The VR/AR Association publishes the Netherlands Ecosystem Report featuring over 50 Companies

Come meet us at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

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VRARA Netherlands Ecosystem Report

We have published the first VR and AR Ecosystem report for the Netherlands! Over 50 Dutch VR and AR companies present their products and services in one clear format. See attached report.

Many thanks to our partner StickyLock who shares our ambition to put Dutch VR and AR organizations on the global radar. StickyLock creates concepts and develops apps and games. They have created AR solutions for architecture, advertising, business cards, e-commerce and furniture and are committed to making high quality games and VR/AR applications using cutting-edge technology.

If you are interested in finding reports from other regions, like the UK, Belgium, Canada, SF, NYC, or Taiwan, please see here.

In case of any questions, please don't hesitate to contact our Netherlands chapter president Maarten van der Lee via Netherlands@thevrara.com

Best regards,

Maarten van der Lee

Chapter President - The Netherlands

E: Netherlands@thevrara.com

W: www.thevrara.com

Recap of our Aerospace Committee meeting with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, US Air Force, among many others

Come meet us at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

The VR/AR Association Aerospace Committee continues to grow and evolve.  Co-Chaired by Samuel Trevino, Insitu (a Boeing company) and Dr. Alethea Duhon, Air Force Agency of Modeling and Simulation. The Committee is comprised of industry players including DiSTI Corporation, Enduvo, FS Studio, Future Visual, Insitu (a Boeing company), J&F Alliance Group Inc, MAF, among others.  You can participate here

Below is a recap of what the Committee participants are working on:

J&F Alliance Group Inc is an award winning AR/VR company and we were highlighted in the NASA Spinoff Magazine this year. We are part of the NASA Tech Transfer program and are actively working with the Space Commerce out of DC.

Future Visual, a UK based VR/AR company, specialises in using VR for training, collaboration and behaviour change. It has developed a platform VISIONxR which enables multi user, multi location, multi device (VR, AR, desktop and mobile) collaboration in the same immersive space. Its key clients include IATA (International Air Transport Association) rLoop and the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory".  It has identified aerospace as a key sector due to the nature of high risk, high value training required and the need for collaboration and visualization involving complex models.

FS Studio is an emerging technologies and experience design agency with specialties in embedded/IoT development, computer vision, AR/VR and robotics simulations.  We’re an award-winning developer based in the San Francisco bay area that excels at bringing high quality experiences to life on complex, novel and proprietary hardware and software platforms for education, entertainment and enterprise usage. We solve complex problems in elegant ways, always with an eye toward the end to end experience. We keep great company having worked with some of the leading brands including: Virgin Orbits, Google Labs,  John Deere, Ford, Samsung, Unity, Hasbro, Spin Master, PBS kids and others.

Bending Time Technologies is a startup located in Vancouver, Canada developing the next generation 3D Earth application.  It provides real-time simulations from space down to the surface at true-scale with 1 cm or better precision in 3D and VR.  Founded by Sean Treleaven who has over 17 years of experience in the military and aerospace industries, Bending Time aims to bring high-quality military simulation and visualization capabilities for the cost of an app.

Enduvo is a powerfully simple, no code, way to create augmented and virtual reality content. It’s the only AR/VR content authoring tool that allows anyone, with just a few clicks, to create and quickly share visually stunning, interactive, and immersive experiences. Aerospace organizations use Enduvo to lower costs, speed content delivery, and improve the effectiveness of their training and collaboration. Enduvo is a recent winner of several US Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts. The Air Force will use Enduvo to bolster mission readiness by creating and delivering consistent and cost-effective immersive training across many different skill levels, job classifications, and geographies. With Enduvo, people decrease content development costs up to 60%, reduce content delivery time up to 70%, and increase competency up to 80%.  

MAF International Mission Aviation Fellowship is an international Christian organisation whose mission is to fly light aircraft, and to use other technologies to bring help and hope to people in some of the world’s poorest communities. Every four minutes a MAF plane is taking off or landing somewhere in the world to assist over 1,000 other organisations. We have about 130 airplanes that fly in remote locations around the world. We are looking at training young people with engineering apprenticeships and growing our ability to train these local people who don’t have opportunities in poor countries. I would love to look at the internet of things to work on solutions with training. 

Boeing/Insitu designs commercial and military aircraft to be used around the world and in space. We seek to modernize a turn-key distributed training solution capable of maintaining compliance with various governing agencies around the world, while not sacrificing standards and quality of training. Over the past 2 years, Insitu has graduated more than 3,000 pilots and technicians to work on UAS deployed around the world. Our goal is to provide a seamless solution with critical contributors to continue our global training scaling initiative. 

More info here

Email info@thevrara.com if you would like to participate on our next conf call!

