Today! Join us online live 10am pst for our "The AR Cloud" webcast with the experts
Attend here
Perhaps the most dramatic shift the introduction of AR-enabled mobile phones is brought about by the use of the camera as the interface. But the camera needs something to detect, or "see". We have come to think of this geolocated content as "The AR Cloud". The implications of SLAM capable geolocated content are profound; the world will be painted with data. The technology to enable this dramatic development is in its infancy, although there are several promising startups tackling it right now. Some, like Ubiquity6 and YouAR, offer complete solutions, while others, such as 6D.ai offer key technologies that would enable developers to create their own apps.
In this webinar, we'll explore the meaning of the AR cloud with the man who first coined the phrase, Ori Inbar, co-founder of AWE and partner in seed stage AR focused venture fund, Super Ventures. We'll be speaking with an incredible panel which includes three pioneering startups working to enable the creation and population of the AR cloud. In addition to company presentations from Unbiquity6, YouAR, and 6D.ai, we'll explore key concepts around the AR cloud. Such as:
- The role of computer vision, AI, and sound
- The universal visual browser - how will enable all AR content to be found? Could existing browsers play a role?
- Will there be open standards, so enterprises and individuals can populate the AR cloud? YouAR is pushing for an ICANN like organization to manage this, The AR Cloud Foundation.
- If a dozen developers painted data on a landmark like the Golden Gate Bridge, how would a user sort through it?
- Will there be a Google for visual search? How would that work?
- How important are filters? Surely we don't want to be assaulted by every kind of content.
- What are the opportunities today for developers, enterprises, and individuals?
Attend here
BGC Engineering to exhibit at the VR/AR Global Summit (Applied Earth Sciences)
BGC Engineering Inc. (BGC) is an international consulting firm that provides professional services in applied earth sciences.
Clarity through holographic visualization
BGC Ada Platform
Applied earth scientists study and solve issues in a 3D world. Yet our industry has been constrained to communicate concepts using 2D images and drawings. This makes it difficult to communicate the scale and scope of challenging projects, as well as the complex geological conditions that must be addressed to achieve project success.
As a solution, BGC has developed the Ada Platform™ (Ada): a functional software platform that enables everyone to understand applied earth science as 3D holographic models.
Through realistic 3D interactive and immersive experiences Ada removes barriers to understanding multidimensional datasets and opens a portal to visualizing and investigating data and information in unprecedented ways.
Ada combines terrain and survey data, engineering designs, and real-time computer graphics to visualize applied earth science data in 3D. With this solution, experts and non-technical stakeholders can visit a digital version of their project site at any time – past, present or future. For example, an engineered mining landscape can be visualized through to closure, allowing various groups to collaborate through a shared 3D perspective.
BGC has assembled a unique team to develop Ada, with combined expertise in both earth sciences and augmented-reality holographic visualization. We have used this expertise to develop a software platform usable today on the Microsoft HoloLens. Ada is breakthrough technology that enhances communication and understanding amongst owners, decision makers and stakeholders like never before.
Learn more about BCG here
More info about the VR/AR Global Summit here
VRARA Vancouver at TED2018
The VRARA Vancouver and 7 local VRAR companies represented BC’s immersive tech industry at the annual TED Conference, TED2018 “The Age of Amazement.”
Each year TED brings together change-makers and big thinkers from across industries and areas of research to discuss the ideas, science, and technology shaping our world.
From April 10 - 14, over a thousand attendees filled the Vancouver Convention Centre to exchange ideas, experience immersive installations, and discuss this year’s theme, “The Age of Amazement.”
The five-day conference was headlined by 100 international speakers, from artists and activists to developers and scientists. Each challenged the audience to think bigger and consider the ways in which emerging ideas and technology could impact our future. Talks covered everything from research on biological teleportation and advancements in AI to climate change and the #MeToo movement.
In partnership with TED2018, the Vancouver VR/AR Association had the opportunity to join the conversation and showcase how BC’s local industry is playing a major role in the advancement of immersive technology.
Along with a delegation of local companies, the VRARA Vancouver presented BC’s VR/AR industry to a VIP audience. Archiact, Cognitive 3D, LlamaZOO, Ziva Dynamics, Finger Food Studios, Shape Immersive, and Precision OS each demoed their products and demonstrated the impact that immersive tech can have on industries as diverse as gaming and film, to technical training and business solutions.
