Our Blog

Today, virtual reality transforms and improves many fields, including sports. VR sports training is getting popular being an interesting and gamified process of improving skills for tennis players, footballers, boxers, etc. The immersion effect forces the athlete’s brain to perceive a virtual playground as a real one and makes a human start applying real physical efforts to perform exercises. Thus, VR sports training become an object of interest for both amateurs and professionals. This technology is already applied by the Manchester United soccer club and The Cougars baseball team to bring their training processes to a new level. In this article, we’ll highlight successful VR solutions to improve athletes’ skills. Step Up Your Game with VR Sports Training VR sports simulation is training in an immersive digital environment, where athletes improve their skills and refine their performance during every game. For virtual reality sports training they apply VR goggles and also controllers, gestures, body trackers, and real additional equipment like clubs, baseball bats, etc. (depending on the type of sports). VR sports training offers athletes such advantages as The photorealistic digital environment is designed for athletes’ training. You can recreate a football or baseball stadium, tennis court, boxing ring, ski track, and so on. VR training is held with no unnecessary risks, thus preventing sportsmen from being injured. It’s especially important for active and aggressive sports, like boxing, soccer, football, rugby, etc. Constant blows to the head and other body parts may cause different mental, behavioral, and mood disorders. In one interview, Steve Thompson, the World Champion in rugby, who has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, said he doesn’t remember winning World Cup back in 2003.  Combining real physical activity with VR training. The immersion effect makes an athlete perceive a virtual boxing ring or soccer stadium as a real environment and apply physical efforts, just like in the real world. Sometimes, these simulations involve real equipment to strengthen the immersion effect. A possibility to record data and analyze athletes’ progress. You can track their skill improvement, physical condition, qualification level, and scenarios they passed on VR sports simulators. Virtual sports training is suitable for both professionals and amateurs. There are a lot of VR games that recreate different playgrounds and sports competitions as realistically as possible. In addition, there are a few levels of difficulty in the games: from easy to pro. In our article, we described in more detail the advantages of virtual training for athletes. You can read more about it here.  Join the Action with VR Sports Training Virtual reality sports training is actively used to improve athletes’ skills and qualifications. We’ll highlight different kinds of sports, where VR training is applied the most. Step into the Ring: How VR Boxing Games are Changing the Sport During VR training, boxers are getting transferred into the digital ring and compete with virtual opponents. As it was mentioned before, VR sports training reduces the risk of getting injured. It especially applies to head injuries. The Thrill of the Fight, and Creed: Rise to Glory for Oculus are successful examples of VR boxing games for amateurs. The latter game is based on Rocky Balboa and Adonis Creed cult movies. In these simulations, a player passes through rounds with opponents of different qualification levels. In its turn, there is a Boxing Coach app by Sidequest for professionals. In the app, an athlete hones 24 boxing moves and 54 action combinations with the help of a virtual coach. The athlete’s training course plan is designed automatically, depending on their goals, the course length, and the athlete’s qualification level. A virtual coach’s moves were drawn from the moves of real coaches, and that creates real life-coach lesson effect. A player sees points for every performed punch on a screen. Improve Your Swing with VR Golf: The Future of Golf Training VR training is perfect for golf players because you don’t have to rent a whole real field to play and train. You also don’t have to wait for favorable weather — wear a VR headset, and you’re on a digital field. Players hone their golf skills using special golf clubs. Moreover, in virtual reality a headset user sees the possible trajectory a ball can fly on and the number of yards the ball could fly after being hit. There are a lot of popular VR Oculus golf apps for both amateurs and professionals. Like Golf+, for example. It’s the number one VR golf app, that allows players to customize difficulty levels and swings that allow the ball to fly higher or lower. You can also organize a team game in the app and communicate with each other, using avatars. How VR Training Is Transforming Modern Soccer VR soccer training allows coaches and athletes to recreate different scenarios on a digital field. It can be both training exercises and real soccer match simulations. While playing virtual soccer, a user, in addition to a VR headset, should also wear body trackers, especially on their feet. Virtual training by British company Reezil allows injured soccer players to improve their sports skills and physically rehabilitate. The program itself contains players’ qualification level and physical condition data. VR training by Reezil is already applied for the rehabilitation of athletes from such top soccer clubs as Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool. “You need the goggles, 10-foot room, and you’re good to go. You can go ahead and put a headset on, and you can get those touches in. You’re going to have a headset and base stations, and they set the environment you’ll see. You’re going to see the whole soccer pitch, and it all comes from these base stations. It’s really amazing stuff. You’re going to have feet trackers as well”, said Reezil creator Christian Barsanti. VR Tennis Training: The Secret Weapon for Athletes  During virtual training, tennis players improve hitting ball skills in digital realistic environment, with no need to leave home and go to a real tennis court. In VR, athletes see a possible ball…

