virtual reality

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Moth+Flame Launches AI-Powered VR Authoring Tool for Custom Enterprise VR Training Content Creation

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A new VR authoring tool can potentially accelerate enterprise VR adoption this year. Invesco, a global investment firm, recently launched a virtual reality training experience they custom built using the new Moth+Flame’s VR authoring tool. Taking only 72 hours to develop, this custom VR training gives us a glimpse of the vast potential the new VR tool offers.

Moth+Flame VR Authoring Tool Addresses Challenges in VR Content Creation

In one of the most recent PwC surveys of PwC, 51% of companies have built VR into at least one specific line of business or are in the process of integrating VR into their processes. Many companies also see the benefits of VR as an effective way to develop and train people.

While the adoption of VR in enterprises is steadily increasing, enterprises face several challenges that hamper VR integration. Among these are the long development time and the level of expertise needed to create VR content.

Moth+Flame, a VR technology platform that specializes in enterprise-grade immersive learning solutions, addresses some of these challenges to accelerate the adoption of VR.

Ushering a year of great leaps in tech development, Moth+Flame launched a new VR authoring tool that leverages generative artificial intelligence. The new tool allows users to build custom VR content faster and easier. It empowers metaverse content creators and enterprise users to fast-track the development and adoption of VR across industries.

Empowering Novice Users to Create Immersive VR Content

Built on an advanced AI-driven platform, the VR authoring tool generates immersive training content that feels hyper-realistic and engaging. Voice-activated features prompt users to speak to navigate the training scenario. The interactive and immersive experience enhances training as it reinforces learning objectives and improves knowledge retention.

With its user-friendly interface, the platform can be used for VR content creation even by novice users with little or no technical expertise. Drag-and-drop editors and 3D asset libraries help users create high-quality immersive experiences. Multi-user support allows collaboration within teams and among learning and development departments. All these features enable enterprises to revamp existing training or create new ones that are more engaging and effective.

Invesco Uses Moth+Flame VR Authoring Tool to Build VR Training

The Moth+Flame VR authoring tool is still in its beta phase, but it has already shown how it can revolutionize VR use at the enterprise level. Invesco, the first early-access user to bring this technology to workforce development, has shown the benefits the tool brings to enterprise training.

Last week, Invesco launched their new VR training that was built using the Moth+Flame authoring tool. While the average development time for a VR training program is around eight to ten weeks, Invesco was able to build theirs in just 72 hours. Moreover, they were able to create VR content tailored to their specific requirements.

The new VR training is designed to help the Invesco sales team in handling customer complaints and concerns. Sales representatives use VR headsets to practice conversations with customers in realistic simulated scenarios. By adopting the Moth+Flame authoring tool, Invesco can generate other immersive training experiences across their enterprise.

“The biggest challenge for all education is the scale of content creation. So much enterprise training is limited to low-scoring e-learning products because of scale limitations,” said Kevin Cornish, CEO of Moth+Flame. “So much enterprise training is limited to low-scoring e-learning products because of scale limitations. With this tool, enterprises will be able to scale their content creation across all use cases in virtual reality, the most effective training modality available.”

Paving the Way for Rapid Adoption of VR in Enterprises

Invesco, along with other global brands, is now implementing VR training to maximize efficiency in the workplace. With the new VR authoring tool from Moth+Flame, enterprises gain access to advanced technology that empowers them to create immersive VR training. They can easily create VR content and deploy them to their workforce on iOS or VR headsets. With solutions like this authoring tool, we can expect the rapid adoption of VR at the enterprise level across industries.

Moth+Flame Launches AI-Powered VR Authoring Tool for Custom Enterprise VR Training Content Creation Read More »

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A Farewell to AltspaceVR

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The social VR community was shocked and devastated to learn that AltspaceVR is shutting its doors. While it’s in the nature of emerging technology applications to come and go, many with few tears shed by fewer remaining users, this platform seems to have been taken from us in the prime of its life leaving many wondering where to go next.

The Sun Goin’ Down on AltspaceVR

On January 20, a blog post titled “AltspaceVR to Sunset the Platform on March 10, 2023” appeared at the top of the company’s homepage. An email was also sent to users.

“When AltspaceVR first launched, our vision was to create a place where people from around the world could connect and socialize in real time,” the team wrote. “It was a bold vision, and with the help of our passionate community, the platform became a place where users made lifelong memories, formed cherished friendships, found love — and even married in IRL (in real life).” 

AltspaceVR

Much of the post waxes nostalgic about the platform, which launched in 2015 and was purchased by Microsoft in 2017. The post also encouraged “the many creators and developers who are part of the AltspaceVR community to host final events and download their content.”

“The decision has not been an easy one as this is a platform many have come to love, providing a place for people to explore their identities, express themselves, and find community,” wrote the team. “It has been a privilege to help unlock passions among users.”

Why, Microsoft? Why?

The team writes that they are closing AltspaceVR to “shift our focus to support immersive experiences powered by Microsoft Mesh.” Microsoft Mesh is the company’s mixed reality platform that was announced from within AltspaceVR during Microsoft Ignite 2021. The event, featuring Alex Kipman and James Cameron, looked at the platform as a tool for humanity.

“A dream you dream alone is just a dream. A dream we dream together is called reality,” Kipman said at the time, quoting John Lennon. “We tend to think of reality and dreams as separate. But, are they?”

