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Introduction Being a tool for creating stories, virtual reality is the next step in video content development after 3D and IMAX with the main purpose to immerse the audience in a story. Media giants and small studios already use this technology to produce 3D VR movies. How VR Movies Immerses a Viewer into the Story Virtual reality is a digital space that provides unlimited possibilities to create preferred settings. In general, it all depends on the authors’ fantasy only. But the main purpose of a VR story is to fully immerse a viewer in the reality, created by the author.  “Now VR can do that today because we have a vastly improved sense of presence in the technology,” said Julie Krohner during a TED Talk.  “Presence is a mind-body trick that happens where our brains count a virtual experience as if it was a real one.”  What Virtual Reality Films Actually Look Like There are some main differences between VR movie and standard ones created for cinemas and TV: Special filming equipment that contains 360 camera, special montage programs, and a VR headset for estimating filmed material; Scriptwriters always consider the number of people and set pieces which will be included in a 360 panorama. “When we really got into the “meat” of writing the script, it was already really clear that it was going to be in VR,” said Gaelle Mourre, the scriptwriter and the director of the 360 degree movie Mechanical Souls. “So, we’ve got to consider, you know, the space, and make sure that there are multiple things happening at the time without crowding the main action. So, we’ve worked out into the script.”; Radius of filming – objects located outside 1,5 meter radius will have a blurred look in virtual reality movie; In VR 360 movie, every actor gets in the spotlight. Melanie Forchetti, a journalist of American online media Backstage, recalls her experience of visiting the set of a VR film “Career Opportunities in Organized Crime” in her own article. “This is a great opportunity for actors because no matter if you’re in the starring role or cast as a background performer, you could be the center of attention. Someone in the audience is potentially looking at you. You have to assume that everything you do — raise an eyebrow, interact with a set piece, etc. — will be seen by someone at any given moment (or when the film is viewed subsequent times)”, said Forchetti. Director should consider the fact, viewers can watch movies in VR at any angle. That’s one of the main differences compared to a standard movie where a director has the ability to emphasize the story atmosphere and characters, using different camera angles. “I think, in the storytelling realm, something is opening up. And that you give the person who’s viewing the experience, a lot of control. So, as a director, you also have to let go certain control. And that’s very hard, but it’s really interesting”, said Jorge Tereso, the director of a VR animated film Gloomy Eyes.  Where VR Storytelling is Applied the Most There are two main directions of virtual reality storytelling:  producing original VR films; producing interactive virtual reality entertainment, which complements already existing popular movie and TV franchises and provides additional experience for fans. There are a lot of bright examples of the VR use in these fields, which demonstrate the possibilities of virtual reality in the movie industry.  Virtual Reality Movies Oculus Story Studio became one of the very first studios to begin actively producing VR film. Their first virtual reality animated movie “Henry”, released in 2015, is about one hedgehog who struggles with findings some friends. In this article, you can read more about their latest movies. 3dar and Atlas V produced a 30-minute animated movie Gloomy Eyes. The 2020 movie tells the story in a setting where the sun is tired of seeing people and refused to rise in the sky. Because of the darkness, zombies come out of their graves, including the boy named Gloomy, who encounters a mortal girl, Nena.  The Hollywood actor Colin Farrell plays the narrator of the story. A 13-minute VR movie Mechanical Souls tells the story about Chinese wedding, on which the rich bride’s father hired androids as bridesmaids. But when his daughter tries to modify one of the androids, suddenly it goes out of control.  This virtual reality movie was shot with the help of 360 technology, featuring real-life actors. VR Interactive Content for Famous Franchises The biggest streaming giants have actively begun using virtual reality as the way to demonstrate their content. For example, Disney+ designed an app, Disney Movies VR, where a headset user can get in the studio’s most popular movies locations, including Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe. This interactive experience is an addition to already existing films. And with the help of Disney Movies VR, a viewer can become their favorite movie character.  Netflix, in their turn, released YouTube Stranger Things 360о Virtual Reality Experience as a part of the show’s promo campaign. It immerses fans in the one of the first season main location. A viewer gets into a room of Byers house, decorated with Christmas lights. During this experience, a viewer is approaching ringing white telephone. After the phone is picked, we can hear the voice of a missing boy, Will Byers: “Hello? Can you hear me? You have to listen! You’re here! Turn around!” Conclusion Innovative virtual reality technology is a new, undiscovered platform for artists they can use to tell their stories. For now, author’s VR movies aren’t very popular, but some media giants, e.g., Disney and Netflix, produce additional VR content for fans who want to be a part of a favorite story. 

