR plug-in. 

Extended Reality measurement study spotlights the metrics that matter

A state-of-the-art research study with 65 companies creating XR solutions summarises how AR and VR measurement has been approached, how companies demonstrate business results and what type of data metrics the industry needs to grow. The future of XR data analytics is the core mission of CORTEXR, it’s a long overdue debate within the XR community and the results of this XR and Metaverse research highlight the solution to measuring user behaviour in Extended Reality.

The research was conducted in three stages; qualitative interviews with XR experts, desktop research to establish the context of current market data and quantitative surveys to ensure a broad perspective. The XR community taking part included brands (e.g. Jaguar Land Rover), agencies (e.g. Ogilvy), platforms (e.g. Unity), manufacturers (e.g. HTC), developers (e.g. nDreams) and media owners (e.g. Yahoo) so it’s a credible snapshot from the industry. 

The start of a discussions on the future of XR data analytics 

The aim of this XR and Metaverse research was to assess what data analytics are needed – in the context of current methodologies – to highlight the metrics which the industry think are the best way to communicate the benefits of Extended Reality to existing clients as well as those who are not yet engaged. This is especially relevant to developments in the Metaverse – where a persistent simulated world has collective experiences with shared goals – as measuring human behaviour in these experiences is essential to grow the industry. 

The XR industry is both creative and resourceful in trying to advance the understanding of AR, VR and Metaverse technologies in a post-screen world. The industry is approaching maturity so communicating the benefits of XR and demonstrating business value requires standardised methods of measurement. Visit CORTEXR to find out more and get in touch at contact@cortexr.com to join our community of XR companies advancing the metrics of human behaviour in XR.

The 10 most innovative companies in augmented and virtual reality of 2023

Post originally appearing on fastcompany.com by Mark Sullivan.

The metaverse—and by extension the mixed-reality headgear we might use to access it—had a moment in the sun in 2021, in part because of the social isolation of the pandemic, and in part because Mark Zuckerberg seemed to bet the future of Meta (née Facebook) on it. But much of the hype around the idea of an immersive virtual public space has vaporized as it has become clear that the hardware, software, and standards needed to create the experience are simply not ready.

As the public’s gaze moved on, consumer interest in augmented and virtual reality seemed to flag. In the U.S., for example, sales of VR headsets sagged 2% year-over-year (as of early December 2022), after doubling year-over-year the year prior, according to research from NPD Group. Yet tech companies big and small continue investing big money and top-tier talent in spatial computing devices and experiences.

Despite losing $10 billion on its Reality Labs business in 2021, Meta has said it expects to continue spending at that same rate to advance its VR, AR, and metaverse ambitions. The company defined the state of the art in VR headsets with its new Quest Pro, which featured much-improved pass-through imaging, new eye-tracking technology, and better hand controllers.

Other companies on our list tackled specific aspects of the AR/VR ecosystem. In content, Archer’s Mark, Innersloth, PatchXR, and Rendever leveraged spatial computing to breathe new life into formerly 2D experiences. Unity and Varjo found new ways of making AR/VR work for enterprises. Niantic reached impressive scale with its AR mapping layer, which will allow developers to anchor virtual objects at fixed points in the real world. And Coca-Cola found a mix of social and AR that helped it connect with tech-forward customers.

The wildcard in mixed reality’s journey toward the mainstream is Apple, which reportedly has hundreds of engineers working in secret on its own mixed-reality platform. It may be years before all the moving parts needed for a mainstream metaverse are ready to go. In the meantime, we can look forward to steady improvement in both the hardware and software needed for cool—if smaller-scale—spatial computing experiences.

1. UNITY

For integrating data with digital twins

Unity, known for its dominant 3D gaming engine, has been working with organizations that manage several large airports to develop digital twins of their facilities. One of them is the Vancouver Airport Authority, which launched its digital twin in March 2022. The technology, which intakes data from sensors placed around the airport as well as historical data, allows airport personnel to visualize many aspects of real-time operations, and can be used for training, optimization, future planning, simulations, and testing. This allows administrators and planners to make data-driven decisions to respond to situations that could affect passenger experience or safety. For instance, the airport might anticipate an increase in auto traffic around the airport, model its likely effects (such as increased security wait times), then plan accordingly. In September 2022, Unity unveiled its most ambitious digital twin effort, working with the Orlando Economic Partnership to produce the virtual 800-square-mile region to help the metropolis do a wide array of urban planning work, including climate change, construction and utility projects, and transportation. Unity doesn’t break out revenue from its digital twin work but the company grew 25% year over year in 2022, with revenue of $1.4 billion.

2. COCA-COLA

For adding fizz to the cultural conversation with mysterious new flavors

Plenty of companies leveraged social media in an effort to stand out from the competition in 2022, but few (if any) kept people talking like Coke did with Coca-Cola Creations. Beginning in February 2022, the company released mysterious new flavors with elaborate (but comparatively low-cost) campaigns designed to generate social conversation. The first soda to roll out was Starlight, which the company claimed was space-flavored. It included an augmented-reality concert by singer-songwriter Ava Max that could be accessed only by scanning a QR code on a Starlight can. When a user did so, they could see the performance, which appeared to be on a translucent stage on a space station.

In April, Coke followed up with Sugar Byte, which it swore tasted like pixels. This flavor targeted gamers, launching in Fortnite with a game accessible within its realm. Like Starlight, the actual soda was sold in very limited quantities, first in Latin America and later in the United States. The exclusive nature of the product further amped up chatter on social media.

An exclusive collaboration with the DJ Marshmello followed in June 2022. Coca-Cola did a Twitch takeover in July, meaning that the first ad Twitch users saw was for this promotion. Scanning the QR code on these cans took viewers to a colorful, morphing video that resembled something between a mood ring and a lava lamp while a new Marshmello song played. Another new flavor, Dreamworld, arrived in August, with a digital clothing collab for users’ avatars and a shareable AR mural.

Although Coke has not released data on the impact of the campaign, CEO James Quincey told investors several times during the year that Creations exceeded expectations and had “tremendous traction” and engagement. Overall, Coca-Cola increased global case volume 5% during 2022.

3. META

For making a “real” mixed-reality headset

At $1,499, Meta’s new Quest Pro VR headset is far more expensive—$1,100 more—than its popular Quest 2 VR headset. But from a technical point of view, the Pro advances some of the technologies that will be needed in a true mixed-reality device and that were simply missing in the Quest 2. The Pro’s vastly improved “pass-through” image, for example, lets wearers see the real world in front of them far more clearly (and in color), so that graphics can be integrated into that real world more believably. The Quest Pro also adds eye-tracking, which, among other things, lets the wearer’s avatar look around and make eye contact with the avatars of others as they’re speaking. The Meta Quest Pro is hardly perfect: It’s a bit ungainly, could be more comfortable, and its battery life is only two hours. That said, it’s a harbinger of what’s to come in the world of mixed-reality headsets. Meta has been criticized for its spending to create a new platform where it could control both the hardware and software; it spent $5 billion on this effort in the fourth quarter of 2022 and an estimated $49 billion since 2012. Although the company has recently said that “efficiency” is a key focus for 2023, it already has what may be the most advanced standalone VR and mixed-reality device on the market today—and is still devoting vast resources to further development.