Since then, Microsoft has focused on Mesh as more of an enterprise tool than a collaborative dream maker. At Microsoft Ignite 2022, CEO Satya Nadella announced that Mesh would be integrating with Microsoft Teams. Nadella also presented integrations between Microsoft Teams (presumably including Mesh) with Meta’s Horizon Workrooms at Meta Connect 2022.

“We knew early on that we wanted this to be a great place to get work done and with Microsoft, we can make that happen,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the event.

What About Us?

Shutting down AltspaceVR to focus on an enterprise platform is a strange play seeing as virtually none of the people using it were using it for enterprise. The always-full events schedule included comedy shows, community events, support groups and spiritual meetings, and musical performances. Where will they go?

Some of the events that you may know and love from AltspaceVR are already happening across multiple immersive platforms. For example, the live VR comedy show Failed to Render began in AltspaceVR but also has a home in Horizon Worlds and VRChat. Similarly, the Polys Awards takes place in AltspaceVR but also takes place in Mozilla Hubs, ENGAGE, and others.

But, what about those experiences that are only on AltspaceVR? Like BRCvr’s Burning Man experiences? An email from the organization said that they have plans for future events in another platform, but are respectfully waiting for the book to close forever on this chapter.

“Leaving AltspaceVR is difficult for all of us who have loved building this incredible community,” BRCvr co-founder Athena Demos said in the email. “Before we announce where we plan to continue our virtual Burning Man experiences, we want to honor the incredible friendships and creative partnerships we have forged on AltspaceVR.”

Kavya Pearlman, the CEO of XR Safety Initiative – which has been hosting events, such as Metaverse Safety Week, on the platform for years – said in a tweet that she was in talks with the group’s technical partner about moving to other platforms. Nothing official has been announced.

Yep , that’s quite a sad news .. just spoke to @ChickenWaffleVR about moving @MetaSafetyWeek to alternate platforms.

I wonder why @Microsoft bought @AltspaceVR in the first place , if it was only to sunset it later on.

So sorry for the team & everyone impacted.

— Kavya Pearlman (@KavyaPearlman) January 20, 2023

The King Is Dead. Long Live the King.

AltspaceVR had no enemies but it had many competitors. When the eulogy of a blog post went live on Twitter, representatives from a number of immersive platforms spoke at the wake.

We have some sad news, Altspacers. #AltspaceVR is shutting down on March 10th.

Though we hate saying goodbye, we also feel such pride and gratitude for all the magic that happened here. ✨

Thanks for joining us on this epic adventure. #socialvr https://t.co/peCwpaaBl3

— AltspaceVR (@AltspaceVR) January 20, 2023

There was no gloating at the grave, but tweets from Somnium Space, Spatial, and Mona invited displaced worldbuilders to take their events and spaces along. While this may be an option for events and assets, it’s not a meaningful option for users.

As mentioned in the blog post, users can download their data from the platform. However, there isn’t much that can be done with it. Photographs taken within the platform can be cherished but avatars can’t be transferred. It’s possible to download profile data from users that you met on the platform, but that’s not likely to help you connect with them on other platforms.

And, what are those platforms likely to be? Where will we meet next? A couple of solutions have already been named.

Where Will We Go?

VRChat is a proven and robust platform, but isn’t necessarily friendly towards new users, particularly when it comes to avatar creation. It has more tools and options than AltspaceVR but that can make it feel unwieldy. Somnium Space is in a similar category.

Spatial is a strong contender. The lightweight and easy-to-use platform runs in-browser, which is another strong bonus. Integration with Ready Player Me also means that creating an avatar is easy and bringing one with you if you already have one is even easier. Mona is in a similar category.

Mozilla Hubs has been putting in a lot of work, but they charge for that. With the new $20/month subscription price, many casual users won’t be signing on anymore.

ENGAGE is a solid free option, though it does require an app download. The same goes for Horizon – particularly if Meta makes good on its promise to make the platform available on hardware other than Meta headsets.

VIVE has also been building out its immersive offerings, but these also tend to be clunkier than many users will want. Virbela has also shown itself a capable, robust, and user-friendly platform, though a free app download is required.

The End of an Era

This was the first immersive world I ever entered. The fact that you don’t need a headset to enter the free and easy-to-use platform made it an unparalleled introduction to VR.

From before and after I got my first headsets, I have many memories from this platform, including the first time that I really felt like I had made eye contact with someone across the country. After years in the industry, there were still times when I would put on a headset just to shoot hoops outside of my VR house. AltspaceVR will be missed.

A Farewell to AltspaceVR Read More »

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Virtex Stadium Holds First Major Events, Inches Toward Open Access

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A number of the attractions of watching live sports carry over into esports. However, unless you’re watching an esports tournament in person, a lot of those attractions go away. Interactions with other fans are limited. The game view is limited. The game is flattened and there’s little environment ambiance. Virtex wants to fix that.

A History of Virtex

Virtex co-founders Tim Mcguinness and Christoph Ortlepp met at an esports event in 2019. Mcguinness presented the idea of “taking that whole experience that we were doing there in the physical world and bringing it into the virtual world,” Ortlepp said in a video call with ARPost. The two officially launched the company in 2020.

The following year saw the company’s first major hires (and its first coverage from ARPost). The company was focusing on integrating Echo VR and needed permission from Meta (then Facebook), who purchased the game’s developer Ready At Dawn in 2022.

“The first thing we had to do was get something that we could show to Meta,” said Ortlepp. “For us, Echo was a good community to start with.”

Virtex got the green light from Meta. It also got Jim Purbrick who had previously been a technical director at Linden Lab and an engineering manager for Oculus.

