Full Sail Brings Tech Leaders Together for Central Florida Immersive Tech Summit

Full Sail University recently hosted the Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit, a collaborative conference featuring more than 100 speakers from some of the top tech companies in the Central Florida area.

The summit kicked off with a Women’s Breakfast, where high-achieving women in tech could network while enjoying coffee and refreshments. Several women took turns speaking to the group about the importance of leading and representing the next generation of female tech professionals.

“I don’t want to be a typical nurse. I don’t want to be a typical anything,” said Colonel Cheryl Lockhart as she told her story about making waves in the Air Force. “About a year and a half ago, we were able to bring in the Air Force’s first medical treatment facility [virtual reality] program.”

“Bringing women together and having this alliance between all these different women who are working in different industries in the technology space is very important for us,” shared Full Sail’s Education Director of Emerging Technologies Dr. Haifa Maamar.

Students and industry professionals also attended a Unity Developer Workshop. Several company heads, including Brady Moore, Cesium's Director of Mission Support, walked participants through best practices using Unity software. Their talks featured demos, insights into their decision-making, and opportunities to get hands-on with Unity.

“What's really important about the Unity workshop is that there is a ton of opportunity for anyone to access Unity, learn it, and then take their ideas to the next level. One of the biggest things that Unity is all about is democratizing development,” explained Full Sail graduate Caris Baker, a Senior Technical Artist with Unity Technologies and one of this year’s inductees into the Full Sail University Hall of Fame.

There were several opportunities to play with companies’ gear and technology at the summit.

Throughout the day, summit attendees could sit in on 30-minute talks held around campus. Speakers included John Cunningham, Head of Government and Aerospace at Unity, Carol Ann Logue, Director of Programs and Operations at the University of Central Florida, and Kevin Carpenter, General Manager at Siemens Energy.

“[The summit] is taking the people who are developing a lot of this technology and putting them in a room with people who are going to use it,” said Full Sail’s Education Director for Visual Arts Rick Ramsey. “It's exciting that people who provide technology are here at a school where we teach technology to the next generation that's going to be out there.”

Students could also attend the large career fair located in the Full Sail Live venue, which was held in partnership with the VR/AR Association of Central Florida. Several tech companies, including Magic Leap Inc., X-Force, and AVT Simulation, set up booths and welcomed students to come chat throughout the afternoon.

“Today’s in-person career fair is an opportunity to get to network and meet these employers who are looking to cultivate talent [in the Central Florida region]. Students couldn’t ask for a better situation to get started,” shared Full Sail’s Associate Director of Career Development Brad McDonald.

The Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit came to a close in the evening with an outdoor networking reception. Industry professionals and students gathered to socialize, exchange ideas, and celebrate a successful summit.

VIRTUALWARE INKS A €1.16M MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT IN CENTRAL AMERICA TO INTRODUCE ITS VIROO PLATFORM IN LOCAL UNIVERSITIES.

Bilbao, April 11, 2023 – Spanish technology company Virtualware, one of the European leaders in the virtual reality industry, has signed a multi-year contract with Corporación Digital SA de CV under which the company will further introduce VIROO at the University of El Salvador.

The agreement is worth approximately €1.16 million. As a result of the contract, Virtualware guarantees the University of El Salvador the use of VIROO subscription plans for the next three years including the installation and maintenance of six additional VIROO VR rooms at different university campuses.

Corporacion Digital, a member of VIROO’s Partner Program, has been dedicated to the development of innovation projects in the area of ICT and Audiovisual in Central America for more than two decades. From its HQ in El Salvador, the company has been working in the Private, Academic, and Public sectors, looking for those unattended technology needs that impact on the new forms and trends of information processing.

“We are thrilled to bring our VIROO platform to the University of El Salvador and help improve the way people teach and learn. With VIROO, Central American teachers will have the ability to create and deploy virtual reality learning resources and activities autonomously, making the Virtual Reality-driven content creation process much simpler and valuable”Unai Extremo, Virtualware CEO & Founder

Virtualware’s flagship product VIROO, the world’s pioneering VR as a Service (VRaaS) platform, makes Virtual Reality accessible to companies and institutions 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.

“This multi-year agreement with Corporación Digital is a significant milestone for Virtualware as we continue to expand our reach and establish VIROO as the standard for developing industrial and educational Virtual Reality applications worldwide.”

adds Extremo

VIROO is already used by more than 40 companies and institutions worldwide including GE Hitachi, Ontario Power Generation, Gestamp, ADIF, the Spanish Ministry of Defense, El Retoño Technological University, and EAN University. 

