Announcing new Leadership for VRARA Training Committee: Emily Smits (Canada), James Watson (Europe), Marlo Brooke (USA)

The VR/AR Association is thrilled to announce new co-chairs for our Training Committee. This committee creates best practices and guidelines for the VR/AR Training industry sector. The committee meets every 2 weeks online to present recent case studies, projects, research, and is forum to discuss common problems and solutions. Plus, the active participants get preference to speak at our chapter events and Global Summits.

The new c0-chairs are:

1. Emily Smits, Modest Tree (Canada)

2. James Watson, Immerse (Europe)

3. Marlo Brooke, AVATAR Partners (USA)

EMILY SMITS, COO, MODEST TREE

Emily Smits is the Chief Operating Office at Modest Tree, a Halifax software company that focuses on providing XR training for enterprise clients and is the creator of the Xplorer software for rapidly creating collaborative XR training and sales presentations. Modest Tree has worked with leading organizations to transform their customer sales and training through the use of virtual and augmented reality. Modest Tree is a North American Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner. 

Over the past 9 years, Emily has worked with the company through its continued growth, providing operational leadership.  Emily holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Laurentian University and is a designated accountant (CPA-CMA) and Project Management Professional (PMP).  Emily has been the Vice-Chair on the Digital Nova Scotia Board for the past 3 years  and is passionate about VR/AR technologies, bringing advanced digital solutions to the enterprise, and supporting entrepreneurship. 

JAMES WATSON, CMO, IMMERSE

James started his career in digital marketing and innovation over 20 years ago. The past 7 years he seen him work with companies including Major League Baseball, Shell, and DHL, to identify and deliver enterprise VR solutions. Currently, as Chief Marketing Officer at Immerse, he is working across industry sectors to help drive the adoption of enterprise VR training.

“Virtual Reality is enhancing human performance in ways that were once unthinkable. Today, it is transforming the way we learn, explore and interact. As a frontrunner in training and education, Immerse recognised this potential early and focused on developing an open platform to help companies increase their ROI from VR training.”

Immerse is the technology company behind the industry-leading virtual reality platform, Immerse VEP. Built for enterprise from the ground up, the platform helps companies create, scale and deploy VR training and maximise their ROI. 

Some of the world’s largest companies use Immerse VEP for training and assessment. They include firms as wide-ranging as Shell and GE Healthcare to DHL. While these companies come from a diverse mix of sectors and industries, they all have one thing in common: they recognise how VR training can increase their efficiency and want to extract the most value from it.

MARLO BROOKE, CEO, AVATAR PARTNERS

Founder & CEO of AVATAR Partners, Inc., an innovative woman-owned business serving Military and Commercial markets through the Extended Reality Ecosystem. AVATAR develops advanced Training Solutions and Software to improve Employee Safety, Corporate Profits and Drive Local, US-Based Business growth. Products include Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality productivity tools, Video and Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) and Nex-Generation Visual Technical Manuals (NGVis). I am honored to lead the most talented, innovative team of employees in our industry, innovating cost-effective, practical, best-in-class solutions to our customers.

Call for Participation: Future of Work, Remote Collaboration, Remote Work (Enterprise Report). Report is already supported by RE'FLEKT

If you want to be featured in this report, fill out this form (deadline to submit is July 1st)

If you are interested to sponsor this report, email info@thevrara.com

THANK YOU to RE'FLEKT for already supporting our efforts with this report!

Given the world’s current pandemic situation where there are travel restrictions and the increased need for remote work, remote assistance, training and the reskilling of millions in the workforce, it is now more important than ever for companies to have enterprise ready, easy to deploy digital solutions. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have proven to show value within many critical enterprise verticals including manufacturing, architecture, engineering, construction, energy and the utilities sectors.

This report will cover the current global situation and how customers are deploying Enterprise solutions like remote assistance, guided workflows, remote collaboration, and training programs to improve productivity, reduce errors, increase learning retention, and decrease service resolution times.