Canadian VR/AR Talent on the World Stage at AWE EU 2019

Canadian VR/AR Talent on the World Stage at AWE EU 2019

10 Canadian companies to attend Europe’s largest VR/AR conference

September 23, 2019 - The Vancouver VR/AR Association (VRARA), in partnership with Launch Academy, is proud to introduce the Canadian Pavilion at the 2019 Augmented World Expo (AWE), the essential international VR/AR conference and expo taking place in Munich, Germany, on October 17 and 18, 2019. 

Ten leading Canadian VR/AR companies from across five different provinces will showcase their technology in the Canadian Pavillion at the 4th annual AWE EU: VR Vision Inc., Finger Food Advanced Technology Group, MAMMOTH XR, Kognitiv Spark, Motive.io, Arcane Technologies, Volumetric Camera Systems, Precision OS Technology, Quantum Capture Inc., and YDX Innovation. 

The AWE EU attracts over 1,000 industry professionals each year, bringing together a mix of CEOs, CTOs, developers, and designers from top companies as well as creative agencies, investors, and media. The event is a fantastic opportunity to explore emerging technologies, meet and learn from industry leaders, and establish new partnerships.  

“Vancouver has established itself as one of the leading VR/AR ecosystems in the world and we are excited to use this momentum to showcase the innovation taking place not just in Vancouver, but across Canada. These ten exciting companies represent the incredible VR/AR talent and innovation at work here in Canada.” - Dan Burgar, President of the Vancouver VRARA.

The Canadian Pavilion will also host a curated panel discussion on opportunities in the Canadian VR/AR ecosystem moderated by Nancy Basi, Executive Director of Media and Entertainment at the Vancouver Economic Commission. The discussion will feature executive leaders Joannah Apelo from VR Vision Inc, Peter Wittig from Motive.io, Dan Burgar from Vancouver VR/AR Association and Daniel Japiassu from  YDX Innovation.

“Launch Academy and the Vancouver VR/AR Association are proud to showcase promising Canadian VR/AR companies at the largest VR/AR conference in Europe. This delegation is an important first step to cultivate a long-term partnership with the EU’s VR/AR ecosystem and demonstrate Canadian innovation and creativity.” - Alex Chaung, Co-Founder of Launch Academy and Vancouver VRARA Director. 

The VRARA represents the fastest-growing VR/AR and MR ecosystem in the world. In just a few short years, Vancouver has grown into the second-largest immersive tech hub with over 250 local companies developing technologies that span everything from gaming to healthcare and retail. Together with Launch Academy, the VRARA is excited to showcase these ten Canadian VR/AR companies at AWE EU 2019 and bring international attention to Canadian VR/AR technology, talent, and innovation.  

The Canadian Delegation is hosted jointly by the Vancouver VR/AR Association with support from their valued partners the Vancouver Economic Commission, Launch Academy, VHDA, Tourism Vancouver, Creative BC, Trade and Invest BC and the Canadian Government. The overall programming will feature key meetings, networking, hosted VIP dinner which will include global brands and enterprises like Audi, Siemens, Porsche, Deutsche Telekom and innovation thought-leaders, Canadian Happy Hour, panels, booth & demo activations and economic development to round out the program. 

Delegates include:

VR Vision Inc provides both hardware solutions and custom content developed in-house by their team of VR professionals. VR Vision Inc. offers a full range of immersive technology services to empower businesses and bring them to the forefront of immersive technology. 

Finger Food Advanced Technology Group creates industry-transforming solutions for global companies such as Microsoft, KPMG, Activision, Cirque du Soleil, Lowe’s, and Lululemon. Most recently they worked with MEC to develop an app that showcases life-sized virtual tent models and product information. Viewed through an AR or Hololens, customers can make tent buying decisions without needing to set foot inside a store. 

MAMMOTH XR is an award-winning studio that develops world-class AR/VR experiences. They recently worked with USAY, the Urban Society of Aboriginal Youth, to create a VR experience called ”Thunder.” The purpose of the project is to preserve the Blackfoot language and culture through a blend of storytelling and technology. 

Kognitiv Spark is a global leader in secure, reliable, and effective industrial AR task support software. They built an intelligent and interactive 3D worker support solution called RemoteSpark for the Microsoft Hololens. It connects frontline and field-service workers to the expert resources they need when they need it, so they can achieve a new dimension of productivity. 

Motive.io developed the Motive Training Platform to create and deploy AR and VR content for training at scale. It includes their XR Player which provides custom training solutions in a fraction of the time it would take to create a custom training app from scratch. 

Arcane Technologies is a software and hardware engineering company specialized in emerging and 3D interactive technologies. Their mission is to support businesses to integrate emerging and 3D interactive technologies for product R&D, marketing, design, training, and production. 

Volumetric Camera Systems is a studio that provides portable 4D capture services to create high quality and realistic “holograms-in-motion” of any moving subject. They also offer photorealistic 3D environment captures. These two unique technologies can be merged together as one experience or applied separately. 

