Transforming Employee Onboarding with Virtual Reality. New employees retain information 2x more using VR!

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


New employees retain information after a VR experience two times more than after viewing video or text-based learning materials. 

An unforgettable onboarding experience for employees is the crucial first step to a successful and productive career. This is why Lenovo is digitizing and transforming employee orientation with its own virtual reality (VR) Mirage Solo headsets.

“Onboarding new employees is too often synonymous with long meetings and information overload. With VR, however, employees take control of the onboarding process, with a rich, immersive onboarding experience. At Lenovo, we want to bring the benefits of smarter technology to all, and there’s no better place to apply this vision than within our own company. Using VR for smart onboarding is how we walk the talk when it comes to the intelligent transformation of business,” said Subhankar Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, Human Resources Asia Pacific, Lenovo. “Virtual reality opens up a world of possibilities for a new joiner to experience intelligent transformation from Day One.”

“Smarter” onboarding, introduced for the first time at Lenovo to employees in Asia Pacific this month, includes the full Lenovo Theater of company video training content, adapted for VR, as well as a 360-degree video that introduces new employees to Lenovo’s management team in living color. The goal of smarter onboarding is not to replace current orientation with a virtual reality solution, but to enhance the experience with VR. “We wanted to create a “wow” experience for employees,” said Sachin Kinagi, Learning Manager at Lenovo.

By adding VR into the onboarding mix with Lenovo’s Mirage Solo headsets, Lenovo has significantly enhanced the new employee onboarding experience, and improved the productivity of new joiners by helping them integrate faster into the organization and better retain what they have learned. Research shows that memory retention after a VR experience is two times higher than after viewing video or text-based learning materials.

New employees in Asia Pacific learning about Lenovo and its culture with virtual reality Mirage Solo headsets.

New employees in Asia Pacific learning about Lenovo and its culture with virtual reality Mirage Solo headsets.

“I felt completely immersed in the VR world, which made it easy to concentrate, pay attention and remember information,” said Shashank Charati, who recently joined Lenovo as an Account Manager and participated in the company’s first VR orientation session.

VR can also provide an alternative for new employees or management team members who are not personally able to attend the orientation. “Many times, when we have onboarding sessions, the market general manager or segment leader is not available for the session,” continued Kinagi. “VR is a great opportunity for us to fill that gap and ensure employees hear from our leaders even when they are not physically there.” Anytime, anywhere onboarding allows new joiners to proceed at their own pace, time and location – taking “on-demand learning” to the next level, “on-demand onboarding.”

When employees complete their VR-enhanced orientation, they feel more empowered, excited and motivated about the company. “After experiencing VR, I did feel even more excited about working at Lenovo and being a part of the journey toward ‘Smarter Technology for All,’” continued Charati.

At the same time, by using VR during orientation, new Lenovo employees are quickly able to accustom themselves to the company’s product and better understand company vision.

Following the success of its pilot program in India, Lenovo in Asia Pacific plans to roll out VR onboarding to its offices and sites in other markets. For example, in the virtual world a new employee joining in Vietnam will be able view Lenovo’s massive data centers around the globe, take a tour of the corporate headquarters in Beijing, or visit a factory in Shenzhen. Lenovo will also share its experience with corporate customers who are interested in using Mirage Solo VR for their own onboarding solutions.


Source:

Transforming Employee Onboarding with Virtual Reality | Lenovo StoryHub

https://news.lenovo.com/transforming-employee-onboarding-with-virtual-reality/

Three Advancements for a Seamless Future in VR. Plus, VIATechnik's collaboration with Virgin Hyperloop One

RSVP for our AEC Webinar here

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

By Michael Fontana, Senior VDC Engineer, VIATechnik

Testing a virtual environment through VR. Photo: VIATechnik

Testing a virtual environment through VR. Photo: VIATechnik

Over the last few years, one of the biggest questions looming over the discussion of VR has been user adoption: "When will VR become a viable platform?" Development of VR hardware has advanced significantly, service platforms have been built around that hardware to deliver content to users, and yet it still seems that VR is a cumbersome (and expensive) endeavor.