“We have found VIROO to be one of the most complete and adaptable solutions for the education and training needs that our region is beginning to demand. Through this agreement, we will improve the way many people teach and learn at the University of El Salvador”

Luís Segovía, Managing Director of Corporación Digital

The enterprise VR platform has been the backbone to develop strategic projects for defense ministries, critical infrastructure training projects, and innovative educational programs. VIROO aims to become the standard for developing industrial end educational Virtual Reality applications worldwide.

Founded in 2004, Virtualware 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).

The corporation will go public on Euronext Paris on April 20 in a bell-ringing ceremony to be presided over by the company’s two founders, Unai Extremo, and Sergio Barrera. The listing will take place in the Access segment and follows a year and a half of preparation.

Euronext is the pan-European stock exchange that groups together the stock exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Oslo, Milan, and Dublin.

Vivoka challenges the voice assistant giants with its offline solution

Paris, France. April 11, 2023.Written by Anaïs DAUFFER

Vivoka is announcing an NLU (Natural Language Understanding) technology that is as powerful as the cloud, but running in an embedded voice assistant. In doing so, Vivoka is challenging the biggest in voice technology such as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant as the French company stands out for its ability to operate offline and thus advocate data protection and Green IT. 

An almost human voice assistant?

The NLU (natural language understanding) allows voice assistants to understand any vocal command as long as the user’s intention is clear. Today, artificial intelligence pushes the limits of what is possible by allowing real interactions between humans and machines. 

The voice assistant focuses on the intention and not on the words in particular. The machine, which learns from examples, will refine its understanding to interact more easily, quickly and widely with humans; this is called Machine Learning. Until now, embedded voice assistants have included predefined phrases and voice commands could not go outside of this framework.

“The current boundaries of embedded voice assistants lie in their limited ability to understand complex sentences. The NLU we’re working on will enable tomorrow’s assistants to not only perform as well as those available in the cloud, but also limit energy impact and protect our customers’ data.” said William Simonin, Vivoka’s co-founder and CEO.

The particularity of Vivoka, since the creation of its VDK (Voice Development Kit), is the fact that everything is offline (embedded). Indeed, the voice assistants, implemented in any device, can be used without an internet connection, which allows a total independence on the final product. This independence already takes effect in the development of Vivoka, which does not use any external components for this version of its software.

The disconnection mainly reduces the impact of data and data storage on the environment. Vivoka’s digital sobriety allows its customers to meet their sustainability goals while having a voice assistant as powerful as those connected.

The power of the cloud but embedded?

Vivoka is the first company to achieve this! 

“It was time to bring to the industry and to consumer electronic devices, the possibility to control their interfaces by voice, without having to make them dependent on the Internet, for a secure and operational use instantly. Well, it’s done with our voice development software VDK. In 2023, Vivoka brings embedded voice control to life with revolutionary AI functionality.” – confirms Emmanuel Chaligné, Product Director. 

Many sectors, such as defense, industry, logistics or even household appliances, cannot depend on an internet-connected solution. As a result, the demand from players in these sectors is growing. Vivoka is not only established in France but worldwide thanks to this not so widespread technology. The development of this functionality based on natural language seemed logical to them: 

“Today we export our VDK technology to all five continents and are present in many industrial sectors. We know the demand. Our partners have been waiting for a long time for a high-performance solution that allows their users to talk naturally to their systems, without going through the Internet. The technical barrier that we are going to remove with the first embedded NLU will make this possible. This was the logical next step in our development. It will allow Vivoka to show that the cloud is not an obligation, and that a company should not have to choose between performance and data protection.” says William Simonin. 

Here are two examples of how an embedded NLU can be used: 

• Professional setting: 

  • Voice implemented in dental office chairs will allow practitioners to naturally and easily control patient height and tilt. 

  • The NLU will enable next generation robots to be equipped with speech. Voice is a natural interaction and robots will be able to replicate human actions in many fields such as education, industry or health.

• Private setting: 

  • In the future, household appliances will be controlled by voice without the need for the house to be connected and without an internet connection for these appliances. Users will not need to learn ready-made phrases, they will be able to speak naturally, as they would with other humans.

