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How Retailers are Using Augmented Reality to Enhance In-Store Shopping

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The retail sector is changing because of augmented reality technology, which is giving businesses new and interesting ways to interact with customers and enhance their shopping experiences. AR is a perfect fit for the retail sector, giving businesses new opportunities to communicate with customers, promote their goods, and increase sales.

AR in Retail: A Match Made in Heaven

Customers may virtually try on things, allowing them to see how a product appears or fits without having to try it on physically, which is one of the main advantages of AR in retail.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, more customers are looking for ways to try on things without having to physically engage with them, making this issue more crucial than ever. Retailers may improve their conversion rates and lower the percentage of returns by offering customers virtual try-on experiences.

Virtual Try-Ons and Interactive Product Displays

Virtual try-on and interactive product displays are two of the major ways that businesses are leveraging AR technology to improve the in-store shopping experience.

Using AR technology, shops can develop virtual try-on experiences that allow customers to see how an item of clothing or accessory would fit on their body without having to try it on physically.

the author trying augmented reality glasses
Example product display. The author trying glasses using Geenee AR Glasses Try-On

Virtual try-on is very handy for things like glasses, makeup, and apparel. Retailers may boost the likelihood of a sale and lower the percentage of returns by allowing shoppers to see how these things would look on them.

Retailers are also embracing AR technology to improve the in-store shopping experience through interactive product displays. They can take numerous forms, such as augmented reality mirrors that allow consumers to experiment visually on makeup or interactive product displays that allow buyers to see the features and benefits of a product in real time.

Retailers may boost customer engagement and create a more memorable shopping experience by developing such kinds of interactive activities. This can result in improved consumer loyalty and sales.

While virtual try-ons and interactive product displays hold enormous promise for merchants, there are still obstacles to overcome. For example, implementing the technology can be costly, and creating experiences that function seamlessly across multiple devices can be tricky.

Personalized Shopping Experience

AR technology is also being used to deliver a more personalized shopping experience for customers. Retailers, for example, might construct AR-powered shopping assistants who guide clients through the store, making tailored recommendations and presenting information about things they might be interested in.

7-eleven deadpool augmented reality
In 2018, 7-Eleven launched its first-ever augmented reality in-store experience bringing Deadpool into the store.

AR technology can also be utilized to build customized product displays that showcase products based on the customer’s specific interests. Retailers can develop displays that highlight products that the buyer is likely to be interested in using customer data and AI algorithms, improving the possibility of a sale.

The fundamental problem of using AR technology to improve product discovery and personalization is the necessity for reliable and complete data. Retailers must have access to customer data and be able to analyze it efficiently in order to deliver customized suggestions and product displays to customers.

Future of Augmented Reality in Retail

The future of augmented reality in retail is bright, with enormous potential to revolutionize the way we purchase. We should expect to see more innovative applications of AR in retail as technology advances, providing customers with tailored and engaging experiences.

The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning is one of the most significant areas of research in AR for retail. AI can improve the accuracy and speed at which AR-powered product suggestions and customization are made. Retailers can use artificial intelligence-powered augmented reality to deliver personalized suggestions based on a customer’s purchase history, browsing habits, and preferences.

The launch of web-based AR is another fascinating trend in retail AR. WebAR eliminates the requirement for clients to download an app, making it more accessible and convenient. WebAR may be quickly implemented into a retailer’s website, offering customers an immersive and engaging buying experience.

Geenee augmented reality virtual try-on Zara
Virtual try-on demo skirt project

WebAR for In-Home Retail

A web-based placement of AR technology overcomes these obstacles and has the potential to transform the retail business. That allows you to try on clothes without even going to the retail itself.

Accessibility is one of the most difficult challenges associated with traditional AR adoption. Customers must download a specialized app to access AR content in traditional AR applications. This approach can be time-consuming and inconvenient, resulting in poor adoption rates.

WebAR solves this issue by removing the necessity for clients to download an app. Instead, users may access WebAR directly from a retailer’s website, making it more accessible and convenient. This method not only saves time but also raises the possibility of adoption by making AR technology more accessible to a larger audience.

An additional significant barrier to the widespread adoption of traditional augmented reality in retail is the high development costs associated with developing AR applications for different app platforms. The development of specialized multiple AR apps takes a significant amount of time and money, making it prohibitively expensive for many merchants.

WebAR overcomes this issue by leveraging current web technologies and frameworks that produce AR experiences, such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This method lowers the development expenses associated with standard AR implementation, allowing merchants to build engaging and immersive experiences at a fraction of the cost.

Due to the specific hardware and software needed for traditional AR implementation, many devices cannot use it. Because of this incompatibility, the potential audience for AR experiences is reduced, and the impact of AR in retail is limited.

WebAR resolves this issue by taking advantage of modern web browsers, allowing it to be compatible with a wide range of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and desktop PCs. This method enables merchants to build AR experiences that are more accessible to a wider audience, which improves the effect of AR in retail.

Conclusion

In conclusion, augmented reality technology has the potential to transform the retail sector completely. We can anticipate a substantial change in the way we buy as shops continue to experiment with new AR applications. This change will make shopping more immersive, interactive, and personalized.

Guest Post

About the Guest Author(s)

Vladislav Bondarenko

Vladislav Bondarenko

Vladislav has been working for more than 3 years in the AR industry. He is currently on the founding team of AR startup Geenee. He specializes in 3D engineering, computer vision, and physics programming.

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Virbela Creates Virtual Cannes Lions Festival With PwC

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This year is the 70th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The event takes place in the iconic town in the south of France but why should a festival of creativity not also take place in the virtual world? To extend opportunities for clients and customers to experience the event, PwC worked with Virbela to create a virtual option.

The virtual Cannes Lions Festival coincides with the in-person event from June 19-23, but I got a private advance tour of the custom Virbela campus, from two of the event’s creators, Virbela President and co-founder Alex Howland, and PwC Global Metaverse Leader Roberto Hernandez.

Welcome to the (Virtual) Cannes Lions

When you think of Cannes, you might not immediately think of a company like PwC. While the Cannes Film Festival attracts the most media headlines, the Lions is an event of a much broader scope as it recognizes creativity across everything from film and music to brands and marketing.

The Cannes Lions Festival is naturally associated with the city in which it takes place – which sits on the southern coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea between Marseille and Nice. Some events consist of the traditional sort of panels and presentations, but companies also present on the beach or on docked boats. Of course, not everyone can make that kind of trip.

Recreating Cannes

“What we are doing with this collaboration is giving people from around the world the opportunity to see what can be done with these kinds of immersive environments,” Hernandez said. “We also wanted to give people the opportunity to join remotely, but not just through a video call.”

Virbela and PwC Cannes Campus Outside

Hernandez acknowledged that remote events already exist around the Cannes Lions, but that they usually consist of someone giving reports day-by-day via a video. Virbela is able to get a lot closer to the real thing – boats and all.

“We wanted to give the campus that you know so well some French Riviera flare,” said Howland.

The intention was never to create an exact twin of the Cannes Lions venue, but to create a festive atmosphere in the familiar campus.

“It really takes you to a different place in a way that video conferencing doesn’t allow you to do,” said Hernandez. “I’m convinced, particularly when I talk to large-brand clients, that venues like these allow you to stretch the experience.”

Virbela With an Accent

That familiar Virbela campus (which got a sweeping redesign and beautiful graphics overhaul last year) is already an island complete with sand beaches, speed boats, volleyball nets, campfire sites, and tall pines. The bespoke world created for the Cannes Lions has more palm trees and yachts, making it a little more Mediterranean and a little less Pacific Northwest.

Virbela and PwC Cannes Yacht

Some of the buildings, particularly the ones more inland, are in the classic Virbela style. However, the main event buildings near the venue’s entrance have gotten a European facelift as well. Combined with flags, photo backdrops, and a red carpet (of course), the campus’ main stretch is decidedly more cosmopolitan.

“It was a match of very creative people from both sides (…) everyone approached this not as different teams working together, but as one team working on a dream experience,” said Hernandez. “We didn’t want this to be just inviting people to an auditorium to hear someone lecture.”

Hernandez, who was particularly excited about driving speedboats in Virbela, specifically mentioned assembling a team consisting of both experienced developers and younger developers who would be able to work together on an attractive, interactive, and engaging experience.

“PwC’s experience with these events and events like it has been very valuable,” said Howland.