This problem is especially acute for industries like AEC which rely heavily on visual content to deliver experiences and information. Professionals in these industries understand the symbiotic relationship between tools and design--that each has great potential to drive the development of the other--and so the problem for us is not just the experience of using the hardware, but the limitations that currently poses for our ability to design and communicate our ideas.

The Virgin Hyperloop One test site simulated in a gaming engine. Photo: VIATechnik

The Virgin Hyperloop One test site simulated in a gaming engine. Photo: VIATechnik

In tandem with this, the AEC industry continues to push towards ever higher levels of interaction and fidelity through visual mediums. VIATechnik has witnessed this drive first-hand through many of our projects. One in particular--our collaboration with Virgin Hyperloop One--incorporates scales of simulation beyond most traditional applications: anything from small bolts and wires to the entire surrounding topographic region. As these applications of 3D rendering become more dominant in the AEC industry, the scales of simulation will become more advanced and intricate as well, requiring greater degrees of computational power and sensory experience.

Beyond the “Trough of Disillusionment”

The emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) has been able to sustain this increase rendering demand to a point. It has crossed over from obscure niche technology to mainstream applications, and there is no longer a question of whether it will become viable; instead, we must ask what it will look like when it does. We can look to three particular developments in the near future which suggest that VR accessibility will become significantly more seamless, allowing the medium to meet these demands: First, networked VR environments will become much more commonplace, allowing users to collaborate remotely. Second, these environments will begin migrating to the cloud, reducing the need for powerful, on-site computation. And third, the deployment of 5G network technologies will increase data transfer and reduce latency, eliminating many of the noticeable limitations of streaming applications.

Many current VR applications are still restricted by hardware tethering. Photo: Stella Jacob

Many current VR applications are still restricted by hardware tethering. Photo: Stella Jacob

Environments Begin to Talk

Those users who have set up a high-end VR experience are familiar with some of the existing constraints: in addition to the cost of workstations powerful enough to run VR applications, most traditional VR setups require the use of a proprietary tethered headset. Further, much of the work done in the AEC industry requires high levels of visual fidelity, which in turn requires significant amounts of data storage and throughput, meaning that the headset cannot be easily untethered from this workstation.The obvious restriction here is mobility - a few feet of cable and a room-scale boundary does not permit much of a spatial experience, and removing this barrier requires the purchase of additional Wi-Fi adapter hardware. Moreover, only one user at a time can be “in” a VR space, limiting our ability to use a shared experience to communicate. Many products currently on the market have taken a first step to alleviating this problem by allowing the local environment to communicate over the internet with other users. Like a multiplayer video game, each player owns and runs a copy of the game on their system while certain information is coordinated across the internet to create a shared experience. This enables remote VR collaboration with one big caveat - each end user still needs the requisite costly hardware to run the VR application locally. In other words, the environment is more accessible but the interface with that environment is not. 

Remote servers may replace the need for high-end graphics processing that many VR applications require. Photo: Torkild Retvedt.

Remote servers may replace the need for high-end graphics processing that many VR applications require. Photo: Torkild Retvedt.

The Data Center Is Your Platform

New advancements in the gaming industry mitigate this problem through cloud-based streaming. Under this model, VR environments--which would ordinarily be run locally on the user’s computer--are instead hosted on powerful cloud platforms. These platforms will offer both high-end graphics processing as well as the ability to scale with users. The end user merely needs a headset that can stream the images and audio from the server. Put another way, like visiting a website, the end user’s workstation only needs to connect to the virtual environment, not contain it. Stadia, Google’s new cloud-based gaming platform, proposes this exact model through a subscription service to subvert the traditional purchase of expensive gaming consoles and game titles. Nearly any modern workstation can participate in Stadia by streaming games from the cloud and players can connect from anywhere at a fraction of the cost of a traditional console and game library. It is not a stretch, then, to think that we will begin to see the same standard emerge in AEC applications.