Despite the fact virtual reality became a widely discussed topic only a few years ago, the first VR programs were developed back in the 60s of the previous century. During this period, the American army began implementing virtual reality as a tool to train soldiers. Considering the fact that today virtual reality technology is developing rapidly, VR was implemented into other fields of military training, particularly in the armies of the USA, United Kingdom, and Ukraine, during the war with Russia. In this article, we will highlight the fields of implementing virtual reality in the army and what advantages VR gives to the military field. How Virtual Reality is Changing Military Training for Better Military VR training is applied for improving soldiers’ combat and tactical skills and accelerating wielding equipment process. The US Forces apply virtual reality to prepare infantry for combat operations. Just like, for example, in this video, where American soldiers train in a fully virtual environment, using training rifles. Speaking about Ukraine, VR is applied for training fighters who operate anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons like NLAW and different types of MANPADS. VR Military Equipment Training For Modern Soldiers Virtual reality military training is also applied not just for infantry, but those who operate air defense systems. Recently, the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces Military Unit “Zahid” received VR headsets to improve shooting down enemy missiles, aircraft, and drones every day.  “These simulators allow us to train personnel and maintain their knowledge level in practice, so they could perform their defense tasks as efficiently as possible. Before entering on duty,  military personnel who guard facilities, are also pass the training, because realism is its main advantage. Militaries see a hostile target and destroy it in virtual reality”, said Denys Levkovych, The Commander of The Staff.  Saving Lives with VR: How Tactical Medical Training is Being Transformed Virtual reality training for tactical medics allows them to acquire practical skills that will be needed on a battlefield faster. Also, VR training helps them to accelerate muscle memory development, so tactical medics could realize how to act in a critical situation instantly. Birmingham University in the UK developed mixed reality training for tactical medics to help wounded fighters. Especially for the training, a hyperrealistic mannequin was designed and transferred into virtual reality. A VR headset user both sees a mannequin’s digital twin and is able to touch a physical one in the real world.  “Essentially how this works”, said doctor Robert Guest, Lead Simulation Developer, “is we are tracking, using infrared cameras on person’s head, as well as their hands, using points on their gloves and a head tracker on a head-mounted display. And this allows us to align their real-world actions with virtual actions. So, we can see them move the head and the hands and they will roughly align to the virtual world. So, we both got a virtual body here and we’ve also got a real simulated body in the real world.” VR Flight Simulators: Future of Military Pilot Training VR simulations for pilots are considered to be one of the earliest use cases of virtual reality.  In VR, pilots are in the cockpit mockup or at the computer table and see a realistic simulation of the sky. VR training allows pilots to pass through different tasks, improve their skills, and master new aircraft models with no risk to life and health. Ukrainian pilots, who protect the sky, also train in virtual reality. Back in May last year, Oculus founder and current CEO of Anduril Palmer Luckey, with the support of the Ukrainian Government, secretly implemented a VR training program for Ukrainian pilots to improve their skills in VR headset Quest 2. The training is based on the American jet plane А-10 Thunderbolt II (aka The Warthog).  A virtual training program for Ukrainian pilots was developed with the assistance of active and retired US pilots, along with Ukrainian infantry officer Alexander Gorgan.  VR Therapy: Treatment for Soldiers with PTSD Among war veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the most widespread mental disorders. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, 10% of men and 19% of women suffer from PTSD.  To cure post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, some specialists apply exposure therapy. It’s the therapy, where a doctor puts a patient with PTSD in a virtual environment, that recreates a war environment. During the therapy, a patient faces traumatic factors, learns how to deal with them, and rethinks traumatic events in a safe and fully controlled environment. Cardiff University organized a two-year-long research, known as 3DMR,  featuring former militaries who went through VR therapy. As research proved, two-thirds of those who took part in the therapy felt an improvement in their mental well-being by 37%.  “We are helping individuals to overcome the avoidance, by walking towards the picture on a treadmill it’s very difficult to avoid and we know that we have to get rid of the avoidance to help an individual to process their traumatic memory,” said professor Jon Bisson from Cardiff university. We partially highlighted the topic of virtual reality as a tool to improve patient’s mental health, including the ones with PTSD. We wrote about the ways VR is used for the psychological rehabilitation of patients here. Main Benefits of Virtual Reality in Army Virtual reality is widely applied in the military field due to its numerous advantages, such as Safe training that recreates the battlefield as realistic as possible; Wide range of locations — considering the fact that military training is held in virtual reality, it gives army unlimited possibilities to design any suitable training location; Virtual training for soldiers are available at any time at any place, even in the battlefield itself; Virtual simulations for military officers can be adapted according to the abilities and qualification level of those who train; A possibility to record data in virtual reality —  this function allows VR headsets users to analyze their mistakes and improve their combat and tactical skills.  Main Challenges of Implementing VR For…

Due to the fact that digital objects are superimposed on a physical environment, AR is also applied as a tool to develop convenient digital navigation. This type of navigation allows users to reach the point of destination both on a street and inside a building more quickly and easily. No wonder the technology is gradually becoming popular and is already used by top companies, like Google, Mercedes, Vienna Tech Museum, etc. Moreover, 57% of developers think navigation is a leading technology for AR and VR in the future. What are the main advantages of AR navigation and why is it so convenient for a device user? The answer is hidden in this article.  Main Power of AR Navigation In augmented reality, a digital object is overlaid onto a real environment, creating an immersive experience. Usually, AR is available for smartphones, tablets, and MR headsets. You can activate augmented reality using special markers like QR codes, images, physical objects, etc.  AR navigation is an innovative technology that puts digital signs into a real environment and leads a gadget user to the desired destination. Augmented reality navigation uses real-time data to give a user current information about the surrounding, including routing options, interesting places, and so on.  Using AR navigation, users see digital signs in real places through their gadget screen and follow these signs. Augmented reality navigation also has other advantages, including Saving time. Instead of wasting time looking at a smartphone map, a user reaches their destination much faster. Regular maps may be confusing cause we see an approximate scheme of a place, not a place itself. Back in the 20th century, famous Polish American scientist Alfred Korzybski once said: “A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness”.   Safety improvement. AR navigation provides a gadget user with real-time information about different obstacles, like traffic jams, etc. Also, it shows drivers and pedestrians where to turn next, so they won’t miss their route.  