These are only 3 examples among many sectors concerned such as: IoT (internet of things), connected home, transport, logistics, education, connected glasses/headsets, robotics, defense and health. 

About VIVOKA

Vivoka is a global leader in voice AI technologies founded in 2015. Thanks to its VDK (Voice Development Kit), Vivoka offers an all-in-one solution that enables any company to create its own high-performance, secure embedded/offline voice assistant in record time. Vivoka has won several innovation awards and has established leading partnerships with major players in the voice market. Vivoka has a portfolio of more than 100 customers from all major industries and is pursuing its goal of bringing people closer to technology through voice.

Press contact: 

Floriane Bret

Communication officer

floriane.bret@vivoka.com

Tim Hill of Intuitive Research and Technology joins the Board of Advisors of the VRARA Central Florida Chapter

The VRARA is excited to announce that Tim Hill is joining the Board of Advisors of the VR/AR Association (VRARA) Central Florida Chapter. Tim is currently the Director of Central Florida Operations for Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation (INTUITIVE), a defense aerospace company specializing in providing engineering services and building teams to solve hard problems. 

Tim is a former Navy Captain, who retired from the Navy in 2021 after completing a successful tour commanding Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) and Naval Support Activity Orlando. His tour was the culmination of nearly 30 years of naval service, split between flying operationally and in developmental test, and managing large weapons systems acquisition programs. He accumulated over 3,200 flight hours and 600 carrier arrested landings, deployed aboard four different aircraft carriers, and participated in operations in the Former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In Central Florida, Tim has led many strategic initiatives, including establishing the Central Florida Tech Grove and STARBASE Central Florida.

Tim is extremely passionate about applying leading edge technology and actively serves throughout our community to foster an ecosystem of innovation. He is active with groups such as the National Center for Simulation, National Training and Simulation Association, Orlando Tech Community, and the Central Florida Navy League.

“The VRARA Association is an organization focused on education, networking and creating business opportunities for our members.  Tim has been a member of the Central Florida ecosystem for many years both while in the Navy and now as a business leader.  I am pleased to welcome Tim to the VRARA Central Florida Advisory Board where he can help shape the direction of the Association and ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our membership and our ecosystem!” John Cunningham, President VRARA Central Florida Chapter.

Qualcomm to keynote at our Enterprise & Training Forum 2023

Qualcomm becomes a Platinum sponsor for our VRARA Enterprise & Training Forum 2023 happening virtually on May 24! Hear from Martin Herdina during the keynote, Spaces Enabling the Next Generation of Enterprise MR Experiences.

Snapdragon Spaces supports Open XR and offers SDKs for Unity and Unreal to help XR developers create immersive experiences.

Our annual Forum is a full day event with best practices, guidelines, and insights as we bring together industry leaders in VR/AR, smartglasses, and digital transformation from solution providers and the end-users/brands. We expect 1000+ attendees, and 50+ speakers. Don't miss the 1-on-1 networking sessions throughout the day where you can build meaningful connections!

We look forward to you joining our virtual event on May 24!

INTUITIVE® Joins the Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Association

Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation (INTUITIVE), a professional engineering and technology services company, has joined the Virtual Reality Augmented Reality Association (VRARA) through the Central Florida Chapter.

Over the last decade, INTUITIVE has explored and invested in emerging, interdisciplinary visual solutions for advanced control and communication. They are focused on revolutionizing visualization methods, and how data is perceived, analyzed, and experienced. The company’s analytics and visualization software packages allow users, physicians, analysts, engineers, patients, and stakeholders to be immersed in their data. 

INTUITIVE’s team of digital and technical artists, game developers, and digital and software engineers utilize a myriad of visualization applications—including VR and AR domains—to provide immersive solutions to its Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial customers. Some of the VR/AR applications they have created include virtual experiences for viewing and interacting with medical imagery, holding multi-analyst design reviews, and even to scale replications of aircraft. INTUITIVE’s team has experience with many of the leading-edge Extended Reality (XR) technologies on the market today. 

Tim Hill, INTUITIVE’s Director of Central Florida Operations, said, “With VR & AR technologies, the sky is the limit. To keep up with the ever evolving and changing world, and the growing amounts and types of digital data, we must advance how we survey, analyze, view, and experience complex data. We are excited to join VRARA, and to collaborate with a community of creators who share our same passion and vision.” In addition to joining VRARA, Hill now serves on the VRARA Board of Advisors for the Central Florida Chapter. 