5G: When Networks Become Invisible

For VR to reach peak adoption, it must be able to be accessed by and streamed to numerous mobile devices at high resolution with ease. The introduction of 5G connectivity across mobile broadband is expected to solve this by dramatically increasing bandwidth while shrinking latency. This is a crucial step in eliminating the framerate loss and input latency that can cause negative physiological reactions in users. Currently, some desktop and mobile applications can achieve this, and with the proliferation of connected devices coming with 5G technology, we are sure to see further strides in this area. From the user’s perspective, the typical visceral aberrations of networked applications--things like input lag, slow download speeds, and buffering glitches--will seem to disappear. 


The maturity of a platform can be measured by how seamlessly it integrates into our daily lives. While several of these friction points still remain, doubts about VR’s potential have largely been answered: It is now clear that VR and other Mixed Reality interfaces will dominate as the next platform for visually-driven content. The question is no longer “will it be viable” but rather “what will viable look and feel like”. Looking to our existing devices and the advancements that have been made in connectivity, we can begin to understand that VR will become part of this family, offering users the ability to experience content and share information across multiple platforms. Content distribution and collaboration services will be built with seamlessness as a priority, driving greater numbers of users into their ecosystems which will in turn provide the demand for content and application marketplaces. For the AEC industry, then, what is left for us to consider is how we prepare for this future: What will we do with these new capabilities and what impact do we hope to have that was not possible before?

Special events at our VR/AR Global Summit with Lenovo, Microsoft, Marvel, Niantic, Magic Leap, HTC and much more!

The VR/AR Global Summit is one of the year’s most anticipated conferences. It attracts a broad, international cross-section of thought leaders, enterprise executives, entertainment companies, and developers for an intense two days of panels, demos and networking.
— Forbes
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The Global Summit isn’t just about the talks (120+ speakers!) and exhibits, there are many other exciting events to network, play, and relax that will be taking place at The Parq Hotel & Casino leading up to, and during, the event! These include:

  • VIP Cocktail Reception

  • Archiact Marvel Experience

  • The Niantic Experience

  • Ecosystem meetings

  • VRARA Women’s meet up

  • LNG interactive Art Show

  • Speed Dating on BOTH days! (per popular request)

  • Workshops (with Lenovo, Magic Leap, HTC)

  • Casino: 72,000-square-foot gaming floor!

  • 8 diverse restaurants and lounges

  • A 30,000-square-foot rooftop park

  • A tranquil Spa by JW

  • Vancouver’s largest hotel ballroom

  • And much more!

Thursday, October 31st

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Sponsored by Vancouver Hotel Destination Association & Tourism Vancouver

VIP Cocktail Reception (by invite only)

6-8 pm at Parq Hotel

Speakers, sponsors and VIPs

 

Friday, November 1st

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Sponsored by Vancouver Economic Commission & Creative BC

Speed Dating*

4:45 - 6:00 pm

Main Lobby, Conference Floor

Expo and Cocktail Reception

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5:00 - 7:00 pm

Exhibition Hall, Conference Floor

After the first day of talks and workshops are done, join fellow attendees for a cocktail on the exhibition floor. Try out some incredible demos from Lenovo, Microsoft, and many others!

 

Saturday, November 2nd

Sponsored by Vancouver Economic Commission & Creative BC

Speed Dating Round 2!*

9:30 am - 10:30 am

Main Lobby, Conference Floor

 

Workshops

Brought to you by: Circuit Stream

Proudly presented by Circuit Stream, the VR/AR Global Summit will be hosting a series of workshops as a part of the programme for Full Conference Pass Holders. Registration for these workshops is available HERE and a full pass must be purchased before registration. Each workshop is limited to 35 attendees and last minute spots will be made available day of for all other conference pass holders.

WHERE: All workshops to take place in the Cambie Room, 6th Floor, Parq Hotel & Casino.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE:
Friday November 1st
1-2pm —Vive Pro Eye w/ Vinay
3-4pm — Magic Leap 101

Saturday November 2nd
11am-12pm — Vive Pro Eye w/ Vinay
1-2pm — Intro to VR w/ Cosmos
3-4pm — Magic Leap 101
(More workshops to be announced soon!)