Virbela in the Browser

As someone who has been covering Virbela and its events for a number of years, something about this experience excited me that might not register with some of the people joining the virtual Cannes Lions. I joined in a browser.

Jon in Virbela Cannes campus

Historically, Virbela has been app-based – even for limited-time events like iLRN or AfroTech World. WebXR experiences have been handled by a special branch of the company called Frame.

Frame comes with some smaller venues built in, but has been growing in its ability to create larger and more visually impactful virtual spaces. For someone who knows their way around the metaverse, connecting a Ready Player Me avatar is quick and easy. The platform also recently got an avatar upgrade, though the avatars still aren’t as customizable as Virbela’s.

To use the full modular Virbela campus and its more nuanced avatar generation engine, the team worked with NVIDIA to stream the world in-browser rather than require an app download. This also helped to make the experience more accessible for visitors.

“We have a number of clients with very strict firewalls and procedures,” said Hernandez. “For some of them, being able to download anything at all is a big challenge.”

Exploring the Virbela Riviera

While the actual event will obviously have a lot more energy when all of the attendees sign in, a number of attractions were already up and running for me to explore. One of the recurring ironies in immersive worlds is that events meant to replicate in-person events also provide experiences that no in-person party would allow. The virtual Cannes Lions are no different.

Virbela and PwC Cannes Theatre Inside

PwC didn’t just work with Virbela on this one activation and Virbela doesn’t just do events. Virbela offers virtual offices for global companies and distributed teams, including PwC. One exhibit in the Lions campus allows visitors to see the digital twins of PwC offices around the world.

Another experience allowed by the event streaming online works with a Frame integration to transport users into a series of more interactive virtual worlds. These show the effects that climate change could have on the cities around the world where PwC has offices. Visitors can also explore different climate scenarios and the results of potential intervention methods.

An Exclusive Event

Virbela is making the Cannes Lions more accessible than ever before. However, it’s still not open to everyone – select PwC clients and partners received email invitations.

“We never conceived this to be something attended by hundreds of thousands of people,” said Hernandez. “We want it to be special.”

The expected headcount? Around a thousand or so. It might sound like a lot for one virtual world, but Howland isn’t worried. Virbela has been tested at higher pressures than that.

“We regularly get over two thousand people in a campus,” said Howland. “One of the benefits of our new avatar system is that it’s a bit more performant, so we’ll be able to see that play out.”

Maybe One Day…

This is an ambitious project and it will be interesting to see whether it scales over time. While this extension of the Cannes Lions isn’t for everyone, we’ve already seen events like Fashion Week and Burning Man grow into immersive worlds and make them accessible to just about everyone. Maybe someday soon we will all be able to attend this event across the metaverse.

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“Affordable Haptic Glove” Crushes Indiegogo Campaign, Shipping This Autumn

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Haptic gloves allow users to interact much more intuitively and convincingly with virtual objects and virtual worlds. As such, they are viewed by many to be the next opportunity to increase the sense of immersion provided by XR technology.

Unfortunately, haptic gloves are still pretty cutting-edge technology. As such, currently available products on the market are largely limited to dev kits priced for researchers or enterprise users. However, one company, Bifrost, just passed its crowdfunding goal for its first product – the Pulse haptic glove – which could make haptics affordable to many more users.

Meet the Pulse Haptic Glove From Bifrost

“We designed Pulse with enthusiasts in mind every step of the way,” reads the product’s crowdfunding page. “After nearly five years of development, we’re proud to say that Pulse is the most accessible haptic glove on the market.”

The glove, which consists of motors resting over the knuckles that apply pressure by pulling caps worn on the fingertips, went on Indiegogo with a goal  of $20,000 but had raised more than three times that much by the time the backing window closed. And yes, those finger caps also have integrated trackers for precise controls within XR.

“Our glove offers precise finger tracking and realistic haptic feedback, creating a new level of immersion,” Bifrost founder Sam Baker said in an email to ARPost. “Pulse is a promising alternative to existing haptic devices that are out of reach for most consumers due to the steep price.”

Pulse haptic glove

The gloves are going for $300. Compare that to the $4,500 HaptX G1 launched last year. The glove appears to have a more “open” design than some competitors, but that may not be the final iteration. According to the crowdsourcing page, the product is still currently in the prototyping stage.

Fitting in the Market

There are a few companies out there making gloves for haptics and finger tracking. Other models are larger and more expensive, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t worth thinking about. Even if they’re out of your price range, understanding other haptic gloves can help you wrap your head around what the team at Bifrost is doing.

Most of the heavy hitters have a similar basic mechanism as Pulse – most are a little smaller and all are more contained. But, keep in mind that we’re seeing a prototype from Bifrost. We should be thanking them for showing us such an unobstructed view of how haptics work – even if we hope that they make improvements before launch.

However, there are different kinds of haptic sensations that different kinds of products allow – sometimes in tandem. For example, tensile resistance isn’t the only sensation that your hands can feel – even if it is a really good start.

We drew a price comparison with HaptX, but those gloves aren’t 15 times more expensive for no reason. In addition to an arguably fairly standard grip simulation system, HaptX gloves have “hundreds of microfluidic actuators across your fingers and palms” that provide a far more immersive haptic experience – and require a massive piece of hardware called an “Airpack.”

SenseGlove offers a medium – a bulkier package than Pulse, but less ambitious haptics than HaptX. The closest thing on the market to Pulse in terms of form factor might be MANUS, though MANUS focuses on tracking rather than haptics and is priced in above HAPTX.

Would You Try Them On?

The bad news is that Pulse costs almost as much as a new entry-level headset. The good news is that that’s orders of magnitude less than the nearest competitor. While many price-conscious users will no doubt go without even these most affordable haptic gloves, Pulse will no doubt do what the manufacturers intends – open up the market to enthusiasts and “prosumers.”

“Affordable Haptic Glove” Crushes Indiegogo Campaign, Shipping This Autumn Read More »

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AR Gaming, a Formidable Force That’s Changing the Gaming Industry

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AR gaming has changed greatly since the release of Pokémon GO. At the height of its popularity, Pokémon GO had more users compared to Twitter, and people were spending more time playing the game than browsing Facebook. It was even more popular than Candy Crush in the US, having nearly 21 million daily active users.

The Growing Popularity of AR Gaming

Since Pokémon GO, many other AR games have been released, owing to the increasing demand for AR gaming. In a message shared with ARPost, Chief CX Innovation Officer and MD of Gaming at Arise and Arise Gaming, Jonathan Shroyer, remarked that the popularity of Pokémon GO was a “cultural phenomenon in many ways.”

According to Shroyer, people who didn’t like playing video games were now spending hours playing Pokémon GO. Moreover, they were becoming more active, walking an average of close to 1,500 extra steps daily and engaging with their respective communities more often.

“We also saw a boost in local economies and overall cultural awareness as people got outside and did things they normally wouldn’t do in their day-to-day lives,” he added.

Augmented reality gaming continues to grow in popularity and it’s projected to reach a value of up to $274.4 billion by 2027. One contributor to its AR gaming’s popularity is that players don’t need to don or purchase special equipment, unlike with VR. Other potential factors contributing to the industry’s growth include the rising popularity of mobile games, advancements in game development, and the integration of AR games with other industries.

How AR Gaming Is Changing the Face of the Gaming Industry

AR gaming offers a more interactive and immersive way for gamers to engage with games. This technology, coupled with VR, has allowed players to go beyond the screen and into an immersive world where they’re able to engage with both the game and the characters within it.

Moreover, it’s become a social phenomenon, allowing players to interact with others in virtual worlds. In turn, this allows them to connect with others who share the same interests. Plus, given that players can access AR games via mobile, this gives them more opportunities to explore new physical and virtual environments.

But what makes augmented reality gaming so intriguing?

“AR gaming really is a fantastic way to combine the excitement of video games with reality, effectively changing the way we game and think about video games in general,” said Shroyer. He added that augmented reality gaming has allowed “people to experience a world within our reality” and that with AR gaming, gamers can literally go outside and take part in a hybrid world.

This is what makes AR gaming very appealing to people in general, not just to gamers, and is a crucial driving force in the transformation of the industry.

AR Gaming, a Formidable Force That’s Changing the Gaming Industry Read More »

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10 Top Use Cases of Blockchain in Virtual Reality

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While talking about blockchain technology, we should keep in mind that this is a new and still evolving industry. There are several use cases of blockchain in different industries, including virtual reality.