Shape Immersive unveiled their newest product at TED, which they built specifically for TED2018 in partnership with the VRARA Vancouver. Using Occipital's depth camera and mixed reality framework, the company was able to create the illusion of context-aware virtual objects. The result is one the most spatially accurate augmented reality experiences ever created.
“With computer vision technology, virtual content can now understand its spatial surrounding and interact with it. Experiences are no longer bounded by physical constraints and can be more versatile and imaginative,” said Alex Chuang, Co-Founder and CEO of Shape Immersive.
The demo was greeted with praise from industry professionals and since its debut, has already received 10,000 views on LinkedIn.
“It's so new that even the experts in our field that came and saw it at TED were caught off guard. This is unchartered territory for us digital creatives to play in," said Aaron Hilton, President at Steampunk Digital and the project supervisor for this demo.
The over 180 companies that make up BC’s immersive tech industry have proven the vast number of ways that VR/AR technology can improve how we live, work, and experience the world.
The challenge of identifying VR/AR utility has been resolved. What comes next is bringing immersive tech into the mainstream and connecting developers to the businesses that can benefit from their ideas. Attendance at influential conferences like TED, shines a spotlight on BC's tech industry and can open the doors to new opportunities and investment.
We’re looking forward to what next year brings!
What Goes Into a VR Ad Experience?
Join our Advertising Committee here
With nothing more than some basic VR glasses attached to my iPhone, I'm transported to The Conjuring 2 as I watch the three-minute trailer. I feel like I’m in the movie, beginning with the creepy music effects. I'm not sure what is going to happen next, and just that feeling of uncertainty is making my heart beat faster and triggering my senses with giddy anxiety. I know it's not real, but it seems real enough. Everything -- from the furniture to the cracks in the walls -- is just like the movie, and these details of the experience make an impression.
This is advertising in VR. The example involving The Conjuring 2, which allows users to experience Enfield firsthand, was produced by SunnyBoy Entertainment for Warner Brothers, who partnered with Paper Triangles to create the first VR horror movie trailer, to create the first VR horror movie trailer. (Full disclosure: Paper Triangles is a VR/AR Association member.) The trailer has racked up over 13 millionYouTube views and 4.3 million Facebook views.
How To Create a VR Ad Experience
Well, the are several options available now for brands to create a VR, AR or MR experience. The first would be to go to any one of the current production studios. Anzu.io, Blue Visual Effects, CreateAR and many others work in the AR space specifically for brands. Another option would be to create the experience in-house and build a team dedicated to VR, AR and MR work.
Features And Functionality
In this case, creators needed to replicate the set of The Conjuring 2 in VR, which consisted of fusing live-action with CG technology into a stereoscopic VR setting. The result was a remake of the Enfield house in VR form, which made the house look and feel like real life.
Gamification of a branded experience (i.e., an ad) or eye-gaze features to direct the experience can be considered for engagement. The end goal is to surprise and delight the user inside the experience. For examples, using Microsoft's HoloLens allows creators to use spatial mapping, gaze and gestures as tools to immerse users in a branded experience.
How Do You Launch And Measure Success Metrics?
The type of experience you create will determine what platforms are available to distribute your content and how to effectively measure metrics.
In another example, Adverty built a VR/AR advertising platform for brands via an easy-to-integrate, non-intrusive native form of advertising. In 2017, the company launched a Christmas VR campaign for Coca-Cola using virtual out-of-home billboards inside the snowball-throwing VR game Merry Snowballs from game studio Hatrabbit Entertainment. It is a true VR experience, using headsets supported by the mobile and desktop VR platforms, and the ad units are placed non-intrusively and seamlessly in the game design.
Metrics can be measured in the following ways:
• Viewability gives you metrics so you can see the number of views your ad has received.
• Reach is fairly standard, but "resonance" gauges thought and feeling about your ad while "reaction" tracks in-store lift in sales.
• Verification provides third-party data to keep things transparent.