Additional information about the nearest objects. Some augmented reality navigation apps also contain text, audio, and video content, that is placed onto real static objects, whether it’s a building, monument, or exhibit. AR navigation with a function like this is applied in museums and touristic places to make the tour more exciting due to the immersion effect and the possibility to interact with the surroundings using digital technology. Wide range of use cases.  Augmented reality navigation is a convenient tool for both streets and buildings. For example, you can use indoor AR navigation to help an employee or customer to find the way out of a building with many floors and stairs.  Easy Outdoor Navigation with Augmented Reality Imagine, you need to reach a certain place you’ve never been to before. AR navigation with digital signs in a smartphone will guide you through the street. This type of augmented reality navigation is applied only to streets and open places and uses GPS and special beacons.   Google Maps Live View is a bright example of outdoor navigation. The AR mode can be activated in Google Maps itself. It is designed for pedestrians only, because the user location data is based on immobile objects on a street, like buildings.  “How many times have you been using Google Maps and questioned: wait, which way am I facing? Do I go straight or turn around and go back? Am I going in the right direction? It happens to me a lot, and even more in big cities since high buildings can block GPS signals. Well, Google Maps AR Mode solves this issue”, said blogger Tesia Custode, author of the eponymous YouTube channel. Moreover, AR navigation is a convenient tool for tourists, who arrived at a brand-new location. With digital signs, a smartphone user can both find hotels, restaurants, or museums, and get more information about historical places.  AR-program Florence Travel Guide, where tourists can learn more about important cultural and historical places on city streets is an example of augmented reality touristic navigation.  By the way, you can read more about this AR navigation app here. Revolutionize Your Driving Experience with AR Navigation This option is suitable for you if you plan to reach your destination by car. Augmented reality navigation, embedded in a car, tells and shows a driver which way they should go. Mercedes-Benz becomes one of the first automotive companies to start applying AR navigation for cars. And Mercedes 2020 GLE became one of the brand’s first cars with this type of navigation.  Emme Hall, the author of car’s review, who took test drive, had positive impression of the innovation: “The forward-facing camera offers an augmented-reality overlay to show me exactly where to turn, and the addresses of nearby buildings pop up on the screen, so I never miss my destination. This is a huge step forward for navigation tech”.  Effortless Indoor Navigation with Augmented Reality With the help of augmented reality navigation, people can be guided inside high buildings with a lot of stairs and corridors easier (hospitals, office buildings, universities, etc). Unlike AR outdoor navigation, indoor navigation is not based on GPS and images from satellites. AR apps for indoor navigation use systems of Bluetooth beacons and Wi-Fi inside a building. This type of navigation helps people reach a certain room without asking other people. With AR navigation, new employees or university students can be guided quickly and not to be late to a lecture or conference. For office workers, Augmented Pixels developed AI-powered indoor AR navigation. A digital twin of an office is transferred on the app with destinations marked on it.  AR navigation is also applied to museums. As a rule, it guides a visitor to a room with a certain exhibition displayed. This type of AR navigation also contains data about every exhibit in a museum. Vienna Tech museum, in collaboration with ViewAR, developed an AR guide, that is activated on a smartphone with a QR code. After activation,…

Today, the number of people getting interested in extended reality is constantly increasing with the development of XR and related technologies. According to Thrive My Way, the extended reality market will have increased to more than 125 USD billion by 2026.  The interest in immersive technologies urges enthusiasts, specialists, and entire companies to join, collaborate, share their experiences, and present new inventions that will accelerate XR development. That’s the main purpose of AR/VR associations. We offer you the list of famous associations, where you’ll find out about the latest extended reality news, technologies, and skills you can apply in your business. VR/AR Association VR/AR Association is an international organization, which aim is to improve cooperation between XR solution providers and their customers. Today, these associations are presented by  4300 companies around the world. And our company, Qualium Systems, became part of VRARA a few months ago.  VRARA is focused on training and improving companies’ qualifications, as well as creating new connections between association members, so they can exchange their experience. The annual virtual VRARA Education Forum is their most famous event. It’s a platform designed for organizing conferences, presentations, expert panels, hardware and software demos. This year, organizers expect to see more than 1000 guests and 60 speakers. Last year, VRARA Education Forum was visited by over 1500 guests from 75 countries, more than 100 schools and organizations, and over 50 vendors. You can read more about the annual VRARA Education Forum here: https://hopin.com/events/vrara-education-forum-2023/registration VRARA has its own podcast called Everything AR & VR, you can read about it in detail here.    The Academy of International Extended Reality The Academy of International Extended Reality (AIXR) is an independent non-profit organization, that unites immersive tech companies and allows them to interact and exchange their experience. There are more than 4000 business leaders registered on AIXR. Some of the main fields of activity of the association are training programs and live courses.  Also, AIXR holds such events as VR conferences, where visitors wear VR headsets and enter the digital platform using avatars. Live events, where people are gathered in a physical place. Online webinars through video. This association has its own segments located almost around the world: AIXR North America, AIXR Europe, AIXR Asia-Pacific, AIXR South America, and AIXR Middle East & Africa.  You can apply for AIXR membership here: https://aixr.org/locations/   You can also find out more information about upcoming AIXR events about VR, AR, metaverse, and other immersive technologies. Augmented World Expo Augmented World Expo has been educating and improving the professional work of more than 5000 companies та 60 000 XR specialists since 2010. The association’s main purpose is establishing communications between investors and startup founders, customers and XR services providers famous brands and developers and creators, recruiters and job seekers. Moreover, Augmented World Expo provides members with news digests, lectures, and job positions.  