Here are the top use cases of blockchain in VR.

1. Decentralized Asset Ownership

Blockchain can be used to verify and track the ownership of virtual assets in VR, making it impossible for fraudulent transactions to occur, one example is DeFi (Decentralized Finance) in which there is no threat of fraud or theft as DeFi offers an emerging model for organizing and enabling cryptocurrency-based transactions without relying on intermediaries or traditional banks.

2. VR Advertising and Sponsorship

Blockchain and VR can work together to verify sponsorship and verify traffic, promoting transparency and trust between brands and consumers. Through blockchain, advertising and sponsorship in virtual reality can be made more secure and reliable.

By using blockchain-based smart contracts, brands and advertisers can ensure that their ads are displayed to their target audience in the virtual reality environment. This, in turn, can increase the relevance of the ads and improve the ROI for the advertisers.

Additionally, blockchain can also help to track and verify the traffic generated by the ads. By recording each interaction with the ad on the blockchain, advertisers can get a better understanding of the effectiveness of their VR advertising campaigns. This level of transparency can help to build trust between the brand and the consumer.

Blockchain can also be used to prevent fraudulent advertising practices. By using a decentralized system that relies on a consensus mechanism, blockchain ensures that the data is secure and tamper-proof. This can prevent scenarios where advertisers pay for fake traffic generated by bots or other illegitimate means.

In conclusion, the use of blockchain technology in virtual reality advertising and sponsorship can offer numerous benefits to both brands and consumers. By increasing transparency, security, and reliability, blockchain can help to build trust and improve the overall experience for everyone involved.

3. Secure VR Marketplaces

Decentralized marketplaces on the blockchain can be used to facilitate secure transactions of virtual goods and services, reducing fraud and ensuring safe transactions.

4. Virtual Reality Gaming

Blockchain-based incentives may be utilized to incentivize gamers to contribute to better gameplay, thus increasing engagement in VR gaming environments.

5. Rights Management

Another potential use case is the registration of copyright, publisher, and distribution rights to control the distribution and licensing of virtual reality content, ensuring the creators of content receive fair compensation.

6. Virtual Real Estate

With the increasing popularity of virtual worlds, blockchain technology can be utilized to enable the ownership and trading of virtual real estate. This allows for users to build and own property in virtual worlds and potentially earn revenue from it.

7. Virtual Currency

Virtual currencies used in VR environments can also benefit from blockchain technology. Blockchain can enable secure, transparent, and decentralized transactions for virtual reality commerce, as well as provide a more stable and reliable virtual currency system.

8. Identity Management

Blockchain technology can be used to manage and protect user identities in virtual environments, providing a more secure and trustworthy system for verification and authentication.

9. Cross-Platform Interoperability

Blockchain technology can enable interoperability between different VR platforms, allowing users to seamlessly interact with each other and access content across different platforms.

10. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

Using blockchain technology, DAOs can be created in virtual reality environments to create decentralized decision-making and governance structures. This can enable community-driven development and decision-making in virtual worlds.

Conclusion

The use cases of blockchain in virtual reality demonstrate the potential for these two emerging technologies to work together and create innovative solutions for a variety of industries.

Blockchain technology can provide an additional layer of security and transparency to the virtual world, enabling safer transactions and the protection of users’ personal information.

Guest Post

About the Guest Author(s)

Amir Ashraf

Amir Ashraf

Amir is an expert editor and writer in the blockchain industry. After completing his studies, he started exploring different aspects of the blockchain industry and took the initiative to make things easy to understand by writing about different techniques that are used in blockchain and still working on different aspects as this is a developing field.

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Hexa and Amazon Redefine Immersive Retail Experiences by Empowering Merchants

Amazon, AR shopping, augmented reality, e-commerce, featured, News, Retail, Retail & E-Commerce / /

Step into the captivating realm of immersive retail, where customers are transported to a world beyond the traditional confines of e-commerce.

Virtual try-ons and mesmerizing augmented reality simulations have long held the attention of shoppers, but the path to these enchanting encounters was often reserved for big brands with substantial resources.

Today, a transformative alliance between 3D visualization platform Hexa and e-commerce powerhouse Amazon is breaking down the barriers of immersive retail. This dynamic collaboration is poised to redefine how merchants engage with their customers, unveiling a future where extraordinary shopping experiences are within reach of all.

Hexa: Shaping the Future of 3D Commerce and Immersive Retail

At the heart of this collaboration lies Hexa, a 3D visualization platform that uses artificial intelligence to create digital twins.

Since 2018, Hexa has been leveraging the potential of AI to breathe life into static 2D images and transform them into mesmerizing 3D renderings. They have been enabling brands to display 3D products, launch AR experiences, set up virtual try-ons, and create immersive marketing campaigns.

With Hexa, brands no longer need to rely on expensive investments in software and equipment to provide immersive retail experiences. They can harness the power of AI through Hexa’s cutting-edge technology to captivate their customers.

By seamlessly bridging the gap between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional domains, Hexa empowers brands to create hyper-realistic digital twins of their products. The sheer realism of Hexa’s CGI technology leaves consumers unable to discern the difference.

Hexa’s commitment to merging the realms of 2D and 3D not only expands possibilities for brands but also redefines the very nature of immersive retail experiences. It is through this collaboration that Hexa and its partners reimagine the boundaries of what is possible, driving the industry forward and transforming the way we perceive and engage with products in the digital space.

The Hexa and Amazon Collaboration: Empowering Merchants in The Era of Immersive Retail

Recognizing the untapped potential of immersive retail experiences in online marketplaces, Hexa has partnered with Amazon to empower merchants like never before. Through this collaboration, selling partners gain access to Hexa’s proprietary immersive OS, enabling them to create and display hyper-realistic 3D images, immersive 360-degree views, virtual try-on capabilities, and AR content directly on their Amazon product pages.

“Working with Amazon has opened up a whole new distribution channel for our partners,” said Gavin Goodvach, Hexa’s Vice President of Partnerships, in a press release shared with ARPost. “Brands now have the ability to distribute 3D experiences and deliver high quantity immersive shopping to Amazon’s global network of customers using Hexa’s proprietary content delivery network.”

Even without prior experience with AR or 3D tech, Amazon sellers can render high-quality images and videos for their product pages. They simply need to upload their products’ Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASIN) into the CMS of Hexa.

The system automatically converts the images into high-fidelity 3D models with AR compatibility. They can then use the 3D models for e-commerce and metaverse applications. This remarkable integration of technology bridges the gap between the tangible and the virtual, offering a transformative user experience that drives conversion rates to new heights.

“In addition to 3D reconstruction, further enhancements to Hexa’s 3D tech stack also allow Amazon selling partners to render high-definition marketing materials, including packshots and lifestyle images directly from their 3D digital twins,” said Hexa’s CTO, Jonathan Clark. “They’ll be able to do so by leveraging AWS Thinkbox render infrastructure and advanced capabilities.”

Unveiling the Incredible Potential of Immersive Retail

This collaboration between Hexa and Amazon marks a significant milestone in the evolution of immersive retail. By providing Amazon selling partners with the tools to seamlessly transition from 2D to 3D, the partnership unlocks endless ways brands can engage their customers.

Hexa and Amazon immersive retail AR, try-on, 3D

No longer constrained by financial limitations, merchants of all sizes can now provide unforgettable shopping experiences that rival those of industry giants.

Looking ahead, the future of immersive retail holds incredible potential. As technology continues to advance, we can anticipate even more seamless integrations, heightened realism, and enhanced customer interactions.

Hexa and Amazon have set a precedent for innovation and accessibility in the industry, inspiring other platforms and retailers to follow suit and embrace the transformative power of immersive shopping experiences.

Hexa and Amazon Redefine Immersive Retail Experiences by Empowering Merchants Read More »

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ZERO10 to Debut Its First AR Store at Viva Technology in Paris

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After the successful showing of its AR try-on technology at the Metaverse Fashion Week, AR fashion company ZERO10 is launching its first prototype AR Store that aims to bring a whole new experience to shopping.

Following previous successful collaborations with fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Coach – which saw the launch of the brand’s AR Mirror and Storefront, respectively – ZERO10 is now debuting the AR Mirror as a standalone store.