“Moderation is an area where he had a big impact on us,” said Ortlepp. “We need live moderators to keep people safe… If now we have two or three hundred people in the platform, what if we have ten thousand people? Can we keep users safe and prevent a toxic environment?”

Meta’s support also meant that Virtex could finally launch its beta application. The beta is still technically closed – meaning that it isn’t on any app store, and you have to go through the Virtex website to access it. However, the closed beta isn’t limited. Testers have the opportunity to participate in “test sessions” – live streamed games every Thursday.

The platform held its first major tournament in December, with another about to kick off as this article was being written. Games are scheduled every week into the spring.

A Tour of the Stadium

Right now, the Virtex virtual world consists of a stadium entrance, a lounge area, and a commentator booth in addition to the stadium itself.

“The purpose [of the entrance and lounge] is really to set the stage for the user, to welcome them,” said Ortlepp.

Virtex Stadium Environment - Exterior

In the lounge, users can socialize, modify their avatars (through a Ready Player Me integration), and even watch a miniaturized version of the live match. The lounge itself is still being developed with plans for mini-games and walls of fame. Connected areas including a virtual store and bar area are also in the works.

In the stadium itself, users can see and interact with other spectators. They can watch a 3D reproduction of the live game in real time, or watch a Twitch stream of the game on a jumbo screen above the stadium floor.

“We feature the video because we didn’t want to take away from esports viewers what they’re currently used to,” said Ortlepp. Virtex wants to give spectators options to explore viewing in new ways, without leaving them in an entirely unfamiliar setting.

A teleport system allows faster movement to different areas of the stadium, including the stadium floor to watch from within the game or even follow players through the action. This is possible thanks to the unique solution that Virtex has developed for recreating the game within the virtual stadium.

virtex stadium virtual reality stadium streaming

The studio also adds special recording and hosting tools like camera bots for streaming games within the stadium to Twitch and YouTube. Aspects of the stadium’s appearance can even be changed to match whatever game is being played.

“We are the platform. Ideally, we don’t ever want to be the content creators,” said Ortlepp. “So we have certain user modes for the ones that are actually operating the tournaments.”

When Can We Expect an App?

Virtex Stadium is up and running. But, the team plans to spend at least the next few months in their “closed” beta phase. For one thing, they really want to have their moderation plan in place before making the app more discoverable. They’re also still collecting feedback on their production tools – and thinking of new ones.

Further, while the platform currently has a decent schedule, the team wants to work with more games and more gaming communities. That includes other VR titles as well as more traditional esports. Ideally, one day, something will be happening in Virtex no matter when a user signs in.

“Where do we take it from here? There are no standards – no one has done this before,” said Ortlepp. “The virtual home of esports is basically the vision. It’s something we don’t claim yet – we have to earn it.”

It’s Not Too Early to Check It Out

Everything about Virtex is exciting, from their plans for the virtual venue itself, to their passion and concern for their community. Ortlepp said that the company is “careful about making dated timeline promises.” In a way that’s a little frustrating but it’s only because the company would rather hold off on something amazing than push something that falls short of their vision.

Virtex Stadium Holds First Major Events, Inches Toward Open Access Read More »

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BRCvr Presents Re-Burn-23, a Burning Man-Inspired Event, Launches “Blind Burners World”

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BRCvr, the award-winning virtual version of Black Rock City, will present Re-Burn-23 this month. The global virtual Burning Man-inspired event can be accessed via Zoom and AltspaceVR. It will run from January 27 to January 29, 2023, and will include exciting additions to its lineup, such as the metaverse environment “Blind Burners World.”

What Is Re-Burn-23?

Re-Burn-23 is a three-day immersive virtual event that will bring together artists, technologists, Burners, the Burner-curious, and other creatives in a Burning Man-inspired event.

It will feature new additions, such as Blind Burners World, as well as popular immersive worlds from previous virtual burn events. “We are taking the principle of ‘Communal Effort’ to a whole new level, bringing technologies and artists together in a robust collaboration that integrates 360 video from the 2022 burn with 3D digital assets, continuing our efforts to bring a rich Burner experience to the globe,” said Athena Demos, co-founder of BRCvr, in a press release shared with ARPost.

Re-Burn-23 is organized by Big Rock Creative (BRC), an award-winning company that crafts unique XR experiences. Offered as a gift to enthusiasts, this virtual event will be free of charge for interested individuals.

The event can be accessed by a global audience via Zoom, for mobile and desktop devices, and AltspaceVR, for VR headsets, Macs, and PCs. The wide accessibility via VR and 2D is an effort to bring about radical inclusion. Re-Burn-23 will be the final virtual burn event that will be hosted on the Microsoft AltspaceVR platform, since the platform is, unfortunately, shutting down on March 10 this year.

Blind Burners World

Re-Burn-23 will feature many new additions, and one of them is Blind Burners World.

Blind Burners World is the first-ever immersive metaverse environment that will showcase works by artists with visual impairment. In partnership with Blind Burners – a community of blind, partially sighted, and sighted artists and performers – Blind Burners World is designed to be navigable by sound. It will feature a gallery showcasing art and photography by artists with blindness and low vision, a Temple of Accessibility, and a Galactic Sound Garden. Each artwork will come with an audio description made and recorded by the artist.

Preview of Blind Burners World - BRCvr - Re-Burn-23

“When Burning Man communities moved online in 2020, Athena and the team at BRCvr were the first to embrace our call for accessibility in the metaverse,” said Blind Burners founder, Chris Hainsworth. “Without accessibility, cultural claims to radical inclusion are as shallow as a teacup.”