The report will feature companies specializing in VR/AR for B2B Enterprise solutions. The report will be published in early Sept and will be promoted to the industry globally via our Newsletter (35K emails), Website (20K monthly visitors), at our upcoming VR/AR Global Summit Online (10,000+ attendees) in Sept , and via our partners.

Our last Enterprise Report featured over 100 companies. See more and get a copy here

Virtual Reality Platforms for Online Virtual Events in Education

See the latest in Virtual and Augmented Reality at our upcoming VR/AR Global Summit ONLINE Conference!

More info here

Join our Education Committee here

Today, due to the coronavirus pandemic, a large part of the world population is confined at their homes and millions of children around the world have closed schools. A situation that forces all education community, to search for efficient and possible alternatives, in order to keep up the pace of the educational year and keep the attention of students in their educational activity.

These days there are many alternatives offering quickly and running like miraculous solutions capable of solving even the unimaginable.

But the truth is that between 17/22 of February, thanks to the initiative of Educators In VR, a group of teachers, students and volunteers from all over the world, with the sponsorship, among others of the VR/AR Association and the #Education Committee. During these days, we were able to bring together more than 150 speakers, almost 100 volunteers and several thousand attendees to the largest Virtual World Event on Education ever imagined. A six days non-stop Summit, with speakers from all continents, in a marathon week in perfect coordination. An exceptional work and developed with great professionalism and enthusiasm by a group of authentic pioneers, among whom we can give thanks for meeting and having lived that fantastic experience in first person.

2020 Educators in VR International Summit brings together educators, learners, researchers, and experts in VR, AR, and XR to share their passion for integrating immersive technology in education.

We want to thank Daniel Dyboski-Bryant, alma-matter of the Summit and Lorelle VanFossen to make it happened: "More than 150 top speakers from all over the world during more than 100 sessions in 6 days". It was just an amazing experience as "Really Pioneers" and putting in common best practices, lessons learned and case studies in VR / AR in Education.

During this event, the VR/AR Association #Education Committee in collaboration with MetaVRse and ONE Digital Consulting organized the #VRARA Panel.

Julie Andersen Smithson, and Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez ,leaded the conversation with the contribution of Olivia Wenzel and Pat Owens. During the presentation, we talked about our mission and activities to promote and develop a professional VR in Education Global Ecosystem, working with top professionals and top companies all around the world.

The VR/AR Association 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. There are over 70 VRARA chapters, with more than 30 Industry experts Committees around the world that meet regularly in person and online.

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernandez is the Chapter President of VR/AR Association, Madrid and Co-Chair of Education Committee.

Now you can see the complete session here, and get the immersive perception of what is Immersive Learning in VR Spaces:

The VR/AR Association publishes best practices for Aerospace with Scope AR, DiSTI, FutureVisual, Sam Trevino, Dr. Alethea Duhon, among others

GET THE REPORT

Aerospace white paper

This publication is part of an ongoing discussion on the wide-ranging applications ofVR/AR technologies in the broader Aerospace framework.

These case studies are intended to assist in understanding the challenges faced by these companies, the impact of adopting these technologies as solutions, and the recommended best practices for VR,AR applications in the aerospace industry.

We encourage continuous industry feedback to keep this a living document. As a committee, we intend to update this material as needed.

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 enables 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 shapes and recommends best practices for the scaling of VR/AR applications across aerospace.

Foreword

The bar for operational excellence has moved up. Virtual work-place training and augmented overlays serving as a medium to present teams and people with important information are commonplace. In aerospace, it’s a race among common players, new disruptors, and players in other verticals to lead the charge; who can use new tools to eliminate old problems. And how far can we, should we, go with this technology?