INTUITIVE’s Internal Research & Development (IR&D) investments in the area of XR has resulted in a deep portfolio of widgets, toolkits, and an extensible framework that can be used to rapidly prototype and deliver VR and AR solutions.  The company holds several patents on the technology and applications that they have developed in this area since 2014, many with applicability for medicine and radiology.  INTUITIVE’s tools are data agnostic—they can easily re-purpose the methods and interfaces they have developed for the medical domain for any data-intensive engineering and aerospace discipline, such as non-destructive test and evaluation, automatic target recognition, and image processing.  INTUITIVE’s Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Dr. William Marx, said, “We’ve been pioneers in developing and delivering visualization solutions for many years.  Our current and future IR&D investments in this area allow us to explore linear and non-linear training solutions; multi-platform and multi-player distributed collaboration; and development of natural user interface solutions that provide intuitive, innovative methods to perform data analytics within the virtual environment.”

ABOUT INTUITIVE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION:

INTUITIVE® is an aerospace engineering and analysis firm that provides production support, software and systems engineering, programmatic support, product development, rapid prototyping, and technology management to the Department of Defense, other State and Federal Government agencies, and commercial companies. Our approach couples the latest technology with engineering expertise, analytical proficiency, and keen managerial oversight.  From design through production to sustainment, we proudly provide management and technical solutions throughout all phases of the system’s life cycle.

For more information about this topic, please contact Arlee Holmes at 256.936.4186 or email at arlee.holmes@irtc-hq.com.

HyperTunnel is part of Techstars Industries of the Future Class of 2023

This accelerator is run in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the University of Tennessee System. Based in the Oak Ridge-Knoxville, Tennessee, metropolitan area, these promising, early-stage companies are focused on emerging technologies across industries including artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, climate tech, future of work, mobility and clean energy technology.

“Now more than ever we need novel innovative technologies that have the potential to solve our most pressing problems,” said Managing Director, Tricia Martinez. “Governments and enterprises are looking for deeptech that can battle extreme weather events, design new batteries, capture novel energy resources, and more. Our companies for Techstars Industries of the Future are pushing the boundaries on what is possible with emerging technologies.” 

HyperTunnel is enabling real-time (synchronous) and time-delayed (asynchronous) collaboration between frontline workers and domain experts – from remote physical worksites to centralized immersive digital twins through a mixed reality software platform.

Sony announced a new larger Spatial Reality Display

Sony announced a new larger Spatial Reality Display. A Larger 27 inch 4K Model, ELF-SR2, which provides a Realistic, Glasses-free 3D Visualization experience for professionals. For more info reach out to thaisa.yamamura@sony.com

PARAMUS, N.J., April 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics is adding a new model to its Spatial Reality Display portfolio with the addition of the ELF-SR2. At 27 inches, the larger 4K option provides highly realistic, three-dimensional content without the use of special glasses or VR headsets. Highlights of the new offering include an upgraded high-speed vision sensor, image quality enhancing technologies and installation flexibility. Additionally, the ELF-SR2 enables more robust functionality through its support of applications and development. It is optimized for industrial design, surgical planning, architecture, engineering, construction, signage, retail, software/application development, game developers and entertainment applications.

"Our original Spatial Reality Display continues to captivate customers by bringing 3D content to life with an astonishing authenticity and sophistication that demands to be experienced hands-on," said Rich Ventura, Vice President of Professional Display Solutions, Sony Electronics. "While our users love the technology, we keep hearing the same question from professionals; 'does this display come in a larger size?' As we expand into more B2B verticals and environments, I'm happy to say that in addition to a bigger screen, we've added some powerful and commonly requested features to enhance content production. These include a wider color gamut, a newly developed engine, more advanced high-speed sensors and rich support for applications and their development – all for an extremely competitive price."

At 27 inches, the 4K Spatial Reality Display provides highly realistic, 3D content without the use of special glasses.

Immersive Spatial Imagery
The display's visual fidelity is amplified by its immersive depth of field and detailed resolution, in addition to its larger size. New generation high-speed vision sensors enable high-speed processing, as well as low latency for reduced motion blur and crosstalk. 10-bit processing supports a wide color gamut that covers Adobe RGB at approximately 100% for accurate color reproduction. The super resolution engine provides upscaling from 2K to 4K. Additionally, the new model offers color moire correction to better address fine details, patterns and lines.