Why does this matter? For now, VR, AR and MR may seem like a novelty. When you mention them to friends or businesses, they, in turn, immediately reference the headset or some type of gear. But what is certain is that the technology behind all three is getting closer to becoming mainstream. More than 1 million headsets were shipped in Q3 2017, and it's expected that over 2oo million units will be sold by 2020. And it's important to remember that headsets are shared devices in homes, schools and entertainment venues. Without a doubt, once a person tries one of the experiences, they are instantly transformed into a smiling, eyes-wide-open user.
For advertising, this is dollar signs and rainbows. Both enterprise and retailers alike will be eager to happily invest in the new medium of communication to get closer to their loyal customers and build new relationships with potential customers. After all, why would you miss an opportunity to tell your story if all you have to do is make the user feel connected to your brand experience?
Join our Advertising Committee here
This Wednesday May 2nd join Live Online our Expert Panel discussing "The AR Cloud"
RSVP here
Join live and ask questions during our Q&A!
Perhaps the most dramatic shift the introduction of AR-enabled mobile phones is brought about by the use of the camera as the interface. But the camera needs something to detect, or "see". We have come to think of this geolocated content as "The AR Cloud". The implications of SLAM capable geolocated content are profound; the world will be painted with data. The technology to enable this dramatic development is in its infancy, although there are several promising startups tackling it right now. Some, like Ubiquity6 and YouAR, offer complete solutions, while others, such as 6D.ai offer key technologies that would enable developers to create their own apps.
In this webinar, we'll explore the meaning of the AR cloud with the man who first coined the phrase, Ori Inbar, co-founder of AWE and partner in seed stage AR focused venture fund, Super Ventures. We'll be speaking with an incredible panel which includes three pioneering startups working to enable the creation and population of the AR cloud. In addition to company presentations from Unbiquity6, YouAR, and 6D.ai, we'll explore key concepts around the AR cloud. Such as:
- The role of computer vision, AI, and sound
- The universal visual browser - how will enable all AR content to be found? Could existing browsers play a role?
- Will there be open standards, so enterprises and individuals can populate the AR cloud? YouAR is pushing for an ICANN like organization to manage this, The AR Cloud Foundation.
- If a dozen developers painted data on a landmark like the Golden Gate Bridge, how would a user sort through it?
- Will there be a Google for visual search? How would that work?
- How important are filters? Surely we don't want to be assaulted by every kind of content.
- What are the opportunities today for developers, enterprises, and individuals?
Deadline is this Monday April 23rd for the Global AR Online Pitch! Apply here
The VR/AR Association has partnered with the Global AR Online Pitch. The GFR Fund, Super Ventures and The Venture Reality Fund ("The VR Fund") are excited to be hosting the first Global Online AR Pitch Event in early May.
This online-only event is a great opportunity for AR startups to present their business plan and innovative technology and/or products to more than 40 global AR investors who commit to investing in AR.
8 startups will be selected as finalists to present at the online pitch event.
Additionally, these finalists also qualify to pitch live on stage at AWE USA 2018 on May 31.
DEADLINE: Applications are accepted until Monday, April 23.
Please check the details and apply here: https://www.augmented-reality.link
Join us for the Mixed Reality Experience at the Smart Manufacturing Experience event in Boston
For discounted conference passes, email info@thevrara.com
The Smart Manufacturing Experience will be held from April 30 to May 2, 2018, at the Boston Convention Center.
Interactive experiences
The Mixed Reality Experience put on by the VR/AR Association, PTC, and Mechdyne will let you engage with virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies to see how machines, systems, and data can be integrated. VR and AR demonstrations will show applications of machine learning in live factory analytics, virtual machines, and modeling and simulation.
Workshops at the Smart Manufacturing Experience will expose attendees to technologies from the show floor, as well as innovations in additive manufacturing, automation, and more.
Speaking of the show floor, exhibitors will also be presenting small group sessions called “Knowledge Bars.” This allows people to ask questions and get answers that directly connect available technologies to their needs.
The Learning Lab at the Smart Manufacturing Experience will include presentations on trends, business cases, and new products that can benefit businesses.
A team competition will enable students to design a Mars Rover to carry out two missions: carrying a payload over rocky terrain and carrying a payload over sandy terrain. The team with the most creative logo will be recognized.