AR Storefront ZERO10

“We believe that 50% of physical retail will incorporate AR solutions or will become AR stores itself in the next 10 years,” said CEO of ZERO10 George Yashin. “Customers want to try new types of shopping and augmented reality will elevate the future in-store experience. We see the technology as a powerful tool for retail and we are still at the beginning.”

The prototype AR Store aims to be an immersive solution for retail stores while also addressing the common issues that come with brick-and-mortar establishments. This iteration of the AR Mirror is particularly notable for its ability to deliver a standalone retail experience, in contrast to simply enhancing the experience of shopping in a traditional store.

AR Store for a Full AR Shopping Experience 

ZERO10 has been steadily growing with its AR-to-physical capabilities, befitting a fashion company that seeks to improve everything about the retail experience. Already a thriving hub for forward-thinking fashion designers, the AR Store represents the exciting possibilities of a full augmented reality shopping experience.

With a simple setup (requiring only the AR Mirror, an iPad stand, a statistics screen, and storage space), the prototype AR Store promises to deliver a seamless shopping experience without the need for large floor space. With its minimal requirements for both space and construction, the AR Store will be able to deliver all the functions and operations seen in a traditional store with an average of 100 sq meters, all with just two square meters of total store space.

AR Mirror ZERO10

All of this is possible thanks to ZERO10’s proprietary AR Mirror solution, which can run complex computer vision models and render clothing in 4K resolution. It does all of this in real-time, powered by a supercomputer that boasts the latest in 3D body tracking and multi-class segmentation capabilities.

The Future Of Brick-And-Mortar Stores?

Traditional storefronts may no longer be enough by themselves to entice consumers to shop at their establishments. Many retailers have started embracing the capabilities of augmented reality and other similar technologies to enrich the customer experience and help them stand out compared to their peers.

This phenomenon (tentatively called v-commerce) not only enriches the usual in-store experience but solves many of the issues that brick-and-mortar establishments face. Storage space, floor traffic, and even employee tasks become far easier to manage with the help of AR technology.

While it’s difficult to say that AR solutions like AR Mirrors and ZERO10’s AR Store will render brick-and-mortar establishments obsolete, it’s fair to say that they’re a development in the retail shopping experience that can’t be ignored.

Forward-Facing Fashion at Viva Technology Europe

ZERO10’s AR Store prototype will be interactable for the first time at Viva Technology, Europe’s biggest startup and tech event, taking place June 14- 17, in Paris, France. The prototype will be located in Innovation Park, ALLÉE NORD, Digital Experiences and AI, stand J61-007.

Visitors at Viva Technology will be able to experience the entire customer journey of the AR Store, starting with trying on the digital merch ZERO10 created together with Viva Technology, also available physically with limited stock.

Following the virtual try-on with the AR Mirror, customers will be able to initiate the imitation of a real purchase, where they will be able to select their sizing and receive a free physical analog of their selected item at the reception desk.

With this, ZERO10 hopes to make more people see the possibilities of AR retail experiences and use AR technology to enrich the normal fashion shopping experience.

ZERO10 to Debut Its First AR Store at Viva Technology in Paris Read More »

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Geenee AR Launches Advanced Virtual Try-On Solutions for E-Commerce and Retail

augmented reality, e-commerce, featured, Retail, Retail & E-Commerce, try-on, webAR / /

In the online shopping era, the one thing missing from a perfect shopping experience was a realistic way of trying on products remotely. Thanks to augmented reality and virtual try-on solutions (VTO), this is no longer an issue.

Various AR and WebAR development companies allow retailers and e-commerce brands to offer their customers a highly realistic way of trying various products. From clothes and shoes to makeup and home goods, consumers are able to make an informed shopping decision after using these solutions.

Geenee AR, a WebAR technology company, has recently announced a comprehensive suite of immersive digital shopping solutions for e-commerce brands, including ads, online stores, and onsite mirrors.

Virtual Try-On Solutions Improve the Shopping Experience and Increase Sales

One of the biggest problems for online retailers is the large quantity of returned products. When it comes to clothes, footwear, eyewear, and accessories, many consumers find that they don’t make a good fit for their body type. Or, once they try on the product, they don’t get the look they envisioned when they saw the product in the online store, presented by a model.

With virtual try-on solutions, consumers are able to have a more realistic idea of how they’d look wearing each product. This reduces the number of product returns and increases customer loyalty.

However, until recently, most, though not all, AR try-on solutions were usually focused on a specific type of product: be it makeup, eyewear, hairstyle, clothing, or jewelry.

Geenee’s Virtual Try-On Solutions 

With the new suite of virtual try-on solutions, retailers and e-commerce brands can offer their customers a complete experience. Geenee’s virtual try-on solutions include full-body virtual try-on for products like T-shirts, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, and sweaters, as well as try-on for beauty products and accessories such as handbags, jewelry, glasses, and hats, and other headworn accessories.

full body virtual try-on Geenee AR

Moreover, the company’s virtual try-on solutions are size-inclusive and support a wide range of body types. This is extremely important for customers who want to look not just for the right size, but for garments that compliment their body and make them feel more confident.

“Augmented reality helps consumers make informed and confident purchasing decisions faster than ever before,” said Heather Lipner, Geenee AR’s Head of Product Design and Creative, in a press release shared with ARPost. “Will it fit? Will it look good? To see how something looks on your own face or body will trigger the confidence to purchase – the key driver for e-commerce success.” 

In addition to virtual try-on, the company also offers true-size AR for home goods like furniture and appliances.

Key Features of Geenee’s Virtual Try-On Solutions

Geenee offers a complete suite of solutions for online and offline retail stores. The main features of the virtual try-on solutions include:

  • E-commerce point of sale – web-based full body and face tracking, allowing customers to try all types of products, from head to feet;
  • Onsite mirrors – AR mirrors which allow customers to try on products in store without going to a changing booth;
  • Embedded ads – thanks to the company’s partnership with AudienceX, brands can offer virtual try-on experiences within their online ads across various websites and social media platforms.

Brands Report Positive Results After Implementing the VTO Solutions

So far, several fashion, beauty, and home goods brands have used Geenee’s virtual try-on solutions, and some of the results they shared with the company include:

  • For eyewear: 81% increase in add-to-cart;
  • For fashion products: 24% decrease in returned products;
  • For accessories: a 25% increase in conversion rates;
  • For home goods: a 67% increase in conversions and a 38% decrease in product returns.

virtual try-on accessories Geenee AR

These results confirm the vision of the CTO of Geenee, Evgeny Peshkov.

“Virtual try-on brings e-commerce to the next level. Being able to see how something actually fits rather than guessing based on 2D photos simplifies the customer’s decision,” Peshkov said.  “The number of advanced techniques built and fine-tuned specifically for this task allow for a high level of realism and fidelity. Geenee’s web-first VTO solution is ready out-of-the-box and can be easily integrated with any e-commerce platform.”

Experience Virtual Try-On by Geenee

Geeenee AR offers both brands and consumers the chance to test their latest VTO solutions. Anyone can test a demo version on a desktop or mobile here.

Geenee AR Launches Advanced Virtual Try-On Solutions for E-Commerce and Retail Read More »

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Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro: A Tale of Two Headsets

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Both Apple and Meta revealed highly anticipated headsets in the last seven days. The hype is just about the only thing they have in common. The two headsets have different audiences, different affordances and requirements, and drastically different price points. As such, they illuminate two drastically different approaches to the XR space.

The Meta Quest 3

The Meta Quest 3 has been the subject of rumors, speculation, leaks, and outright fabrication probably since before the Quest 2 came out. But, it was officially announced last week and is set to launch this fall.

The headset has been relatively easy to speculate on, seeing as it is the fourth iteration of flagship headsets in a familiar and built-out hardware and software ecosystem. As was largely expected, the Quest 3 appears to largely be a blend of the successful elements of the Quest 2 and some of the more advanced features that we saw from the Quest Pro.

From fairly early on, the Quest Pro was largely seen as a dev kit and a testing ground for future products. Pro hallmarks coming to the Quest 3 include color passthrough and the Pro controllers. The price of the Quest 3 is significantly less expensive than the Quest Pro, if slightly more expensive than the Quest 2, coming in at $499.

Following the announcement, most of what we have to go on as far as what kind of punch the Quest 3 packs still does largely come from speculation. Where previous Quest headsets were announced at last year’s Connect – Meta’s biggest annual event – the Quest 3 was announced through a relatively low-key social media campaign on the morning of the Meta Gaming Showcase.