HTC Vive Eye Tracking Workshop, with Vive's Vinay Narayan and Circuit Stream’s Richard Beare

WHEN: Friday Nov 1, 1 - 2pm | Saturday Nov 2, 11am - 12pm
WHAT: HTC Vive's Head of Product Vinay Narayan and Circuit Stream's Richard Beare share the development potential of HTC Vive's latest eyetracking SDK: Pro Eye. Discover the possibilities Pro Eye opens for developers, experience a demo of a Pro Eye project, and learn how to build an eyetracking app yourself from expert VR instructors. Get started developing with Vive here.

How to Develop for Vive Cosmos: Introductory Workshop, with Circuit Stream’s Richard Beare

WHEN: Saturday Nov 2, 1-2pm
WHAT: Circuit Stream's lead instructor Richard Beare demonstrates how to start XR development in Unity 3D for the new Vive Cosmos. You’ll get a foundational understanding of VR, working with Unity, and developing Virtual Reality applications. Get started developing with Vive here.

How to Develop for Magic Leap: Introductory Workshop, with Circuit Stream’s Nakisa Donnelly

WHEN: Friday Nov 1, 3-4pm | Saturday Nov 2, 3-4pm
WHAT: Circuit Stream's resident AR expert Nakisa Donnelly shares her development experience with Magic Leap in building an appendectomy surgery training application. She'll dive deep into how Unity works with the headset and explain how to implement core features like haptic feedback, spatial audio, and recognizable hand gestures.

Brought to you by: Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkReality Enterprise Dev Workshop at the VR/AR Global Summit! (by invite only)

WHEN: Friday Nov 1, 10am-3pm
WHAT: Lenovo’s first Enterprise Developer Workshop for ThinkReality, its newly announced brand for commercial AR and VR solutions.


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, Niantic, Viacom, 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, as well as on immersive interaction design. Learn more at vrarglobalsummit.com


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, schools 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

Coming Soon to Oculus! ‘Death Lap,’ a Frenetic VR Combat Racing Game from OZWE Games

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


OZWE Games — official Oculus Studios — is thrilled to introduce a new title that challenges you to drive to survive. ‘Death Lap’ pulls no punches and breaks all the traditional rules of the road. Buckle up because if the speed doesn’t kill you, the driver next to you just might.

Fans of the Anshar franchise should be well familiar with OZWE, they have been making strides in the industry since 2014 and the Gear VR Innovator Edition launch. In their upcoming release, they’ve mashed up a Twisted Metal tribute with the zany antics of go-kart-style racing games like Mario Kart for a darkly comic racing game that will have you howling with laughter even as you put your life on the line. The game takes its name from an annual tournament held once a year, where drivers wield deadly short- and long-range weapons and the first to cross the finish line wins. Behind it, all is the host, Nitro Saint Payne — a marvelous yet tragic man with a definite need for speed.

Key Features

  • Fast driving. Master your steed in first or third-person view. Use it to its best capacities, drift and jump over the minefield as quick as you can.

  • Battle for survival. Use the deadly supply of weapons, maneuver undetected into the hostile run, execute combat tactics for attack or defense, and enjoy a good shot of adrenaline.

  • Choose your car. Select your favorite vehicle to brave the peril of the show. Each car has a unique personality with its own set of weapons and abilities.

  • Ruthless tracks. Enjoy various races environments as wild and bloody as beautiful. Take advantage of its secret paths and obstacles.

  • Cunning strategies. Use your car and environment wisely. Get the bonuses scattered around and use them smartly.

  • Single or multiplayer. Play against the AI or real players to test your might and speed. Maybe you'll be strong enough to get on the pantheon of greatest players.

The only thing left to say is to keep an eye out for the release date!

More info www.ozwe.com/deathlap

Apply for the Lenovo ThinkReality Enterprise Dev Workshop at the VR/AR Global Summit! (Exclusive Benefits!)