Precision OS Technology provides the most high-fidelity virtual reality platform for surgeons to practice specific procedures. This includes educational modules that allow trainees to improve their surgical skills through practice volume and evaluation. They also have a preoperative tool that enables surgeons to upload peri-articular fractures to structure a pre-planned approach to their case which they can perform and analyze. 

Quantum Capture Inc. is bringing AI to life with their CTRL Human which embodies natural language and AI. The virtual humans are designed to enhance customer service, employee training, content marketing, and entertainment applications. CTRL Human is a software platform compatible with the Unreal 4 game engine.

YDX Innovation recently rebranded from YDreams after 16 years of building innovation projects for some of the world's biggest brands. They’ve since created disruptive companies to change VR technologies and gaming. Most recently they were commissioned to create an interactive VR experience for Shell Brazil. The project involves several 360°films combined with interactive branded content. 

Vancouver VR/AR Association (VRARA) The Vancouver VRARA is the industry association for the VR/AR ecosystem in Vancouver, our mission is to make BC and Vancouver a world leading hub for growing and scaling VR/AR companies. We promote technology adoption, incubate early-stage companies, facilitate international trade, attract foreign investment and build communities. 

We’ve helped turn Vancouver/BC into the 2nd largest VR/AR ecosystem in the world with over 250+ companies. 

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

For more information please visit www.thevrara.com/vancouver-chapter/ and find the VRARA Vancouver on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Dan Burgar 

President, VR/AR Association Vancouver

dan@thevrara.com 

Alex Chuang

Director, VR/AR Association Vancouver

alex@shapeimmersive.com

VR/AR Global Summit: New ticket types now available for 1-Day, Expo-only, Startup-pass, Students!

We’ve added new ticket types for 1-day, Expo-only, Startup-pass, and Students!

We look forward to seeing everyone in Vancouver Nov 1&2!

With over 230 companies active in VR/AR, Vancouver is the 2nd largest immersive ecosystem in the world. This is the 4th time the event is happening in Vancouver and this year’s sponsors include Lenovo, Microsoft, Niantic, Viacom, among others.

About VR/AR Association

The Summit is hosted by the VR/AR Association (VRARA), an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4000 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and 20 industry committees are working on best practices & guidelines for the industry. Learn more at thevrara.com

$1.3 M Investment to Grow Healium's Mind-Powered Mindfulness. Tinder Founder Joins as Advisor! Anxiety is the cause of 60% of all illness and disease

Come meet us at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

Columbia, Missouri Company Closes $1.3M
Investment Round for Healium

Tinder Founder Joins as Product Advisor for Biometrically-Controlled Content Channel

Link to Download Photos: Contact: hello@story-up.com | Tryhealium.com | 573.268.1968 |

Columbia, Missouri, 2019-- StoryUP, the makers of a virtual anxiety management product called Healium, just closed a $1.3M oversubscribed Series A investment round. The Missouri startup, incubated at the Missouri Innovation Center, will use the funds to grow Healium, the world’s first interactive immersive media channel powered by wearables. Healium’s virtual and augmented reality apps are used worldwide as drugless solutions for the self-management of anxiety, sleep, addiction, and pain.

Anxiety is the cause of 60% of all illness and disease. Healium’s beautiful experiences are designed to quickly downshift the nervous system and allow the user to escape their current reality. Healium’s VR and AR apps can be powered by optional consumer wearables using either a consumer EEG headband or the user’s smartwatch. Power users can control Healium with three brain states including quiet mind, open heart, or focus. With 225 million wearables in the market currently generating 2D data dashboards, Healium’s patented technology is transforming how users interact with their biometric data by allowing them to control stories by shifting their brain patterns, or heart rate.

In addition to the equity investments, the company also announced the addition of Sean Rad, Founder of Tinder, as a product advisor. Rad built the top-grossing non-gaming app in the world. Rad joins clinical advisor Dr. Craig Cheifetz, Regional Dean Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine, and advisory member, Noah Falstein, former Chief of Gaming at Google.

“The brain believes what it sees. So why are we still meditating with our eyes closed with an earbud? This investment round allows us to grow Healium’s eyes-open, visual escapes into new markets and further develop our content that’s powered by users’ emotions so people don’t have to wonder ...am I doing it right? Healium is not a replacement for cognitive behavioral therapy or pharmaceutical interventions. It’s a self-management tool that reminds users their memories have power to control things not only in the virtual world but the real world as well. ” --

Sarah Hill, CEO | Chief Storyteller, StoryUP the makers of Healium.