Meta Quest 3 headset

As anticipated as the Quest 3 has been, it might not be the most hyped headset of all time – or even the most hyped headset to come out this week. Meta’s seemingly hasty announcement of the Quest 3 seems to have been timed to come out before Apple’s announcement of the Vision Pro.

The Apple Vision Pro

Apple’s entry into XR has long been awaited – if only because the company has repeatedly put off announcing a product. So, after all of the wait, what can the headset actually do?

The headset’s 12 cameras, five sensors, and six mics enable controller-free tracking, voice interactions, and impressive audio. Connected to a device it can run all day, but a battery pack will let it run on its own for two hours. Apple reported over 10 million pixels per eye, but did not release familiar resolution metrics or field-of-view.

The headset is capable of handling 3D assets sent via messages, and it constructs a 3D avatar that can be used in video calls. Developers with early access include JigSpace, and the headset’s software is compatible with Unity.

All of that said, currently available material doesn’t show a lot of actual XR content. The headset arguably looks more like what industry insiders call an “AR viewer” – that is, rather than providing spatial content, it provides a spatial interface for 2D content. That also made up the bulk of Apple’s demonstrations of the headset – and their justification for its massive price tag.

“If you purchased a new state-of-the-art TV, surround-sound system, powerful computer with multiple high-definition displays, a high-end camera, and more, you still would not have come close to what Vision Pro delivers,” Apple’s Technology Development Group VP Mike Rockwell said in the WWDC event that introduced the device. “Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499.”

Apple Vision Pro headset

That raises an interesting question for the XR community. An Apple Vision Pro might be able to replace all of those things. But, could it replace a Meta Quest?

New Headsets and the XR Ecosystem

Both the Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro had XR experts excited. Many aren’t necessarily viewing the two headsets as in competition, but are rather thinking about how the headsets’ introduction will affect the general XR ecosystem.

“The Quest 3 has finally been announced, which is great for everyone in the industry,” 3lbXR and 3lb Games CEO Robin Moulder said in a talk at this year’s Augmented World Expo. “Next week is going to be a whole new level when Apple announces something – hopefully.” 

On the morning of the third day of AWE, the Quest 3 had been announced just an hour or so earlier and the Apple announcement had yet to be aired. However, a number of speakers presented the same idea – this is an exciting time for XR and Apple is contributing to that momentum rather than creating that momentum on its own.

A Bushel of Apples in XR…

One of the XR community’s biggest hopes regarding Apple’s entrance into the market is that XR will be catapulted to the mainstream by Apple’s gravitas. One of the main concerns is that Apple tends to play by their own rules, so a wave of new Apple XR users might be disruptive (or at least, not additive) to XR’s established ecosystem. Not all share this concern.

“If Apple does announce something, they’ll do a lot of education,”  Khronos Group President Neil Trevett said during a panel at AWE. “It will progress how people use the tech whether they use open standards or not.”

Now that we’ve seen from Apple, it’s worth wondering how much education would be involved. The Vision Pro seems largely intent on offering a spatial view of Apple’s apps rather than on incorporating existing XR solutions and uses.

“Apple is not seeking to build a wide XR ecosystem with a cheaper device, like Meta with the Quest line-up,” XR analyst Tom Ffiske wrote on the headset. “The company instead seeks to monetize an already-lucrative subsection of its audience with high-margin subscriptions and software, accessible at a $3,499 price tag.”

Make no mistake: at least for now, Apple Reality Pro is another Apple device within the Apple hardware ecosystem. It is not a new XR device within anything like a metaverse ecosystem.

Apple Vision Pro

“Apple Reality Pro’s biggest advantage is integration into the Apple ecosystem,” VRDirect founder and CEO Rolf Illenberger said in an email shared with ARPost. “The all-important ability to go from the iPhone, to iPad, to Apple Watch with a similar user experience and low barrier to entry… That’s where we believe the potential exists to create believers in AR.”

Mesmerise Head of Platform, Michael Hoffman, is of the same opinion, “Compatibility with other iOS devices will also help the headset integrate more seamlessly into daily life.”

…Or a Rush on Pears?

The next question is whether Apple can bring people into XR without the Vision Pro. Meta (ignoring its various evils) did a lot to introduce people into the XR universe through incredibly low price points. This is not a game that Apple is playing at all – there probably won’t be too many Vision Pro headsets sitting under Christmas trees this year.

That doesn’t mean that Vision Pro doesn’t have a future. After all, this is the first iteration and it hasn’t even hit the market yet.

“The wire may prevent some users from purchasing the product, and the price tag will scare away many people,” Mytaverse CTO and co-founder Jamie Lopez said in an email shared with ARPost. “But Apple has a long history of lowering prices and making new hardware easier to use. Time will tell how Vision Pro changes the world.”

Still, the announcement may have brought people’s attention to XR in the shorter term. If the sticker shock scares them away from the Vision Pro but doesn’t scare them away from XR, they may find that a lot of what the Vision Pro announcement demoed is already possible on far more affordable headsets.

#WWDC23 pic.twitter.com/FVB2iu5zy0

— XREAL 👓 (@XREAL_Global) June 6, 2023

XREAL (formerly Nreal) made this connection on Twitter and, (potentially unpopular opinion) I didn’t see Apple showing the Vision Pro doing a whole lot of things that the XREAL Air can’t do – and the XREAL Air is literally a tenth of the price.

To be clear, Apple claims sarcastically high resolution for the Vision Pro. This allows users to do things like read emails and webpage text in-headset. This is still a bit of a tall order for products like XREAL.

Advancing Next-Generation Inputs

“By the time we have the Apple headset and the new Quest 3, everybody is going to be freaking out about how great hand tracking is and moving into this new world of possibilities,” said Moulder.

Hand-tracking does play a huge part in the Vision Pro announcement, as the Vision Pro doesn’t have controllers. While it can connect to other devices like Bluetooth keyboards, the headset uses a combination of gaze tracking, hand tracking, and voice commands – which was a first sign that the headset might not be particularly robust for applications like gaming.

Meta, on the other hand, has been experimenting with inputs like voice and gesture controls since the Quest 2, but is by no means ditching the controllers. As cool as gesture recognition is, more robust applications like games and enterprise applications require more nuanced controls – and for now, that still means buttons.

For what it’s worth, Moulder advocated for an input system that uses one controller for things like conjuring menus and one free hand for fine interactions. I would like to see a system like that work with applications like Nanome that provides intuitive interactions that would be great with hand tracking, but provides enough interactions that controllers are still the only way to go.

“Current hand tracking technology does not meet the needs that 6DoF controllers can provide, which consumer AR glasses don’t,” Nanome co-founder and CEO Steve McCloskey told ARPost in a recent in-platform interview.

Time Will Tell

Will flocks of people buy the Apple Vision Pro? Will those that don’t, pick up headsets like the Quest 3 or even consumer AR glasses? Do Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro exist in the same market, or was Zuckerberg wrong to time his announcement in a way that forced the two headsets into an artificial narrative? All I know is, it’s going to be an interesting couple of years.

Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro: A Tale of Two Headsets Read More »

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Is the Age of the QR Code Over (Again)?

AR platform, augmented reality, featured, webAR / /

The QR code has had its ups and downs in consumer AR. These grid icons scanned through the camera on a mobile device or XR headset provide a faster and easier way to access online content than typing in a URL.

However, they have their shortcomings in industry applications and can limit the accessibility and usability of increasingly connected physical environments for the typical user. That’s why AR companies including Taqtile and DEVAR are working on alternatives.

QR Codes in Enterprise

QR codes in many low-impact and sheltered areas do the job for things like indoor navigation. Because of their ease of use, they are also often employed in field applications. In these applications, the codes may pull up guided instructions, informational content, or other resources for deskless workers.

However, on rugged machinery or when used outdoors, QR codes may become faded by environmental exposure, damaged or worn down, or may be difficult for service workers to locate. Because they link to online content, they can also pose a security risk in some applications.

“Because phones and cameras can read QR codes, they can be used to identify equipment,”  Taqtile Chief Business Officer, Kelly Malone, told ARPost. “Removing this form of physical identification can reduce exposure of a unique vehicle or asset.”