Our experience in XR project development shows that the applications our clients order often contain similar features, for example, it can be 2D drawing or interaction with objects. In each project, we developed features from scratch, even if we had already implemented them before. In order to optimize this process, we decided to develop a special library, the advantages of which we want to briefly tell you about in this post. This will be the first in a series in which we will focus on the benefits of this solution for our customers. In the future, we will talk in more detail about the structure of the library and its components. In short, the main idea of ​​our library is the development of typical features that we encounter from project to project. The library will contain the API with the core logic of the features and their implementation for specific Platforms, such as Oculus, Pico, iOS, Android, etc. There will be about 20 features in total that will be further supplemented. Why is it beneficial for our customers to have such a library? 1. The speed of project development increases, as a result, it becomes possible to bring the product to the market faster Due to the fact that we have already developed the main features for various platforms, there is no need to develop them from scratch for a new project. This saves time and therefore costs for our customers. 2. The reliability and quality of feature implementation is growing, while risks, code problems, and testing costs are being reduced All the features that we add to the library are constantly used in our projects. As a result, you get reliable functionality, perfected on various projects, which is constantly optimized. 3. The available functionality is expanding, as a result, it becomes possible to use all the properties of the features Clients need different functionality, for example, 2D drawing can be used in a VR smart office to draw on a flipchart, or it can be used in a 2D android application for signing documents. Thanks to our library, you will get all the available functionality of a feature, for example, the same 2D drawing, from which you can use the features you need. 4. Continuous improvement, resulting in the ability to receive feature updates even after the completion of the project After we have finished working on your project, the improvement of the library does not stop. You can also enjoy these benefits. We provide our customers with feature updates with new possibilities. To sum up, we want to once again dwell on the main advantages of the library we are developing: development speed, reliability and quality, accessible functionality, and continuous improvement. That’s all for today. Follow our future materials, they will contain more details on the internal filling of the library.

Virtual reality is an artificially created 3D environment which makes an illusion of our world. In the beginning, this technology was mostly applied for games and other kinds of interactive entertainment. However, virtual reality found its application in many other fields like healthcare, education, military, space domain, etc. In our previous post, we talked about 5 interesting solutions in AR for different fields in 2022. In this blog post, we would like to talk about 5 solutions in VR that deserve your personal attention. VR in Education (Mondly VR) VR technologies with immersive effects do not just improve the process of learning languages but also helps to break the language barrier. 95% of learners were proved to fail at learning English due to irresistible obstacles. The main reasons for their failure are the lack of language practice beyond lessons and instructed setting with a limited number of sessions (2–4 per week). Mondly, a world-famous company, developed a VR application for learning foreign languages. It contains different real-life simulations where the studied language can be applied: taxi, restaurant, train, hotel, etc. The user can communicate with virtual characters and gradually develop their language skills. VR in Art and Exhibition (VR Louvre) Thanks to VR technology, there is a new possibility to show museums and exhibitions from a completely different angle: VR museum visitors are four times faster to get emotionally connected to the material of certain historical age; VR recreates some historically important places which don’t exist physically anymore; visiting VR museums is completely free of the disadvantages of the real institutions: the lack of time for one historical piece, a huge crowd of people, and long lines near the entrance and ticket office. The Louvre in Paris became one of the first museums with its own VR program for distant visitors around the world. The authors of this program have completely recreated the museum’s three wings: Denon, Sully, and Richelieu. In Denon, a user with VR goggles can admire da Vinci Mona Lisa’s digital version. There are more than 35 thousand pieces of exhibition recreated in VR Louvre, from 6th century BC up to 19th century. VR in Trainings (Virtual Speech) As far as we know, modern