4. GOOGLE

For using 3D imaging to bring people together

Project Starline is Google’s response to a post-pandemic world where remote work has changed the way we communicate. Since remote meetings such as 2D Zoom calls have their obvious drawbacks, Google sought to build an advanced 3D teleconferencing booth that makes remote meetings seem a lot more like real, in-person communication. The company says that the experience is made possible by a convergence of breakthroughs in 3D imaging of people, compression of the 3D video signal for efficient transmission, and the 3D displays needed to render people in a life-size and lifelike way.

In 2022, Google began providing some large companies—including WeWork and Salesforce—with Project Starline booths so that workers could begin testing and providing feedback on the experience. So far Google has spoken only about the performance of the technology, not about its actual hardware components and how much it all might cost, assuming it decides to commercialize it. It’s possible that Google sees the Starline tech as a new, headset-free approach to mixed reality that it can develop as a foundational technology to be used in future AR/VR products: Both headset-based AR/VR efforts and Project Starline are part of a group called Google Labs.

5. INNERSLOTH

For bringing Among Us to VR

Few games have benefited as much as being ported to VR as Innersloth’s Among Us. As in the earlier 2D versions of the game, which remain among the best-selling titles according to the NPD data, players (represented as little armless cartoon astronauts) work together to repair a spaceship—knowing all the while that one or more of the “crew members” is secretly an “imposter” bent on sabotaging the ship and killing everybody on board. Among Us VR, which Innersloth created with help from Schell Games and released in November 2022, amps up the tension by putting game play in a first-person point of view within the immersive 3D environs of the ship. Players can see what’s in front of them, but danger may lurk behind a wall or around the next corner. Among Us VR makes compelling use of spatial audio: Players might hear the squish and thunk of a crew member being killed in some other part of the ship, or footsteps ominously approaching, or the close voices of other crew members frantically trying to deduce the identity of the imposters before it’s too late. Among Us was already a suspenseful experience in 2D, but the $10 VR version takes it to another level—which some players have termed, in the best possible way, “horrifying.”

6. NIANTIC

For growing an AR map of the world

At its developer conference in May 2022, Niantic formally launched its “Lightship Virtual Positioning System,” a virtual map of the world that allows AR developers to anchor 3D graphics to physical places. For example, a developer might hide a digital prize near a well-known statue as part of a scavenger hunt game. These objects are persistent—that is, users can find them tethered to the same real-world place when they leave and return. Niantic’s map is important because developers need it to create Pokémon Go–style games instead of closing themselves inside a VR headset. The map is growing and spreading rapidly. When it launched last spring, there were 30,000 VPS-activated public locations, mostly in San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. As of December 2022, the map has more than 140,000 VPS-activated public locations in 125 cities around the world.

7. RENDEVER

For using VR to help seniors

Rendever is using VR to promote engagement and mental fitness among senior citizens. The Somerville, Massachusetts–based VR content company operates a platform that delivers customized 3D immersive experiences to nursing homes and other senior living facilities. The content lets people relive moments from the past (weddings, for example) and virtually visit bucket-list destinations. Rendever’s experiences are designed to fight off feelings of loneliness and isolation, which research shows are common among its target audience, and to stave off dementia by challenging users’ minds. In 2022, the company launched RendeverFit, a VR program that combines physical fitness with cognitive stimulation and socialization. It consists of three different modules—Cycle, Paddle, and Paint—each designed to let seniors “gain the benefits of physical activity without feeling like they’re working out.” The five-year-old company says that it has now delivered more than one million VR experiences, and it picked up 3,000 new users in 2022. As touching videos of old folks immersed in 3D memories for the first time attest, it’s a deft use of the new technology for good.

8. ARCHER’S MARK

For reliving history through VR

Archer’s Mark‘s “On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World): Take Cover” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontiers program in January 2022. The production studio’s narrative VR work lets participants relive the horrifying morning in Hawaii on January 13, 2018, when residents began getting text messages saying that a nuclear attack on the island was underway. The five-minute VR story may be the first to incorporate real-life emergency alerts within an immersive 3D environment to preserve to memory the terror and chaos of a real historical event. “Take Cover” leaves behind it a powerful question: Why does nuclear weaponry’s Sword of Damocles still swing so close overhead?

9. VARJO

For easing VR cloud streaming for enterprises

Varjo started out making high-end mixed-reality (XR) headsets for enterprises, but it has more recently expanded to help those businesses overcome the challenge of administering XR content to their teams (such as designers). Doing this one seat at a time is complicated, data-intensive, expensive, and requires hardware with lots of processing power, so in April 2022, the Finnish company introduced what it calls the “Varjo Reality Cloud” to stream high-resolution, mixed-reality content down to less powerful PCs and headsets across an organization. The onboarding and security of new users happens in the cloud. The end result is that joining an XR collaboration session is more like joining a Zoom call, and it’s attracted a number of automotive industry customers such as Kia, Rivian, and Volvo. Varjo announced in November 2022 that its cloud service can now stream high-quality XR content powered by Unity’s gaming engine and Epic Games’s Unreal Engine.

10. PATCHXR

For bringing virtual instruments to VR

Playing around with virtual musical instruments within a digital audio app such as Apple’s Garageband is lots of fun, but it’s a 2D experience that can be visually confusing, especially as more instruments come into play. PatchXR‘s Patchworld experience for Meta Quest 2, which was released in July 2022, surrounds the player with virtual musical instruments in VR. It’s surprisingly robust as a creation tool—if only for electronic music. Users can select (or make their own) musical instruments and play them within bizarre virtual spaces, or jam in the same space with friends. They can also record the performance, sing, and add cool effects. Best of all, the expansive 3D space makes it all simple. It’s possible to jump right into one of the ready-to-play worlds and start creating and remixing. The $30 app has earned five-star ratings from 87% of reviewers in the Quest app store.

Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit to be Held March 31, 2023

Full Sail University and The Central Florida VR/AR Association to bring inaugural event to Central Florida business leaders, technologists, and job seekers.

Full Sail University, in partnership with the VR/AR Association – Central Florida Chapter, is proud to present the inaugural Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit on Friday, March 31, 2023, to technologists and business leaders alike. The Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit is a full-day conference bringing business leaders, technology professionals, and job seekers together to explore the future impact of VR/AR technologies, business strategies, and solutions. General admission for the Summit is free and open to the public.

“Full Sail is proud to host this inaugural event on our campus alongside the VR/AR Association – Central Florida Chapter,” stated Dr. Haifa Maamar, Education Director, Emerging Technologies at Full Sail University. “As members of the emerging technologies ecosystem, we understand the value in gathering as a community to further discussion, provide networking opportunities, and host career events which all converge together to strengthen the tech landscape across our region.”