BRCvr Immersive Documentary Experience

On Re-Burn-23, participants will have the opportunity to watch a preview of the BRCvr Immersive Documentary Experience. It will be presented in a format of mixed reality storytelling in an immersive documentary application. The preview will feature live-action content captured during the 2022 on-playa burn in Black Rock City and will allow participants to engage and share this new experience.

Preview of BRCvr Immersive Documentary Experience - BRCvr - Re-Burn-23

Re-Burn-23 will feature other events including Sovereign Light 2023, Daisy Shaw’s World Tour of Re-Burn-23, a content creator meet and greet, artist talks, and even a “Bad Movies and Pizza Party” event, where participants can enjoy watching bad movies while eating pizza.

BRCvr Presents Re-Burn-23, a Burning Man-Inspired Event, Launches “Blind Burners World” Read More »

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CES 2023 Highlights Featuring News and Innovations From Canon, MICLEDI, and NVIDIA

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CES is considered the world’s tech event, showcasing groundbreaking technologies and innovations from some of the world’s biggest brands, developers, manufacturers, and suppliers of consumer technology. At CES 2023, attendees saw the unveiling of the latest developments from over 3,200 exhibitors, including technology companies Canon, MICLEDI, and NVIDIA.

Canon Immersive Movie Experience and Immersive Calling Experience

Canon USA has partnered with filmmaker and director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, The Village, and Signs) to create an immersive movie experience for CES 2023 attendees. Featuring M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming film Knock at the Cabin (which will be in theaters February 3), Canon unveiled Kokomo, an immersive virtual reality software that leverages VR to give users an immersive calling experience.

Canon Kokomo - CES 2023
Kokomo

With Kokomo, users can now connect with their friends and family as if they’re there in person by using a compatible VR headset and smartphone. In a 3D call, Kokomo will emulate a photo-real environment and mirror the physical appearance of the user. CES 2023 participants were able to witness Kokomo in action at the Canon booth, where they were able to have a one-on-one Kokomo conversation with select characters from the movie Knock at the Cabin.

Aside from Kokomo, Canon also unveiled its Free Viewpoint Video System, which creates point-cloud-based 3D models for more immersive viewing experiences in larger areas like arenas and stadiums. At CES 2023, attendees were able to experience the Free Viewpoint System, which allowed them to watch an action scene from Knock at the Cabin from multiple viewpoints.

CES 2023 attendees also had the opportunity to see Canon’s mixed reality system MREAL in action, by experiencing a scene from Knock at the Cabin as if they were a character in the movie.

Canon MREAL X1 headset
MREAL X1

MICLEDI Demonstrates New Red µLEDs at CES 2023

MICLEDI Microdisplays, a technology company developing the microLED displays for the augmented reality market, also showcased its advancements in microLED display tech for AR glasses at CES 2023.

At the event, the company demonstrated its new red microLEDs on AllnGaP starting material. This development is in line with MICLEDI’s aim to create high-performance individual color-performing microLEDs that can be combined with the company’s full-color microLED display module.

Through MICLEDI’s innovations in microLED technology, users can begin to experience clearer and more precise digital images via AR glasses that are more portable and lightweight. The red AllnGaP microLEDs, along with MICLEDI’s three-panel full-color microLED display module, are poised to raise the standards of AR glasses in the coming years.

MICLEDI - Red GaN and Red AlInGaP microLED displays - CES 2023

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for AR glasses,” said MICLEDI CEO, Sean Lord. “This achievement, with our previously announced blue, green, and red GaN µLEDs, opens the door to a broader offering of display module performance parameters which enables MICLEDI to serve customers developing AR glasses from medium to high resolution and medium to high brightness.”

Demonstration units of both Red GaN and Red AlInGaP were shown at the company’s booth at CES 2023.

NVIDIA Announces New Products and Innovations at CES 2023

NVIDIA announced new developments and NVIDIA Omniverse capabilities at CES 2023. The tech company, which is known for designing and building GPUs, unveiled its new GeForce RTX GPUs, which come with a host of new features that can be found in NVIDIA’s new studio laptops and GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards. This new series of portable laptops gives artists, creators, and gamers access to more powerful solutions and AI tools that will help them create 2D and 3D content faster.

NVIDIA also shared new developments to its Omniverse, including AI add-ons for Blender, access to new and free USD assets, and an update on the NVIDIA Canvas, which will be available for download in the future.

Aside from these updates, the company also released a major update to its Omniverse Enterprise, which enables users to access enhancements that will let them develop and operate more accurate virtual worlds. This major update is also set to expand the Omniverse’s capabilities through features such as new connectors, Omniverse Cloud, and Omniverse DeepSearch. More new partners are planning to use NVIDIA Omniverse to streamline their workflows and operations. These include Dentsu International, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Mercedes Benz.

NVIDIA Omniverse ACE - CES 2023
NVIDIA Omniverse ACE

Moreover, this January, NVIDIA opened its early-access program for NVIDIA Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE), allowing developers and teams to build interactive avatars and virtual assistants at scale.

Demos of VITURE One XR Glasses and Mobile Dock

Aside from these established tech companies, VITURE, a new XR startup that received accolades from CES, TIME, and the Fast Company for its flagship product, the VITURE One XR glasses, also prepared something interesting for the CES 2023 attendees.