VR makes company workers’ training faster and more effective. According to the statistics, trainees are 50% faster to get new skills during VR training. Also, workers feel 40% more confident at applying new working skills after VR courses. Virtual Speech created special VR courses for improving speech and self-representation skills. Virtual Speech lets students learn through self-paced classes. The student gets through online courses with theory and practice of self-representation, leadership, marketing, sales, etc. Next step — VR practice with instant feedback. Virtual Speech has more than 25 different courses with more than 50 different tasks. Now, more than 350 000 users from more than 130 countries are currently using this program. VR in Cinema (Oculus Studio) Cinematography is another field, significantly influenced by VR technologies. Starting from 2009’s Avatar release, the world movie industry attached high priority to 3D, which allows immersing the audience in their movies. It’s quite possible, that VR will be the next step of movie evolution after 3D. Oculus (now Meta), the first company that made VR popular, has its own Oculus Story Studio, which has already created the first VR movies. Their most current project is VR series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. In collaboration with NASA and TIME Studios, the crew filmed more than 200 hours of footage and 18 hours of interviews with astronauts over the last two years. VR in Healthcare (AbbVie Virtual) VR has already become a huge part of healthcare. Nowadays, VR diagnostics are one of the most effective ways to detect diseases and treatment. VR diagnostics can be applied with other kinds of diagnostics, like MRI. Also, virtual reality diagnostics is a great alternative to invasive and surgical procedures. AbbVie Deutschland with ANIMA RES have created the AbbVie Virtual application, which lets doctors carry out diagnostics using VR technology. A doctor can send a robot to scan and find the main cause of skin disease. Every robot is located in a virtual hangar, you can make an unlimited number of trips to different body types with. Conclusion All mentioned programs, applications, and movies are just a small part of what modern VR industry actually is. The number of fields where virtual reality is getting applied is gradually growing every year. The main reason of increasing popularity of VR are constant improving of this technology and the prices for VR equipment that are getting more affordable. Moreover, the use of VR gives a new possibility to look at good old fields from a completely different angle.  

Today, we’re in the very early stages of virtual reality development. Nevertheless, VR is already applied in many different fields, including journalism.  A lot of popular media, e.g., The Guardian, the New York Times, and The Huffington Post, started using VR and 360о video as a new format of storytelling, which helps audiences immerse into the digital version of a specific event. Evolution of VR Journalism VR journalism is the innovative way to tell a story in the digital reality, where a real event or a problem is recreated. In general, modern VR journalism is divided into two main categories: 360о videos and VR movies.  Pioneer of VR Journalism Nonny de la Peña is considered “the godmother of modern virtual reality”. In 2007, a former New York Times journalist founded the Emblematic Group company, which produces VR content with definite linear storylines. The Hunger in Los Angeles is considered to be the very first VR documentary, released at Sundance Film Festival in 2012. The visitors of the event could see the movie in a VR headset prototype, designed by future Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey. Audiences got a chance to get immersed in a virtual Los Angeles and see a  man in diabetic shock losing his consciousness when he was standing in the line.  “People broke down in tears as they handed back the goggles,” said de la Peña. “That’s when I knew this tool could let viewers experience and understand an event in a completely new way.” After the movie’s success, Emblematic Group released a number of acclaimed VR documentaries. Greenland Melting, released in 2017, is one of them.  According to the plot, a VR headset user gets on a survey shipboard, watches, and estimates the scale of Greenland ice melting. Greenland Melting also became one of the first VR movies shown at the Venice Film Festival the same year. 360o Video Journalism in Mass Media  In the second half of the 2010s, the New York Times and The Huffington Post were among the first media to start complementing their articles with 360о videos. These videos can expand the event’s perceptions, like, for example, the 360о video series Out of Sight by The Huffington Post. The three-part miniseries tell about the life of Congo and Nigeria people, who suffer from three neglected tropical diseases: elephantiasis, river blindness, and sleeping sickness. With the help of 360о videos, you can also recreate historically important places changed many years ago. In the documental featurette Remembering Emmett Till by New York Times, the location from the old photos and modern ones were assembled with the help of  this technology. The main purpose is to show the place of the cruel murder of 14-years old black boy Emmett Till, which happened more than 60 years ago. The teenager was falsely accused of offending a white woman.  