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You’re invited to apply for Lenovo’s first Enterprise Developer Workshop for ThinkReality, its newly announced brand for commercial AR and VR solutions.

The workshop will take place Nov 1 10am-3pm, during the VR/AR Global Summit, Nov 1-2, in Vancouver Canada at the new renowned venue, the PARQ Hotel and Casino. Deadline to apply for the workshop is October 15, 2019.

At the Developer Workshop, Lenovo product managers and engineers will be on-site to provide information on the platform, the pipeline of features and benefits, and demonstrations including the Lenovo cloud portal that can be used for device, app and user management.

You’ll get exposed to early ThinkReality app development partners who will present three types of AR apps built on the ThinkReality A6, and will review how they built these applications, offer best practices, and be on site to answer questions and assist in building your app.

Developers will be given the opportunity to develop a Proof-of-Concept (POC) application on the ThinkReality A6 during the workshop. This allows developers to build and deploy applications in a more open environment without the risk of sharing custom application solutions and IP with other attendees.

Lenovo is sponsoring approved workshop participants' VR/AR Global Summit ticket, providing lunch, and a private networking event Friday evening with heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks, and car service from the airport to hotel and back for attendees arriving from the Vancouver airport.

Benefits:

  • Private networking event Friday evening with heavy hors d'oeuvres and drinks

  • Paid entrance, VR/AR Global Summit event ticket

  • Free car service from the airport to hotel and back for attendees arriving from the Vancouver airport

  • Lunch provided

  • Exclusive access to Lenovo’s ThinkReality Developer Program

Are you an experienced AR Unity developer? Are you currently working at a large enterprise or systems integrator company? If yes, then apply now!

Limited space is available.

APPLY HERE

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, Niantic, Viacom, 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, as well as on immersive interaction design. Learn more at vrarglobalsummit.com

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

VR and Robotics: How High School Students Programmed a Robot In VR

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

In August 2019, Varwin collaborated with ROBBO, a company that provides an educational set for creating smart devices, to build a project that unites VR and robotics. We challenged high school students to build a project that helps a robot navigate in VR. Within just 9 days a team of three 17-year-olds managed to program a robot in virtual reality. This project was assigned to them as a part of the 9-day International Project School they participated in, which was held at Innopolis University. This Project School is organized annually for talented high-school students, and it includes working with innovative technologies to solve real cases.

The students chose Varwin Reality Management System (RMS) for their project, which helped them streamline VR development. While some of the team members already had experience programming on Unity (Varwin is a Unity-based platform), others had to learn on the go. Varwin RMS was new to all of them, however, according to the students, they found the platform quite easy to operate. Alex, one of the team members, said, “Navigating within the platform was not difficult at all. I would say that the main difficulty for me was the robot simulation. I tried to make it as believable and physically correct as possible.”

The end goal for the team was to create a VR project that would help a robot navigate in VR and to eliminate mistakes while programming it. From a technical standpoint, the students had to repeat the same programming blocks that were used in Google Blockly. Thanks to VR, it was possible to recreate all the actions that the real robot would be able to perform and optimize the set of skills for it. By connecting VR and robotics, we simplified the process of programming robots and allowed more people to participate in it - you no longer need to own a robot to set programs for it. Adel, one of the team members, shares, “Programming a robot in VR is much easier, and it saves time for peopl

Orlando tech targets growing VR and AR field at Florida Simulation Summit and VRARA event

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

By Alexander Soderstrom – Staff writer, Orlando Business Journal

When Dan Ayoub addressed a ballroom full of people at the Florida Simulation Summit on Sept. 26, he acknowledged the flaw of his delivery method: a verbal speech aided by a slideshow. 

“This is the worst way for anyone to learn anything,” said Ayoub, general manager of education for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and keynote speaker at this year’s iteration of the annual Orlando summit.