AWE also organizes academic classes and workshops to improve the qualifications of XR specialists.  The platform constantly holds online mini-events in over 25 cities worldwide, conferences, and exhibitions in the USA, Europe, and Asia. Particularly, this year, the annual AWE conference will be held in Santa Clara, California at the end of May – the beginning of June. Organizers expect over 5000 visitors, 3000 exhibition authors, and 400 speakers. In Europe, a similar event will take place in October this year in Vienna, Austria. The organizers of the European AWE conference expect over 2000 guests, 100 exhibition authors, and 250 speakers. Here is more information for those willing to become a speaker of the next conference: https://www.awexr.com/get-involved  XR Association XR Association is an organization, aimed at the promotion of global XR industry development. In XRA, top specialists and company representatives are getting involved in the working process: they carry out research and develop the best ways of using extended reality in business. The members of XR Association are VR headset developers and virtual platforms operators. Hardware components developers. Companies providing XR solutions for business. Companies applying immersive technologies for working and commercial purposes. Small companies developing XR solutions. The key members of the XR Association are Meta, Google, Microsoft, Unity, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. There are other organizations registered in the association including Accenture, Avatar Dimension, Conquest VR, OVR, StriVR, Talespin, and so on. Limitless Future Conference is the main event organized by XR Association. At the conference, industry leaders explore and present new technologies that will improve training, learning, and human resource management. Limitless Future Conference also helps to promote and accelerate virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality development. The previous event was held live in November last year.  To join the association, you can apply for membership here: https://xra.org/joinus/#join Metaverse Standards Forum Metaverse Standards Forum is founded by Khronos Group, which includes top companies like Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Adobe, Unity, and XR Association (XRA). In general, there are more than 1800 companies registered in Metaverse Standards Forum. Metaverse Standards Forum is founded in June 2022 to “foster the development of interoperability standards for an open and inclusive metaverse, and accelerate their development and deployment through pragmatic, action-based projects”.  Among the latest conferences held by the association is an open house meeting in Barcelona, held in March this year. The purpose of the live meeting was to gather people who were interested in the Forum activities.  Metaverse Standards Forum is open to both profit and non-profit organizations. You can apply for membership here: https://metaverse-standards.org/join/membership-application-form/  Immerse UK Immerse UK is a leading British platform that unites organizations working on immersive technologies. The association is a subsidiary of KTN (Innovative UK) and closely collaborates with the UK government. The association was founded in 2016 and now there are more than 4 000 members registered, including research organizations, enterprises, and industry innovators. The main purpose of Immerse UK is to encourage British XR and metaverse companies to work and make the immersive technology industry the most innovative and successful one in the country. If your office is located in the UK and you want to become…

We know that the majority of ІТ employees are men, and women are still forming a minority. According to Zippia, only 34.4% of women make up the labor force in US tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google та Microsoft. This is due to gender stereotypes about ІТ as a male-dominated industry. However, these stereotypes are gradually fading away and changing in a positive direction.  Despite the obvious sexism, modern women successfully influence ІТ industry, including extended reality and other immersive technologies. To illustrate this influence, we’ll present 5 famous women, who are ruling in XR industry. Empowering Women in XR In the 19th century, famous mathematician Ada Lovelace worked on Charles Babbage’s first mechanical computer and wrote the first algorithm for the machine. And in the 20th century, Austrian-Ukrainian-born Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, along with composer George Antheil, pioneered an Allies torpedoes radio system during World War 2. It became a prototype for modern wireless technologies, like Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. Get ready for more information about outstanding women that became the next Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr in modern XR technologies.  Image: SXSW Nonny de la Pena, Godmother of VR Nonny de la Pena was awarded the title “The Godmother of virtual reality” by top online media like Forbes, The Guardian, and Engadget. She’s a journalist, VR documentaries director, and the founder and CEO of Emblematic Group, which develops VR/AR/MR content. The greatest merit of de la Pena is that she invented immersive journalism. Nonny de la Pena showcased her first VR documentary, The Hunger in Los Angeles, in the Sundance movie festival, back in 2012. You can read more about de la Pena’s most famous works in our previous article about VR in journalism. In March 2022, de la Pena was one of the 16 Legacy Peabody Awards recipients for her work and influence in modern journalism. In her acceptance speech, she reminded about the importance of immersive technologies and what advantages they offer to modern journalism, using her joint project with Frontline After Solitary as an example. The VR experience is based on the true story of Kenny Moore, who spent many years in a solitary confinement cell in the Maine State Prison. “When we did a piece in solitary confinement with Frontline, we did scanning of an actual solitary confinement cell. Well, now you’re in that cell. You’re in that room. And it has a real different effect on your entire body and your sense of, “Oh my God. Now I understand why solitary confinement is so cruel and unnecessary”. And you just can’t get that feeling reading about it or looking at pictures.” De la Pena’s accounts in social media:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nonny-de-la-pe%C3%B1a-phd-4363644/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonnydelapena/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImmersiveJourno Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonny.delapena/   Image: LinkedIn Dr. Helen Papagiannis, Experienced AR Expert Dr. Helen Papagiannis works in augmented reality field for 17 years. Papagiannis is a founder of XR Goes Pop, which produced immersive content for many top brands including Louis Vuitton, Adobe, Mugler, Amazon, and many more. Particularly, they designed VR showroom for Bailmain, where you can see virtual clothes and accessories from a cruise collection on digital models, plus behind the scene videos. Virtual try-on and shops are successfully applied by fashion brands, because they allow a customer to try on digital clothes before buying real one. You can read more about it here.  