The main advantages of using VR in Journalism One of the main advantages of the VR journalism is the possibility to plunge in the true story with a better understanding of the subject. The most recent sir David Attenborough’s VR documentary First Life is available to watch on Oculus TV. The 11-minute VR featurette tells the story about the beginning of life on Earth and the very first creatures that appeared in the World Ocean. The original 2D movie was released in 2010. And with the help of virtual reality, the headset users can literally get into the digital version of the prehistoric period.  With the help of VR, a headset user becomes an active participant in the story, not a passive viewer. Anthony Geffen, movie producer and Atlantic Productions founder, told about his working experience in creating sir David Attenborough VR movies during his TED Talk. “We wanted to take you, guys, on a completely submerged journey, with David as your guide. The beauty of – when you’re building these kinds of stories, and we have these kinds of situations – is that you can see how the camera can move around. And we realized we were going to have to do this “on a rails” experience. On a rails means we’re pushing you through the experience, but you’re able to look where you want to,” said Geffen. Also, virtual reality can enhance viewers’ empathy and improve their understanding of the problem. Oscar-winning documentary Colette by The Guardian was converted into VR and available for Oculus headset users. Thanks to this format, the viewer can soak in the story of Colette Marine-Catherine who fought Nazis in France during World War II.   What You Should Pay Attention to While Creating VR Story VR is a relatively new tool for storytelling and it’s not completely researched, as professional journalists started working with it only in the first half of the 2010s. Therefore, you should be aware of  the possible risks of using VR in journalism:  The absence of a definite ethical code regulates the demonstration of some materials which may cause witness trauma in people with unstable mental health. Only in North America, approximately 30% of individuals who had witnessed traumatic events developed PTSD;  virtual reality could serve as a weapon to share misinformation and fake news in potential informational wars. Like deepfake technology, for example. Russians have already used it in the war with Ukraine when they made a fake video featuring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky surrendering.  Conclusion Virtual reality is a new digital tool, which is used to tell stories thoroughly and convincingly by many journalists. With the help of VR, you can engage the viewers and cause empathy in them. But, at the same time, this tool can be used as a platform to share fake news and misinformation. 

Modern worldwide companies like Meta, HTC, and Microsoft are developing virtual offices for remote workers. COVID-19 was one of the reasons why VR offices are gradually becoming popular.  Pricewaterhouse Cooper predicts that 23.5 million people will have virtual reality workplaces by 2030.  Besides, in the next five years, Meta plans to create 10 000 new workplaces in the metaverse for European Union countries like Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, The Netherlands, and Spain.  What is VR office and its purpose  VR office is a digital space where people work, communicate, and interact with their colleagues using avatars. VR office space resembles a real one, but has some special traits.  The main task of a virtual office is to create favorable work conditions for people who can do remote collaboration from different parts of the world. How to choose a virtual office We talked to the head of the XR department Oleksii V. on what a VR office should be like,  to meet all the requirements of a company, which needs an office like this. According to him, the main purpose of the VR office as a digital version of the real one is to give a VR headset user the necessary tool kit to make them feel like they’re actually in this office. Also, this experience can help them  participate in conferences, carry out presentations, and communicate with colleagues and authorities directly.  “What you should pay attention to it so that, depending on purpose of designing VR office, you can have a different number of tool kits. Let’s say you need drawing or YouTube video streaming, somewhere you need to be able to download, show, and discuss PDF files, somewhere you need to show 3D models. Thus, it all depends on the field and specifics of the industry we design virtual offices for,” Oleksii V. said.   