Ayoub shared his experiences working on Microsoft’s push to put augmented and virtual reality — known as AR and VR — programs in classrooms and training programs. Independent studies show the use of AR and VR leads to more effective learning, Ayoub said. 

AR and VR were the themes of this year’s Florida Simulation Summit, an event which brings together academic, business and military leaders involved in the modeling, simulation and training (MS&T) industry. AR and VR are predicted to become a $571 billion industry by 2025, according to Allied Market Research, and Central Florida businesses are well-positioned to act as major players in the field, which locally is a $6 billion industry.

The region’s MS&T industry has risen to prominence on the back of Central Florida Research Park. The campus, adjacent the University of Central Florida, serves as the center of simulation operations for the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy, as well as the headquarters of multiple private companies. Many local MS&T companies already create AR and VR products.

During the summit, CEOs, researchers and industry experts shared the capabilities of AR and VR, from pairing with artificial intelligence to train autonomous vehicles to training surgeons how to operate in a virtual setting before allowing them to operate on a human. 

The theme of the summit reflects a recent push in the Orlando area to increase the focus on AR and VR. John Cunningham, chief revenue officer of Orlando-based modeling and simulation firm DiSTI Corp., launched a Central Florida chapter of the VR/AR Association, and the association held its second event the night before the Simulation Summit. The group's purpose is to provide exposure and organization for the area’s AR and VR companies, Cunningham told Orlando Business Journal.

“The idea here is we’re going to start putting Central Florida on the map — the global map — as a hub for VR/AR expertise,” said Cunningham, who serves as president of the local chapter. 

The summit explored AR and VR applications in diverse fields such as education, gaming and health care, but Central Florida’s MS&T industry has predominantly been tied to defense due to the close proximity of military simulation operations. But it's a good thing, since military contracts can give MS&T companies a source of funding when venture capital is hard to come by, Cunningham said. The challenge, he said, is when companies make the transition to commercial industries and must commercialize their products. 

The Simulation Summit has touched on MS&T topics from big data to health simulation in its five years of operation. The event is hosted by the National Center for Simulation, Orange County and the Orlando Economic Partnership. National Center for Simulation President and CEO George Cheros said this year’s summit brought on of the best turnouts, with an estimated attendance of least 400 people.

Source

Book your hotel by Oct 4 to get 40% off at Parq, Vancouver’s largest entertainment, casino, and conference destination! See you at our VR/AR Global Summit!

Book your hotels by Oct 4 to receive a 40% discount! All Summit attendees eligible! Book here!

This is the 4th time the event is happening in Vancouver and it will take place at the gorgeous Parq Vancouver, Vancouver’s largest entertainment, casino, and conference destination.

Don’t have Summit tickets yet? Get them here!

Parq Vancouver - EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE - is a new international entertainment destination, located in downtown Vancouver, featuring two luxury hotels (JW Marriott and the Douglas), a 72,000-square-foot Casino (!) gaming floor, eight diverse restaurants and lounges, a 30,000-square-foot rooftop park, a tranquil Spa by JW, and Vancouver’s largest hotel ballroom.

AUREA Award further strengthens VR/AR Association’s Location-Based Entertainment Committee with sponsorship

Working towards a Global VR/AR Entertainment Community

With the sponsorship of the Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) Committee of the VR/AR Association (VRARA), the AUREA Award run by the MackNext creative team of Europa-Park, is expanding its role as enabler and promoter of Immersive Technologies. The support is a commitment to bring the AUREA Award even closer to renowned experts in the Entertainment sector by rewarding the best projects annually worldwide. The close cooperation with the VRARA is a crucial step in this direction by joining its extensive international network of professionals.

In terms of strategic orientation, communicative approach and target groups, the international industry association, founded already in 2015, is a congenial partner that perfectly mirrors our intentions. Just like the AUREA Award, VR/AR Association is designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem. For this reason, we look forward to welcoming VRARA members from around the world to Rust next January.
— Marcus Ernst – Creative Project Manager, MackNext

The next award ceremony and professional conference will take place on Jan. 15 - 16, 2020 at Europa-Park, a digital innovation leader in their own right with VR coasters, flying and dome theaters, and the latest 4D attractions, where shortlisted state of the art experiences will not only show where the industry is all headed, but will also be pitched live on stage in front of an all-star Jury. All stakeholders from the entertainment sector from startups to investors, and creatives to corporates are invited to get involved and help the community grow.