Analyze, develop, test, repeat. Get a developer with a vision, or a visionary with a developer, and the previous limit is 50,000feet below you. But you’re not alone at that altitude. We still have rules, and reliable processes, virtual and augmented reality support existing operations, not scrap them. What’s so special is the immediate and continuous impact these tools have to accelerate the learning/training process and lower fixed and variable costs. These tools empower employees to create content libraries of reusable training making visualizing data possible. Because of this, errors are caught earlier; defects are reduced.Tests are more thorough. Pilots and technicians are prepared for more extreme scenarios. Every aspect of developing and operating a manned or unmanned aircraft has some story of how they’ve improved using these tools.

Experience-based training. Soak on that. What is experienced-based training? It used to align with creating simulations that involved as real of a scenario as an under-funded training program could provide.Now, it’s using VR to practice starting an aircraft 50 times (in every temperature, night, day, backward, forward, at every airport) before you before you ever see a physical aircraft. It’s validating and practicing work instructions to connect a wing to an aircraft within the time manufacturing engineers estimated without needing hardware to train. It’s taking your client(who happens to be on the other side of the world) into a virtual world to visualize what your product fully integrated and operating well for them means. The contributors to this document speak this type of success based upon the tools they’re creating for us.People using their products, and products like theirs, know so much more, learn and innovate so much quicker, identify root causes earlier, increase product reliability, and position their organizations to support technological art that is Industry 4.0.

This isn’t a blip on the productivity radar that will level off as soon as the gimmick is over. This isn’t the 30-day app. This is some variant ofThe Matrix happening right before our eyes. Quite literally. Right now, experienced workers are adding augmented reality overlays to processes and procedures (visual cues to notes, cautions, and warnings, for example) and uploading these sessions to a learning management system ready to deploy the knowledge globally.TheIoT of manufacturing and production identifies when someone hasn’t performed a task recently offers proficiency training, publications, checklists, and SME support within their field of view the day before the task is likely to be completed. There is some information that we know, but still so much we don’t know. How far will this go?Where does the virtual line stop, and the physical line stay? What we do know is this technology is spreading quickly because it’s so effective. Teams are diving deep and using more tools to get to hyper performing organizations in every vertical. Thank you to the contributors within this document.They are a joy to watch, let alone work alongside.

This Thur, attend our Defense & Intelligence webinar expert panel to learn the latest best, practices, case studies with ROIs

RSVP here

RSVP for our Enterprise webinar with GE Hitachi, Atheer, AfterNow, enduvo, VRdircet, meetingRoom, General Electric!

RSVP here

Learn the latest case studies and ROI for VR AR in the Enterprise from our Enterprise Committee

RSVP for our Healthcare Webinar with Kessler Foundation, Oxford Medical, Univ of Florida, CleanBox, Artiness

RSVP here

See new use cases and applications for Medical solutions using VR AR technologies! Plus, participate in our live Q&A!

Call for Sponsors: VR/AR in Education Report

If interested to Sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

The VR/AR Association is producing an Education Report, an update to our previous Report version (Q4 2018) here, which spotlights some of the best, education-focused companies working in the immersive technologies field right now.

By the year 2025, immersive technologies of XR including augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality—will be as ubiquitous as mobile devices in the opinion of several consulting firms and Associations. As the Education Committee, we have come together globally to share best practices, reflections, experiences, case studies, meetings, where collectively work together to build global standards for VR & AR Technology. 

VR/AR in Education

• 97% of students would like to study a VR course.

• Education is expected to be the 4th biggest sector for VR investments.

• VR in education is predicted to be a $200 million industry by 2020 and $700 million by 2025.

• Almost 80% of teachers have access to virtual reality devices, but only 6.87% use them regularly in the educational process

• 93% of teachers said that their students would be excited to use virtual reality

• 7 out of 10 teachers want to use VR to simulate experiences that are relevant to the material covered in class

According to Statista research, 92% of respondents in the USA know the term Virtual Reality

New technologies are an emerging industry creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurial possibilities. According to projections set out by the European Commission, market demands for qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists will not be met, seeing a shortfall of up to 750,000 ICT professionals in 2025. VR/AR products are amongst those with some of the highest market demand in the ICT sector.