VITURE One XR glasses and Mobile Dock
VITURE One XR glasses and Mobile Dock

The company made both their VITURE One XR glasses, compatible with Steam Deck, laptops, and PCs, and their Mobile Dock, which introduces co-op play and Nintendo Switch compatibility, available for testing.

CES 2023 Highlights Featuring News and Innovations From Canon, MICLEDI, and NVIDIA Read More »

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New HoloSuite Feature Enables Users to Seamlessly Blend Volumetric Video Clips

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Arcturus, volumetric video editing and streaming tools provider, has been at the forefront of virtual production, revolutionizing immersive content experiences across a vast range of verticals.

As part of its efforts to bring volumetric video to a wider audience, it prioritizes research and development of new tools that allow creators to fully harness the power of volumetric video. One of its latest releases is an innovative tool that aims to transform virtual production, XR storytelling, and metaverse experiences on HoloSuite.

Blend: Connecting Volumetric Video Clips With Seamless Transitions

Arcturus recently unveiled a new beta tool that further amplifies the capabilities of HoloSuite, its flagship platform for volumetric video. The “Blend” tool, a product of years of research and development by the Arcturus team, gives users a unique way to explore new forms of digital storytelling, build immersive experiences, develop metaverse content, and more.

Arcturus - Beta feature Blend volumetric video

With Blend, users can connect volumetric video clips and blend them seamlessly. Creators can now take live-action clips, use volumetric video characters to populate virtual backgrounds, and build branching narratives with imperceptible transitions between tracks.

With the new tool, creators of metaverse experiences can use people instead of computer-generated avatars in their content. They can insert blended volumetric video clips of live-action 3D performances into digital environments without having to create digidoubles. Blend also allows users to blend and loop multiple recordings of a photorealistic subject.

“Volumetric video isn’t just offering content creators new ways to do old things better; with the right tools, it offers possibilities that simply weren’t there before,” said CEO of Arcturus, Kamal Mistry, in a press release shared with ARPost. “Our new tools will open up a huge range of potential uses across multiple industries, and soon we will begin to see content unlike anything that’s ever been seen before.”

The Arcturus team designed and developed the Blend tool to meet the emerging demands of volumetric video users. While still in beta, all current HoloSuite users have access to the tool and can provide their feedback to help improve its capabilities.

With the beta testing running over the next few months, the team can fine-tune functionalities and ensure compatibility and stability before the tool becomes a standard feature on the platform.

More HoloSuite Updates From Arcturus

The Blend tool is just one of the several updates released for HoloSuite last month. Along with it, Arcturus also released a host of quality-of-life improvements and upgrades that open a wider range of potential uses for HoloSuite across multiple industries.

Unity users can now enjoy improved OMS playback with their HoloSuite plugins. This provides them with better viewing controls for volumetric video files within Unity. Support for upgrades for OMS playback on Unreal Engine 5 is expected to roll out soon.

Game engine users can now also use “Generate Normals” to smoothen noise for better relighting on volumetric subjects. For more dynamic viewing, HoloSuite added new lighting preferences that include adding environmental lighting directly within HoloEdit. The new native 4DS file support also allows users to import data directly from 4DViews.

New feature Arcturus HoloSuite 4DS import

Framing the Future of Video

Arcturus is committed to giving content creators the tools they need to create authentic digital human representations and immersive experiences. To further advance technology in this field, it has announced a new $11 million round of Series A funding in November 2022.  The funding, led by CloudTree Ventures with substantial investments from Epic Games and Autodesk, signifies confidence in the vast potential of volumetric video.

The new funding will help Arcturus grow its infrastructure and continue developing the HoloSuite platform. It will help expand research into new tools that further the use of AI in volumetric video production, improve 3D data capture, and enhance live streaming on digital platforms among many others.

Just like the Blend tool, more tools and techniques are bound to revolutionize the way users create and interact with digital content. As it unlocks new possibilities for virtual production through state-of-the-art 3D creation tools, Arcturus is framing the future of video.

New HoloSuite Feature Enables Users to Seamlessly Blend Volumetric Video Clips Read More »

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MeetKai Launches New Building Tools

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MeetKai has been around since 2018 but some of its first publicly enjoyable content hit the streets a few months ago. Now, the company is releasing a suite of software solutions and developer tools to help the rest of us build the metaverse.

From Innovation to Product

ARPost met MeetKai in July 2022, when the company was launching a limited engagement in Time Square. Since then, the company has been working with the Los Angeles Chargers.

“The purpose of the Time Square activation and campaign was really to test things out in the browser,” CEO and co-founder, James Kaplan, said in a video call. “With 3D spaces, there’s a question of whether the user views it as a game, or as something else.”

MeetKai Metaverse Editor - Los Angeles Chargers
MeetKai Metaverse Editor – Los Angeles Chargers

Those insights have informed their subsequent outward-facing work with the Chargers, but the company has also been working on some more behind-the-scenes products that were just released at CES.

“We’re moving from an innovation technology company to a product company,” co-founder and Executive Chairwoman, Weili Dai, said in the call. “Technology innovation is great, but show me the value for the end user. That’s where MeetKai is.”

Build the Metaverse With MeetKai

At CES, MeetKai announced three new product offerings: MeetKai Cloud AI, MeetKai Reality, and MeetKai Metaverse Editor. The first of those offerings is more in line with the company’s history as a conversational AI service provider. The second two offerings are tools for creating digital twins and for building and editing virtual spaces respectively.

“The biggest request that we get from people is that they want to build their own stuff, they don’t just want to see the stuff that we made,” said Kaplan. “So, we’ve been trying to say ‘how do we let people build things?’ even when they’re not engineers or artists.”