To solve these problems, Taqtile developed Touch Alignment for its Manifest platform. The service allows users to identify three points on a piece of equipment that can be recognized by XR glasses or smart devices in the same way that a QR code would be. Touch Alignment works alongside Manifest’s other image-recognition abilities for identifiers like serial numbers.

Touch Alignment in Manifest

“With Touch Alignment, Manifest customers use physical locations on equipment as reference points to access virtual assets,” reads a release from Taqtile. “A series of three customer-assigned alignment points specific to the particular piece of equipment, or class of identical equipment such as a vehicle model, replaces the QR codes.”

augmented reality touch-alignment by Taqtile

According to the Taqtile representative, the company hasn’t recognized a limit on how close together or far apart the alignment points need to be, though “more than 12-18 inches between points provides the best alignment accuracy on larger pieces of equipment.” With the help of the operator, Touch Alignment still works if one or more of the alignment points are obscured.

“If there’s damage, a human approximation of where the point ‘should or would be’ is likely more accurate and, even if it’s not precise,Touch Alignment is forgiving enough to still be useful and provide directional/spatial assistance,” said Malone.

QR Codes “in the Wild”

QR codes are good for bringing up information about an environment because they are relatively small. However, they aren’t the best for bringing up information about an object. The code needs to be placed on an object, potentially obscuring it, or off of an object potentially losing context.

Recognition of the object itself would eliminate the need for any external marker. And, thanks to advances in computer vision, this technology is already coming to WebAR authoring tool MyWebAR by DEVAR.

MyWebAR’s 3D Object Tracking

“With an AR headset, you can see the world in real time, while the designed AR content completes your experience,” DEVAR founder and CTO Andrei Komissarov said in a release shared with ARPost. “3D object tracking is a logical milestone for us on our way and opens up huge opportunities for new industries in augmented reality.”

Devar - MyWebAR - 3D object tracking

The new capability recognizes physical objects when provided with a 3D model of the same object. The technology is currently in an early-access period for interested members of MyWebAR’s Enterprise subscribers. Early images of the technology show effects like lenses applied to figurines, but other use cases are potentially endless.

Replacing the QR Code?

There are still applications where QR codes work just fine. And, some people are still going to prefer them in some use cases. So, Taqtile and DEVAR will both continue to support visual markers on their platforms with their new markerless solutions serving as optional alternatives.

“We’ll continue to support QR codes for companies that prefer them, but we also want to provide a more elegant way to spatially anchor AR content, facilitating easier, more consistently available paths to access Manifest work instructions,” Taqtile CTO John Tomizuka said in the release.

Taqtile is also working on expanding the availability of Touch Alignment to more of its offered platforms, which are used more widely by customers and are often used together with Manifest.

“We plan to make it available to all the platforms that we support as long as it is useful for our customers. There are some dependencies that we have in terms of relying on how good the hand tracking is, as well as other factors like usability that will affect that decision,” said Tomizuka. “Ultimately, we want to have consistent concepts and processes on all the platforms that we support.”

Shared material from DEVAR similarly says that “we cannot disclose the full details about everything we have under development,” but further development on the company’s roadmap “allows us to take interaction with the real world and augmented reality content to a whole new level.”

The Next Major Tracking Solution?

Touch Alignment works as an enterprise solution because it works on large objects and maintains security of potentially sensitive information. MyWebAR’s 3D object tracking works as a consumer solution because it’s fast, easy, and works on smaller objects.

As we so often see with developments in XR, these QR code replacement solutions aren’t a case of two companies competing but rather different providers solving the same problem for different users and use cases.

Is the Age of the QR Code Over (Again)? Read More »

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Celebrating the 2023 Auggie Awards and XR Prize Challenge

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The Augmented World Expo has its own awards ceremony – the Auggie Awards. Watchers of the XR space submit nominations and vote for their favorites. A panel of distinguished judges then selects the winners from among the finalists. Or, at least, that’s how it works for the first 16 categories.

The Best in Show awards, the XR Startup to Watch, and a few other Auggie Awards are determined differently. This year also saw the award of the XR Prize Challenge that AWE founder and CEO Ori Inbar announced last year.

The 14th Annual Auggie Awards

“I’m super excited to be hosting the Auggie Awards ceremony for the 14th year,” said Inbar. “The Auggie Awards have been recognizing XR since 2010.”

Ori Inbar and Auggies

Inbar shared that there were a record 377 nominations this year, which public voting narrowed down to 89 finalists before 30 judges chose the 16 winners. Or, the 13 winners, as one organization left with a record-breaking three awards.

Auggie Awards 2023 judges

Best Art or Film

Developer, entrepreneur, and consultant Antony Vitillo, perhaps better known as “Skarred Ghost”, presented the first Auggie Award of the night for Best Art or Film.

“I totally love storytelling experiences and the emotions they give me,” said Vitillo.

The Auggie Award went to Delta Reality for The Museum of Digital Life. The massive multi-user art exhibit includes everything from 2D photographs to 3D objects and virtual worlds. Delta Reality was also nominated in the same category for The Metaverse Park and was up for Best Enterprise Solution and Best in Location-Based Entertainment.

The group won over Mutienliao, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Ferryman Collective. Unfortunately, no one from Delta Reality was present to accept the award.

Best Campaign

It was the “great pleasure” of University of South Australia Professor of Computer Human Interaction Mark Billinghurst to present the Auggie Award for Best Campaign. The award went to Zappar for Countdown: Bricks Farm. The interactive game for a New Zealand Supermarket included social lenses, games, and recipes.

Ori Inbar, Caspar Thykier, and Mark Billinghurst

“We talk about technology, but it’s all about the people,” Zappar CEO and co-founder Caspar Thykier said in accepting the award.

The experience beat out two experiences by CamOn XR and an experience by Viewtoo, as well as another Zappar experience that had also been nominated. Zappar was also up for Auggie Awards in the categories of Best Creator & Authoring Tool, Best Developer Tool, Best Headworn Device, Best in Location-Based Entertainment, and Best Societal Impact.

Best Collaboration Tool

Sony Electronics Head of XR Business Development Thaisa Yamamura was “honored to present” the Auggie Award for Best Collaboration Tool. She also presented the winner with a 15.6in Sony Spatial Reality Display.

The Auggie Award went to Pfizer for VR collaboration tools used in developing the COVID-19 vaccine, and was accepted by a representative of the company. Also nominated were Arthur, Morpheus, Holo-Light, and R3DT GmbH.

Best Consumer App

“We spend a lot of time talking about enterprise XR, and for good reason, but the consumer market is where things really scale,” XR analyst Mike Boland said in introducing the Best Consumer App category.

The Central Library of Düsseldorf App, by Exponential Dimensions, took home this award, despite facing stiff competition from the likes of Snap Inc. and Overlay LLC. The Auggie Award was accepted in person by a representative of the City of Düsseldorf.

Best Creator & Authoring Tool

“This is an exciting category because these are the tools we can all use to create amazing worlds for each other,” All These Worlds LLC founder Jackie Morie said in presenting the Auggie Award for Best Creator & Authoring Tool.

The Auggie Award went to Snap Inc for Lens Studio with fellow nominees Overlay LLC, Zappar, HoloPundits, ARSOFT, and DEEPFINE. The award was accepted in person by a representative who passed on praise to the “300,000 AR creators creating with us.”

Best Developer Tool

Another Snap representative, Head of Platform Developer Relations Tessa Kriesel, took the stage next to present the Auggie Award for Best Developer Tool. This category could have gone to anybody with finalists Blippar, Zappar, 8th Wall, Holo-Light, and Qualcomm, but echo3D took home the prize.

echo3D Auggie Awards 2023

Best Enterprise Solution

“XR Tech has the power to change the way we work but only when we have enterprises who do the development and work to bring those projects to us,” AWE Advisory Council member Shelley Peterson said in presenting the Auggie Award for Best Enterprise Solution.

Nominees in the packed category included Lowe’s Innovation Labs, Delta Reality, and HoloPundits, but Ajna Lense, an MR developer headset by Indian company Dimension NXG took the prize. The same headset was also a finalist in the Best Headword Device category.

Best Game or Toy

“This one has a special meaning to me as someone who has devoted his entire life to a toy,” skateboarder Rodney Mullen said in presenting the Auggie Award for Best Game or Toy.

Resolution Games was nominated for both Demeo and Spatial Ops, ILMxLAB was nominated for StarWars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge, and DB Creations was nominated for Table Trenches. However, the prize went home with the team of Innersloth, Schell Games, and Robot Teddy for Among Us VR. Or, it will be mailed home, as no one accepted the award in person.