Many case studies demonstrate the impact and benefits of VR/AR in Education and Training today. Immersive experiences in virtual classrooms, immersive simulators, virtual labs, 3d content creation, 360º videos experiences, are some examples you can find in schools, vocational training centers…all around the world.

The VR/AR Education Industry Sector Report includes a wide range of companies and the kinds of customers they serve, showing how impactful their VR and AR solutions have become to education community. A quick look through this report also makes it clear just how targeted many of these companies are, with products and services often aimed squarely at specific topics and use cases.

As part of our new Mission “Jumping into the Future of XR in Education, diving in Blue Oceans Vision 2025”, we invite you to participate in our new VRARA Education Ecosystem.

The Report will be promoted globally and presented at events around the world.

About VR/AR Association

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is an international organization designed to foster collaboration between innovative companies and people in the VR and AR ecosystem that accelerates growth, research and education, and develops best practices and guidelines. VRARA has over 4300 companies and 28,000 professionals registered, over 70 chapters globally, and 25 industry committees. VRARA programs & initiatives are designed to accelerate anyone’s growth, knowledge, and connections. Learn more here  

If interested to Sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

Call for Sponsors: Enterprise Industry Report

If interested to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

This VR/AR Enterprise Industry Sector Report will include a wide range of companies and the kinds of customers they serve, showing how impactful their VR and AR solutions have become to enterprise customers. A quick look through this report also makes it clear just how targeted many of these companies are, with products and services often aimed squarely at specific industries and use cases.

Our 2019 report included 100+ companies!

Worldwide spending on VR/AR is forecasted at $20B in 2019 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 69.6% (IDC). According to Gartner, the use of VR and AR are one of six top technology workplace trends that will drive the digital workplace and “are ready for mainstream businesses.” And, Nielsen concluded enterprises adopting VR/AR training technology will save $13.5B that would otherwise have been spent on traditional training that includes instructors, dedicated learning spaces and traveling to remote facilities.

There are plenty of other examples and predictions that demonstrate the importance of VR and AR to forward-thinking enterprises in the immediate future. Successful trials (and increasing number of deployments) of VR and AR in enterprises are getting the competitors of early adopters companies to start recognizing that they may be missing out on the real strategic advantage they can achieve.

See the 2019 report version here

If interested to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

Call for Sponsors: VR AR Best Practices for the Aerospace Industry (Publication)

If interested to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

The VR/AR Association Aerospace Committee has drafted best practices and guidelines for the Aerospace industry.

The Aerospace Committee 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. 

This report we hope will be an ongoing discussion on the wide-ranging applications of these emerging technologies in the broader Aerospace framework. These case studies are intended to assist in understanding the challenges faced by these companies, the impact of adopting these technologies as solutions, and the recommended best practices for VR, AR applications in the aerospace industry. 

CASE STUDIES include:

1. How Siemens Digitalized Maintenance Training for its Global Workforce

2. How the Chilean Air Force Developed A Virtual Maintenance Training Solution for their Fleet of Bell 412 Helicopters

3. The Value of AR/MR Training Devices to Primary Flight Training

4. The Use of Immersive Technologies in Aviation Training (International Air Transport Association) 

5. Others

For more info or if interested to sponsor, email info@thevrara.com

Susan Spark of Schlumberger appointed as Co-Chair of VRARA Energy Committee

Email info@thevrara.com if you’re interested in participating

The Energy Committee of the VR/AR Association serves as a resource to promote the application of VR/AR technology in confronting the challenges posed by the energy transition. The committee will enable the sharing of best practices and information on VR/AR related applications in the energy 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 the energy industry.