Advantages of VR office Flexible Workflow Customization The possibility to work in a fully customized virtual workplace that fits people’s functional and esthetical needs is the one of the main advantages of VR office work.  For example, VR app Immersed gives access to 15 different locations where VR headset user can work: from the cave with waterfall to the space station on the Earth orbit. There’s also a virtual coworking place, designed as a café, available for people around the world in the Immersed app.  Increased remote work productivity A comfortable virtual workplace helps to increase productivity. It is possible due to maximal isolation from various distractions. As the result, virtual reality workplace makes worker unleash their full potential.  According to the research, remote workers in Deep Mode increase their productivity by 48%  and make up for 16 hours of working time lost because of distractions.  Gender inequality decrease  Workers’ digital avatars shouldn’t necessarily represent their gender and appearance. So, it can positively affect gender equality and fight discrimination by gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.  Experiments with blind auditions of musicians prove this point. The idea was to prevent judges from seeing musicians’ appearance during the audition. And this gave some results:  five top-rated US orchestras increased the number of female musicians from 6% in 1970 to 21% in 1993. The New York  Philharmonic orchestra increased the number of women from 0% to 33% у 1997.  Communication improvement Modern technologies allow digital avatars to represent the host’s appearance and emotions. Oculus presented new, improved avatar’s functions, with enlarged choice of emotions, skin colors, face shapes, and limited number of clothes. Also, users can add over-the-ear hearing aids and wheelchairs to their digital avatars.  “We hope your new virtual self enables you to represent yourself online the way you want to be represented — whether that’s to friends and family, your local community, or beyond”, said Aigerim Shorman, General Manager for Avatars and Identity at Meta.  VR office disadvantages you should pay attention to Virtual reality remote work is a new field of digital technologies, which have both advantages and disadvantages. We suggest paying attention to:  personal data leaks; possible violations of privacy and harassment; the necessary equipment still isn’t available to everyone and evenly distributed around the world.  Solving this issues can make virtual space safer, which may positively affect the distribution of the digital office technology.  Conclusion Today, VR remote work is gradually becoming popular. The COVID-19 pandemic kick-started VR offices development. Virtual offices make remote work more productive, support team work, and improve interaction between colleagues. 

Two years ago, we developed an AR application that allows users to try on different glasses in real time based on the shape of the face. Then the main difficulty was to accurately determine the shape of the head in order to give appropriate recommendations for the selection of the shape of the glasses. It was also necessary to implement a clear positioning of glasses on the face when the user moves his head. Two years have passed. Technologies are actively developing. We decided to transfer the functionality of our application to the web using WebAR. There are several reasons for this: 1. User-friendliness The advantage of WebAR over an application is that nothing needs to be downloaded. The module can be integrated into any site and allow users to try on glasses in augmented reality right in the browser, using either a mobile or desktop computer. It is also convenient for the customer, since there is no need to develop an application separately for Android and iOS. 2. Recognition speed Two years ago, facial recognition on the web was only possible at a low speed, about 5 frames per second, which made it almost impossible to develop solutions for it. For comparison, in applications, this figure was 30-40 frames per second. Currently, the recognition rate for the web is 30 frames per second. This is quite enough for correct operation. 3. Technology Previously, there were few libraries that allow face recognition. Now there are new options you can choose. We used TensorFlow, namely two neural networks for specific tasks: tracking the position of the face and determining its shape. To do this, we developed our own algorithm that creates and predicts all the key points of the face and the distance between them, which allows the system to determine the shape of the face with an accuracy of 95.8%. It is based on the rules of facial geometry and proportions used by artists. If you want to develop an AR solution for face recognition, human hands or other objects, then it is better to be done on the web. In addition to the fact that now there are all technological capabilities for this, you also make it easier for users to use your solution: there is no need to download and install applications, you can integrate it into any site as a separate module.