Best Headworn Device

Science fiction author Daniel Suarez had the honor of presenting one of the evening’s most anticipated Auggie Awards – and perhaps the one with the stiffest competition.

Zappar’s Zapbox, DigiLens’ ARGO, Sony’s PlayStation VR 2, the Magic Leap 2, XREAL (previously Nreal) Air, and the Varjo XR 3 Focal Edition were all in the running, but the prize went to the HTC VIVE XR Elite.

best headworn device Auggie Awards AWE 2023

“We’re just so happy. This is something we’ve been working on for a long time,” HTC China President Alvin Graylin said in accepting the award. “We’re so excited to be recognized here.”

Best in Healthcare and Wellness

XR Association President Elizabeth Hyman called the field of healthcare and wellness “a great way to change the world” in presenting the Auggie Award for this category. Nominees included Groove Jones and Lucid Reality Labs but the award went home with ARSOFT for NextMED – a tool for medical visualization.

best healthcare and wellness Auggie Awards AWE 2023

“We’re here from Spain just to be with so many interesting companies and amazing people,” founder and CEO Santiago González said in accepting the award.

Best in Location-Based Entertainment

“So many people find their first XR experience through LBEs,” Hopscotch Interactive CEO Emily Olman said in presenting the Auggie. “This is an amazing category that brings so many people into XR for the first time every single day.”

Nominees included ONTOP and Delta Reality, but Thykier returned to the stage to accept the award for LEGO MYTHICA Magic Forrest – Zappar’s second Auggie of the night.

Ori Inbar, Caspar Thykier, and Emily Olman

“It’s everyone’s dream to work with a property like LEGO,” said Thykier. “There’s a wonderful team there and they’ll be happy that we’ve won this.”

Best Indie Creator

“Without our indie creators, there would not be an industry,” GatherVerse Summit founder Christopher Lafayette said in presenting the Auggie Award for Best Indie Creator. He also gave a “shoutout to our startups.”

In a field that included DB Creations and OnBoardXR, the prize went to Big Rock Creative, best known for bringing Burning Man into VR for the past three years. The producers, Doug Jacobson and Athena Demos gave brief speeches, but were accompanied onto the stage by a team of creators including the worldbuilding duo Cause and Christie.

Big Rock Creative

“We all start out as indie collaborators,” said Demos.

“I want to thank the whole team. We’re very excited to learn the language of storytelling in this new medium,” said Jacobs.

Best Interaction Product

“You guys are so lucky to have the XR devices and the ecosystem that you have out there,” Graylin said, returning to the stage to present the Auggie Award for Best Interaction Product. “These are good times.”

VIVE itself was nominated for their Self-Tracking Trackers, along with the likes of Leia Inc., SenseGlove, and Wisear. Graylin presented the award to TriLite for the Trixel 3, an impressively small projector for AR displays.

best interaction product Auggie Awards AWE 2023

“Thank you so much, AWE,” Head of Product Marketing and Business Development Susan Backhaus said in accepting the award. “This is a great recognition of our work.”

Best Snapdragon Spaces App

“We’ve been super impressed by the number and quality of applications we have seen,” Qualcomm’s Senior Director of XR Martin Herdina said in presenting the first Qualcomm-sponsored Auggie Award.

best snapdragon spaces Auggie Awards AWE 2023

The award went to Verizon for The Future of Training, an XR upskilling program. In this case, the Auggie also came with a $10,000 check from Qualcomm.

Best Societal Impact

Unity VP of Education and Social Impact Jessica Lindl said that “the world is a better place with more creatives in it,” as she prepared to award another of the evening’s most anticipated Auggies. The category had a number of repeat nominees including Lucid Reality Labs, with two experiences in this field, and Zappar for their Zapvision solution.

best societal impact Auggie Awards 2023

Thykier returned to the stage once again to accept the third Auggie Award of the night – beating the record that the company set last year. This time Thykier was accompanied by a number of Zappar representatives to accept the award that makes product information available to vision-impaired individuals through an enhanced QR code.

“We do a lot of exciting work at Zappar, but it’s amazing to do some important work,” said Thykier, who also gave special thanks to Unilever, the consumer packaged goods company that partnered with Zappar on the project. “This is the [Auggie] that is super important.”

Best Use of AI

“It came to the attention of the world recently that the singularity is underway,” AWE co-founder Tish Shute said in presenting the Auggie Award for Best Use of AI. “There is a cycle where AI feeds XR and XR feeds AI. This is going to cause an acceleration that is mind-boggling, to say the least.”

best use of AI - Auggie Awards AWE 2023

With competition like Move.ai and Avataar, it was a tough field. The Auggie was awarded to Maxar Technologies for SYNTH3D – a high-fidelity world-scale digital twin created with satellite data.

The Startup Pitch Competition

“We had an incredible group of startups pitch,” Boost VC Partner Maddie Callander said in presenting the Startup to Watch Auggie. “It’s always exciting to see the cutting edge.”

Atopia won from among the 14 finalists for “creating the metaverse of arts and culture.” The Auggie was accepted by co-founder Annabell Vacano.

Ori Inbar, Maddie Callander, and Annabell Vacano

“We couldn’t have done this without our small team back in Germany,” said Vacano.

Best In Show

WXR Fund Managing Partner Amy Lameyer presented the Best In Show award. This award is presented during the event wrap-up and considers expo floor interest. The award went to Sightful, one of the companies behind Spacetop – a laptop that uses AR glasses in lieu of a screen.

The award was accepted in-person by the company’s co-founders Tomer Kahan and Tamir Berliner. Berliner talked about the growth of AWE and of XR generally, including the massive presence of XR hardware at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. He also referenced Ori’s end-of-show announcement that AWE will move from Santa Clara to Long Beach.

“I do want to thank everyone here, but Ori, also to you. I met you, I think it was AWE 2014 in Tel Aviv, I think that there were about a hundred people there – not speakers, attendees,” said Berliner. “I think the move to LA is messaging everyone that CES should watch out because Consumer Electronics is becoming AWE.”

The AWEsome Award

The AWEsome Award is determined by a “complex algorithm” that includes “buzz,” participation, expo floor interest, and other factors. The Auggie was presented by XREAL founder Peng Jin.

The award went to EXIT SUIT but was not accepted in person. Ori commented that exhibitors are often packing up their booths while the event wrap-up is under way.

Visual Impact

A special award, the “Visual Impact Award” was presented by NTT Ltd. Group Vice President of Connected Industry Rika Nakazawa to the XR artist best known as Sutu. Sutu had created the art used for promoting AWE but also used as the backdrop on the main stage.

“I’m so happy that Ori asked me to create the art,” said Sutu. “It’s been a journey. I was at AWE in the early days and to see what it’s become and to be a part of that, it’s been a journey.”

The XR Prize Challenge

Last year, Inbar announced The XR Prize Challenge: “A global competition to harness the power of XR to fight climate change” with a $100,000 grand prize. 230 projects were submitted. 150 of those advanced to the next level. 90 of those submitted a minimum viable product. Those were narrowed down to 11 finalists. In the end, there were three runners-up and one winner.

The runners-up and grand prize winners were announced in the categories Optimize, Educate, Visualize, and Replace. All runners-up received an Nvidia graphics card.

Optimize

Niantic VP of Business Development Jenna Seiden presented the runner-up in the Optimize category, saying that “the technologies that we’re celebrating tonight make the world more magical.”

incitu

The award went to inCitu, a project that shows immersive models of familiar locations in potential futures – for example, as impacted by rising sea levels due to climate change. An earlier version of the experience had first been demod at a 2019 AWE event in Munich.

Educate

IEEE Standards Association President Yu Yuan presented the runner up in the education category saying, “education is very important to get more people working with us in XR.” The award went to Mangrove City – a VR experience that helps users understand the ecological significance of wetlands.

mangrove city AWE 2023

Visualize

University of Oregon Assistant Professor of Immersive Media Psychology Danny Pimentel presented the runner up in the “Visualize” category.

“It was moving to see so many organizations and creators around the world leverage these technologies in such thoughtful ways,” said Pimentel.

Qikiqtaruk

The award went to Qikiqtaruk: Experiencing the Arctic Under Threat. The project brought in multiple co-creators to make a virtual tour of a national park that serves as an immediate example of the impacts of climate change.