Users of the new tools can use them individually to create projects for internal or outward-facing projects. For example, a user could choose to create an exact digital twin of a physical environment with MeetKai Reality or create an entirely new virtual space with MeetKai Editor.

However, some of the most interesting projects come when the tools are used together. One example of this is an agricultural organization with early access to the products that used these two tools together to create a digital twin of real areas on their premises and then used the Editor for simulation and training use cases.

“AI as an Enabling Tool”

The formula for creating usable but robust tools was to combine conventional building tools like scanning and game engines with some help from artificial intelligence. In that way, these products look a lot less like a deviation from the company’s history and look a lot more like what the company has been doing all along.

MeetKai Cloud AI - Avatar sample
MeetKai Cloud AI – Avatar sample

“We see AI as an enabling tool. That was our premise from the beginning,” said Kaplan. “If you start a project and then add AI, it’s always going to be worse than if you say, ‘What kinds of AI do we have or what kinds of AI can we build?’ and see what kind of products can follow that.”

So the first hurdle is building the tools and the second hurdle is making the tools usable. Most companies in the space either build tools which remain forever overly complex, or they make tools that work but have limited potential because they were only designed for one specific use or for use within one specific environment.

“The core technology is AI and the capability needs to be presented in the most friendly way, and that’s what we do,” said Weili. “The AI capability, the technology, the innovation has to be leading.”

The company’s approach to software isn’t the only way they stand out. They also have a somewhat conservative approach when it comes to the hardware that they build for.

“I think 2025 is going to be the year that a lot of this hardware is going to start to level up. … Once the hardware is available, you have to let people build from day one,” said Kaplan. “Right now a lot of what’s coming out, even from these big companies, looks really silly because they’re assuming that the hardware isn’t going to improve.”

A More Mature Vision of the Metaverse

This duo has a lot to say about the competition. But, fortunately for the rest of us, it isn’t all bad. As they’ve made their way around CES, they’ve made one more observation that might be a nice closing note for this article. It has to do with how companies are approaching “the M-word.”

“Last CES, we saw a lot of things about the metaverse and I think that this year we’re really excited because a lot of the really bad ideas about the metaverse have collapsed,” said Kaplan. “Now, the focus is what brings value to the user as opposed to what brings value to some opaque idea of a conceptual user.”

Kaplan sees our augmented reality future as like a mountain, but the mountain doesn’t just go straight up. We reach apparent summits only to encounter steep valleys between us and the next summit. Where most companies climb one peak at a time, Kaplan and Weili are trying to plan a road across the whole mountain chain which means designing “in parallel.”

“The moment hardware is ready, we’re going to leapfrog … we prepare MeetKai for the long run,” said Weili. “We have partners working with us. This isn’t just a technology demonstration.”

How MeetKai Climbs the Mountain

This team’s journey along that mountain road might be more apparent than we realize. After all, when we last talked to them and “metaverse” was the word on everyone’s lips, they appeared with a ready-made solution. Now as AI developer tools are the hot thing, here they come with a ready-made solution. Wherever we go next, it’s likely MeetKai will have been there first.

MeetKai Launches New Building Tools Read More »

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XRA Survey: Teachers Pin Hopes on XR for Better Classroom Engagement

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Incorporating XR—the umbrella term for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality—in classroom education can make learning more fun. It can also motivate students to take their studies more seriously.  A recent survey by XR Association (XRA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) presented this conclusion based on a poll of over 1,400 high school teachers across 50 US states. Let’s look at the survey results.

Optimism High for XR’s Classroom Use

Foremost of the highlights in the nationwide poll was the finding that 77% of educators believe in the power of extended reality to ignite curiosity and engagement in class. This is especially important given that student motivation and morale are reported to have dropped in the 2020-2021 school year.

As Sean Wybrant, a computer science teacher at Colorado Spring’s William J. Palmer High School, put it: “Imagine how much better a student will understand what happens in Othello if they could actually step into the play and see it. Imagine how much better we could tell historical narratives if we could put people in recreations of famous situations based on documentation of those time periods.”

Secondly, XR doesn’t only make students eager to learn. Seventy-seven percent of teachers also see its potential in spurring interaction and building empathy among classmates. XRA says in its report that creating immersive worlds allows students to exchange ideas and understand each other in new ways.

Thirdly, 67% of respondents agree with XRA’s advocacy to incorporate extended reality technology into the curricula. Educators teaching the following subjects believe that course-specific XR experiences would be beneficial for students:

  • Earth sciences (94%)
  • Physics and space science (91%)
  • Math (89%)
  • English language (86%)
  • World languages (87%)
  • History and social studies (90%)
  • Social sciences (91%)
  • Computer science (91%)
  • Visual and performing arts (91%)
  • Physical education (88%)
  • Career and technical education (91%)

“To get a good sense of XR’s potential in schools, you have to ask the teachers and staff who will be administering this technology,” said Stephanie Montgomery, the XRA Vice President of Research and Best Practices. “The survey’s results suggest that VR, AR, and MR technology is well-positioned to become an essential teaching tool in school classrooms across the country.”

At the same time, 58% of the survey respondents said that teachers should get training for XR classroom use. Moreover, 62% believe in developing XR standards before integrating the technologies into regular curricula.

XR Association CEO Elizabeth Hyman believes in the extensive ripple effect that will result from making educators XR-ready. “If teachers understand XR technology and are empowered to contribute to the way in which it is incorporated into the curriculum, everyone—students, their guardians, and the surrounding community—will be able to take advantage of its benefits,” she said.