Coaches, teams, and athletes use virtual reality as an effective way to train skills in boxing, golf, football, tennis, etc.  The US athletes use VR the most. By 2031, the US VR sports market will have reached 56,7 USD billion.  The way VR sports training is applied Virtual reality for sports training is primarily called to improve practical skills. For example, professional boxers and amateurs can train in the VR app The Thrill of the Fight for Oculus Quest. In this app, a player can beat a virtual punching bag and compete with an opponent in the ring. In the game, an athlete can move around the room and punch, similar to a real-life ring, which enhances the immersion effect. The Thrill of the Fight also helps players improve their virtual rival’s abilities: increase their speed, punch power, ability to dodge, stamina during the fight, and more. The fight with a rival could last up to twelve rounds.  With the help of VR, athletes can develop necessary tactical skills required for car racing and team games. German football association has gone into partnership with Beyond Sports to design VR and AR cognitive and tactical training.  In virtual reality, football players enhance their abilities to make decisions during the game and improve the awareness of their position on the field. This training program also contains in-game scenario development and time-pressured tasks, thus helping to develop athletes’ psychological skills. Moreover, VR is applied to athletes’ physical training. Using the VR app Move for Oculus, a sportsman can track the number of exercises and burned calories, during the training and after it. A player can see the tournament table with daily statistics and the list of most recently used programs.  Also, athletes can use virtual reality for physical recovery after serious injuries. Gamified exercises are designed to recover muscle functions and pain decrease. More detailed information about VR apps for rehabilitation you can read here.  The main advantages of VR sports training The main advantages of virtual reality for sports training include the following: Safe training environment  Doctor Ancret Szpak from the University of South Australia carried out an experiment to train and estimate abilities of 57 volunteers, who played VR game Eleven: Table Tennis.  “Our research shows the potential that VR sports training can have in real-world settings,” said Szpak. “The real benefit is an ability to learn and practice tasks that may be logistically difficult, dangerous or impractical to do in the real world.”  VR provides gamified sports training With FitXR app, an athlete can have a wide range of gamified workout programs like boxing, dancing, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). In VR programs, a player can hit digital balls by hands or repeat dance moves after virtual instructor. Athletes can also choose their own personal real-life coach, who can guide and motivate them during VR sports training. Virtual reality can help reduce pain and relieve training process Maria Matsangidou, a doctoral researcher in the School of Engineering and Digital Arts at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, conducted an experiment on VR influence on pain level and athletes’ stamina. She asked 80 volunteers to do biceps exercise and hold the weight as long as possible.  One half of the athletes wore VR headset during the workouts, another half didn’t. Research showed that during heavyweight lift, pain level of athletes with VR headset was 10% lower, compared to those who trained with no VR equipment. Also, sportsmen who trained in the virtual reality, could hold the weight 2 minutes longer.  Ensuring realism during virtual reality sports training The app  VR Tennis Training Simulator for Oculus Quest provides realistic virtual gaming experience. A customized engine was designed to create maximally plausible recreation of the physics of the tennis ball movement. It takes into account such factors like side wind, racket string tension, and how the ball acts after it hit the racket and the floor.  Conclusion Gamified process of virtual reality can enhance athletes’ stamina and improve their physical, tactical, and psychological skills. Realistic virtual environment helps sportsmen train at any place, regardless of the weather, special equipment availability, and training real-life space. 

Introduction VR usage provides new possibilities for museums to demonstrate their own exhibits. Also, virtual reality helps museums to create a new, more interesting experience, so visitors could understand famous artists’ works more deeply.  In virtual reality, you can demonstrate digital copies of famous pieces of art or design non-available or non-existing objects. Along with modern VR headset possibilities, museums can create a realistic, amusing, and easily accessible experience for museum visitors.  More than 2000 museums apply virtual reality technology, including the Parisian Louvre, National Gallery, Vatican Museums, etc.  VR is the new way to see the art Virtual reality is a creative platform for museums and other institutions, where exhibitions are held. VR allows you not only to show the exact digital copy of the piece of art, but also to see it from a different perspective. The Night Cafe: A VR Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh for Oculus Rift is a bright example of this kind of a VR exhibition. This app helps VR headset user immerse in famous Vincent Van Gogh painting «The Night Cafe». Using this app, a visitor get straight into the very same picture, where they can see the drawn objects from a different angle. The immersion effect is enhanced by animated pictures of people in a cafe and the chandeliers’ light which shimmers with living strokes of paint.  