Interesting in applying? Submissions are now open until November 1, 2019 and come meet them in person at the VR/AR Global Summit in Vancouver on November 2.

Sharing AUREA´s spirit and entertainment focus, the Location-Based Entertainment Committee’s mission is to build relationships between content creators and venue operators in the entertainment sector. The LBE Committee’s content creators & enablers include the likes of Battleverse, Backlight, Blueprint Reality (Mixcast), Dark Slope, Holocafé, Kaaya Tech, Teslasuit, Ultrahaptics, VR Studio, Dreamcraft Attractions, YDreams Global, The Park Playground, and SpringboardVR which have representatives that meet online monthly to work on everything from infographics and online webinar series to technical white papers and industry surveys. Since LBE consumer spending is expected to reach $809 million by 2022, AUREA Award and the committee will share experiences and insights in order to show the industry all the added-value potentials.
— Philip Wogart - Co-chair Location-Based Entertainment Committee

About Aurea Award
With just 5 AUREA awards up for grabs, film projects, music experiences, live events, games, mixed reality experiences as well as enabling technologies receive center stage in front of a crowd VR & AR enthusiasts. Besides showcasing and awarding the most exciting products and experiences, the conference also delivers thought-leader talks, candid discussions on panels and a slew of workshops, while leaving room plenty of room for networking and enjoyment. In the setting of one of the world's leading theme parks, the conference offers multiple opportunities for groundbreakers to be heard and seen, to connect to the most relevant pioneers in the ecosystem and to become a part of the vibrant AUREA community. 
https://aurea-award.com/

About VRARA
The VR/AR Association 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 4500 companies, brands, school and 27,000 professionals are registered with VRARA and more than 20 committees are working on best practices and guidelines for the industry.
https://www.thevrara.com/

FactualVR gets $1M Business Innovation grant from DOE for a VR platform to help law enforcement

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

FactualVR is pleased to announce they have received the $1.05M grant from the Department of Energy (DoE) as part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Having completed this step, FactualVR has secured funding for continuing developing their “HyperTunnel” product. Also, FactualVR has just hired two new members to their team and continue scouting for talent.

For more info contact Eduardo Neeter eneeter@factualvr.com

Visit factualvr.com

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Recap of our Orlando Event with Microsoft and 200 business leaders hosted by the Orlando Science Center

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


Thank you to all that attended and supported the VRARA Orlando / Central Florida Chapter event last night. We had over 200 business, technology and academic leaders join and a number of students from UCF, Full Sail, and DAVE School. The theme of the night was how VR/AR is going to transform how we learn!

The DiSTI Corporation was proud to sponsor the event Thank you to Alan Smithson from MetaVRse and Dan Ayoub from Microsoft for their fascinating talks!

For more info or to join VRARA, email John Cunningham at orlando@thevrara.com

Is VR sickness still a big factor for mainstream adoption? Watch this!

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

Design Interactive presented research, findings and recommendations conducted by the US Army and the University of Central Florida.

The webinar received great reviews and feedback:

"Great talk, great presenters and content, discussing highly relevant and important factors in ensuring VR/AR can be enjoyed by everyone."

“It's great getting good design guidelines and understanding of our actual physical responses to VR and AR. It's not new; the science is out there.”

“Fantastic presentation. I particularly appreciated the evidence/science based approach to the general VR sickness issue. I think more VR designers need to understand the principals here. I've often said, with a nod to the buggles, that VR will kill the VR star. We can kill VR by making people sick; it's not fun. I also think every VR manufacturer needs to read this and understand how important IPD is. Bravo, thanks to the presenters.”