Watch our Recap of the NAB Show (video)
Here's our recap of NAB Show 2018. Lots of content and VR solutions from HumanEyes Technologies, Blueprint Reality Inc., Visbit Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, Adobe, Public Broadcasting Service, Intel Corporation, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, and much more.
VRARA Netherlands & VRX Rising Stars First Edition 2018 (5 startups will be given a unique opportunity!)
What is the VRARA Netherlands Rising Stars?
Showcase outstanding achievements in VR/AR/MR
Selected Startups will have the huge opportunity to showcase their achievements to thousands of attendees and decision makers on the 17th of May during the afterparty of VRX Europe in Amsterdam.
Attendees will include some of the biggest names in VR and offer a night of learning, entertainment and celebration.
OUR EXPERT JUDGING PANEL
Our experts are going to select 5 of the best startups.
They will showcase their solution during our event on the 17th of May.
CRITERIAS FOR STARTUP SELECTION
Our jury members will assess the startup submissions against several criteria.
The 5 startups reaching the highest scores will be the ones selected to present at the event on the 17th of May 2018.
DURING THE NIGHT – 17th MAY 2018
More details coming soon !
SPONSORS
The success of the VRARA Netherlands Rising Stars event is tightly linked to the generosity and support of its sponsors and partners.
If you want to take part in the adventure, please contact isa@thevrara.com
PARTNERS
VR Owl
Jits van Lexmond
Jan Willem Denengelsen
Ordina
Jasper Jochem
DigitasLBI
Andres van Vugt
AkzoNobel
Bram Kokke
COMPETITION AGENDA
Jury Members Announced – 15th April
Recruitment startup campaign launch – 16th April
Deadline Startup Submission – 6th May at 23:59
Selected Startups Announced – 11th May
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE EVENING?
The 5 selected startups will showcase their products and solutions on the 17th of May 2018 during a fun after party event. If you want to have the privilege to discuss with those rising stars and meet VR/MR/AR biggest influencers in Europe, please book your ticket now.
This event is free for all VRX Europe attendees (Our event is built in partnership with the VRX Europe conference), you will receive an email to proceed to registration soon.
If you are a member of the VRARA Netherlands Association, this event is also free for you. Members will receive an email to proceed to registration soon.
Limited Tickets:
If you are not part of the VRX Europe conference, you can register here. Only few tickets are sold outside of the VRX event, we would like to encourage you to register as soon as possible if you want to be sure to secure a spot.
QUESTIONS?
Get in Touch
ELIGIBILITY AND GUIDELINES
Guidelines see here
SXSW 2018 Wrap Up
The VRARA Vancouver recently attended the annual South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, to showcase BC's dyanmic VR/AR industry to business and tech leaders from around the world.
Bringing BC VR/AR to the Global Tech Community
BC VR/AR Delegation at SXSW 2018
Last month the VRARA Vancouver, along with four local companies, headed down south to Austin, Texas, for the annual South by Southwest conference (SXSW) to showcase BC’s VR/AR industry an international audience of business and tech leaders.
With the support of British Columbia Trade and Investment, the VRARA secured an exclusive booth space at prominent technology incubator Capital Factory. From March 9 - 13, Finger Food Studios, Motive.io, Archiact, and Momentus demoed their products and shared insights with attendees.
Representatives from each of the attending companies also took center stage on March 12 to lead a panel conversation about the rise of BC’s VR/AR industry. The panel drew an engaged crow of over 200 people and demonstrated why Vancouver is one of the top VR/AR hubs in the world.
SXSW is internationally renowned for shining a light on innovation and sparking conversation about the future of the creative industries, from art and music, to tech. The conference routinely attracts some of the most creative and inspired thinkers in the industry and this year featured tech leaders Elon Musk, Melinda Gates, and Nonny de la Peña as keynote speakers.
During SXSW, Capital Factory becomes the hub for all things tech and was the ideal locale for the BC VRAR delegation to meet and mingle with creators, investors, and business leaders from around the world.
VR/AR is rapidly making its way into the mainstream and the value of immersive tech is being noticed by industries as varied as healthcare, education, and enterprise solutions. We’ve reached an exciting moment in VR/AR development and the timing couldn’t have been better for BC to join the global tech community at SXSW and assert itself as a top destination for VR/AR investment, opportunity, and development.