The event will include a technology expo where companies will highlight innovative technology solutions, a career fair with up to 40 participating companies, as well as industry, technology and education speaking tracks and panels. The summit expects to attract participants from a variety of industries including technology, aerospace, healthcare, entertainment & travel, sports & fitness, and higher education.

The career fair will take place at Full Sail Live from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. This event allows members of the VR/AR Association and the general public to network with a variety of employers who are recruiting for positions within the technology industry. To register as an employer, use this link.

The technology expo will be hosted at the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The expo allows members of the VR/AR Association and the general public to network with a variety of exhibitors who are showcasing the latest advances in the technology industry. To register to attend the event, use this link.

Additionally, attendees of the inaugural Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit will have the opportunity to attend industry panels and presentations from industry professionals and technologists.

“This is going to be the premier event in the region focused on immersive technology,” said John Cunningham, Head of Government and Aerospace at Unity Technologies. “We will host many of the world’s leaders in the industry who will share insights and opportunities for our members and our community. Thank you to the host, Full Sail University for supporting this event.”

About the VR/AR Association – Central Florida Chapter:

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between solution providers and end-users that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry best practices, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies.

About Full Sail University:

Full Sail University is an award-winning educational leader for those pursuing careers in entertainment media and emerging technologies. Founded in 1979, Full Sail has received accolades throughout its over 40-year history, including most recently being featured on the 2021 "Top 50 Film Schools and Instructors from Around the World" list by Variety Magazine, named a 2022 "Top Undergraduate Schools to Study Game Design" by The Princeton Review, and previously recognized as the "School/College of the Year" by the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges. Full Sail University is a graduate and undergraduate degree-granting institution offering on-campus and online degree programs in areas related to Art & Design, Business, Film & Television, Games, Media & Communications, Music & Recording, Sports, and Technology. With over 91,022+ graduates worldwide, Full Sail alumni have worked on countless award-winning projects with individual recognition including OSCAR®, Emmy®, GRAMMY®, ADDY®, MTV Video Music Award, and Video Game Award honors.

Isover readies Plant Personnel with Virtual Procedure Training

With simulated procedures in Virtual Reality, Saint-Gobain Isover is able to provide sophisticated employee training on-demand.

In a building and manufacturing industry reliant on competent plant personnel, it’s crucial that new employees are exposed to ample hands-on training. The key to success is providing them with practical experience while minimizing the risk of injury and avoiding downtime. But how can hands-on procedure training be achieved in a safe environment that doesn’t interfere with production? Read more and find out.

The Challenge: Safely training employees while keeping production running

Like most global manufacturing companies, Isover, one of the world’s leading producers of mineral wool, requires qualified personnel to operate its complex machinery. These skills are often taught with procedure training that involves practical application. However, the trouble is that training workers in a live production facility poses both health and safety hazards. That’s why creating safe learning conditions, especially when it comes to training new and inexperienced personnel, is an urgent priority that Isover takes seriously.

In the past, Isover was reliant on the planned downtime of its machinery for safe hands-on training. This narrowed the time window that personnel could train because if they weren’t sufficiently trained, the risk of workplace injuries and unplanned downtime would increase accordingly. That made it a serious challenge to fit procedure training into an already busy production schedule.

Unfortunately, the problem for manufacturers is that having to halt an entire production line due to human error can quickly become a financial burden. It’s, therefore, no secret that unplanned downtime on machinery is considered the Achilles’ heel of manufacturing – and justifiably so. Studies have shown that shutdowns can eat up to 1%-10% of available production time and cost the average automotive manufacturer a whopping $22,000 per minute when factoring in labor, production, and financial losses. By the same token, the total cost of work-related injuries in 2020 was $163B for companies in the US alone.

For Isover, training qualified personnel in a safe environment is therefore vital. That’s partly achieved in a classroom setting, but reading from a slide deck and standing in a real factory are still worlds apart. This is why they needed a smarter way to safely bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The Solution: Conducting procedure training in Virtual Reality

When the team at Isover evaluated the different ways they could improve and modernize their training programs, they looked to digital solutions. Among these options, virtual procedure training stood out as a perfect way to teach employees in a hands-on capacity while simultaneously ensuring a safe learning environment. With the help of SynergyXR, all Isover had to do was tailor the steps from their real-life procedures to a digital format. This allowed trainees to step into a 1:1 virtual replica of their production facility and perform the procedure training exactly as they would in person – without the risk of injury or need for machine downtime.

The benefits of hands-on training in VR

Simulating Isover’s procedure training in Virtual Reality (VR) offers some clear advantages to supplement the theoretical knowledge gained from their classroom training. Helle Maria Monke, Training Coordinator at Isover, describes how the integration of VR is expected to noticeably improve the training program as a core supplement. Specifically, VR makes the training less time-restricted, it helps personnel connect the dots with hands-on procedures, and it completely removes the risk of workplace injuries.

Virtual procedure training captures the user’s attention and makes them focus exclusively on learning the steps in a realistic way. And it doesn’t have to be a lonely experience, either. As an operations assistant at Isover Denmark, Camilla Bøttcher explains how the first trial users have taken advantage of SynergyXR’s multi-user platform to walk through their procedure training in smaller groups, which helps to make it a more fun, social and team-building experience. Better still, they’re able to do it on-demand at a time that suits them best.

"Workers are able to filter out the world and focus on learning the procedure without us having to stop production for it," says Helle Maria Monke, Training Coordinator at Isover.

A steady and rewarding implementation

For the people at Isover, it was important that the implementation of virtual procedure training be carried out with ample technical support from a team with the track record and know-how to convert complex digital data into an intuitive VR experience. According to Helle, SynergyXR provided the right conditions for a fruitful partnership to take place, as adopting brand new technologies can be easier said than done at times. It was a priority that they weren’t just buying a solution and calling it a day, because successfully adopting a new technology is more demanding than that. She explains that, “Working with SynergyXR has been more like a joint venture, where we’ve co-operated on the implementation to fit with our long-term vision.”

As a company that’s new to using XR technology for training purposes, it was important for the team at Isover to have a reliable sparring partner that could provide the right guidance from beginning to end. Helle explains how the development of the procedure training itself, which focused on a lockout-tagout safety drill, has taken some time to establish because they wanted to ensure that enough time was dedicated to mastering the new technology at a steady pace, rather than rushing the process and having to retroactively correct mistakes. Approaching it with a patient mindset has given the team a lot more clarity on how to adapt the technology going forward, and Helle certainly credits that readiness to the initial growing pains.

The Result: A versatile blueprint for virtual procedure training

While still early on in their XR journey, the team at Isover have had an overwhelmingly positive experience with their new virtual lockout-tagout training procedure. Camilla reveals how they successfully introduced the project at Isover’s 2023 kick-off meeting, where over 110 participants were present to either perform the virtual procedure training or watch it on a TV.

"The thing that stood out to me was that everyone learned the procedure very quickly, and they were having fun while doing it," says Camilla Bøttcher, Operations Assistant at Isover.