Doctor Papagiannis constantly gives her TED Talks and also publishes her researches for well-respected media like Harvard Business Review, The Mandarine, Fast Company, etc. In 2017, the scientist and developer published a book called Augmented Human. According to Book Authority, it is considered to be the best book about augmented reality ever released. Stefan Sagmeister, designer, and co-founder at Sagmeister & Walsh Inc, thinks Augmented Human is the most useful and complete augmented reality guide, that contains new information about the technology, methods, and practices, that can be used in work.  Dr. Papagiannis’s accounts in social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hpapagiannis/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arstories/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARstories  Image: Medium Christina Heller, Trailblazer of Extended Reality Christina Heller has 15 years of experience in XR. Huffington Post included her in the top 5 of the most influential women who are changing VR. Heller is a founder and CEO of Metastage, that develops XR content for various purposes: VR games, AR advertisements, MR astronaut training, etc. Since 2018, Metastage has collaborated with more than 200 companies including H&M, Coca-Cola, AT&T, NASA, and worked with famous pop artists like Ava Max and Charli XCX.  Speaking about Heller herself, before Metastage she had worked in VR Playhouse, which immersive content was showcased at Cannes Film Festival, Sundance, and South by Southwest.  Under Christina Heller leadership, Metastage extended reality content was widely acclaimed and received many awards and nominations, including two Emmy nominations. Moreover, Metastage is the first US company, that officially started using Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture. This technology provides photorealistic graphics of digital models, using special cameras. And these cameras capture a human movement in a special room, where XR content is superimposed. “It takes human performances, and what I like about it most is that it captures the essence of that performance in all of its sort of fluid glory, including clothing as well, said Heller. And so every sort of crease in every fold of what people are wearing comes across. You get these human performances that retain their souls. There is no uncanny valley with volumetric capture.”  Christina Heller’s researches were published in “Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media” and “What is Augmented Reality? Everything You Wanted to Know Featuring Exclusive Interviews with Leaders of the AR Industry” (both 2019).  Heller accounts in social media:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaheller/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristinaHeller Image: Twitter Kavya Pearlman, Cyber Guardian  Kavya Pearlman is called “The Cyber Guardian” and she is a pioneer in private data security with the use of immersive technologies, like metaverse. For three years in a row, from 2018 to 2020, and also in 2022, Kavya Pearlman was included in the top…

A digital twin is a 3D model that recreates the main traits of a physical object. The main essence of digital twin technology is the data collected from trackers on the real object and transferred to cloud storage. The data updates in real-time. Digital twins of physical objects can be reproduced in virtual reality or be superimposed on a real environment like an AR object. Usually, digital twins can recreate buildings, people, constructions, and the whole interaction mechanism like chain supply. And one of the main purposes of implementing virtual twins is to model object potential behavior, as well as to fix construction mistakes in the early stages of development. Today, this technology is successfully implemented by various famous companies, including Renault, Karcher, Amazon, etc. In 2021, according to Allied Market Research, the digital twins market was estimated at 6,5 USD billion, and by 2030 this market value will have increased to more than 125 USD billion.  So, in this article, we will give more information about digital twins and in which business fields this technology is applied. How Digital Twins Are Created Digital twins are developed using ІоТ trackers, cameras, and business apps, that collect the necessary real object data to recreate its digital version. The cloud platform AWS IoT TwinMaker від Amazon is one of the programs to develop digital twins. This platform facilitates and accelerates the digital twin-building process for many industries like construction, logistics, manufacturing, and others. On the platform, you can develop 3D twins of buildings, manufacturing equipment, and chain supplies. Advantages of Digital Twins Some of  the main advantages of implementing digital twins in the business include Digital twins increase companies’ productivity and optimize their work. That means, by using this technology, companies accelerate the process of making products. According to Global Logic, digital twins reduce the labor force required for the design structure process by 85%. Digital twins help to make an important decision on creating real objects. James Taylor, Forbes Business Member and CEO of Decision Management Solutions, in his article Digital Twins: The Solution To Better Decision-Making describes how digital twins can facilitate making decisions and help to predict all possible risks.  Digital twins offer real-time tracking of the working process. And in some fields, like manufacturing, for example, digital twins tracking can be even life-saving. “With real-time replication of the physical status of assets — walk-in freezers, refrigerators, promotional coolers, shelving, carts, and other equipment — and automated corrective actions, it’s easier to avoid wasting electricity, time, and product when anomalies arise. Digital twins promote positive outcomes for asset protection programs through reduced waste and loss and, most importantly, saved lives,” wrote Guy Yehiav, President of SmartSense.  Digital twins offer an option to predict how the real object could work in different circumstances. According to Business Wire Report, 75% of Air Force executives are confident in applying digital twins. When using this technology, engineers can be assured of the safety of people on airplane boards. With the help of digital data, they can predict possible issues in aircraft and their engines, etc.  Limitations and Challenges of Digital Twinning With the development of digital twins, you should pay attention to such challenges as Difficulties with the search for necessary data to design certain digital twins. “Sometimes the data is owned by private companies. Occasionally the federal level holds the data. Often, there is no real-time data available or only from a limited amount of sensors, and at times there is no data at all,” said Marco van Bemmel, web developer and author of the article “Three Key Challenges Towards Digital Twin Adoption at Scale”. At the same time, you should consider proper digital data security from leaks. According to Gartner, in 2023, almost 75% of digital twins of original equipment manufacturers connected to ІоТ will use, at least, five different types of integration endpoints — network addresses in the Cloud with integration data. And, every type of address has its own insecurities to consider, so there is a need for constant security protocol updates.  