The ELF-SR2's enhanced facial tracking and recognition senses a viewer's eyes to provide a natural and comfortable visual experience, while the wide viewing angle enables consistency and accuracy from numerous vantage points.

Versatile Software Development Environment
The ELF-SR2 promotes application compatibility, as well as efficient and streamlined development through software development kits (SDKs). With support for leading SDKs including Unity and, Unreal Engine, it also allows for development with Open GL, DirectX11/12 and Open XR (coming later this year). The Spatial Reality Display enables simplified VR and AR digital content creation.

A new Spatial Reality Display App Select website will also be available, where users can easily find applications compatible with the display, as well as relevant case studies and information. In addition, Sony will offer an intuitive Spatial Reality Display Player app, which supports various 3D file formats to easily show 3D projects on the display. 

The Spatial Reality Display also allows for the use of specialized, industry-specific applications highlighted in the partnerships below.

Partnerships:

• 3DICOM MD, Singular Health's FDA-approved 3D software has been designed to work with Spatial Reality Display and enables highly accurate, detailed, glasses-free 3D medical visualization for diagnostic applications.

• Digital Nation Entertainment (DNE) provides end-to-end production and creative services for mixed reality and live experiences. DNE uses Spatial Reality Display to pre-visualize content from their volumetric capture studio.

• Developed by Arcturus, HoloSuite powers digital humans by editing, compressing and streaming volumetric video for virtual production and the metaverse, as well as AR/VR viewing on the Spatial Reality Display.

• KiksAR's platform brings real life shopping experiences to the digital world. Ultra realistic 3D configurators and personalized digital try-on experiences for jewelry and watch stores can be achieved in 3D using the Spatial Reality Display.

• Magnopus forges design, art, and technology to create new experiences across augmented reality, virtual reality and traditional reality. They're designing 3D entertainment content specifically for Spatial Reality Display and use it in their Virtual Production pipeline.

• Pixomondo (PXO) delivers Virtual Production and Visual Effects expertise and solutions for Film and Episodic content. PXO is using Spatial Reality Display to pre-visualize 3D assets built in Unreal Engine before final presentation on an LED volume, replacing a head-mounted display, for creators' comfort and convenience.

• SHoP Architects uses Spatial Reality Display for client presentations and has developed a mobile app to wirelessly control and navigate 3D models on it.

• Sketchfab is the leading platform for 3D and AR on the web. Using the Sketchfab API, Spatial Reality Display users will be able to download and view 3D models.

• WhiteMoon dreams, a leading independent game studio, uses Spatial Reality Display to evaluate 3D characters, creatures, textures, lighting, colors, and effects, instead of printing the 3D characters. This provides a faster and more sustainable real-time 3D evaluation.

User Friendly
The easy-to-use ELF-SR2 Spatial Reality Display's updated sensors and high-speed hardware processing provide accommodation for a wider variety of PCs to support different use cases and needs. With a detachable stand, the portable display can be installed in multiple different environments and configurations. It also accommodates the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) mounting standard for further flexibility and compatibility.

The ELF-SR2 is planned to be available in May 2023 in the United States and Canada through Sony's professional channels. It is expected to have a MSRP of $5,000 USD and feature a 3-year limited product warranty.

For more information on Spatial Reality Display, please visit https://pro.sony/ue_US/products/spatial-reality-displays. For new AV products and solutions from Sony Electronics, please visit https://pro.sony/prodisplaysolutions and https://pro.sony/press or follow Sony's professional business on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Banuba's Face AR SDK Helps Videoshop Reach Over 20M Downloads

HONG KONG, March 30, 2023 (Newswire.com) - The users and professional reviewers alike praise Videoshop for its huge library of content (thousands of licensed music tracks and hundreds of stickers, sounds, and fonts), as well as high performance and quick reaction to user feedback. Plenty of people have updated their testimonials with information on how Videoshop customer support helped them solve their issues in no time.

The augmented reality capabilities, including virtual backgrounds, face touch-ups, 3D masks, and interactive effects were provided by Banuba Face Filters & Effects SDK/API. It is a premade module that includes a wide array of functions out-of-the-box and can be quickly integrated into an existing app or a project in development. Its features include:

• Virtual backgrounds

• Virtual try-on of hats, makeup, jewelry, glasses, etc.