I believe we are at a critical juncture for immersive technologies. The value and potential of these is tremendous, particularly for a high consequence industry such as energy. Use cases stretch from product and service design, manufacturing, marketing, training to operations support. Despite the potential, wide enterprise implementation is often still a challenge due to a number of reasons.

Opportunities will continue to expand exponentially, as AI, haptics and other technologies become interconnected with advances in Virtual and Augmented Reality technology. As an industry committee, I look forward to working together to establish best practices and gain momentum for wider adoption of VR/AR within and across industries and applications.

Susan Spark

Goals of the Committee include:

• Simulation and human capability development equivalency considerations

• Performance support applications in manufacturing, field services, and other areas

• Virtual remote collaboration platforms

Susan Spark is the Learning Technology Manager at Schlumberger. Along with her exceptional team, she is focused on bringing L&D into the fold of the corporate strategy toward digital platforms, big data, and innovative technologies. Susan is responsible for the development of emerging learning technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, as well as implementation of a modern, adaptable, learning ecosystem. She effectively integrates over 15 years of Schlumberger experience across diverse roles in data management, recruiting, HR compliance, and training center management.

Watch the recording of the Scope AR webinar, which highlighted a few amazing ROIs and Case Studies

Play the recording here

It is clear that ​augmented reality (AR) can ​​provide ​real ​value to ​enterprise organizations ​ In fact, AR can deliver value well beyond traditional return on investment metrics and also help drive more intangible benefits pertaining to employee satisfaction or improved talent recruitment and retention. ​

But how do you actually prove it? It is key ​to understand the reason​s​ behind your AR deployment and what you’re trying to improve upon in order to illustrate the true value of this transformative technology. ​

This Scope AR and the VR/AR Association webinar was info packed with:
*Key essentials to help you prove ROI in your next AR project
*Strategies to secure budget for your AR use cases
*How Scope AR's WorkLink Platform can help your organization see real ROI on your AR investment

Watch it here thevrara.com/webinars

LAST CALL – Just over 24hrs left to submit for Aurea Award in Immersive Entertainment

The next Aurea Award ceremony and professional conference will take place on Jan. 15 - 16, 2020 at Europa-Park, 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.

Interested in applying? Submissions are open until midnight November 15, 2019!
Interested in attending? By invitation only. Request a spot here.

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/

The VR/AR Association appoints Jimmy Vainstein of the World Bank as Co-Chair of the committee, VR for Good

Following the successful VR/AR Global Summit, the VR/AR Association has announced a number of newly formed committees , including VR for Good, to accelerate the market’s best practices, guidelines, and standards, as well as a plan to implement projects to further explore the vast, and potentially life-changing applications that this technology can have.

In the increasingly interconnected global community, VR and AR can instigate massive change. Jimmy Vainstein of the World Bank, will co-chair our committee on VR for Good. Think Climate Change, Help end Poverty, Inequality, Education for all. VR for Good. VR for Change.

To participate in this or other Committees, see here and or email info@thevrara.com

About the VR/AR Association

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

Contact

Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director, VRARA

kris@thevrara.com 

The VR/AR Association is pleased to announce Tyler Wilson of the Whitecaps FC as the Co-Chair of the Industry Sports Committee

The committee will look to push new boundaries in sports through the application of VR/AR and increase the visibility of ESports in the wider community.  In addition, the Committee will create best practices and guidelines for the industry.

The Committee will meet every two weeks via video conference calling.  For more information see here. If interested to participate, email info@thevrara.com 

Tyler Wilson is Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. An avid VR/AR fan, experienced CRO in the Blockchain space and industry leader with over 15 years experience in the sports and entertainment sector. He’s been printed in the Sports Business Journal and presented on a global stage for the innovations and partnerships he’s created. Going outside the box and looking how tech can solve problems has allowed Tyler to push new boundaries throughout his career.

Tyler is proud to be Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, an advisor on Esports with the Vancouver Economic Commission and the luckiest dad in the world!