This is the fifth national group in as many months to recognize the women-owned small business. In 2019, Apple selected StoryUP for its summer Entrepreneur Cohort. The company secured a licensing deal that puts its stress management content on more than 20 airlines for passengers of long haul flights. The company won pitch competitions at CES, the world’s largest technology show, took home a first-place finish at South by Southwest in XR, and was nominated for a Webby for Best Use of Augmented Reality. Most recently, Nueterra Capital selected Healium as one of six companies “destined to disrupt healthcare”.

Two published studies in Frontiers in Psychology and the Journal of Neuroregulation showed Healium’s drugless kits reduced anxiety and increased feelings of positivity in as little as four minutes.

For more information on Healium’s impact on emotional wellbeing or the company’s social purpose with virtual Honor Flights for Veterans, please visit tryhealium.com or email hello@story-up.com.

After training over 25,000 designers, developers and engineers, Circuit Stream launches a new product, an Enterprise VR/AR Platform

Come meet Circuit Stream at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

Circuit Stream clients include Lockheed Martin, the US Navy, VMWare, GE, Raytheon, INVISTA, Hershey's, and Boeing!

Accelerating spatial computing and scalable virtual and augmented reality, VR/AR educator and developer Circuit Stream has created a new platform that’s being implemented by industrial companies across North America

Circuit Stream, the leading educator and developer for virtual and augmented reality, today announced the launch of the Circuit Stream Platform, a cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) which enables companies to deploy, manage, and scale virtual and augmented reality applications that transform how their employees learn and work. First launched through a private beta program with participating manufacturer INVISTA, Circuit Stream released the software platform on September 17!

Today, industrial companies in markets like aviation, manufacturing, and aerospace are increasingly looking to virtual reality and augmented reality to train staff and manage operations with greater efficiency, accuracy, and safety. However, the ability to securely deploy and manage cross-platform VR/AR software using the most powerful 3D engines in the market today had not been possible. Recognizing the gap, Circuit Stream's software was designed to facilitate the delivery of VR/AR content for training, processes and operations at scale.

“Virtual and augmented reality can capture expert knowledge, increase training retention and improve safety, while reducing the time required for training and preventing operational downtime. As VR/AR adoption accelerates, companies are looking at the technology to transform operations, collect valuable data and improve productivity over time,” said Lou Pushelberg, co-founder and CEO of Circuit Stream. “Our software is designed to help deploy, manage and measure large-scale XR projects across major hardware platforms, which, in the niche but rapidly growing VR/AR training market, currently does not exist.”

Providing a comprehensive range of analytics, user management, and security features, the Circuit Stream Platform is backed by the company’s growth as leading VR/AR educators and developers. Building on the knowledge of tools, workflows and best practices through the company’s training programs, the new platform now makes it easier to quickly and securely publish XR apps and measure their impact against key success metrics.

Also,

VRARA members receive a 20% discount for the VR/AR Development with Unity course; in addition to this, Circuit Stream would like to offer every VRARA member a free trial of the Platform. No expiry.

More information about the Platform and the free trial is available here

About Circuit Stream

Circuit Stream is the leading education and training provider for virtual and augmented reality. Established in 2015, the company has trained over 25,000 designers, developers and engineers through workshops, team training and its XR Development with Unity course. Among its portfolio of clients include Lockheed Martin, the US Navy, VMWare, GE, Raytheon, INVISTA, Hershey's, and Boeing. Connect with us on Twitter: @CircuitStream

The NEPTUNE Mission will be using Luxsonic’s VR Medical Imaging System!

Come meet us at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

The citizen scientists from NEPTUNE will be testing Luxsonic’s VR medical imaging system during their under sea mission in Florida! They will be simulating a clinical scenario and using our VR medical imaging system to communicate with a radiologist above water. This will be the first test of Luxsonic’s system in an extreme environment and the first international real-time collaboration using VR and medical images!

NEPTUNE mission is an international team of 5 scientist-explorers, a 5-day research endeavor that will take place 20 feet underwater at the Jules Undersea Lodge. Short for “Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology & Underwater Exploration,” the NEPTUNE mission will take advantage of Jules' isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment to test our VR medical imaging system, SieVRt, in a simulated clinical scenario.

The crew consists of:

● Commander Dr. Joseph Dituri (USA), biomedical researcher and retired US Navy Commander;

● Executive Officer Paul Bakken (USA), logistics coordinator and former Army officer;

● Medical, Health & Safety Officer, Dr. Shawna Pandya (Canada), physician and researcher;

Mission partners include Nutrition Solutions, BORP, the Association for Marine Exploration, the International Board of Undersea Medicine and the International Association for Nitrox Divers and Technical Divers.

New VR/AR Association Chapter in Jacksonville! Our 3rd in Florida.

Florida is so hot right now, we had to open another Chapter in Jacksonville!

Our 3rd Chapter in Florida!