When you asked them – “Okay, but did you get what the essentials of the training were?” – everyone could answer it correctly. So, while there were varying levels of familiarity with VR devices among the personnel, with the younger attendants usually being more accustomed to the technology, Camilla explains how there was a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm expressed among older co-workers, who were all excited to embrace VR despite being a little slower to learn the controls.

That’s why the team responsible at Isover has approached this big change with an open and inviting mindset, taking the time to support their colleagues and thoroughly explain the concepts of VR to ensure long-term cultural integration. This has led to the development of a VR room at the facility, Camilla tells us, where anyone curious about the tech can learn about it and try the virtual procedure training at their own pace.

More opportunities for training

With this initial success in the bag, the team at Isover is rolling out the virtual procedure training on a company-wide scale and integrating it in their regular training modules. And there are further plans in motion to expand the use of SynergyXR.

Helle informs us that the next step is to replicate the success they’ve had with the safety training pilot and upscale it to cover more safety drills in VR, where they can easily apply their gained experience to design robust training procedures. Additionally, there’s the sort of training where staff needs to become familiar with how Isover’s machinery operates, which they can now learn in VR without having to halt production or risk breaking any machines in the process. Lastly, Helle comments, there are plans to use SynergyXR for emergency training that teaches operators how to react quickly and efficiently to accidents or machine failure, which can’t be simulated in real-life. She expresses her excitement to continue embracing this new technology at Isover.

“Our ambition is that VR becomes an integrated part of our training program. Obviously, there are some things which make perfect sense to do in VR, and there are some which don’t. But where we are seeing it work, such as with our virtual procedure training, it’s a powerful tool that we see a lot of potential in.”

About Isover

Isover is a leading manufacturer of mineral wool for insulation, which has innovated and produced glass wool solutions for the building industry since 1937. Isover is a part of the global Saint-Gobain Group, providing a broad range of solutions for different industries around the world.

Top Retailers Like Walmart and Lowe's Enter the Metaverse: How to Harness the Power of Web3, VR, and AR

“The industry does not have a coherent definition of the Metaverse because the word “Metaverse” is similar to “Cloud” in that the art of the possible with it is vast. The demand by the consumers and the creativity of creators are defining this space at the moment. I personally think in order to fully capture a retailer’s target audience, the “metaverse” experiences have to be carefully tailored and interoperable. If there is one thing proven about the retail customers of the future, is that they value flexibility and variety of options. Any experience, including a Roblox experience, should consider interoperability into the physical world as part of the experience rather than limiting the experience only to the virtual world.”

— Sarah Ennis, INTERGALACTIC AGENCY & VRARA Retail Co-Chair

Post originally appearing on risnews.com by Liz Dominguez.

What is the metaverse? There’s no hard and fast rule as it is a technology and concept that is largely still in development, particularly within the retail industry, but RIS is committed to nailing down and outlining a metaverse-focused strategy. 

Most sources say it’s simply a virtual reality space where participants can interact with a computer-generated environment (and other users). Kris Kolo, global executive director of the VR/AR association, defines the metaverse as “next-gen internet.”

METAVERSE USE CASES

According to Deloitte, the top use cases span across five categories: marketing, product, commerce, supply chain/ops, and talent. Within these buckets, the highest-priority items are product placement, product testing and try-on, enhanced e-commerce shopping, manufacturing design and testing, and employee collaboration. 

“To make any of these use cases a reality, companies need to be prepared to leverage the foundational technologies underpinning the metaverse while nimbly adapting to its rapid rate of change,” said Deloitte in its “Retail in the Metaverse: Understanding Opportunities” article.

“An online virtual platform with 3D capabilities that enables immersive experiences consisting of avatars (personal identities), gaming/social aspects, and in many cases virtual and/or augmented reality — resulting in more engaging, stimulating, and expressive experiences that are essential to get the attention of younger demographics,” Kolo tells RIS.  

RIS has seen a large range of implementations across the retail space.

The best use case? Right now, major retailers like Walmart, Crate & Barrel, and Pacsun are leveraging the technology to get closer to consumers, providing them with an experiential way to connect with the brand — and sometimes even as a path toward ancillary revenue.

We took a look at some of the major metaverse rollouts of the past year, tapping into leading retailer examples, timely research, and expert voices to highlight innovations in the space and provide a guide for harnessing the power of virtual reality within your own organization. 

Top Retailers Jumping Into the Metaverse

Crate & Barrel

Crate & Barrel is among the first retailers to focus on metaverse growth by expanding its leadership team. The company promoted Sebastian Brauer to senior vice president for product design, development and metaverse. While he continues to manage the product design, development, and visual merchandising teams for Crate & Barrel brands, he also now leads the company’s vision for the future metaverse and web3.

"I am honored to take on this new, innovative role," said Brauer in a statement. "My passion leading teams to enable transformation — especially by bridging the physical and digital worlds through design thinking, collaboration, and creativity — will allow us to explore new mediums, dimensions, and technology to effectively introduce CBH to a new, modern, and experiential marketplace."

RIS expects significant growth across leadership in virtual and experiential strategies, as Gartner predicts a quarter of consumers will be using the metaverse daily by 2026.

Walmart

This past September, Walmart announced two new experiences on the Roblox platform: Walmart Land and Walmart Universe of Play. The two new spaces provided unique interactive content and entertainment, bringing Walmart’s “isles” to life within a virtual format where consumers could access fashion, style, beauty, and entertainment items through Roblox. Within Universe of Play, the Roblox community also gained access to “the ultimate virtual toy destination” ahead of the 2022 holiday season. Virtual amenities included an interactive piano experience, a dance challenge, trivia, a motion-capture concert, games, and avatar accessories, among others.

Roblox is a subset of the true metaverse, says Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer and founder of Journey — a web3/metaverse design consultancy firm. 

“To me, there is only one capital ‘M’ metaverse, and within that metaverse there are lower case ‘m’ metaverses, but I prefer to call them virtual worlds,” she tells RIS. “So to me Roblox, Fornite, Second Life are virtual worlds.” 

Pacsun

Pacsun is experimenting with both Roblox and NFTs. The company just launched its second Roblox initiative, Pacsun Los Angeles Tycoon on Roblox. At virtual, multi-day festival ComplexLand last spring, Pacsun highlighted its resell initiative, PS Reserve, within a three-level store that gave consumers access to products from Pacsun, Playboy, and the brand’s new partner Cloud9, an esports organization.

Pacsun's Mall Rat NFTs

The experience married augmented reality with real-life shopping, allowing consumers to identify a product they wish to purchase within the virtual space and then directing them to Pacsun’s website where they can buy the physical version.

Pacsun also introduced mall rat NFTs, showcasing them within a virtual gallery. Consumers could view the art, place a bid, and add a piece to their personal collection. Those who purchased received a sneaker from Pacsun’s resell program. 

Monetization within the space provides a breadth of opportunities for retailers. 