At the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, he creates strategic partnerships that empower the Club to push new boundaries and drive revenue. He does this by strategically integrating partners and utilizing tech to create rich interactions. Currently exploring ways to maximize connectivity with immersive experiences across Club development platforms. With over 40,000 athletes nationwide, it represents the largest development arm of the sport in North America. Tyler is also exploring ways to grow their emerging Esport platform in a unique fashion.

About the VR/AR Association

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

Contact

Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director, VRARA

kris@thevrara.com 

RECAP: The VR/AR Global Summit Featured Applications in Every Industry. And, what's next for the Association

The most exciting developments in virtual and augmented technologies from the VR/AR Association’s two-day global summit in Vancouver, BC

VANCOUVER,BC, Nov. 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the second-largest VR/AR ecosystem in the world, the final day of the VR/AR Association's Global Summit saw the launch of an international women’s committee dedicated to closing the industry’s gender gap, the successful test of airborne virtual and augmented reality for military training purposes, leaps forward in health and security, and much more.

“Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies are relevant to every facet of the world as we know it. The technologies being created in this space have far-reaching impacts on the workforce, health, art, entertainment, sports, national defense, and more. The importance of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality simply can’t be overstated,” said Nathan Pettyjohn, Founder and President of the VR/AR Association and Commercial AR/VR Lead at Lenovo.

Virtual reality is officially in flight
The US Air Force and Navy are increasingly leveraging advances in virtual and augmented reality to train their troops. During the summit, Red6 announced the first-ever successful execution of an airborne multiplayer AR experience. This prototype was created for the US Air Force, enabling pilots to use augmented reality to simulate and respond to threats in the air. Watch the demo video here.
Meanwhile, Heidi Buck, who heads up the Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality, shared how the US Navy is using virtual reality tools for defense training and cultural immersion -- saving lives on the frontlines. 

How 5G is going to make VR and AR accessible at any time, and any place
Rapid advancements in network technology like 5G and Edge Computing are changing the way we experience immersive technology. Terry Schussler, Senior Director of Spatial Computing at Deutsche Telekom, shared how we can defeat what he calls ‘the mobile zombie apocalypse’ – a term he uses to describe the increasing number of people looking down at their phones to participate in AR experiences (think Pokémon Go or Google AR Objects). Instead, what becomes available with this technology are lightweight pieces that allow users to be constantly connected, seamlessly moving between reality and AR – ultimately creating a safer and more aware society.

Augmented reality makes the world an art gallery
Artist Nancy Baker Cahill can hang her art anywhere in the world using augmented technology. Her desert installation, “Revolutions”, depicts the impact of human interference with the natural environment, whereas her series “Battlegrounds” in New Orleans uses technology to commemorate historically significant sites. This unprecedented body of work is a truly innovative application of virtual and augmented reality, making art accessible to anyone with a smartphone.

First-ever Women’s Committee launched
Announced over a session hosted and dedicated to women in VR and AR was the VR/AR Association’s Women’s Committee – dedicated to identifying, encouraging, and empowering women in the traditionally male-dominated industry of VR and AR. The Global Summit committed to a 50% female speaker roster, including the likes of Heidi Buck from the Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality, Cezera Windrem of AARP, and Cathy Hackl of Magic Leap. Cathy Hackl, the #4 Top Tech Voice on LinkedIn, took the opportunity to unveil her personal commitment to empowering women in the space through a fund she has developed to invest in women, offering to cover one VR/AR Association membership, as well as personal coaching from her for a year. 

Why did an VR/AR design company partner jump into the world of cannabis – and what did they learn?
Cannabis companies are embracing mixed reality as a solution to overcome certain barriers (like the fact that customers can’t handle the product and that it’s tough to transport the product over state lines) and to give both consumers and investors an inside look at their products, processes, and facilities. PATIO demonstrated how they’re solving several pain points with custom-made tools, and disrupting both industries in the process.