It was an all-around awesome experience and you can be sure we'll be back!
How Do Consumers Feel About Mobile AR? (new report)
This post is adapted from the latest report from ARtillry Insights, Mobile AR Usage & Consumer Attitudes. Preview more of the report or subscribe through VRARA.
How do consumers feel about mobile AR? Who’s using it? How often? And what do they want to see next? Perhaps more importantly, what are non-users’ reasons for disinterest? And how can app developers and anyone building mobile AR optimize product strategies accordingly?
These are the questions we set out to answer. Working closely with Thrive Analytics, ARtillry Intelligence wrote questions to be presented to more than 2000 U.S. adults in Thrive’s established consumer survey engine. And we’ve analyzed the findings in a narrative report.
This follows last month’s ARtillry Intelligence Briefing, which examined mobile AR app strategies and business models. Now, a deeper view into real consumer usage and attitudes provides new dimension on mobile AR strategy development and opportunity spotting.
Specifically, one third of consumers surveyed have used a mobile AR app. And those consumers appear active, with more than half reporting that they use mobile AR apps at least weekly. The top app category by far is gaming, which we attribute mostly to Pokémon Go.
Mobile AR users are also engaged, with 73 percent reporting satisfaction or high satisfaction. But beyond these and a few other positive signals, there are areas for improvement. For example, non-mobile AR users report low likelihood of adopting soon, and explicit disinterest.
The disparity between current-user satisfaction and non-user disinterest underscores a key challenge for XR: you have to “see it to believe it.” To reach high satisfaction levels, apps have to first be tried. This presents marketing and logistical challenges to push that first taste.
Put another way, AR’s highly visual and immersive format is a double-edged sword. It can create strong affinities and engagement levels. But the visceral nature of its experience can’t be communicated to prospective users with traditional marketing like ad copy or even video.
The same challenge was uncovered in our corresponding VR report last August (we’ll publish the second wave in Q3). This makes it a common challenge with immersive tech. It will take time and cost reductions before they reach a more meaningful share of the consumer public.
Meanwhile, there are strategies to accelerate that process, and to build AR apps that are compelling to consumers’ current standards. For example, social features can boost AR stickiness and network effect, which will be accelerated with multi-player support in ARkit.
There is of course a lot more to it, which we break down in the report. Meanwhile, this will continue to be a moving target and require lots of strategic precision and an informed position. Stay tuned for lots tidbits and survey results we’ll unpack in the coming weeks.
Preview more of the report or subscribe here.
VR & AR for Business (Enterprise) White Paper
To get this White Paper, enter your email:
This 40+ pages paper was co-written by 9 industry experts and our Enterprise Committee, exploring the positive and lasting impact that VR and AR technologies can have when businesses deploy them to generate substantial revenue, increase productivity or improve safety.
Thank you to Atheer for the support in making this white paper possible.
To get a copy, enter your email below.
Virtual & Augmented Reality are immersive technologies that provide new and powerful ways for people to generate, use and interact with digital information. These technologies take traditional media beyond conventional screens and use photographic images, video or computer generated graphics (sometimes provided as an 360-degree view within your field of vision) as a new communication and interaction medium that can be used across your company from marketing and sales to field services, training and data visualization.
Companies like Walmart, Farmers Insurance and Boeing have already begun deploying this technology across their organizations for training. Specific examples of how other brands are using VR/AR right now are detailed in this paper. Whether you are a brand marketer, director of operations, run a line of business or head of HR, there are many ways you can deploy this technology to generate substantial revenue, increase productivity or improve safety.
This white paper is broken into the following parts so you can skip to what is of interest to you:
Market Predictions for VR/AR
Key VR Industry Market Size Estimates
Market Size Estimates: Drilling Down on Enterprise
How to use Virtual Reality in your business?