“Right now, the most important thing for retailers to do is to understand the shift from 2D to 3D commerce and expand their thinking about 3D as an e-commerce tech to the near future of the hybrid retail experience,” Sonia Schechter, CMO at Marxent and Co-Chair of our VR/AR Association Retail Committee, tells RIS. 

H&M

H&M is also merging virtual reality with its sustainability initiatives. The company launched a gamified consumer experience, H&M Loooptopia, on the Roblox platform, earlier this year. While much of the experience is similar to other Roblox initiatives, H&M allows consumers to unlock rare elements within the game by recycling old clothes. 

"People who shop and wear H&M garments and accessories are increasingly spending time in virtual spaces and digital worlds. The H&M Loooptopia Experience on Roblox is now allowing us to explore new ways to engage with our current and new customers in the places they love to be, both online and offline," said Linda Li, head of customer activation and marketing, H&M Americas, in an earlier statement. 

Taco Bell

Taco Bell has been leveraging 3D virtual world and browser-based platform Decentraland for its web3/metaverse initiatives. Rather than recreating a storefront within the virtual world, the fast-food retailer has zoned in on lifestyle experiences, launching a wedding-themed contest within a replica of its Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. Earlier this month, Taco Bell announced that out of over 300 couples who applied to win a Taco Bell metaverse wedding, Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole said “I do” on February 24 in Decentraland.

“We're always looking for new ways to meet our fans where they already are and provide them with signature Taco Bell experiences… even when that's in the metaverse," said Sean Tresvant, Taco Bell's chief brand officer, last year. 

Why Decentraland? According to DCL Metrics, the website has around 8,500 unique visitors during a single day.

“These platforms are already working in the virtual space and expanding,” says Hackl. “Brands are seeing the value of entering the metaverse because some of their customers are already spending time in those virtual worlds.”

Lowe’s

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has taken a different spin on the metaverse, launching construction efforts with a building hub that provides free downloads of product assets. Through the asset hub, virtual builders could download more than 500 3D product assets that mimic real-world items across several categories, including lighting, patio furniture, area rugs, kitchen and bath accessories, and decor accents.

These assets could be used across metaverse and non-metaverse environments, including gaming, AR, and creative design, according to Lowe’s.

The company also launched a limited NFT wearable collection, allowing the first 1,000 builders in Decentraland to update their avatars with themed boots, hardhats, and other accessories. 

"We know our customers have benefited greatly from being able to explore and test home improvement projects in the virtual world before taking the leap to implementation in their real-world homes or job sites," said Seemantini Godbole, chief information officer of Lowe's, in an earlier statement. "By entering the metaverse now, we can explore new opportunities to serve, enable and inspire our customers in a way no other home improvement retailer today is doing."

A Guide to Building a Metaverse Strategy

What stands in the way of a full-on metaverse implementation at the retail level? The industry’s slow advancement in the field, for one, as companies look to implement metaverse-like experiences that are low-tech commitment and low-cost.

According to Deloitte, scalability is often an issue with several obstacles such as:

• Interoperability: Because of the metaverse’s large scale (being composed of multiple worlds), it can be difficult for users to navigate, and for retailers to appropriately leverage the space as a selling mechanism. 

• IT Enablement: A true metaverse environment requires advanced tech, such as VR headsets and a high-speed internet connection, which may not be widely available across households.

• Trust: Digital currencies and products like NFTs often carry cybersecurity and fraud risks, which can cause consumers to lose trust in the technology. 

• Experience: Much of today’s available metaverse experiences are still in their infancy, featuring clunky graphics and an overall experience with room for improvement. Deloitte says consumers may lose interest once the initial novelty wears off. 

• Cost: There’s a heavy sustainability burden associated with metaverse aspects such as crypto and blockchain, which could impede progress. 

Despite these roadblocks, there are several tactics retailers can embrace to continue progress in the space. They include: 

1. Moving Beyond Roblox

While useful as a way to initially introduce virtual experiences for your brand, there are several more advanced use cases that are worthwhile investments. For example, Hackl recommends diving into other areas like artificial intelligence. 

“With the emergence of virtual twin models and digital avatars, AI can be used to model consumer habits and preferences to help businesses create experiences tailored to their customers,” she says. “It will be a great way for retailers to engage customers with their brand and will evolve hyper-personalization.” 

2. Digitizing the Store Experience

The e-commerce space is full of untapped potential for digitizing the store experience. Retailers are able to bring in-store experiences to life through e-commerce strategies that blend the line between virtual and real life shopping. 

“3D, augmented reality, and virtual reality will play a critical role in the digitization of the store experience,” says Schechter. “Over the next few years, we'll see bigger investments in 3D e-commerce, and Web3 experiences as the metaverse sorts itself out and finds an audience.” 

3. Leveraging Monetization Within the Virtual Space

From NFTs to cashing out in the virtual space but gaining real-life products, there are myriad ways retailers can monetize their metaverse experiences. 

According to Marty Resnick, research vice president at Gartner, by 2026, 30% of the organizations in the world will have products and services ready for the metaverse, as “enterprises will have the ability to expand and enhance their business models in unprecedented ways by moving from a digital business to a metaverse business.”

4. Focusing on Hybrid Retail at Its Core

It doesn’t have to be one way or the other: both brick-and-mortar and digital experiences are valuable, particularly as today’s consumers shop everywhere, all at once. Merging the two to create a unique, experiential shopping experience is the best approach. 

“The key to enhancing and expanding these immersive experiences is collaboration, co-creation, and also potentially embracing new business models,” says Hackl. “I think we will also continue to see a need for more experiential physical retail that caters to more Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha audiences.” 

She adds that retailers need not worry about going all-in at the beginning, but developing a strategy early on (no matter how small) will be beneficial. 

“Retailers do not have to go big when exploring the metaverse, but they should be developing a strategy that best fits their vision and goals because once they enter a virtual space there will be many learnings and also the possibility of connecting with new audiences,” says Hackl. 

5. Investing in Metaverse Education

Lastly, there’s nothing more valuable than staying updated on the latest innovations and changes in the space. By implementing metaverse-focused leadership at the executive level and prioritizing training and education in the space, retailers will be able to quickly shift gears and jump on the latest opportunities. 

Resnick says it’s still too early to recognize which investments will be viable long-term, but suggests that product managers take the time to “learn, explore, and prepare for a metaverse in order to position themselves competitively.”

If industry experts are right, the future of the metaverse boasts infinite potential, and advancement will occur faster than initially thought. 

“We believe that the metaverse is bidirectional, that over time, while you will be able to enter the metaverse, so will the metaverse be able to enter your physical spaces through things like holographic projections. Virtual reality is just one mere entry point,” — Mike Proulx, VP Research Director at Forrester Research, Tech Transformation

Healium closes $3.6 M in Seed Investments. Enters into Know-How License with Mayo Clinic

Columbia, MO: Healium, a virtual and augmented reality biofeedback company, announced today it’s entered into a know-how agreement with Mayo Clinic. Healium’s products and patented technologies bring biometric data from fitness trackers to life inside virtual, augmented, or mixed reality stories so the user can see and interact with their own EEG brain patterns, heart rate, skin conductance, blood pressure or other biomarkers. Healium’s immersive products including Sleepium are used worldwide in schools, with frontline healthcare workers, elite athletes, and the US military to self-manage anxiety, burnout, and downshift the nervous system before sleep or stressful events. In 7 peer-reviewed journals, Healium has been shown to have clinical benefit in as little as 4 minutes.