• 3D masks

• Color filters (LUTs)

• Gesture recognition

• Trigger effects

• Etc.

It also comes with its own rendering and scripting engines, so no additional software is required. Integrating Face AR SDK usually takes under a week.

Videoshop developers chose to work with Banuba for three main reasons:

• Cutting-edge virtual background technology

• Flexibility in adjusting for their needs

• Attention to customer requirements and quick solutions to their issues.

The cooperation has been beneficial for both parties and will continue for the foreseeable future. 

"Banuba is a flexible company, willing to work with their client's budget and needs. They have a talented team of developers capable of molding the product to my needs," Joseph Riquelme, Jajijuejo Founder, said.

About Banuba

Banuba is an augmented reality company with over seven years on the market, pioneering face tracking and virtual background technologies. Its other products include a virtual try-on SDK for jewelry and glasses; Face AR SDK, a software development kit for various AR applications; and Video Editor SDK, a compact and feature-rich mobile kit for video editing.

Call for Sponsors: Deploying Enterprise XR & Web 3.0 (Silicon Valley Chapter Event)

VRdirect Studio now supports fully immersive 3D models

Existing models of premises or products, such as CAD files, can now be easily used for presentation in VR. The digital twin of a machine, for example, can be integrated into 360° videos or photos with the VRdirect Studio without much effort and explored from all angles. This enables a truly immersive 6-DoF experience on Virtual Reality headsets.

To explore 3D models in 6-DoF, simply download the VRdirect app from your VR headset's app store and enter the code: f8dd68. Or directly check out the experience in your browser. 

(And check out our WIKI, if you're wondering what's 6-DoF). 

Using 3D models in Virtual Reality offers several advantages, including:

 Cost savings: Traditional, physical 3D modeling and prototyping can be expensive. VR modeling can reduce costs by eliminating the need for physical materials and shortening the time it takes to create and review designs.

 Improved visualization: VR can provide a more realistic and accurate representation of 3D models compared to a screen view, as the models are viewed in a three-dimensional space.

 Immersion: People interacting with a machine in Virtual Reality can transfer those interactions to the real world much more intuitively than if they were just passively watching a training video.

Better marketing: Highly complex machines and systems do not have to be exchanged in the form of abstract data sheets, but are available in seconds and can be viewed from any angle.

Advanced customer service: Companies can go through the necessary maintenance work step by step with the user and demonstrate it clearly and interactively in the virtual environment.

Read everything about the new feature here and try the VRdirect Studio for free. 

TINT, a Virtual Makeup Try-on Tool by Banuba, Improves its AI Beauty Advisor

AI Beauty Advisor analyzes a person’s face and recommends the most fitting cosmetics

• The system works with users of all skin tones

• The new version helps sell more, increases order size, and drives down returns

TINT, the most realistic makeup virtual try-on tool, has rolled out a new version of its cutting-edge AI Beauty Advisor. It now contains more streamlined algorithms that improve user experience, as well as performance indicators for the businesses.

The demonstrated results are as follows:

• Over 200% better conversion rate

• Up to 60% lower return rate

• Up to 30% higher average order value

AI beauty advisor is an artificial intelligence that uses data from professional MUAs to analyze people and suggest the beauty products that would fit their needs the most. It provides unparalleled personalization for the customers and brings businesses more sales. 

The unique features of virtual makeup try-on TINT are:

• Proprietary face tracking technology with 3,308 vertices;

• Better performance and precision; 

• AI-based seasonal color analysis;

• AI makeup recommendations system to help every user look their best;

• Supports trying on several products at once (to improve average order value);

• Rollout can be conducted in 2 weeks;

• Adding new products takes up to 48 hours.

TINT is a ready-made application for companies in the Beauty industry developed by Banuba. It is made up of a lifelike makeup try-on, a cutting-edge AI recommendation system, and an intuitive UI. TINT is web-based, which means that a user can access it on almost any connected device without downloading anything. This allows brands to reach the largest potential audience.

WebXR.tools in full display with the VRARA Seattle Chapter

Last week, Hermes Frangoudis, CTO of Arlene.io shared with us the now publicly available WebXR.tools suite of products. During the 30 min online meet, we learned about the Seattle Chapter and what Hermes and his team in Arlene have put together to democratize Web XR design, development and even publishing. In a matter of 20 min 3 XR experiences were created and made available for anyone to use.
See the recording now available in the YouTube VRARA Seattle channel.

