ENGAGE is a SaaS Enterprise advanced spatial computing platform aimed at the professional and academic market. It is designed for professionals, event organizers, educators, and corporations to build their own virtual worlds, provide metaverse services directly to their clients, and create new business models.
UMverse is a groundbreaking initiative at the University of Miami to integrate emerging technologies within educational and research environments. The program utilizes immersive technology to revolutionize educational approaches. It aims to move beyond conventional learning tools, such as textbooks, photographs, films, or video games, and instead incorporate immersive and multi-sensory experiences and simulations. UMverse is also advancing research about optimal ways to transform the educational landscape and redefine the campus experience while providing personalized and interactive learning and patient care opportunities.
Recently, Engage assisted the University of Miami in organizing an innovative conference in collaboration with the Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Association (VRARA), concentrating on the application of immersive technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality within the Healthcare sector. This event brought together nearly 100 professionals, including practicing physicians, researchers, faculty, and tech industry leaders, to engage in person, exchange insights on their current use of VR/AR and AI, share their learnings, and discuss the anticipated impact of these technologies across the healthcare industry.
What made this conference a first of its kind was that besides allowing people to attend the conference at the University of Miami Lakeside conference center in person, attendees from around the world used Engage’s advanced spatial computing platform to attend it virtually.
According to Kim Grinfeder, Department Chair of Interactive Media, our goal was to have as many attendees as possible at the conference to exchange knowledge on AR and VR; we recognize that not everyone can attend in person. Therefore, we chose to provide a remote participation option using virtual reality, diverging from traditional video conferencing to offer a more immersive experience. Additionally, we decided to employ the same spatial computing platform already in use at our school for instructional purposes.
We take pride in the University of Miami’s role as a frontrunner in integrating immersive technologies into both undergraduate and postgraduate education. Demonstrating the application of virtual reality technology at our conference extends its use beyond classroom instruction to encompass professional events and conferences, showcasing its potential for organizational settings.
Today, the ENGAGE XR platform is used across the University of Miami, not only to teach courses for students, as we have in over 40 different courses, but also to train them. As an example, medical students at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute are using an Engage application we developed to understand how slit lamps are used for eye examinations with various eye afflictions.
While virtual reality training and event participation are gaining traction, the ENGAGE platform enhances this experience by allowing attendees to join live conferences from anywhere globally, offering a more immersive experience than standard video live streaming. On this platform, participants sit in a virtual conference room, viewing live presentations on a virtual stage as though they were at a physical event. They can interact with one another, engage in discussions with presenters, and actively participate in the conference, all from the comfort of their home or office.
Grinfeder adds, “The Engage platform enables students to learn in a virtual environment, offering a unique spatial aspect that platforms like Zoom lack, fostering enhanced collaboration opportunities. At the University of Miami, we explore its potential across various disciplines, using the VR modality classes in Art History, Computer Engineering, Psychology, Religion, and others.”