Through this know-how agreement, Mayo Clinic will provide subject matter experts to assist in the development of immersive mental health and fitness capabilities utilizing virtual and augmented reality.

“By collaborating with Mayo Clinic, we’ve built an important bridge between biometric data, generative AI, and XR content,” said Sarah Hill, Healium’s CEO who developed the technology with Dr. Jeff Tarrant in 2016 to counteract the traumatic media images she encountered as a former TV broadcaster.

“Media images can be hurtful but when compounded differently into something soothing, they can also heal,” said Hill. “These are powerful, drugless, portable coping mechanisms for this mental health emergency that quickly interrupt the stress response.”

Healium works by spatializing biodata from consumer wearables you may already have in your home into a 3D solar system, butterflies, or even a Jaguar that will stop pacing if you quiet your mind. VR goggles are optional. Healium also has a mobile augmented reality version that works just with a phone or tablet.

Each year, 700,000 people worldwide take their own lives. Emotional stress is the cause of 90% of doctor’s visits, and up to 50% of the population struggles with insomnia. With the rise of the opioid epidemic, not everyone wants to take anxiety or sleep pharmaceuticals due to concerns about side effects and addiction.

Stress is the 21st Century epidemic according to the World Health Organization. Stress and insomnia cost US businesses more than $300 B each year due to absenteeism, reduced productivity, poor decision-making, and mistakes. While meditation helps, it can be difficult to know whether it’s working. How are you supposed to learn to quiet your mind if you can’t SEE or interact with it? Healium allows you to not just track the EEG brainwave and heart rate data from your wearables as a number but see and interact with your feelings as 3D objects, so the user can learn to self-regulate their calm, focus, and pre-sleep routine. (VR goggles now come with blue light filters or “night mode” settings).

Healium recently completed a successful seed raise totaling more than $3.6 M in oversubscribed rounds. Participating funds include Ambition Fund II, Captain Partners & Astronaut Holdings, Citrine Angels, Coact Capital, Gaingels, Impact Venture Capital, KCRise Fund, Mayo Clinic, Missouri Technology Corporation, QRM Capital, Stadia Ventures, Tidewater Capital, and Underdog Ventures.

Mayo Clinic has a financial interest in the technology referenced in this press release. Mayo Clinic will use any revenue it receives to support its not-for-profit mission in patient care, education, and research.

Healium’s IOS and Android mobile apps are currently compatible with Apple Watch (iPhone) and consumer-grade EEG headbands with more fitness trackers coming soon. You can get a free two-week trial by downloading the Healium app on the Apple, Google Play, or virtual reality app stores by searching HEALium.

* * *

About Healium: Healium is a patented technology that connects bio-data from hardware-agnostic consumer wearables to modify and recommend 3D objects in the metaverse. Its products including Sleepium allow users to learn to self-regulate their anxiety by giving them the ability to see their EEG brain patterns or heart rate personified in real time. In seven peer-reviewed journals, Healium has been shown to significantly reduce anxiety or improve mood in as little as four minutes. Healium has been featured by Apple, Google, Forbes, Today, Discovery, Wallstreet Journal, Venture Beat, and the DIY Network to name a few. It won the 2022 NFL Players Association pitch challenge, the Procter & Gamble Ventures Innovation Prize, 2022 CES Innovation Award, a Headstream powered by Second Muse Innovation award, and SBIRs with the US Air Force. Learn more

here: https://www.tryhealium.com/

Immersal Launches City-Scale

Opening new business opportunities

Mobile network operators will own the Immersal city-scale VPS maps and sell the service to companies in various industries, including logistics, postal services, food delivery, public safety, gaming, entertainment, retail, and advertising. With its advanced mapping capabilities, the Immersal VPS streamlines the way businesses access location data, enabling the creation of more advanced location-based applications. The system’s accuracy is achieved through the use of proprietary computer vision algorithms and streamlined mapping techniques, providing a high level of precision and reliability.

Accurate visual positioning system powers different applications

The Immersal VPS has a wide range of applications, including:

• Augmented reality experiences for tourists and visitors to landmarks, museums, and other attractions.

• Location-based advertising and marketing, providing businesses with more accurate data on customer behavior and preferences.

• Emergency response and public safety, allowing first responders to quickly and accurately locate individuals in need of assistance.

Opportunity for developers and creators

Immersal is seeking partners to collaborate with us in creating immersive content such as AR art, AR games, and other location-based experiences using our cutting-edge Visual Positioning System (VPS) technology.  Ready-made Immersal City-scale VPS maps will be released for Helsinki in March 2023, followed by Tokyo, Seoul, and San Francisco in 1H 2023.

Our VPS technology offers an unprecedented level of precision and accuracy in location-based AR applications, providing an ideal platform for partners to create engaging and interactive experiences that are seamlessly integrated with the physical environment.

The Immersal VPS is designed for ease of use, allowing mobile network operators to integrate it into their existing infrastructure with ease. This eliminates the need for complex and costly deployments, making the technology accessible to a wider range of businesses.

Hermes Frangoudis appointed as Co-Chair of VR/AR Association WebXR Committee

We are thrilled to have Hermes Frangoudis as co-chair for our Industry Committee and help lead our global community with regards to WebXR!

Hermes is the Co-Founder and CTO of Arlene, where he and his team have developed webXR.tools, a no-code web AR/VR toolkit for digital creatives to extend reality. Hermes started his journey in XR as a solutions engineer at Blippar and later went on to become Director of Developer Relations and Partner Engineering at Agora.io, supporting many of their AR/VR partnerships. With over 18 years of experience in web technologies and almost a decade working with AR/VR, Hermes has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field.

Hermes is a respected speaker in the industry, having presented at conferences. Throughout his career, Hermes has worked with many Fortune 500 companies and top brands spanning a wide range of industries, including fashion, automotive, and CPG brands to launch immersive experiences.

“I’m excited to co-chair the committee because I believe webXR is quickly evolving and revolutionizing the future of immersive experiences.”

— Hermes Frangoudis

MillerKnoll 3D Leader, La-Z-Boy Alumna Join 3D Cloud by Marxent Advisory Board

Post originally appearing on presswire.com.

3D Cloud by Marxent CEO: "As we introduce AI/ML, room scanning, and other advanced features, it's critical to keep the client perspective front and center."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today 3D Cloud™ by Marxent, the 3D experience platform for furniture and home improvement, announced the appointment of Lorna Jean Marcuzzo of MillerKnoll and Gail Applin, formerly of La-Z-Boy, to the 3D Cloud by Marxent Advisory Board. The Advisory Board is comprised of industry veterans from across home improvement, contract furniture, home furnishings, and adjacent industries.