Central Florida Immersive Technology Summit Interview

News Channel WESH2 interviewed Dr. Haifa Maamar of Full Sail Univbersity regarding their patnership with the VRARA for the upcoming Central FLorida Immersive Technology Summit. Click the link below to watch the full interview and register today for the summit!

https://www.wesh.com/article/central-florida-immersive-technology-summit/43428661

Bob Cooney appointed as Co-Chair of VR/AR Association Location-Based Experiences Committee

We are thrilled to have Bob Cooney help lead our community for LBE! Join our weekly Online Meets!

For more than 35-years, Bob has accurately predicted the impact of bleeding edge tech on entertainment business trends. He’s the founder of an INC 500 company with a successful NASDAQ IPO to his credit. He has emerged as one of the leading voices in the virtual reality and metaverse space.

Cooney is the go-to-market strategist behind the launch of some of the world's most successful location-based VR companies He is the author of the book Real Money from Virtual Reality, and co-author of The Guardians of the Metaverse, a think-tank report from Laval Virtual.

Bob is widely considered the world's foremost expert on location-based virtual reality, having founded the VR Arcade Game Summit, the biggest dedicated location-based VR conference in the US.

“I am honoured to have been invited to chair the LBE committee for the VRARA. I am excited to support this group of experts and work together to advance the VR industry’s offerings in location-based entertainment. Together, we will explore new technologies, innovative ideas, and best practices, all aimed at delivering high-quality and engaging experiences for consumers.”

— Bob Cooney

Showing the true beauty of Bozeman Montana thru Virtual Reality

Outer Realm is thrilled to have been a part of Paine Group's upcoming Condo Development, Six Range, in beautiful Bozeman, Montana. We are excited to have helped bring this development to life by creating immersive virtual reality tours that allow potential buyers to experience the community from anywhere in the world.

Six Range is an exclusive mixed-living housing community that combines Scandinavian design and architecture with the stunning natural beauty of the Mountain West. With plenty of green spaces and a focus on environmental consciousness and community-centric living, Six Range is an ideal place to call home.

As we worked on this project, Outer Realm used our drone photography skills to capture breathtaking views of the Bozeman mountains. It allowed us to showcase the natural beauty of the area and create a truly immersive experience that would help potential buyers visualize their future home in Six Range.

Our team at Outer Realm is proud to have been a part of this project. We put our heart and soul into creating virtual reality tours that bring the community to life and help potential buyers envision themselves living in this beautiful development. We're excited to see that our efforts have attracted many visitors eager to experience the community before it's even built.

Internet of Behaviour (IoB) implications for XR analytics

IoB toolkit unlocks human behaviour in XR

The Internet of Behaviour (IoB) is a technology trend with significant opportunities and benefits for Extended Reality (XR). It adds a layer of psychology to the Internet of Things (IoT) to interpret ‘digital dust’ into behavioural patterns. The ultimate goal is to connect devices, analyse user behaviour and influence future behaviours. Gartner predict 40% of the world’s population will be subject to at least one IoB program in 2025 (from marketing to healthcare to manufacturing). Let’s dive into the IoB implications for AR, VR and the Metaverse on our mission to understand how humans behave in 3D experiences with Six Degrees of Freedom (6DOF).

What is the Internet of Behaviour (IoB)?

IoB is a protocol that uses sensors to collect behavioural data from devices. In our case it’s Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality devices (Mobile and Head Mounted Display). Data is processed using Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Data Science to extrapolate human behaviour. It represents the next level of Business Intelligence (BI) in Extended Reality to understand and optimise behaviour. It’s therefore a critical component of an interoperable, synchronous and persistent Metaverse with shared experiences. Over time, predictive analytics on human behaviour in XR will drastically improve user experiences and business performance metrics.

How does the Internet of Behaviour work?

IoB connects AR and VR devices to cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS). APIs collect sensor data (gyroscope, accelerometer etc) in a real-time data exchange. Data is stored on databases and analysed by AI algorithms to create an intelligence engine capable of understanding user behaviour patterns. 6DOF spatial data on head, hand and body movements in 3D space is a complex dataset however Cognitive Science (and significant R&D) interprets XYZ coordinates into insights which help XR businesses understand their audiences. Our approach to the IoB tech stack is an end-to-end data analytics platform which does all the heavy lifting so customers, regardless of data analytics expertise, can quickly see data visualisations and measure performance goals.