What’s next for the VR/AR Association
Following the successful summit, the VR/AR Association has just announced a number of newly formed committees to accelerate the market’s best practices, guidelines, and standards, as well as their plan to implement projects to further explore the vast, and potentially life-changing applications that this technology can have. 

• Privacy & Security Committee: Although virtual, augmented, and mixed reality products and content are becoming more widely available to consumers, there is no industry-wide regulatory or safety standard. This is why the VRARA has formed its own Privacy & Security Committee.

• VR for Good Committee: In the increasingly interconnected global community, VR can instigate massive change. Jimmy Vainstein, Interactive Media Program Lead at World Bank, will co-chair a committee on VR for Good.

• Sports Committee: Co-chaired by Tyler Wilson, the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at the Vancouver Whitecaps, the committee will look to push new boundaries in sports through the application of VR and increase the visibility of ESports in the wider community.

About VR/AR Association's Global Summit
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 summit will welcome 1,000+ Executives, 120+ Speakers and 50+ Exhibitors from leading companies like Lenovo, Niantic, Microsoft, Viacom, and so many more. 

• To learn more about the VR/AR Global Summit, please visit: https://www.vrarglobalsummit.com/

• To learn more about the VRARA, please visit: https://www.thevrara.com/

Contact

Kris Kolo, Global Executive Director

kris@thevrara.com

Disruptive Education through Immersive Learning Technologies

By Carlos J. Ochoa, Co-Chair, VRARA Education Committee carlos@thevrara.com

Empowering the teachers of today, for the citizens of the future. 

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination” A. Einstein

Carlos J. Ochoa, VRARA Education Committee. Piacenza (Italy) 24.09.2019

New technologies are an emerging industry creating employment opportunities and entrepreneurial possibilities. Virtual reality and augmented reality represent incredible areas of opportunity. VR failed to live up to the wildest promises when the new VR systems launched in 2015. But the number of job postings for VR and AR have risen 93% since 2015, with 17% of that growth happening in the past year. 

According to projections set out by the European Commission, market demands for qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists will not be met, seeing a shortfall of up to 500,000 ICT professionals in 2020. Virtual and Augmented Reality solutions are amongst those with some of the highest market demand in the ICT sector. 

New skills development for more complex jobs is a daily industry demand. Technicians and engineers need to be proficient and continue to change rapidly as tasks become more complex. They need to find the right information at the right moment. Technicians need fast access to all integrated data, to take fast, right and complex decisions.

Education is the driver to sustainability of our economy and functionality of humanity. Educating the individual is the country’s most valuable investment. It represents the foundation for progress and development. Every day we seek to learn new information and the way we take the lessons and apply to our every day lives, is the core of how we explore we grow and we build futures for ourselves. 

If we wish to prepare a generation of citizens, entrepreneurs and leaders for the 21th. century who can face real-world problems, we must give them real-world problems to solve.

Through virtual and augmented realities, the technology allows the user to immerse themselves into a virtual experience or location and the immersive lesson is retained at a much quicker time frame with a more impactful lasting memory. VR & Learning, by the National Training Laboratory, advised retention rates for lecture style learning were at 5%, with reading rates at 10%. Meanwhile, the teaching method of VR scored a retention rate of 75%.

Understanding we are moving into a world with exponential growth, there is a necessary requirement to update our education system to support innovative technologies to understand how it will be applied to job creation and support digital support systems and processes.

The demand of the companies in the industry sector, with respect to their future workers, is that they have social skills and competencies such as leadership, motivation, perseverance, flexibility, communication, etc. Focusing on the development of skills and abilities aimed at a specific sector, in this case the virtual reality subsector, ensures its better assimilation, greater effectiveness of training and a more complete response to what companies demand in profiles of these characteristics. For instance, in the Vocational Training includes subjects oriented to career guidance and orientation, but they lack a transversal skills development approach, and these are not addressed directly in the itineraries.