Marcuzzo, currently Senior Digital Product Manager for 3D Visualization at MillerKnoll, brings over a decade of experience in the contract furniture space with a focus on innovation. Similarly, Applin served as Director of eCommerce and Interactive Customer Experience at La-Z-Boy for nearly a decade and is presently Director of E-Commerce Strategy and Operations for Smith & Noble.

"Both Lorna Jean and Gail bring a wealth of furniture industry experience to the table," said Beck Besecker, 3D Cloud by Marxent's CEO and Co-Founder. "They have considerable industry insight and also know what it takes to lead and deploy successful 3D innovation strategies at scale."

"I've always been impressed with both the quality of the team and the speed of innovation at 3D Cloud by Marxent," Marcuzzo said. "They are solving major challenges for the contract furniture industry, and I'm excited to be a part of the future of 3D visualization that we're building together," she said.

"Leading the 3D efforts for a highly customized product was challenging and 3D Cloud by Marxent was the perfect partner in innovation," Applin said. "I'm honored to be a part of the advisory board and to continue our collaboration," she said.

3D Cloud by Marxent pioneered the use of 3D in retail with the first major rollout of in-store Virtual Reality at scale and was an early developer of Augmented Reality applications for retail use cases. The company continues to serve the furniture, contract furniture, and home improvement industries with 3D solutions for furniture, office, kitchen, bath, and decking.  Innovations include Instant Renders, Design from Photo, and code-free product configuration at scale.

"Listening is essential in helping us to build next-gen 3D commerce solutions for the verticals that we serve. As we introduce AI/ML, room scanning, and other advanced features, it's critical to keep the client perspective front and center," Besecker said. "We are pleased to welcome Gail Applin and Lorna Jean Marcuzzo to the Advisory Board and look forward to their contributions," he said.

About 3D Cloud™ by Marxent

3D Cloud™ by Marxent is the 3D experience platform and global leader in 3D e-commerce for furniture, kitchen, bath, outdoor, office furniture, closets, and storage. The 3D Cloud platform is a B2B SaaS that allows retailers and brands to build endless applications from a single 3D product catalog. With 3D Cloud, 3D content is created, managed, and published to all 3D applications from a single source of truth for consistency across every touchpoint in the customer journey. Applications that run on 3D Cloud include 3D Product Configurators, 3D Sectional Configurator, 3D Room Planner with Design from Photo, 360 Product Spins, 3D Renders, WebAR, Augmented Reality retail apps, and Virtual Reality retail apps. 3D Cloud by Marxent has offices in Miamisburg, Ohio; St. Petersburg, Florida; London, England; and Auckland, New Zealand. Clients include a major U.S.-based home improvement retailer, Kingfisher plc, PlaceMakers, Mico, Kinsman, Macy's, Ashley, HNI Corporation, La-Z-Boy, Joybird, and John Lewis and Partners. The company is backed by Dan Gilbert and Arnie Bellini. For more information, visit 3dcloud.com.

Computer Generated Solutions (CGS) becomes a sponsor for our VRARA Enterprise Forum 2023

Computer Generated Solutions (CGS) becomes a sponsor for our VRARA Enterprise Forum 2023. Don’t miss their keynote presentation!

For nearly 40 years, CGS (Computer Generated Solutions) has enabled global enterprises, regional companies, and government agencies to drive breakthrough performance through software and business applications, enterprise learning and outsourcing services.

CGS is wholly focused on creating comprehensive solutions that meet clients’ complex, multi-dimensional needs, and support clients' most fundamental business activities. Headquartered in New York City, CGS has offices across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

TeamworkAR

Your people power your business. Whether the goals are onsite repairs, new training, remote assistance or enabling a dispersed workforce, TeamworkAR™ is how you can give your people the support they need.

Through innovative technology with practical functionality, TeamworkAR can make employees more efficient, more effective, and more confident in their work. With real-time learning, expert guidance and seamless collaboration, they can do what your business needs and be safer while doing it.

Learn more about CGS AR product offerings here https://www.cgsinc.com/en/enterprise-augmented-reality-for-business or watch video below.

Vivoka, leader in speech recognition, brings voice to Epson’s Moverio smart glasses applications

Metz, February 16, 2023. Vivoka, leader in voice AI technologies, is partnering with Epson to offer software vendors working on the Epson Moverio line of connected glasses the ability to add a voice assistant to their applications. Vivoka’s Voice Development Kit (VDK) is compatible with the Moverio BT-40S and BT-45CS smart glasses.

The Moverio BT-45CS connected glasses with smart controller are based on Epson’s Si-OLED technology. They easily combine digital content with a real environment. Featuring a comfortable headband and a clip for attaching to hard hats if needed, they meet international standards for safety and durability, making them ideal for remote assistance, work instruction and training in industrial settings. 

“Vivoka is the market leader in voice-enabled smart glasses and we are working every day to make it even easier to integrate voice into all types of connected glasses.” – William Simonin, CEO of Vivoka

The use cases for these products are multiple. For example, a mechanic in a car garage, with his busy hands, could proceed to different voice commands such as opening the vehicle’s registration card, a video tutorial or even calling a colleague for help. Such a device allows the company and the employees to save time (hand washing, use of the phone or a computer, theoretical training…) and thus increase their efficiency.

Software vendors have the ability to integrate a voice interface via Vivoka’s VDK into their applications for the Epson Moverio connected glasses. The Voice Development Kit brings together all voice technologies in a single, simple and versatile tool that allows all offline voice commands to be customised and activated in minutes. The glasses are voice-ready as they are equipped with a microphone and speaker.

“Epson places great importance in creating a vibrant ecosystem around the Moverio connected glasses platform. Vivoka’s Voice Development Kit compatibility is a new tool for our software partners who may be interested in integrating voice commands into their Moverio applications to enable personalised hands-free interactions in multiple languages.” – Marc-Antoine Godfroid – New Market Development Manager, Epson Europe.

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 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.

About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader whose activities contribute to sustainable development with the goal of acting as a good corporate citizen that grows with respect for the communities in which it operates. To achieve this, Epson relies on its efficient, compact and precision technologies and its digital technologies to connect people, objects and information.  The company is focused on solving societal problems through innovations in home printing, office printing, commercial and industrial printing, industrial robotics, visual communication (home theatre, education, meeting rooms, events).  

Epson will become carbon negative and eliminate the use of depletable underground resources such as oil and metal from its operations by 2050.  Epson is part of the Japanese global group Seiko Epson Corporation and has annual sales of approximately 1 trillion yen. 

For more information, please visit Epson’s website.