VR as a remote way to see national parks In addition, VR is also applied for remote virtual excursions to famous national parks. Fulufjället Virtual Tour is only the first part of the Virtual National Parks by IVAR Studios. The main purpose of the VR excursion is to provide free access to Fulufjället’s natural attractions to users around the world. In general, IVAR Studios plans to design VR excursions for 30 Swedish national parks. Fulufjället National Park is known by Njupeskär, the Sweden’s tallest  waterfall, on the Njupån river. The total height of the waterfall is 125 meters. A VR park visitor can see the spruce, also known as the «Old Tjikko». It is more than 9 550 years old and considered the world’s oldest tree.  VR as a way to recreate historical places With virtual reality, museums are capable to recreate historically important places, which are significantly changed or don’t exist anymore. For example, Tate Britain designed the VR exhibition Modigliani VR: The Ochre Atelier, dedicated to a famous Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani. The exhibit lets users see a virtual version of a Parisian artist’s studio in the way it was back in 1919. The studio still exists, but today its interior is significantly changed. VR is the way to restore the lost art Museums also use VR for saving destroyed and stolen pieces of art in a digital format. On 18 March 1990, two robbers, disguised as policemen, stole 13 paintings worth 300 US dollars from The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. These pieces of art and criminals were never found. However, Ziv Schneider, a multimedia artist and designer, developed lost paintings in the VR Museum of Stolen Art, where the digital copies of missing pictures are shown.  The virtual museum also has two additional rooms, where visitors can look at pieces of art stolen from the National Museums of Iraq and Afghanistan. After the war in Iraq began, more than 14,000 exhibits has been stolen from the state’s museum. This theft is considered one of the largest art thefts in history. Conclusion Worldwide popular museums in Great Britain, France, and the USA use VR not only for remote exhibitions. Virtual reality helps visitors to change their perception of art. Also, VR gives us a chance to see missing pieces of art. And it’s just a small part of the possibilities of virtual reality, which changes the world around us. 

Metaverse is based on virtual and augmented reality. It’s a virtual world, where people can interact, communicate, and work, using digital avatars. Experts have different opinions on the metaverse future. Some consider it as an Internet successor and predict the prospective future. Others have more cautious opinions and point out possible issues with privacy violations and confidential information leaks.  This innovative concept is invested the most by worldwide companies, like Facebook (Meta), Apple, Tencent, Roblox, Unity, etc.  In 2022, the metaverse global market is estimated at 110 USD billion. Global Industry Analysts predict global metaverse market cost will have increased to 758 USD billion by 2026.   Naturally, prospects of metaverse development spark interest both in private companies and countries’ governments around the world. Metaverse investment in the United Arabian Emirates (Dubai) This year, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai and chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, announced the launch of the new city metaverse strategy. The main purpose of the strategy is to improve Web3 technology, develop new apps, create new government work, and develop these important fields, like tourism, healthcare, education, retail, law, and remote work. Metaverse strategy aims to contribute to the national budget a billion USD and create 40 thousand new workplaces. “We launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy today, which aims to foster innovation in new technology. Dubai is home to over 1,000 companies operating in the metaverse and blockchain sector, which contributes $500m to our national economy”,  the prince said. “With the early adoption of metaverse technology, Dubai seeks to become one of the top 10 metaverse economies and a global front-runner in adopting digital solutions”.  Metaverse investment in Spain Spain’s government has contributed 3,8 USD million to support small and medium-sized businesses, that work at experimental creation in the metaverse and Web3 fields. The state ministry of economy and digital transformation said the first money will be transferred to companies that produce new content in the gaming and audiovisual industry.  The government’s financial aid is part of the program for the development of Spain as an audiovisual industry center. This program is part of the strategy Digital Spain 2026.  Metaverse support in China (Shanghai) In July, the government of Shanghai, China’s biggest city by population, issued the document, which contains plans of turning the city into an important center of metaverse industry worth 52 USD billion by the end of 2025.  This plan also includes the development of 10 companies, that have a chance to compete in the international market, and the foundation of 1000 new enterprises, which will work in the metaverse industry. Metaverse support in South Korea The Korean government will start to invest 177 USD million in metaverse development. The main investment purpose is to kickstart the national metaverse industry and the development of new companies that work on VR and Web3. That was announced by the minister of science and information and communication technologies of South Korea, Lim Hyesook. According to him, the metaverse is «an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential».  The investment is a part of the new state’s main course to engage its citizens to do a full transition into digital reality. Korean metaverse will look like «an extended virtual world» with additional media and education sectors. Conclusion The metaverse is a new concept, which is in the early development stages. Nevertheless, many countries’ governments around the world are interested in this innovation, since the metaverse gives new possibilities to prospective business fields and creates new workplaces.