What are the benefits of IoB for XR industry?

Industry research shows that 83% of XR companies think data analytics are important to grow their business but the study also highlights a measurement gap. Partly because AR/VR experiences generate unique and unstructured user behaviours (compared to the Internet of clicks, taps and likes) and partly due to reliance on legacy toolkits (e.g. web analytics, surveys etc). IoB is a new approach specifically designed to a) collect real-time 6DOF data from any platform or device, b) quickly analyse behaviours in 3D experiences to improve performance and productivity and c) standardise XR metrics to make predictions about future actions based on past behaviours. From Navigation (the position, pathway, priority and order of events) to Attention (the time, sequence and priority of content viewed), there are benefits for all Extended Reality use cases.

How do you apply IoB to your XR business?

A plug-in for 3D engines and XR platforms (no code required) collects real-time sensor data from handsets and headsets. Our intelligence engine analyses 6DOF spatial data in the cloud using AI and Cognitive Science. Prebuilt dashboards present performance metrics and data visualisations across all your AR, VR and Metaverse projects. Our Unity plug-in is live (with more in the pipeline) so you can easily add IoB to your projects now. The Internet of Behaviour is a new framework to better understand your users, identify behaviours which aren’t necessarily obvious and to improve business performance. It’s a great diagnostic tool and is also proven to be predictive of behaviour. 

What are the opportunities for IoB and XR?

Whilst other sectors have been applying IoB to digital marketing, IoT, location services etc for a few years, the opportunity for the XR industry is still nascent. CORTEXR was launched to specifically address this knowledge gap. Our guiding mission is to understand human behaviour in Extended Reality through the lens of psychology and cognitive science. From healthcare and entertainment to education and training, our customers can tap into a wealth of spatial data. How do health conditions like dementia correlate with spatial diagnostics? How do e-commerce virtual try-ons correspond with purchase intent? Does training module behaviour correspond with learning attainment? Our XR data analytics platform helps unlock these opportunities. Drop us an email at contact@cortexr.com if you’d like to collaborate!

What are the data privacy concerns of IoB?

Data privacy is, quite rightly, a crucial debate for the broader tech industry. People are familiar with synchronising their devices and granting permissions. However biometric fingerprints of faces and eyes is particularly intrusive and tech company practices in digital marketing required government regulation e.g. GDPR. Extended Reality and IoB is therefore vulnerable to ethical questions about how data is collected and used at a scale. CORTEXR has a policy of deliberately avoiding Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Raw data on 6DOF behaviour doesn’t collect PII, basic device IDs only measure user numbers and GPS data is restricted to guarantee anonymity. We don’t need (or want) PII data to deliver our XR data analytics services. Long may this continue.

Visit CortexR website

Contact  :Jonathan Barrowman Email: jonathan@cortexr.com 

Pinnacle’s UH-60A Virtual Maintenance Trainer Used in Portuguese Air Force Training

Pinnacle Solutions, Inc. (Pinnacle) has partnered with Arista Aviation Services, LLC (AAS), to develop and instruct a custom maintenance course for UH-60A aircraft, system, and maintenance task training of Portuguese Air Force technicians using Pinnacle’s UH-60A Virtual Maintenance Trainer (UH-60A VMT). The first portion of an eight-week course is being held at Pinnacle’s Corporate Office facility in Huntsville, Alabama in February and March of 2023, where an electronic classroom serves as the course venue. The second and third itinerations of UH-60A VMT maintenance courses will be held at the Customer’s facilities in Portugal in 2024 and 2025.

The proposed classroom instruction is designed to provide maximum use of Pinnacle’s UH-60A VMT and is complemented by customized lessons focused on Avionics maintenance tasks. Upon completion of the UH-60A VMT Maintenance Course, and in combination with several weeks of On-the-Job-Training conducted by AAS, the Portuguese Air Force technicians will be familiar with the Before Flight Inspection procedures that are focused on Preventive Maintenance Servicing and will be prepared to complete maintenance tasks connected to receiving the aircraft in Portugal.

Beyond the classroom style training, the use of the VMT in daily operations is effective in the training of advanced aircraft maintenance, greatly reduces the need for scheduling an actual aircraft to support maintenance training, and supplements hands-on training. As part of Pinnacle’s subcontract to AAS, the UH-60A VMT delivery to the Customer’s facility in Portugal is currently scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2024.