The integration of transversal skills required for the sector, as well as technical competencies related to the latest trends, will comprehensively cover the labour market demands of new technologies and will ensure the best inclusion of VET students in the technological labour market of the future.

It is time to take actions and introduce disruptive elements in our education system. Traditional methodologies and normalization already fail to provide rapid solution to the society needs. Velocity and acceleration are key factor for this unpredictable horizon, where education will play a key role for citizens of the future.

Humanity is at the beginning of a Fourth Industrial Revolution which is building on both VR & AR applications and solutions. The changes to the way we teach, and the curriculum needed to support innovative time is required to support the graduating generations into a workforce rapidly changing and evolving using digital applications not yet taught in our schools’ systems. Day to day operations and day to day systems will be using VR and AR systems to be engaged in the operations.

• VR & AR for Education is mandated for the following reasons:

• To engage our current students and future generations in the Digital Age

• To provide education of the tools, the technology, the applications of VR & AR to be used in future jobs

• To provide best practices for the classrooms

• To provide engagement tools for Students, Parents & resources for Teachers & Mentors

• To be the leader and resource of VR & AR applications that relate to extending knowledge to support the application, build or creation of the technology to use in our everyday lives

At this moment, some relevant topics need to be include in the Disruptive School Environment and new teacher’s agenda for Schools of the Future:

• Reimagining new Smart Spaces at schools

• Classroom as a set of devices

• 5 Senses learning a immersive learning technologies

• Improve the hierarchy of needs in XR in Education

• Convergence of technologies with and integrated vision

• Soft skills integration with IT in the teachers training program

• Collaboration Platforms. Virtual environments where the educational community can share best practices and experiences in a global and multicultural environment. Videos, presentations and forums integrate education materials from different sources in different formats.

It is in this context where Carlos J. Ochoa, Co_Chair of VR/AR Association Education Committee and Co-Founder of ICICLE ( X-Reality for Learning and Performance Augmentation, collaboration with Acer Education presented “Immersive Realities in Educational 4.0 Ecosystems in the framework of Scuola e Virtuale in Piacenza.  Scuola e Virtuale, an international event along with Liceo Melchiorre Gioia, Impara Digitale, Indire and Microsoft, to spread awareness about immersive technologies in education, where more than 1000 professionals attendants ( teachers, students, managers and experts from different industries and sectors).

Chris Koomen of KLM, David Dicko of Skylights VR, Terry Schussler of Deutsche Telekom join our speaker lineup for Travel and Tourism Webinar

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

Chris Koomen, KLM

As a child I always was interested in new technologies and I was dreaming about becoming an airline pilot. I passed all exams and was ready to start flying when I was in an accident. I could never fly again. I became a ground engineer and started working at KLM in 2007 in the Engineering & Maintenance domain.

In my spare time I have always been experimenting with new technologies and back in 1996 I tried to build a flight simulator on glasses. Though it was really hard but my experiment succeeded and the glasses worked! This is where my love for Virtual Reality started. Unfortunately, there was no market for this technology yet which made it too hard to keep working on it.

In 2015 Google cardboard came out which relighted my fire for VR. I started experimenting again and developed an interactive VR evacuation training for KLM. This turned out to be a success! I’m no longer work as a ground engineer. The last 3 years I’ve joined the Digital Transformation team at KLM where I was the VR-expert and created a team “the VR team” who makes proof of concepts with a thin slice approach. I currently work as VR specialist/consult for AF/KLM to guide and implement many different fields of VR, such as cabin crew training, social media, marketing and ground operations.

Terry R. Schussler, Deutsche Telekom

Terry works within Deutsche Telekom’s 5G group driving spatial computing research and the creation of immersive products that leverage the value of 5G and edge compute services. He collaborates with vendors of XR devices and enabling technologies to build a future that delivers pervasive and personalized B2B and B2C immersive experiences. While innovating 200+ software products for over 50M users he has focused on making software smarter for users while leveraging technology to enable new forms of communication.