Examples of Digital Twins In Action How Digital Twin Technology is Transforming the Automotive Industry Digital twins in the automotive industry are usually applied for designing 3D copies of cars. Particularly, with digital twins, you can calculate a car’s behavior on a road and eliminate construction mistakes. For example, French automotive company Renault is already implementing digital twins for new vehicle development, including design and construction.  “With their three-dimensional digital simulation tools, engineers can even place a virtual occupant inside the future vehicle early in the process, just as they would in a physical car. These tests help assess certain constraints, such as positioning (ergonomics) and HMI (human-machine interface),” wrote Nicola Le-Boucher, author of the article Vehicle Digital Twin: when physical and digital models unite для Renault Group.  Digital Twins Use Cases in Healthcare In healthcare, digital twins are applied for recreating patients’ bodies, based on their physical condition and medical history. The data changes in real-time and shows a patient’s current well-being and the progress of the disease.  A digital twin of human creation is a more difficult and sophisticated process. That’s because doctors use blood tests, X-ray pictures, and other analyses to create a patient’s digital copy, trying to preserve all their individual physical characteristics as realistically as possible. Doctors use digital twins of patients for different purposes: medicine testing and surgery simulations. By the way, doctors in Brazil used digital copies of conjoined twins to do a 28-hour-long surgery to separate patients. You can read more about it here.  Speaking about medicine testing, doctors from Linköping University in Sweden use digital twins for choosing the right treatment for patients. For example, scientists started building digital twins of mice, based on their RNA. “Our aim is to develop those models into ‘digital twins’ of individual patients’ diseases in order to tailor medication to each patient, said doctor Mikael Benson, a professor at the university who led the study. Ideally, each twin will be computationally matched with…

The popularity of virtual reality is growing day by day thanks to more than 171 million people who use virtual reality worldwide.   Considering the significant number of those aware of the technology, organizing various virtual events definitely makes sense. As a rule, VR events take place in a digital immersive environment, where headset users can interact with 3D objects, explore a virtual location, and communicate with each other, using digital avatars. Virtual reality is actively applied in, for example, business conferences and virtual offices. But did you know that you can build a romantic relationship and even legally marry in VR?  In this article, we will tell you about unusual virtual reality implementations in such unusual events as team building, concerts, competitions, etc.  Main Advantages of VR Events In general, VR events have such advantages as Immersive experience. VR events offer participants a unique experience of immersion into another digital world. Moreover, a virtual environment doesn’t have to fully recreate real business buildings. For example, you can place your guests in a fantastic forest, spaceship, etc. Instant access to events. To participate in a VR event, just put on a VR headset and get into a digital party straight from your home. You don’t have to spend much time and money choosing an outfit and makeup. Flexibility. VR events offer people the possibility to take part in an event, regardless of location, timezone, working schedule, etc.  Saving money. With VR, event organizers don’t have to spend time and money on choosing and renting a physical building for a party. Companies also don’t need to spend money on tickets and hotels for employees to get to the place of the event. Unusual Examples of VR Events VR Team-building Is a Fun Way to Unite Employees Team-building is one of the ways to unite a team of professionals and steer them toward the realization of common goals. For team building, virtual reality gathers employees in one digital place, where they interact with each other using avatars. The presence effect needed for team building is thus created. In the most recent years, the number of companies that invest in VR team building grew by 2,500%.  There are several ways to organize virtual reality team building: VR quest room where you put a team in a simulation of corridors or rooms, full of riddles. Alice VR Escape Room by MeetSpaceVR, in collaboration with GameOVR, is an example of a virtual quest for a team. The essence of the quest consists in passing tasks in the Wonderland set. The riddles are based on Lewis Carroll’s original book: drink a shrinking potion, get down into the rabbit hole, help Cheshire cat and Mad Hatter, etc. Group challenges, where a team copes with difficult tasks in virtual reality. Sometimes these tasks are limited by time.  Bomb Diffusal VR simulation by Virtual Reality Rental is an example of this simulation. In this game, a team chooses one person that will wear a VR headset and will be responsible for cutting the right wires and pushing the right buttons to prevent the bomb from exploding. A headset user has no instruction on how to neutralize the explosive. But other team members have the instruction and give instructions to the main player about what to do with the bomb. Having Fun with VR Parties VR party is a perfect option for those who want to have a good time, but cannot go to a real party. One of the most popular ways to handle parties in digital space is VRChat. It’s a universal virtual platform, where people can meet, spend time together, and organize different festivities. For example, VRChat contains Party Scene —  a separate digital space, where people in VR headsets can paint the town red. You can adjust the volume of your microphone or mute it, so no one could hear you. It is also possible to increase or decrease the sound of the crowd and change the settings.  In this video, you can see how a YouTuber changes the party scenery from a drum-n-bass party to a dance floor on a submarine. VR concerts As a Chance To See Your Favorite Singer VR concert is a new way to hear live music and see your favorite singer. During virtual concerts, watch your favorite musician wearing a customized digital avatar with some recognizable features of the artist. Virtual reality concerts have such advantages over a real concert as For visitors, VR concerts solve the problem of inconvenient seats: so, a VR headset user can see the concert from any angle, and even see musicians from the scene itself; For singers and musicians, virtual reality is a digital platform, that allows them to fulfill the most creative projects, that are pretty difficult to organize in a real world. And the artist can instantly change outfits and hair color, with no need to spend time changing real clothes and makeup during breaks between real performances. The game Fortnite is one of the most popular platforms for virtual concerts. In 2021, famous singer Ariana Grande gave a 6-minute long virtual concert Fortnite Presents: Rift Tour. The singer’s avatar was as close as possible to her real image: shiny outfits in combination with her signature high ponytail. And, during the performance, locations were constantly changing. The concert starts in space, where Ariana stands on a planet.  