20 uses of VR/AR for Business
Deeper Dive on Examples
Preparing Your Business for the Immersive Future
8 steps to build your VR/AR experience
Use Cases
Retail
Real Estate
Airlines
Automotive
Banking & Financial
Health & Medical
Virtual Reality Architectural Renderings
Industrial (Mining, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing)
VR Simulations & Data Analysis
Restaurant & Food
Travel & Tourism
Communications & HR
Different Types of VR
Uses for VR/360° Video
Computer Generated (CG) Virtual Reality
WebVR
VR Head Mounted Displays
AR Head Mounted Displays
Challenges Facing VR/AR Adoption
Conclusion
Preview the AR/VR Content at LiveWorx Conference
More info here
Learn about the competitive advantages that AR, VR and MR offer (including enhanced sales & marketing efforts, improved service margins, optimized manufacturing operations and streamlined product design) and best practices to implement them in your organization at LiveWorx. Below is a sampling of the content you'll find on AR/VR technologies this year:
AR Strategy for Differentiating After-Sales Support
Monday, June 18th | 11:30am - 12:15pm
Learn how OCME, an Italian machinery producer in food & beverage processing, defined and validated an AR strategy to transform their after-sales business, making it more profitable and competitive. In just four weeks, OCME developed and launched two PoC projects: the first leveraging AR with rich 3D content for the Microsoft Hololens, and the second for RealWear HTM-1 with Assisted Reality where 3D augmentation is not presented at all.
3 Takeaways To Deploy AR Projects On Time and Under Budget
Monday, June 18th | 2:30pm - 3:15pm
You will see live demos and videos of select deployed AR projects and participate in a lively interactive discussion.
Bringing AR to Your Business: How Hard is It?
Tuesday, June 19th | 9:00am - 9:45am
Many companies are either at the start of their AR journey or are figuring out how to get started. How can you accelerate the process? And, how hard is it to take and repurpose your existing content– CAD, documents, data– and generate usable AR experiences? This session will provide an overview of Fujitsu’s first steps on their AR journey. Discover how AR is an important and scalable part of their business strategy and how easy it was to implement solutions using Studio.
Pioneering Digital Transformation in the Chemical Industry: A Praxair AR Story
Tuesday, June 19th | 3:15pm - 4:00pm
Praxair, the third largest gas products company in the world, operates in a mature, hyper-competitive industry. Praxair formed “Praxair Digital,” to drive digital transformation across their enterprise. Praxair focused their initial AR strategy on leveraging ThingWorx to proactively identify potential failure points, determining if they could more quickly service their equipment, and understanding if they could make their service technicians more effective with less training. Applicable to any industry, this session will share leading best practices for identifying high-value AR use cases, securing buy-in from key stakeholders, building a business case for AR, deploying AR technology and identifying new AR opportunities for the business.
Lessons Learned: Bringing AR to the Enterprise
Wednesday, June 20th | 11:30am - 12:15pm
Join panel members as they discuss their implementation of augmented reality, specifically what use cases they targeted and why, and how they brought AR into their businesses. If you are getting started on your AR journey, then this panel is a great way to learn from others.
Vancouver Emerging As Top Five VR and AR Hub
***Reserve your spot (here) at the VR/AR Global Summit taking place in Vancouver!***
Why Silicon Valley is looking north for new investment opportunities.
Surrounded by towering mountains, picturesque lakes, and urban beaches, it’s easy to forget that Vancouver hosts a booming technology industry.
For those in the know, that’s starting to change.
Over the past 40 years, the Canadian region has emerged as a dominant force in the video game, special effects, and animation industries. Known in the business as Hollywood North, the area is home to some of the largest VFX stages in North America. Among other notable studios, the location boasts gaming giant Electronic Arts Canada – the powerhouse behind the NHL, NBA, and FIFA franchises – and employs nearly 17,000 workers in the 3D industry.
When VR and AR began to emerge, the region took full advantage of that talent. Last year, there were 15 XR companies in Metro Vancouver. Now, there are over 180. Creating everything from veterinary education software to search-and-rescue robots operating in VR, developers are helping the city become a world leader in content production.
That expertise is beginning to pique the interest of Silicon Valley investors.
Marco DeMiroz is a co-founder and general partner of the Venture Reality Fund, an XR venture capitalist group based in the Bay Area. Visiting Metro Vancouver for the first time two months ago for the Women in Tech seminar, he’s now looking to make an investment in the region.