One of the fastest growing cities in the US, Jacksonville is becoming recognized for its forward thinking and innovative approaches to technology. Businesses in the area are beginning to realize the importance and necessity of VR and AR in their daily operation. With chapter leaders who are paving the way for VR and AR in Jacksonville, and work with these technologies daily, we are excited to invite you to join a movement in our great city. Our goal is to unite, encourage, and inspire those in the industry and those who are interested in the technology to develop and establish partnerships and collaboration. Membership with the Jacksonville chapter will gain you access to local events, resources, and a host of new opportunity. Join today!

Chapter President: Tim Hogg jacksonville@thevrara.com

Tim is the Founder of augLab, a Jacksonville, FL based XR development and training agency specializing in the creation of immersive experiences for business. He has a background in software development, web and mobile application development, as well as marketing, sales, IT, and team management. augLab is a subsidiary of 1:9 Technology LLC, which Tim formed in early 2017 as a development agency focusing on web and mobile applications. Through these entities, Tim has worked with an array of reputable enterprise clients, as well as non-profits to help grow their digital footprint and increase engagement from their audiences.  Tim is passionate about utilizing XR technology to transform the way companies do business and engage with their customers. He also adores his wife Leah, their three children, and his dog.

Chapter VP: Devon Fox

Devon Fox is an award-winning, forward thinking sports executive. As a leader in the emerging sports technology space, she believes exceptional leagues, teams, and players lean into new and innovative ways of doing things while acknowledging the history and heritage of their sport. With a focus on the fan, she leads the digital innovation efforts for the PGA TOUR. She has led the PGA TOUR Labs & Innovation team through several award winning initiatives including the launch of the PGA TOUR VR and PGA TOUR AR apps. Prior to her time in the sports industry, Fox spent time exploring banking, mortgage insurance, and ecommerce. She earned a degree in Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing at Drexel University in 2013. In her spare time, Fox enjoys playing and officiating roller derby and serves on the Board of Directors for a top-10 roller derby league in Jacksonville, FL.

About VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4000 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and 20 committees are working on best practices and guidelines for the industry. Learn more at thevrara.com

Learn from others in our Community! Recap from our Training Committee Conference Call

Come meet our Training Committee at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

Our Training Committee meets via conf calls/web every 2 weeks and participants share their lessons learned, challenges, and success stories. Join us on our next call! Email info@thevrara.com

For example, below is a quick recap (of what we can share publicly) of what the conf call participants are working on:

Julie Smithson: XR Ignite received over 180 applications, ~30 companies in the general area of training.

David Trainor: Completed project on VR-based training around data visualisation for high-value manufacturing.

Mike Wesolowski: Preparing for NEPTUNE mission. An international team of 5 scientist-explorers has announced the launch of the NEPTUNE MIssion, a 5-day research endeavor that will take place 20 feet underwater at the Jules Undersea Lodge. Short for “Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology & UNderwater Exploration,” the NEPTUNE mission will take advantage of Jules' isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment to test our VR medical imaging system, SieVRt, in a simulated clinical scenario. 

Marlo Brooke: AR training system for US Coastguard boats (engine maintenance). System is now in production.

Ryan Chapman: Crisis scenario training for women’s hospital. For Women's Hospital, we're developing 6 training scenarios dealing with obstetric crisis scenarios. The goal is to augment simulation training for anesthesiologists and nurses, which is currently very time-consuming and expensive.

María Calvo Garrido: Immersive training. Hardware focus for training welders. Certification from welder’s associations.

Ramesh Verma: Working on 3 conferences. International Medicon (teleheath). Army Design Bureau. Patent program in Bangalore. All events have education/training focus.

Join us on our next call! Email info@thevrara.com

ThirdEye Announces World’s Smallest Mixed Reality (MR) Glasses Now Available Worldwide

Come meet ThirdEye at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

ThirdEye, a leader in augmented and mixed reality (MR) enterprise solutions, announces the availability of its X2 Glasses – the world’s smallest Mixed Reality (MR) glasses.

Unlike like other products in this space, the X2 Glasses provide an all-in-one hardware and software solution, while offering advanced technological capabilities not available on a normal monocular device. At just 9.8 ounces , these glasses fit a wide (42 degree) field of view, provide powerful sensors (thermal, ambient light, flashlight), and a built-in proprietary SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) system, called VisionEye SLAM, that allows for 3D environment scanning and other advanced MR features – such as live AR remote help, CAD modeling and overlay, 5G mobile edge computing, and more.

TheX2 Glasses are now available for purchase at$1,950 USD. Pre-orders for the glasses as well as the $300 discount on ThridEye’s website will remain effective until the remaining mass production units are delivered in October. For purchasing information, visit www.thirdeyegen.com/x2-smart-glasses-4

For more information onThirdEye, visit www.thirdeyegen.com

About ThirdEye Gen

ThirdEye is a leader in AR/MR solutions for enterprise, providing an all-in-one (hardware and software)solution for all industries, including energy. While many companies today use just smart glasses or only software, ThirdEye provides a full end-to-end package for its customers and employees. It offers the smallest MR Smart Glasses on the market, including a built-in proprietary SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) system that allows for 3D environment scanning and advanced MR features that aren’t available on a monocular device. The ThirdEye App Suite, used by over 500 enterprise customers around the world, offers live AR remote help, 3D SLAM based CAD modeling/overlay and more.