Liquid Avatar Technologies and Aftermath Islands Launch Artificial Intelligence Powered Avatars in the Metaverse

Toronto, Ontario and Bridgetown, Barbados--(Newsfile Corp. - February 14, 2023) - Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (CSE: LQID) (OTCQB: LQAVF) (FSE: 4T5) ("Liquid Avatar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its controlled subsidiary, Aftermath Islands Metaverse Limited ("Aftermath Islands") has been actively engaged in developing Artificial Intelligence ("AI") powered Non-Player Characters (NPCs) avatars that are subject matter experts for the Metaverse. Having completed initial development, training and testing, AI avatars have begun to emerge in the Aftermath Islands Metaverse, with a fully interactive commercial rollout expected this quarter, which provides high fidelity graphics and a no download experience. The early-stage experience is available now at https://play.aftermathislands.com.

The Company's new AI avatar technology, using OpenAI GPT3, with over 175 billion parameters, essentially the enhanced version of ChatGPT which only has 1.5 billion parameters, has been primarily developed to provide commercial opportunities for brands and organizations to create virtual brand ambassadors that are easily accessible in the Metaverse and leverages a brand's existing web resources. Highly detailed, life-like and / or imaginative NPC avatars active in a natural looking virtual setting or in a branded location, will be deployed using the highly trainable, and interactive engagement capabilities of OpenAI GPT3 and Aftermath Islands' continuous updating and management. These AI powered avatars can naturally converse, initially by text and later by voice interaction with a user, allowing them to have a fulsome conversation with the AI avatar and navigate through a discussion or query on a particular subject or brand program. The technology will also have the capabilities to recommend products and services and provide links to be able to launch an organization's existing website, information, provide support and / or eCommerce initiatives directly from the Metaverse to a user's web browser, creating both engagement and activation opportunities for the brand seamlessly and efficiently.

"Artificial Intelligence applications like OpenAI GPT3 provide cost effective opportunities for brands, retailers, educators, travel and tourism operators, governments, and other types of organizations to move from static based information push models to truly interactive capabilities in the Metaverse, creating new and innovative ways to create awareness, engagement, activation and conversion," commented David Lucatch, CEO of Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. and Managing Director of Aftermath Islands Metaverse Limited. "We are already seeing strong commercial interest, as AI powered avatars can naturally interact with users and can recommend solutions that can be "clicked" within Aftermath Islands to instantly launch access to a host of web activities including eCommerce sites to support revenue-based activities, and 24/7 automated and intelligent customer service and support."

Born Studios launches The Forest of Resilience VR experience on Oculus Store

Born Studios has officially launched The Forest of Resilience on the Oculus Store. Centred around wellbeing, the VR experience takes the user on a journey through a magical forest where they learn how to activate their resilience.

The whole experience is guided by nature, with the help of specially designed exercises, created by psychologist Dr Anna Rowley. As users go through the forest, they uncover the four stages of resilience: engaging with adversity, persisting, rebounding and learning.

The Forest of Resilience premiered at MIT EmTech Next 2022, with participants saying it helped them feel “calmer” and "more grounded”. Now Meta Quest headset owners can try it for themselves – the forest is free to discover, just as nature should be.

SPANISH VR COMPANY VIRTUALWARE TO BE LISTED ON THE PARIS STOCK EXCHANGE

Bilbao, February 16, 2023.— Spanish technology company Virtualware, one of the European leaders in the virtual reality industry, will be listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in the coming weeks.

To this end, it has already filed the corresponding application with Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange that groups together the stock exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Milan, and Dublin.

Virtualware, founded in 2004, is one of the pioneering companies in the field of Virtual Reality, where its team of more than 50 people has already developed more than 500 projects in more than 33 countries. It is headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, and has a North American office in Hamilton (Canada).

For the last decade and a half, it has been developing immersive solutions oriented to the industrial world and counts among its client base multinationals and institutions such as GE Hitachi, Ontario Power Generation, Petronas, Iberdrola, Alstom, Guardian Glass, Gestamp, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Biogen, Bayer, ADIF, the Spanish Ministry of Defense, El Retoño Technical University or EAN University, to name a few.

Following approval by Euronext, the IPO will take place in the Access segment and follows a year and a half of preparation.

Virtualware’s CEO, Unai Extremo, explained that “this is an important step in our path towards the growth and global expansion of our company, especially in the US and European markets. The IPO will strengthen our global position, increase our visibility and add a wider community of stakeholders to our mission.”

At the end of 2021, the company, whose majority partners are its CEO Unai Extremo and Sergio Barrera, its CTO or chief technology officer, was recognized as the world’s most innovative company at the VR Awards 14 months ago.

Its product VIROO, the world’s pioneering VR as a Service (VRaaS) platform, makes Virtual Reality accessible to companies of all sizes and sectors. It is an all-in-one digital solution that enables the development and deployment of multi-user Virtual Reality applications remotely.

VIROO has received a patent in the United States and was named the best enterprise Virtual Reality solution at the VR Awards in 2019. The platform is already used by companies worldwide and has been used to develop strategic projects for defense ministries or critical infrastructure training projects. VIROO aims to become the standard for developing industrial Virtual Reality applications worldwide.

Virtualware also participates in Evolv, a medical and digital health device manufacturer specializing in developing rehabilitation solutions based on immersive technologies.

According to the annual report published by the company at the end of 2022, the company received ISO 27001 certification in recent months, signed contracts with leading international organizations, such as Ontario Power Generation, Gestamp, Janssen, Invest WindsorEssex and the University of El Salvador, and began participating in events jointly with Microsoft in the United States.

The company will announce the exact listing date and valuation in the coming weeks.

Skip Kimpel appointed as chair of VR/AR Association Hospitality Committee

We are thrilled to have Skip Kimpel chair our Hospitality Committee and help lead our community in this sector.

Skip Kimpel is a restaurant and hospitality technology evangelist and an industry known thought leader. Kimpel is currently the Principal of Independent & SMB Consulting for ConStrata and has held previous roles as the CIO and senior technology roles for 4R Restaurant Group, Technology for Virtual Dining Concepts and for Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. His responsibilities have included all areas of strategy and operational technology not only at the restaurant level but also within the various corporate departments. He views data as the number one asset that a company has at its disposal that allows them to leverage this for honing in on business strategy and solid pro-active decision making.

Kimpel is also the creator and host of The Tech Chef Podcast, which is a restaurant and hospitality technology show and is one of the most popular places to get the latest information on operational and technology driven solutions solving for the complications brands are currently experiencing. Skip actively sits on the Board of Governors for the Restaurant Technology Network (RTN) as well as the marketing and allied member committees and previous board member for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA). He is heavily involved with anything that is hospitality technology driven and has been instrumental in creating industry standards as well as the restaurant industry’s first standardized open API.

“I am excited to chair the virtual reality and augmented reality committee for hospitality because it provides an incredible opportunity for this vertical to explore new ways of engaging with customers, creating immersive experiences that are tailored for their needs and interests in addition to training programs that usually involve complex and dangerous skill sets that can be achieved, safely, through a virtual platform. Companies in the hospitality sector can create innovative experiences to delight their customers and unlock new revenue streams that will quickly be adapted once shown the possibilities and the ROI. Currently, this area is completely unexplored in the hospitality sector”

— Skip Kimpel