The Grand Prize

Tom Furness, founder of the Virtual World Society, presented the Grand Prize to Between Two Worlds. The AR app helps users learn about endangered species, their habitats, and why they are endangered.

Another Year, Gone

That wrapped another year of the Auggie Awards and of the Augmented World Expo. Of course, events are coming up in Europe and Asia, as well as regional meetups and events that visitors can join on the AWE.live app. Until next year, it’s time to make some Auggies-worthy news for next time.

Celebrating the 2023 Auggie Awards and XR Prize Challenge Read More »

awe-usa-2023-day-three:-eyes-on-apple

AWE USA 2023 Day Three: Eyes on Apple

AI, Apple Inc., AR/VR events, augmented reality, AWE, Events, extended reality, featured, Meta, trending / /

The last, third day of AWE USA 2023 took place on Friday, June 2. The first day of AWE is largely dominated by keynotes. A lot of air on the second day is taken up by the expo floor opening. By the third day, the keynotes are done, the expo floor starts to get packed away, and panel discussions and developer talks rule the day. And Apple ruled a lot of those talks.

Bracing for Impact From Apple

A big shift is expected this week as Apple is expected to announce its entrance into the XR market. The writing has been on the wall for a long time.

Rumors have probably been circulating for longer than many readers have even been watching XR. ARPost started speculating in 2018 on a 2019 release. Five years of radio silence later and we had reports that the product would be delayed indefinitely.

The rumor mill is back in operation with an expected launch this week (Apple’s WWDC23 starts today) – with many suggesting that Meta’s sudden announcement of the Quest 3 is a harbinger. Whether an Apple entrance is real this time or not, AWE is bracing itself.

Suspicion on Standards

Let’s take a step back and look at a conversation that happened on AWE USA 2023 Day Two, but is very pertinent to the emerging Apple narrative.

The “Building Open Standards for the Metaverse” panel moderated by Moor Insights and Strategy Senior Analyst Anshel Sag brought together XR Safety Initiative (XRSI) founder and CEO Kavya Pearlman, XRSI Advisor Elizabeth Rothman, and Khronos Group President Neil Trevett.

Apple’s tendency to operate outside of standards was discussed. Even prior to their entrance into the market, this has caused problems for XR app developers – Apple devices even have a different way of sensing depth than Android devices. XR glasses tend to come out first or only on Android in part because of Android’s more open ecosystem.

“Apple currently holds so much power that they could say ‘This is the way we’re going to go.’ and the Metaverse Standards Forum could stand up and say ‘No.’,” said Pearlman, expressing concern over accessibility of “the next generation of the internet”.

Trevett expressed a different approach, saying that standards should present the best option, not the only option. While standards are more useful the more groups use them, competition is helpful and shows diversity in the industry. And diversity in the industry is what sets Apple apart.

“If Apple does announce something, they’ll do a lot of education … it will progress how people use the tech whether they use open standards or not,” said Trevett. “If you don’t have a competitor on the proprietary end of the spectrum, that’s when you should start to worry because it means that no one cares enough about what you’re doing.”

Hope for New Displays

On Day Three, KGOn Tech LLC’s resident optics expert Karl Guttag presented an early morning developer session on “Optical Versus Passthrough Mixed Reality.” Guttag has been justifiably critical of Meta Quest Pro’s passthrough in particular. Even for optical XR, he expressed skepticism about a screen replacement, which is what the Apple headset is largely rumored to be.

karl guttag AWE 2023 Day 3
Karl Guttag

“One of our biggest issues in the market is expectations vs. reality,” said Guttag. “What is hard in optical AR is easy in passthrough and vice versa. I see very little overlap in applications … there is also very little overlap in device requirements.”

A New Generation of Interaction

“The Quest 3 has finally been announced, which is great for everyone in the industry,” 3lbXR and 3lb Games CEO Robin Moulder said in her talk “Expand Your Reach: Ditch the Controllers and Jump into Mixed Reality.” “Next week is going to be a whole new level when Apple announces something – hopefully.”

robin moulder AWE 2023 Day 3
Robin Moulder

Moulder presented the next round of headsets as the first of a generation that will hopefully be user-friendly enough to increase adoption and deployment bringing more users and creators into the XR ecosystem.

“By the time we have the Apple headset and the new Quest 3, everybody is going to be freaking out about how great hand tracking is and moving into this new world of possibilities,” said Moulder.

More on AI

AI isn’t distracting anyone from XR and Apple isn’t distracting anyone from AI. Apple appearing as a conference theme doesn’t mean that anyone was done talking about AI. If you’re sick of reading about AI, at least read the first section below.

Lucid Realities: A Glimpse Into the Current State of Generative AI

After two full days of people talking about how AI is a magical world generator that’s going to take the task of content creation off of the shoulders of builders, Microsoft Research Engineer Jasmine Roberts set the record straight.

jasmine roberts AWE 2023
Jasmine Roberts

“We’ve passed through this techno-optimist state into dystopia and neither of those are good,” said Roberts. “When people think that [AI] can replace writers, it’s not really meant to do that. You still need human supervisors.”

AI not being able to do everything that a lot of people think it can isn’t the end of the world. A lot of the things that people want AI to do is already possible through other less glamorous tools.

“A lot of what people want from generative AI, they can actually get from procedural generation,” said Roberts. “There are some situations where you need bespoke assets so generative AI wouldn’t really cut it.”

Roberts isn’t against AI – her presentation was simply illustrating that it doesn’t work the way that some industry outsiders are being led to believe. That isn’t the same as saying that it doesn’t work. In fact, she brought a demo of an upcoming AI-powered Clippy. (You remember Clippy, right?)

Augmented Ecologies

Roberts was talking about the limitations of AI. The “Augmented Ecologies” panel moderated by AWE co-founder Tish Shute, saw Three Dog Labs founder Sean White,  Morpheus XR CTO Anselm Hook, and Croquet founder and CTO David A. Smith talking about what happens when AI is the new dominant life form on planet Earth.

Tish Shute, Sean White, Anselm Hook, and David Smith - AWE 2023 Day 3
From left to right: Tish Shute, Sean White, Anselm Hook, and David Smith

“We’re kind of moving to a probabilistic model, it’s less deterministic, which is much more in line with ecological models,” said White.

This talk presented the scenario in which developers are no longer the ones running the show. AI takes on a life of its own, and that life is more capable than ours.

“In an ecology, we’re not necessarily at the center, we’re part of the system,” said Hook. “We’re not necessarily able to dominate the technologies that are out there anymore.”

This might scare you, but it doesn’t scare Smith. Smith described a future in which AI becomes the legacy that can live in environments that humans never can, like the reaches of space.

“The metaverse and AI are going to redefine what it means to be human,” said Smith. “Ecosystems are not healthy if they are not evolving.”

“No Longer the Apex”

On the morning of Day Two, the Virtual World Society and the VR/AR Association hosted a very special breakfast. Invited were some of the most influential leaders in the immersive technology space. The goal was to discuss the health and future of the XR industry.

The findings will be presented in a report, but some of the concepts were also presented at “Spatial Computing for All” – a fireside chat with Virtual World Society Founder Tom Furness, HTC China President Alvin Graylin, and moderated by technology consultant Linda Ricci.

The major takeaway was that the industry insiders aren’t particularly worried about the next few years. After that, the way in which we do work might start to change and that might have to change the ways that we think about ourselves and value our identities in a changing society.

AWE Is Changing Too

During the show wrap-up, Ori Inbar had some big news. “AWE is leveling up to LA.” This was the fourteenth AWE. Every AWE, except for one year when the entire conference was virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in Santa Clara. But, the conference has grown so much that it’s time to move.

AWE 2024 in LA

“I think we realized this year that we were kind of busting at the seams,” said Inbar. “We need a lot more space.”

The conference, which will take place from June 18-20 will be in Long Beach, with “super, super early bird tickets” available for the next few weeks.

Yes, There’s Still More

Most of the Auggie Awards and the winners of Inbar’s climate challenge were announced during a ceremony on the evening of Day Two. During the event wrap-up, the final three Auggies were awarded. We didn’t forget, we just didn’t have room for them in our coverage.

So, there is one final piece of AWE coverage just on the Auggies. Keep an eye out. Spoiler alert, Apple wasn’t nominated in any of the categories.

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