Watch here

VR/AR Global Summit: LBE program highlights for Nov 1&2: Microsoft, Niantic, Viacom, DreamCraft, VR Studios! Vancouver's game cluster includes Electronic Arts, Capcom, Nintendo!

For more info see www.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 Location-Based VR/AR Entertainment.

Vancouver has one of the top Video Game clusters in the world — one that includes major publishers such as, Electronic Arts (EA), Microsoft, Capcom and Nintendo.

And, don't miss the Keynote by Niantic, the world's most successful AR game developer! And the Keynote by Viacom, who produced the phenomenal AR show at the MTV’s VMA's Missy Elliot Vanguard!

Below are some initial Summit program highlights related to LBE and Attractions:

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  • Viacom's Advanced Advertising Innovation Products team matches and operates emerging tech in support of sales needs. The team helped VR/AR spring to life in Nickelodeon (KCS, KCA, Henry Danger, Loud House), MTV (VMA's Missy Elliot Vanguard), and most recently Comedy Central (Your Brain On Clusterfest). Group lead, Diego J Medina, will be talking about the unique multiplicative quality VR/AR has of voicing IP and audiences through technology. PLUS, how VR and AR has a unique place in on the ground experiences for concerts and festival goers!

  • Niantic, Inc. creates some of today's most popular AR games. But what does the future look like for Niantic and the rest of the AR industry? Ross Finman, Head of AR Strategy at Niantic, will discuss the future of AR; from games to mainstream adoption and beyond.

  • Plus:

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For more info see www.vrarglobalsummit.com

Call for Sponsors for VR/AR Executive Dinner event on November 5th, during Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal

The VR/AR Association Portugal Chapter will be hosting an executive dinner event on November 5th, during the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

The VR/AR/XR community attending Web Summit will gather for drinks & dinner at a VIP restaurant for our executive dinner event. Come and join industry thinkers, C-level executives, investors and startups to explore ways to collaborate and network.

More info and RSVP here

Agenda:

- Keynote Speaker - TBA (to be announced)

- Presentation & Demo by event Sponsors

- Delicious food & drinks

Call for Sponsors:

If you are interested in sponsoring our annual event, email luis@thevrara.com for more info and sponsorship packages.

VR/AR Association Membership:

To become a member of the VR/AR Association (VRARA), email luis@thevrara.com

Disclaimer:

This dinner is not affiliated nor happens at WebSummit venue.  

VR/AR Global Summit: Program highlights for Storytelling & Immersive Interaction Design - Viacom, WorldBank, Nickelodeon, MTV, Time Magazine, Comedy Central

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

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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 immersive technologies. Below is our initial schedule highlights for Storytelling & Immersive Interaction Design:

Nov 1st: Mainstage Keynotes featuring speakers from Niantic, Magic Leap, Viacom, Forbes, Hasboro, World Bank and more.

Nov 2nd: Immersive Stage Track: Storytelling, Content Creation, Marketing, Immersive Spaces, Art & Design, Ethics and Diversity. Talks by Yumebau, Hasboro, WondARlands, Mandy Stobo, Time Magazine, Viacom, Zu, VR Studios, WXR, HTC, MediaCombo, Normal Studios, Niantic and others.

A message from our Sponsor:

Viacom's Advanced Advertising Innovation Products team matches and operates emerging tech in support of sales needs. The team helped VR/AR spring to life in Nickelodeon (KCS, KCA, Henry Danger, Loud House), MTV (VMA's Missy Elliot Vanguard), and most recently Comedy Central (Your Brain On Clusterfest).

On Nov 1st, Group lead, Diego J Medina, will be talking about the unique multiplicative quality VR/AR has of voicing IP and audiences through technology.

About the VR/AR Global Summit

On Nov 1 & 2, 2019, in Vancouver, the VR/AR Global Summit will bring together industry frontrunners from around the world to discuss the present and future of immersive technologies. This world-class conference and expo will welcome 1000+ Executives, 120+ Speakers and 70+ Exhibitors from leading companies like Lenovo, Niantic, Microsoft, Viacom, 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 immersive interaction design.

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