Tech in Motion Selects VR/AR Association's Chicago Chapter President Matt Wren as Best Tech Manager Finalist for 2019 Timmy Awards

Come meet Matt and the Chicago delegation at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

Congratulations Matt!!

Tech in Motion selects VRARA Chicago Chapter President and BUNDLAR CTO Matt Wren as a Top 10 finalist for Best Tech Manager in Chicago at the 2019 Timmy Awards, which recognizes the top workplaces for tech professionals. Winners will be announced at a live ceremony this October, with two awards per category. “Having innovative finalists year-after-year speaks to the growth of the tech community here, and the event series has the honor of celebrating those leaders of change in each workplace,” says Mandy Walker, Director of Marketing at Motion Recruitment, creator of Tech in Motion. “Each finalist was chosen for exemplifying a ‘Best Tech Manager’ and we’re excited to see who takes home a Timmy.” The selection criteria for the Best Tech Manager​ is based on the following: (1) Promotes career growth ​and inspires innovation; (2) ​Goes above and beyond to ensure a great team culture​; (3) Employs a clear and communicated vision to produce a great product.

“It is truly an honor to be selected as a top ten finalist for Best Tech Manager in Chicago by Tech in Motion,” said Wren. “What we’re accomplishing at BUNDLAR by providing the marketplace with easy augmented reality solutions using our do-it-yourself CMS is going to change how organizations benefit from AR in the coming year.” The BUNDLAR Platform makes it easy for businesses and institutions to integrate innovative augmented reality (AR) technology into their communications to benefit their customers, employees, and vendors.

Aside from Best Tech Manager, the other award categories include: Best Startup, Best Workplace for Diversity and Best Work Culture. The Timmys ceremony in October will be free and open to the public, consisting of tech demos, entertainment, and networking. If interested in learning more or attending, visit the Timmy Awards or the Tech in Motion event page. To vote for Matt, visit https://timmyawards.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/2/details/2322.

Future Visual joins VR/AR Association! Clients include International Air Transport Association, and rLoop

Come meet Future Visual at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

We are delighted to announce Future Visual has become the newest member of the global VR/AR Association. The team is really excited to participate and interact with all the other distinguished worldwide members, including the Aerospace Committee.

From its studio in Brighton, UK, Future Visual focuses on delivering a return on investment in the areas of collaboration, training and behaviour change using spatial computing. Their work in multi-user has led them to develop their collaboration platform VISIONxR which enables multi-user, multi-location, multi-device (VR, AR, desktop and mobile) teams to work together in the same immersive space.

Key sectors for Future Visual are aviation, manufacturing and engineering, - all sectors that require high risk, high-value training and/ or collaboration and visualisation involving complex models.

Current key clients include IATA (International Air Transport Association) and rLoop.

Have a look here to learn more about VISIONxR.

Future Visual will be attending the VR/AR Global Summit in Vancouver in November. Drop them a line if you would like to catch up over coffee: tim@futurevisual.com

Varjo Accelerates Global Expansion with Opening of US Headquarters

Come meet Varjo at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

Earlier this month Varjo announced the opening of its US headquarters, growth of their reseller program and launch of shipping to Japan. This news comes on the heels of what has already been a milestone year for the company having brought their VR-1 device to market, launched the developer edition of the XR-1 headset and announced several key software integrations to continue building their partner ecosystem.

Company exhibits strong momentum to better serve key markets with opening of first US office, growth of reseller network and launch of shipping to Japan  

Varjo™, the technology leader in industrial-grade VR/XR headsets, today announced the opening of its US headquarters in the Washington D.C. area. The company, which is celebrating three years of business this month, has seen unprecedented momentum to date in the industrial virtual reality space having brought to market the industry’s only human-eye resolution headset (Varjo VR-1), launched a reseller program for local, on-the-ground customer support of its VR-1 device and announced several integrations with leading software partners in the design, training and simulation and research ecosystems.  

As the company continues to grow, the United States represents an increasingly important target market for Varjo. Beyond establishing its US headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, located just outside of Washington D.C., Varjo also today announced the continued expansion of its recently launched reseller program. Two additional US resellers - GC Micro and FoxGuard Solutions - have joined the network and this expansion, coupled with the newly open US office, ensures Varjo is better able to actively reach and support customers and partners across North America, while also maintaining ideal communication with the home office in Helsinki, Finland. 