Then, the singer dances on a water surface, along with fans and flies using digital crystal wings.  The performance ends on an ice planet, where Ariana crashes the surface with a crystal hammer. VR Contests You Could Have Missed Virtual reality is also a convenient platform for organizing different contests, including intellectual trivia. Like, for example, Virtual Team Trivia, a quiz platform for teams. In Rock & Roll Trivia, contestants answer questions about rock stars and guess famous songs.  Miss VRChat beauty pageant is another example of a VR contest. The girls who took part in the pageant demonstrated their avatars that had totally different heights…

Are you looking for ways to stay constantly updated with the latest news about the extended reality? In this case, we can recommend you some captivating AR and VR podcasts, if you like to listen to audio news and interviews. Previously, we wrote an article about trendy VR YouTube channels.  VR Download YouTube XR podcast by Upload VR is published twice a week — on Mondays and Thursdays. VR Download is also available in audio format on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other streaming services. The main host of the podcast is Kyle Riesenbeck, Operational Manager at Upload VR.  The podcast has two main directions:  Weekly news podcast issues, which are usually released on Mondays at noon PST. Riesenbeck with other co-hosts discusses the latest updates in hardware development and current XR industry trends. Gamescast issues, which are released every Thursday at 10:30 PST (20:30, according to Kyiv time). In Gamecast, the hosts discuss the recently-released VR games, narrated experiences, etc. An interesting fact: the podcast is fully recorded in virtual reality and the hosts themselves use digital avatars via Oculus Avatars SDK. The AR Show It’s an augmented reality podcast that collaborates with AR Insider and, primarily, highlights the latest tendencies of smart glasses development. Every The AR Show issue is released, at least, once a week, and is available for listening and downloading right on the podcast’s official site. The AR Show host Jason McDowell is Ostendo Technologies VP Product, Head of Visual Experience, and Amplify.LA mentor. McDowell believes that AR glasses will have a much bigger impact on a human and the community than smartphones, PC, or the internet. He thinks smart glasses can transform the human brain-physical world interaction and reduce the time of searching the information on the spot. In every podcast issue, the host interviews company representatives that develop smart glasses and other AR-related technologies. They discuss various implementations of augmented reality in education, sport, healthcare, etc. In addition, AR Insider and Upload VR are included in the list of online media we recommend reading. Ruff Talk VR It is a  virtual reality podcast about games that comes out, at least, once-twice a week. You can listen to the podcast on the Ruff Talk VR site and on many streaming services, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, iHeartRadio, etc. The podcast is also available on YouTube in video format. The Ruff Talk VR hosts are bloggers-enthusiasts, known by nicknames Dscruffles (son) and Stratus2k1 (father). In every issue, the hosts review the latest VR games and other apps from Oculus Store and App Lab. Dscruffles and Stratus2k1 explain gameplay and discuss every advantage and disadvantage of the reviewed game with small miscellaneous talks. In the end, the hosts announce the final review score. The Ruff Talk VR hosts also interview game developers and post VR morning news issues every Monday. Everything AR & VR A weekly VR/AR Association podcast that is available on VR/AR Association website and other streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts. The hosts of Everything AR & VR are Tyler Gates and Sophia Moshasha. Gates is a Brightline Interactive General Manager, Chief Futurist at the Glimpse Group, and VRARA DC Chapter President. Sophia Moshasha is a metaverse and Web 3.0 strategist and DC Chapter Vice President VRARA. The podcast hosts interview technologists and companies representatives regarding their working experience in virtual and augmented reality in different fields like games, entertainment, healthcare, education, military, hardware and software development, etc.  Everything AR & VR guests and hosts also discuss the latest tendencies of XR development in governments and enterprises. By the way, a few months ago, Qualium Systems officially joined the VR/AR Association, which currently unites more than 4300 organizations.  Voices Of VR Voice Of VR is a weekly podcast about virtual and augmented reality development, founded in May 2014. The podcast is available on its official site and streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts. The podcast host Kent Bye is a philosopher, experimental journalist, and oral historian, that tries to define patterns of immersive storytelling, experimental design, and the potential of extended reality development in general. In every issue, Bye interviews various developers, storytellers, designers, and other specialists, that work on XR and related technologies like metaverse, for example. The podcast also covers discussions of the latest news of hardware and software development. Full Dive Gaming: a Virtual Reality Podcast Full Dive Gaming is one of the virtual reality news podcasts available on different streaming services, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, etc. The podcast is also available on YouTube as a video channel. In every Full Dive Gaming issue, blogger Jay Bratt highlights the latest virtual reality news. Usually, Bratt discusses the news with the hosts of other podcasts. The podcast is divided into three sections: VR gaming news, game reviews, and VR games-related discussions.  Field of View Podcast Field of View Podcast is a project of non-profitable VR/AR/MR organization AIXR (The Academy of International Extended Reality), developed in collaboration with Accenture.  You can listen to every issue on a podcast webpage on the academy site. Field of View Podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and on YouTube. You can also find the podcast transcription on Accenture site. Daniel Colaianni and Nicola Rosa are the hosts of the podcast. Colaianni is AIXR CEO, and Rosa is XR Lead Europe and Immersive Learning Lead in Accenture. The podcast main topics are metaverse, virtual and augmented reality, web 3.0, and other technologies. Rosa and Colaianni periodically interview representatives from worldwide-known companies like Disney, HTC, Audi, NVIDIA, etc. In one of the latest issues, the hosts talked to Louis Rosenberg about artificial intelligence in metaverse. You can find his article about metaverse potential in our previous article. 