“My takeaway from the trip is that Vancouver should be considered among the top five hubs for XR,” he said. “I would put it together with San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, and Austin. It’s got a very vibrant, dynamic community with both men and women leading the space, and it’s really covering everything from content production to enabling technologies.”
“As I’ve been getting to know the region and its opportunities, I’ve been talking to the provincial government about two aspects,” DeMiroz continues. “One is my interest in being more active in the local community and making direct investments. The other is to find talent for our portfolio of 21 companies. It’s very competitive to hire people in San Francisco, L.A., Seattle, or Portland, because you’re going up against giants like Google or Microsoft. In Vancouver, there are equally competent people with specialized expertise. I would consider the region to be great resource to find employees.”
DeMiroz isn’t the only high-profile venture capitalist looking north. Tom Emrich, a partner at Super Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based AR fund, highlights many benefits to investing in Metro Vancouver.
As well as the region’s geographical proximity to the tech giants along the west coast, he says, it also has strong commercial ties to Asian markets. Government programs for the area support early stage companies with grants and tax credits, meaning its startups can survive for longer in competitive industries. Most importantly, though, U.S. investment goes further in Canada. Not only is it less expensive to run a company in Metro Vancouver, an exchange rate favorable to the States means capital has a higher value in Canadian dollars.
“The burn of a company – how much it’s spending on rent, electricity, and potential talent – is definitely much less than in the Bay Area,” Emrich said. “When a company receives U.S. currency, it lasts for longer. I’m originally from Canada. Part of the investment thesis for Super Ventures is that we all have ties outside of the States. That’s a really big benefit for us to have a global viewpoint, and to not just invest in the startups around Silicon Valley.”
Metro Vancouver’s companies are already beginning to feel the benefit of the Bay Area’s cash. Cognitive 3D, a local business that provides analytics on how individuals in virtual and augmented reality interact with their surroundings, recently secured funding from Silicon Valley – a financial injection that will allow it to develop its product for different industries. In its founder and CEO Tony Bevilacqua’s opinion, it’s vital for Metro Vancouver startups to network with their southern neighbors.
“The message we gave to investors in Silicon Valley is that a Vancouver company is no different to those down in the States,” he said. “They have similar valuations, they have the same talent capacity, and they’re in a great location geographically. Companies like ours are talking to investors in the Bay Area and showing how Vancouver is a diamond in the rough that everyone had previously been overlooking.”
“Vancouver is growing into an ecosystem that is globally recognized,” Bevilacqua continues. “We’ve got one of the largest VR events in the world coming to town in September. We’ve got one of the strongest VR networks in the world through the VR / AR Association. I think that we’re starting to build an epicenter. Our local government is beginning to appreciate it, as are big enterprise organizations like Microsoft. I think we’ve got all the right factors for success.”
Reserve your spot (here) at the VR/AR Global Summit taking place in Vancouver!
VR First & VRARA: Two Global Players Complementing Strengths to Accelerate the VR/AR Market
Two global players complementing strengths
By VR First
VR First, the global program which has been successful at enabling creators, universities, companies, and governments to explore the power and great potential of immersive technologies, has announced their global partnership with the VR/AR Association (VRARA) to strengthen collaboration between industry and regional/academic institutions.
The cooperation between the two globally operating companies is designed to bring well-thought-out regional growth opportunities to create VR/AR tech hubs in key destinations by providing access to their respective services and facilities. VRARA offers access to industry committees for different verticals, marketing, event discounts and further promotion activities. VR First offers educational programs, open innovation challenges, Regional Growth Consultancy, Center of Excellence Facilitation, VR/AR expert circles and its mentorship program.
“The immersive tech industry is currently at a breaking point where the rules and players of the future begin to establish themselves,” explained Global Executive Director of VRARA Kris Kolo when he started to draw a comprehensive picture of the current state of the industry. “Our vision for the immersive tech industry requires that the industry takes advantage of the latest advances in research, while VR First’s vision of the democratization of VR/AR innovation adds value to our goal — lowering the entry barriers towards an immersive future.”
VRARA sees 500% Growth by Connecting the VR AR Industry (read here)
VRARA’s growth is reflective of the momentum the entire immersive technology industry is experiencing. With technology hubs around the world now supporting VR/AR seemingly en masse, VR/AR is quickly becoming part of our everyday lives — whether it’s the way we communicate or consume data. Being able to adopt the new technology and smartly execute it will separate the winners from everybody else — it’s the ability of changing clothes even though you are at steering wheel of a rapidly evolving business while avoiding crashes and minimizing hiccups.