“2019 has been an exciting year for us so far with the announcements of our first two products – the Varjo VR-1 and Varjo XR-1 Developer Edition – among other key milestones, and this is just the beginning,” said Timo Toikkanen, president and COO of Varjo. “As we continue to expand our global footprint, through new offices, additional reseller partners and entrance into new sales markets, we look forward to delivering the innovative solutions and local support our enterprise customers need to apply VR in new and compelling ways.”

Customers using the Varjo VR-1 include leading global enterprises such as Saab, Airbus, Siemens PLC and Audi. To make the world’s first human-eye resolution virtual reality headset accessible to even more users, Varjo recently started selling and shipping the VR-1 in Japan, which is a new market for the company. Learn more about Varjo and its cutting edge VR/XR technology at www.varjo.com.

About Varjo: 

Varjo Technologies Oy is based in Helsinki and is creating the world’s best hardware and software for groundbreaking VR/AR/XR computing devices, merging the real and digital worlds seamlessly together in human-eye resolution. 

All trademarks and registered trademarks previously cited are hereby recognized as the property of their respective owners. 

VR/AR Global Summit: Enterprise program highlights for Nov 1&2: Lenovo, Walmart, Microsoft, Boeing, HTC, Raytheon

For more info, see the event’s website here vrarglobalsummit.com

On Nov 1 & 2 in Vancouver, the VR/AR Global Summit will bring together industry frontrunners from around the world to discuss the present and future of VR/AR for the enterprise.

Below is our initial schedule & highlights for industrial topics & use cases, including manufacturing, training, military, energy, and more:

Nov 1st:

• 9am-5pm Mainstage Keynotes from Lenovo, Magic Leap, Mastercard and more.

• 11am-7pm Expo featuring Microsoft, Lenovo, Pico, VirtualWare, Theorem Solutions, Trivantis, Varjo, and many more!

• 12-5pm Workshops featuring Lenovo, Magic Leap, HTC, Unity, Microsoft, and more.

Nov 2nd:

• 9am-5pm — Track: Enterprise Uses of VR/AR. Talks by Siemens, US Navy, Boeing, Amazon, HP, IT People Group, IBM, Walmart, HTC

• 9am-5pm Workshops featuring Lenovo, Magic Leap, HTC, Unity, Microsoft, and more.

• 9am-5pm Expo Open

About the VR/AR Global Summit

This world-class conference and expo will welcome 1000+ Executives, 120+ Speakers and 70+ Exhibitors from leading companies like Lenovo, Microsoft and so many more. With over 230 companies active in VR/AR, Vancouver is the 2nd largest immersive ecosystem in the world. This is the 4th time the show is happening in Vancouver and this year’s Global Summit will have a strong focus on Enterprise and AR.

About VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to facilitate collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, fosters research and education, helps develop industry standards, connects member organizations and promotes the services of member companies. Over 4000 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and 20 committees are working on best practices and guidelines for the industry. Learn more at thevrara.com

Lynn Rosenthal of Periscape VR will Co-Chair the VR/AR Association Travel & Tourism Committee

Come see the latest in immersive tech at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

We are thrilled to announce Lynn Rosenthal of Periscape VR Experience Centers will co-chair our Travel & Tourism Committee along with Darshan Lama of Expedia and Craig Vezina of Realcast.

Email info@thevrara.com if you would like to participate!

This committee will create best practices, guidelines for Travel & Tourism. Specifically, we will identify opportunities and accelerate widespread adoption of VR/AR technologies in the travel industry by OTAs, Airlines, Airports, Lodging, Conference Centers, Destination Marketing Organizations and other Travel companies, for marketing, branding and enhancing the user experience through each phase of the traveler’s journey (dream, plan, shop, book, pre-trip and post-trip)

I’m excited to Co-Chair this committee and look forward working aside my esteemed colleagues to drive our mission forward globally

— Lynn Rosenthal

Varjo VR-1 can help minimize human errors in the most safety-critical environment. The cost of VR is 1/10th of "physical costs"

Come meet Varjo at the VR/AR Global Summit Nov 1-2

With the help of virtual reality, design validations as well as operator training at nuclear power plants can now be done more effectively. The Loviisa plant in Finland is the first nuclear power plant in the world building a dedicated VR training room for control room operators. And the Varjo VR-1 is the only virtual reality device that is up to the challenge.

When it comes to industrial environments, the nuclear industry leads the way in improving safety. Enormous amounts of money are spent yearly on the design and validation of the human-machine interfaces, as well as procedure optimization. Nuclear power plant operators worldwide act according to strict manuals. Nothing is left to chance. The goal is to maximize safety and efficiency, and human-machine interfaces play an important role in it.

Joakim Bergroth is a human factor engineering expert with over 10 years of experience in the nuclear field. His responsibility as the product lead at Fortum eSite is to develop and take new technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality (VR & AR), into daily use at nuclear power plants and other safety-critical environments. Fortum is one of the largest power generation companies in the Nordics, and Fortum eSite is their internal venture which provides leading industrial-grade VR solutions to safety-critical environments and the process industry in general.