There are a lot of different opinions on what is metaverse and its further development. These opinions differ from skeptical to hopeful, but, anyway, some companies are already considering and building a metaverse strategy. Metaverse, for example, is gradually becoming used for remote work, entertainment, retail, etc.  According to Influencer Marketing Hub, in 2022 the general metaverse market was estimated at more than 47 USD billion. And in 2030, the metaverse market would be estimated at more than 670 USD billion.  In our new selection, we recommend reading articles by consulting centers and digital technology experts that explain metaverse meaning, share some interesting facts about the technology, and predict its development. Beyond the hype: what businesses can really expect from the metaverse in 2023 (PricewaterhouseCoopers) In this detailed article, the PricewaterhouseCoopers authors collected six main predictions about metaverse development.  According to experts, businesses will be one of the main metaverse users. 80% of company executives said they planned to integrate a metaverse strategy into their businesses. Moreover, with the technology implementation, there will be new metaverse-related duties. Companies will also hire new employees like 3D artists, designers, and 3D modelers. As PwC specialists predict, metaverse will gain or lose popularity, depending on how virtual network users will follow privacy rules and how many leaks and scams will be committed. Extended reality and artificial intelligence will also influence metaverse development.  In every article segment, you can read some useful recommendations for enterprises that already use metaverse and related technologies. Building a Responsible Metaverse (Paul Daugherty, Denise Zheng, Accenture) A research report by Accenture executives Paul Daugherty and Denise Zheng describes how you can develop your own responsible metaverse.  Daugherty and Zheng highlight three key factors that influence customers’ willingness to join the metaverse: safety, security, and privacy. 55% of respondents say the metaverse will secure personal data on the same level as social media.  The authors explain the metaverse should be responsible and built on experiences of making mistakes and overcoming existing challenges.  Then, Daugherty and Zheng give companies recommendations on how to build their own metaverse:  designate a leader responsible for metaverse development create a handbook that will contain the main rules and principles of responsible metaverse use  define challenges and issues related to the technology How the Metaverse Could Change Work (Mark Purdy, Harvard Business Review) In the Harvard Business Review article, Mark Purdy, independent economics and technology advisor, describes how the metaverse can change the working process. Primarily, the metaverse influences remote work. Instead of videoconferences, you can put your employees in an immersive virtual space, where they will communicate with each other, using digital avatars. The article’s author interviewed Founder-Director NextMeet Rushpak Kypuram about the company’s virtual office and the main characteristics and advantages of remote work in the metaverse. How the Metaverse Could Change Work (Mark Purdy, Harvard Business Review) In the Harvard Business Review article, Mark Purdy, independent economics and technology advisor, describes how the metaverse can change the working process. Primarily, the metaverse influences remote work. Instead of videoconferences, you can put your employees in an immersive virtual space, where they will communicate with each other, using digital avatars. The article’s author interviewed Founder-Director NextMeet Rushpak Kypuram about the company’s virtual office and the main characteristics and advantages of remote work in the metaverse. Value creation in the metaverse (McKinsey Digital) A research report by McKinsey Digital describes the metaverse in detail, its importance, and the future and the profit the technology already brings to companies.  On the web page, you can download the full version of the report in PDF. The page also contains statistics, videos, and information segments from the PDF file.  The full report has a detailed definition of the metaverse, the directions of the metaverse investment, and how customers change their behavior and acknowledge modern technologies in their modern life.  As experts predict, the metaverse market will be estimated at 5 USD trillion by 2030. It could be the biggest market growth in a few business fields, including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and package goods delivery. In addition, 95% of company executives are sure the metaverse will positively influence their business in 10 years. Today, 60% of internet users are aware of the metaverse and its main activities. The Metaverse in 2040 (Pew Research Centre) The Pew Research Centre article by Janna Anderson highlights the key predictions of the metaverse development up to 2040.  According to the statistics in the article, 54% of experts think the metaverse will be fully immersive, more detailed, and will become a part of life, for at least, half-billion people or more worldwide in about twenty years.  But the other 40% of specialists claim the metaverse will have failed to become a key part of people’s life by 2040. There are opinions that, in almost twenty years, people will use augmented and mixed reality more often than the metaverse.  What Is a Metaverse? And Should You Be Buying In? (Jackie Wiles, Gartner) The article by Jackie Wiles, Gartner’s content marketing director, explains what a metaverse is and whether you should invest in the technology at all. In the beginning, the author clarifies the general metaverse concept — a virtual space, where people interact with each other with digital avatars. Wiles also presents Gartner’s statistics, claiming that, in 2026, a quarter of humankind will spend, at least, an hour in the metaverse. Then, the author highlights the key innovations, that will make the metaverse trend: Web3;  spatial computing, which provides transferring experience between virtual and physical worlds;  digital twin of a user; digital twins of customers, that can represent a single person, a group of people, or even machines. The metaverse is inevitable, regardless of what happens to Meta (Louis Rosenberg, Big Think) Another article about metaverse by Louis Rosenberg, CEO and Chief scientist of Unanonimous AI, was published on Big Think. The article highlights the fact the metaverse still has potential and chance for development, not depending on whether Meta will succeed in the development…