However, despite the positive outlook, 57% of teachers recognize the costs of using AR and VR devices and admit that access to funds will determine access to such technology. Nevertheless, poll participants believe XR’s benefits will extend beyond the classroom. Seventy-seven percent of teachers said the technology helps equip students with skills they can apply in their chosen careers, especially since, according to forecasts, jobs in extended reality may reach 23 million by 2030.

Myths About XR Classroom Use Debunked

The XRA-ISTE survey dispelled several myths about extended reality’s acceptance in education. One of these misconceptions is that XR is only for gaming. The poll results and teachers’ comments reveal that they are aware of the usefulness of this technology in geography, math, history, and other subjects.

Moreover, the survey response from educators refutes the popular notion that XR technology would not be the “best fit” for the classroom. Seventy-eight percent of respondents believe in the benefits of extended reality technologies in class.

Finally, the belief that XR will distract students from learning only got a 15% vote among the survey participants. The majority support the opportunities that come with extended reality when incorporated into lessons.

Teens Excited About XR 

Earlier last year, XRA also conducted a separate survey that sought teens’ views on current use cases for XR and their expectations for this technology. The results released in May 2022 revealed that 40% of teens have used either AR or VR in school and 50% describe their experience with these technologies as positive. Thirty-eight percent would like to own a headset in the future.

Even though there are potential concerns around immersive technologies, which teens are aware of, they are still excited about using XR in education, in a responsible way. Almost 4 in 5 teens think extended reality can impact lives positively. They believe that XR can improve their lives in the areas of fun (67%), creativity (61%), and learning (48%). Moreover, 52% of respondents expressed interest in taking a college course with extended reality integrated into its curriculum.

Read the Latest Addition to the XRA Developers’ Guide

XRA is proactively advancing XR application in classroom learning. It recently launched a new chapter in its Developers Guide on designing immersive lessons for high schoolers. The fresh chapter discusses current classroom needs, successful use cases, and industry-backed best practices for promoting safe and inclusive classroom learning through extended reality that addresses parent, teacher, and student concerns.

XRA Survey: Teachers Pin Hopes on XR for Better Classroom Engagement Read More »

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How VR and 3D Visualization Services Are Changing Construction Industry

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Sponsored content

Sponsored by OmegaRender

The construction industry is one of the industries adapting slowly to new technologies to increase productivity and deliver projects. However, the construction industry is now embracing and adapting to new technologies like virtual reality for 3D rendering services. Here, you will discover everything you need to know about how VR and 3D visualization services are changing the construction industry.

Uses of VR and 3D Visualization Services in the Construction Industry

The construction industry is extensively employing building information modeling (BIM) and computer-aided design (CAD) software for design and construction processes, and they can also work well with VR. When VR is combined with BIM and CAD for 3D architectural visualization services, it becomes possible to visualize and walk through a project as though it was completed.

Furthermore, it becomes easier to identify design errors and make changes before construction begins. This explains why clients now prefer to work with a 3D architectural rendering company to save money and time. VR is growing in relevance in the construction industry, and here are some of the ways VR and 3D visualization services are changing the industry.

Design

3D architectural rendering services produce renderings of a structure to showcase interior and exterior designs even to the finest detail. Furthermore, 3D renderings, visualizations, and animations make it possible to walk through a building as though you are physically present. Besides, it becomes easier to communicate ideas among a design team and to clients or stakeholders.

However, 3D renderings, visualizations, and animations provide little interactivity with the features of a structure because you can only see but not touch. Conversely, VR adds that touch of interactivity and fine details to 3D architectural visualization services. Thus, a viewer can carry out tasks like switching on the light and opening a door, among others.

Renovation

VR technology has made the renovation of structures easier. For instance, the technology can create a digital version of an existing building regardless of when it was built. The digital version is what a 3D architectural rendering company works on for remodeling before actual renovation work begins.

When a person that wants to renovate a building approaches an architect, the architect makes a virtual representation of the remodeled building. VR is then used to visualize and interact with the building to see if the new features meet the house owner’s requirements and fit well into the house.

Project Completion and Delivery

Construction projects need to be completed on time to avoid extra expenses. Generally, large projects take more time to complete than small projects. However, even a small project can take more time to complete than a relatively large project because of delays caused by errors or minor issues. Thus, professionals in the construction industry must adapt to situations to avoid delays on projects as much as possible.

VR technology helps to spot activities or tasks that can delay a project early. Furthermore, it can help to come up with different solutions to errors and challenges and choose the best solution. Thus, VR and 3D architectural visualization services are helping to fast-track project completion and delivery.

Safety and Training

Because of the risks and accidents associated with the construction site environment, there may be better ideas to train personnel on site. Therefore, training on safety and equipment use can be done off-site with VR and 3D architectural rendering services.

For instance, a heavy equipment operator can be put through a refresher training in the virtual world on how to operate a piece of equipment and safeguard himself and his environment while working in the real world.

Marketing

VR and 3D architectural visualization services are great for marketing because they help you create attractive marketing campaigns and materials, especially for real estate. Potential property buyers can easily interact and inspect a building through 3D walkthrough animations without stepping foot in the building.

Furthermore, photorealistic representations and walkthrough animations can be used to get clients’ feedback to improve a structure before and during construction.

Conclusion

The construction industry is increasingly adapting innovative and disruptive technologies such as VR and 3D visualization services. Furthermore, VR is becoming a standard tool that aids communication among all parties on a project.