Bergroth is also involved in the implementation of the world’s first fully dynamic and interactive virtual reality control room in Loviisa, where the operators are now getting ready to take VR into training and daily use on site.

“Fortum eSite’s virtual validation solution is globally unique – nobody else has done integrated system validation for nuclear power plant control rooms up till now.”

Already now, 90% of Loviisa personnel have done training in VR environments.

“In safety-critical environments and process industries, human errors can lead to serious accidents and production losses. Millions of euros are used to build physical simulators where operators can practice different scenarios from small disturbances, such as pipe leakages, to severe accident trainings. The physical simulators are usually fully booked, which doesn’t leave much time for additional testing or evaluations,” Bergroth says.

Training in a traditional physical simulator is expensive, but building a physical simulator is even more expensive. A physical simulator means building an exact, functional replica of the real environment, such as the control room of a power plant. Recreating a virtual replica costs only a fraction compared to that, bringing about huge cost savings and the ability to implement changes quickly.

“The cost of a VR simulator is 1/10th of the cost of building a physical simulator. And with the Varjo VR-1, the visual fidelity of our virtual simulator is finally on a level that it should be.”

Read the full case from: varjo.com/blog/vr-can-help-minimize-human-errors-in-the-most-safety-critical-environments/

http://vimeo.com/varjo

WordPress Lessons: Applicable for VR? What can we learn from WordPress to boost the VR content market

Come see the latest in VR/AR at our Global Summit Nov 1-2. See here

What can we learn from WordPress to boost the VR content market?

Content Management Systems today look nothing like they did several years ago. They have completely changed the world of websites, and because of them creating online content is no longer a magic power exclusive to developers. We are about to experience the same changes for more immersive technologies such as VR, AR, and MR. The ingredients are all there for the new market to surge, but it lacks structure: there are game engines like Unity and Unreal, dozens of platforms for VR/AR creation without programming skills like BrioVR, and platforms for quick and easy VR management like Varwin. What doesn’t exist (yet) is one clear approach that allows anyone to create VR/AR content. This is exactly what Content Management Systems have enabled with the growth of WordPress.

How can we apply the concept of CMS to VR/AR content creation?

There are some VR CMS tools on the market today. At this point, most of them allow managing 360 videos and using 3D objects. They give some flexibility, but not enough freedom to create complex scenarios and interactive stories. Most of the VR CMS or drag-n-drop tools today are just like landing page tools from years ago: they give a taste of how the future could look, allowing you to dip your toe into the innovation pool but preventing you from diving deeper. Unlike VR CMS tools, Reality Management Systems will allow creating projects with complex logics in both VR and AR, or whatever these will be called in a few years.

How can we repeat the CMS success story with RMS tools?

The main features of WordPress include plugin architecture and a template system. The closest tool to WordPress in the XR world is the Varwin platform. Just like in WordPress, it has an interface-like template system, where users can manage content without writing a single line of code - only instead of web themes Varwin houses VR scenes and objects. Plugin architecture in WordPress enables extended features and functionality for websites. Instead of this, Varwin has a plugin for Unity, which allows for adding new logics, interactivity, scenes, and objects that can be used in the future. This part usually requires some code as it creates the basis for non-coding users.

The power of community

“We believe great software should work with minimum set up, so you can focus on sharing your story, product, or services freely” — says the WordPress mission statement. This statement is more than applicable to the XR ecosystem. Once we have an engaged community and a good user interface for VR platforms, everything else will work automatically. Sharing stories in VR and AR just like you share your Instagram stories, creating VR business projects in minutes — this all is just around the corner. Reality Management Systems are already here to boost the XR market. Now is your chance to become part of this revolution.

More at varwin.com

Call for Participation in the VR/AR Association's Aerospace Committee

The VRARA Aerospace Committee will have its kickoff call on Sept 20th 1pm EST.

The Committee is co-chaired by Samuel Trevino, Insitu (a Boeing company) and Dr. Alethea Duhon, Air Force Agency of Modeling and Simulation.

If interested to participate, email info@thevrara.com

About the Committee

The Aerospace Committee of the VR/AR Association serves as a resource to promote the application of VR/AR technology as a solution to a number of traditional problems in aerospace. The committee will enable the sharing of best practices and information on VR/AR related applications in the aerospace industry as well as curate industry relevant case studies. Furthermore, the committee will, as necessary, shape and recommend best practices for the scaling of VR/AR applications across aerospace.

Areas of focus for the Committee include:

• Data visualization

• Learning & Training an aging workforce;

• Learning and training a new work force; 

• Troubleshooting and live support;

• Safety & EHS as pertains to the aerospace industry

• Guided assistance of factory workers & field technicians in aerospace.