So, how do I get started, what can my company do now to stay up-to-date on the technology? VRARA provides training, shares best practices, creates industry standards, and — most importantly — connects companies, brands and developers by evaluating their needs and use cases on a case by case basis. See here to read what VRARA members are saying and why they joined the Association.
VR First accelerates its program as the industry picks up pace
To the question which actions VR First is going to take to react to the recent growth spikes, COO of VR First Rahel Demant answered, “We have been creating and scouting opportunities to ignite growth in the immersive tech industry for several years and supporting universities worldwide to enhance their VR/AR labs and commercializing VR/AR solutions, which we are increasing with demand. Recently, we have added VR/AR labs from Bangladesh, South Africa and Vietnam to support developers in all regions of the world.”
See the benefits for VRARA members for becoming part of the VR First network here
ASUS Germany launches Windows Mixed Reality VR Headset at VRARA Munich Chapter Event
The Munich VRARA Chapter held it's official launch event on the 21st of February at the German Headquarter of Microsoft Munich together with ASUS. The sold-out event with more than 100 participants provided the opportunity for updates on Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform, and the latest VR products from ASUS.
This was the official launch in Germany for their brand-new Mixed Reality Headset.
In addition to the presentations, there was loads networking, snacks and hands-on experiences on 6 separate VR installations featuring the latest hardware provided by ASUS and software from Microsoft. In total there was more 12 hours of live VR interactivity for the attendees to experience and the feedback was that it was resounding success and a great introduction of the VR/AR Association into Munich's thriving VR/AR Ecosystem.
Please contact Thomas Fickert, Chapter President Munich to learn more about upcoming events or partnership opportunities.
Arcona introduces an Augmented Reality Ecosystem with Blockchain
Monetization & Payment System in Place for Content Creators and Digital Asset Owners Related to Advertising, Real Estate, Game, and Travel
The Arcona Ecosystem is being developed by a professional team – Piligrim XXI that has 5 years of experience in developing AR solutions, and Arcona is the natural extension of our passion and experience in AR.
Piligrim XXI has been working in the AR development market since 2013, enhancing tourism experience by providing an opportunity to time travel, to see how different historical places and events looked like in the bygone eras. In 2014, the world’s first outdoor AR park was launched. Currently, 8 augmented reality parks have been sold and are operating in 6 European countries.
Since 2015, the company has made significant investments in the research of distributed GIS, augmented reality technologies, 3D simulation, computer vision and artificial intelligence. As a result - the idea of an AR universal platform was born.
Arcona Ecosystem is a platform designed to bring geospatial AR content and experiences to the masses built on a blockchain backbone.
It is designed for everyday user interactive experience with augmented reality content, so anyone can become a landowner and start doing business within the Arcona Ecosystem in advertising, real estate, game, travel, and many other spheres of business.
There is no other platform combining all the system peculiarities. Its strength is in the synergy of advantages:
- Accurate remote placement of augmented reality objects in a changing environment.
- A ready-to-use network of markers anchored in the landscape all over the world.
- An open, modular architecture, making the integration of third-party solutions possible.
- The ability for a wide range of users without any particular programming skills to create and monetize content within the augmented reality environment.
The Digital Land is the main asset of Arcona Ecosystem - you can buy, sell, rent or lease the Land using ERC20 token called arcona.
Smart contract on blockсhain guarantees protection of copyright and property rights. The system automates royalty payments to content creators, and rents to digital asset owners.
The cost of Digital Land will have an explosive growth following the growth of the AR market. Since in 2016 AR market had a total volume of approximately $3B and is expected to exceed $150B by 2020.
Arcona’s team dream is to make augmented reality comprehensive and easy-to-use for everyone, so they aim to raise investments in a way that will directly benefit and involve both users and investors in Arcona future world - via the sale of the arcona token!
Arcona’s ICO starts on April 15th, and the company has a lot of treats for the participants (contests, auctions, bonuses, etc).
For more visit the Arcona website and join them on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.