Therefore every professional and stakeholder in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry must partner with a 3D architectural company to help use VR and other innovative technologies to meet the demands of productivity and project delivery.

How VR and 3D Visualization Services Are Changing Construction Industry Read More »

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ARPost’s 22 Most-Read XR and Metaverse Articles of 2022

augmented reality, extended reality, featured, metaverse, trending, virtual reality / /

From top XR trends and must-have skills for an AR/VR career, to XR hardware reviews, to the potential of the metaverse in various industries, to discussing why we’re not all wearing AR/VR headsets, these are the 22 stories ARPost readers clicked on the most this year.

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Hands-On Review: AI and AR Art Instruction App Cupixel

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Hands-On Review of VR Wave Prescription Lenses for Quest 2

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Industrial Metaverse: The Factory of the Future

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Dive Into a Hyper-Realistic Metaverse Built on Unreal Engine

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Lowe’s Opens 3D Product Library to Metaverse Developers10

Lowe’s Opens 3D Product Library to Metaverse Developers

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The Future of VR in Education: Full Immersion in Learning

VR in education provides the optimal compromise between students and educators, making learning relevant, interesting, and interactive. In this article, we take a look at the future of this technology in the educational field.

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Top AR/VR Trends for 2022

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ARPost covered the AWE USA 2022 event, which took place in June. Day one saw major announcements from Qualcomm, ThinkReality, and the CyberXR Coalition, Ori Inbar’s AWE opener, and insights from Unity, Blippar, XRA, and others.

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7 Must-Have Skills in an AR/VR Career

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ARPost’s 22 Most-Read XR and Metaverse Articles of 2022 Read More »

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Redefining Immersive Virtual Experiences With Embodied Audio

audio, featured, Immersive Technology, metaverse, virtual reality / /

EDGE Sound Research is pioneering “embodied audio,” a new technology that changes the way we experience virtual reality. When we think of “virtual reality,” the focus only seems to be on engaging our sense of sight. EDGE Sound Research’s embodied audio will revolutionize how we experience audio in VR worlds through its use of audible and tactile frequencies.

One of the things that sets this technology apart is that it stems from co-founder Ethan Castro’s experience. Castro had issues with hearing and, as a result, he had to resort to sound. Moreover, Castro loved music and even became a professional audio engineer and composer. He researched how sound can be perceived by combining hearing and feeling. Eventually, he teamed up with co-founder Val Salomaki to start EDGE Sound Research.

Bringing Embodied Audio to Life

Embodied audio adds realism to sound. This groundbreaking technology combines the auditory and physical sensations of sound in an “optimized and singular embodiment.”

“This means a user can enjoy every frequency range they can hear (acoustic audio) and feel (haptic and tactile audio, also known as physical audio),” said Castro and Salomaki.

Castro and Salomaki go on to explain that they invented a new patent-pending technology for embodied audio, which they dubbed ResonX™. This new technology, which has been nominated for the CES Innovation Award, has the capability to transform any physical space or environment into an embodied audio experience that has the ability to reproduce an expansive range of physical (7-5,000+ Hz) and acoustic audio frequencies (80-17,000 Hz).

Crafting New Experiences With the ResonX™ System

“The ResonX™ system is a combination of hardware and software. A user places the ResonX™ Core (hardware component) on the surface of a material and the ResonX™ software calibrates the surface of the material to resonate reliable hi-fidelity sound that the user can hear and feel,” said Castro and Salomaki.

ResonX Core - Embodied audio by Edge Sound Research

For example, when someone uses the ResonX™ system at home, they can attach the ResonX™ Core to their couch, effectively turning it into an embodied audio experience. So, when they sit on the couch while watching their favorite show, say a basketball game, they will feel as if they’re there in person. Users can hear every single sound, including the ball being dribbled and even the more subtle sounds like the squeaking sounds made by sneakers.

According to Castro and Salomaki, if a user wants to take their movie-viewing experience to the next level, here’s what they can do:

“An individual can attach the ResonX™ to flooring and then be fully immersed in walking around a new planet by hearing and feeling every moment to make the experience feel life-like.”

Aside from enriching users’ experiences in the metaverse, this new technology finally enables us to engage our other senses, thus adding a new dimension to how we experience music, games, live entertainment, and more.

Embodied audio - traditional sound vs ReasonX

“This opens the door to new possibilities in storytelling and connectivity around the world as an experience can now begin to blur what is real because of three senses simultaneously informing a user that a moment is happening. Not as an effect, but as an embodied reality,” shared the EDGE Sound Research co-founders.

Embracing Innovation in the VR Space

With ResonX™ and its ability to bring embodied audio to life, users can now have richer experiences in virtual worlds. Not only will they be engaging their sense of sight, but they’ll also get the opportunity to experience these virtual worlds using their sense of hearing and touch. Now, users have the chance to transform their physical environment into a cohesive sound system.

The good news is, users can enjoy the embodied audio experience in many public venues. According to Castro and Salomaki, they’ve already deployed the ResonX™ in various sports stadiums, bars, and art installations. Furthermore, if you want to bring home the ResonX™ experience, you can get in touch with EDGE Sound Research for a custom installation.

What will embodied audio look like in the future?

It’s likely going to become more widely accessible. “Over time, we will release a more widely available consumer version of the ResonX™ system that will make this ResonX™ technology more accessible to all,” said Castro and Salomaki.

Redefining Immersive Virtual Experiences With Embodied Audio Read More »