The Immersive Wire - 13 February 2022 (Sunday edition)

By Tom FfiskeVR/AR and metaverse analysis every Wednesday and Sunday

// 13 February 2022

Learn more about the enterprise VR solution

MAIN STORYMcMetaverse and Chips

Let's talk about companies strategising for the delivery of virtual items. McDonald's is the most recent example, filing a range of trademarks that indicate they will serve virtual food alongside their real counterparts. According to the listings, the chain will offer "a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods" and "operating a virtual restaurant featuring home delivery."While I don't want to eat a virtual burger, the company is investigating how it can position itself if a virtual equivalent can exist in the future. Even if there is nothing physical about the assets they sell, it makes sense that the company is expanding itself to capitalise on a potential new revenue stream. One of their trademarks also consists of NFTs, but it will take time to see how. (Who would want an NFT of a Maccy Ds?)Then there is the real estate aspect. In the same breath of the metaverse, companies have been exploring how they can sell land in virtual worlds and monetise the locations for the user's gain. The approach draws a distinct parallel with how McDonald's has grown as well, where they focus on the value of the land as opposed to the burger. It's not lost to me that the company is exploring how to invest in virtual land alongside their successful approach in the real world. I draw on McDonald's as an example because of the synergy. Because of their unique approach to generating income via land ownership, product marketing, and food delivery, the company is investigating how the metaverse can serve their own needs. Quietly, the company is conducting research in the area to see how all its streams can come together. I am curious to see how they show their hand in the future.

Metaverse hype is driving more and more enterprises to get started with VR. VRdirect is the standard VR software solution for enterprises like Siemens, Nestle and Deutsche Telekom, and enables many more companies to take the first steps into the metaverse.

Now is the time for enterprises to develop a VR strategy and gain a competitive edge for the future. VRdirect is the easiest solution to get started with VR projects.

Learn more about chances for your business and how to start in the metaverse. 

Q&AHiring the best people

Jon Arnold, VP of Sales, EMEA, RealWear Inc.

What is your background? Given that I graduated with a degree in Modern History it amuses me to remember that the first steps in my career led me to Ideal Standard, which as you may know is a company that makes bathrooms. This proved to be a great source of humour for my friends, and I had to endure their quips asking me about long chains of command, being driven around the bend or flush with success. After that, should I say, interesting yet enjoyable experience, I joined an IBM reseller and have since spent most of my career in IT sales. Over the last fifteen years, I have focused on technology start-ups and high growth businesses. In September 2019, I met with the then CEO of RealWear and within a few moments of trying on RealWear’s assisted reality device - the HMT-1 - I was hooked. It was clear to me that the ability to digitise very austere and hazardous environments was going to be a game-changer for many industries.

What are you working on, and what is a key learning that you’ve had from it? As VP Sales for EMEA, I am working to cement RealWear’s place as the market-leading platform for assisted reality solutions in the B2B Sector within the region. The core concept of assisted reality is that it delivers an entirely different trade-off compared to mixed reality or virtual reality. Assisted Reality is for industrial use cases where user safety is paramount. The goals of assisted reality are to keep the user’s attention in the real world, with a direct line of sight, largely unobscured by digital objects or ‘holograms’ that require extra cognitive focus for humans to process. One thing I have learned is that simply giving the ability for workers to be able to have access to real-time information and technical guidance has proven to be of massive benefit during the last two years, particularly with the travel restrictions enforced as a result of the pandemic. In the past quarter, we also launched the RealWear Navigator 500, the world’s most comprehensive industrial strength assisted reality wearable for frontline workers.

If you had to give one piece of advice, what would you give? Two bits of advice If I may, is that good businesses are built by good teams, and it is so important to hire the best possible people in terms of experience, enthusiasm and motivation. The second piece of advice is to trust them to get on with the job; but given that as Rome wasn’t built in a day, you must allow them time to get on with the plan or change it if it isn’t working.

If you want to know more about the company, check them out here.

Jobs boardDISTRIBUTION AND TOURING PRODUCER. Marshmallow Laser Feast is looking for someone to join our team as a Distribution & Touring Producer. You will have a desire to work at the bleeding edge of immersive storytelling and help shape how that work is distributed globally. We see the development and distribution of MLF’s own work as key to the future success of the business, a key revenue stream and integral in building global brand awareness. This new role will be a vital part of the core team that formulates and realises this ambitious vision. Learn more. RENDERING AND C++ ENGINEER, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company. Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G ushering in an age of rapid acceleration in connectivity. Under this dynamic umbrella, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company, shapes the future of augmented reality by empowering businesses and developers. We are looking for the XR Software Engineer Design to design, test, and implement core parts of the Wikitude XR toolkit – particularly rendering pipelines for XR systems. Do you have a high affinity for real-time rendering pipelines and optimizing code to fit 16ms (or less)? Learn more and apply! SENIOR COMPUTER SCIENCE and SOFTWARE DEVELOPER (3D, Linear Algebra, C++). MetaVRse is a web-based 3D game engine for building immersive experiences without needing to code. We are looking for a unicorn computer scientist from anywhere in the world who can help us improve the core rendering technology that will serve creators to build custom products in training, marketing, sales, retail and learning in photorealistic, real-time 3D delivered on any device in a browser. Working with our Head of R&D, you will be responsible for creating and implementing new 3D graphics solutions to push the limits of our technology stack. Solid understanding of Real-time 3D libraries (OpenGL, Vulkan), Linear Algebra, C++ and 3D rendering and game engine technologies. Apply Here.XR SOFTWARE ENGINEER NETWORKING, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company. Qualcomm is a company of inventors that unlocked 5G ushering in an age of rapid acceleration in connectivity. Under this dynamic umbrella, Wikitude, a Qualcomm company, shapes the future of augmented reality by empowering businesses and developers. We are looking for an experienced XR Software Engineer Networking to drive the architecture, development, and deployment of core parts of our XR toolkit. A successful candidate has extensive experience in multiplayer streaming and can apply it to XR experiences. Do you have a solid technical background, a passion for the XR industry, and enjoy working with engineering teams? Apply hereXR CONTENT DIRECTOR, Pixo VR. The VR marketplace is exploding, and PIXO is leading the way in on-demand generation and adoption in our industry. With our groundbreaking PIXO ApexTM platform, we provide comprehensive, end-to-end VR content, distribution, and management solutions for enterprise. PIXO VR is searching for an XR Content Director to join our team. Reporting to the COO, the Content Director will manage the overall production, procurement and growth strategy for our XR content library. Working with a team of offshore and onshore designers, engineers, artists, marketers, and 3rd party content developers, the Content Director will ensure PIXO is delivering an exceptional content experience to all our end users. Check out further details here. SDK TECHNICAL ENGINEER, Pico Interactive Europe. As SDK Technical Engineer you will be responsible for investigating/troubleshooting issues reported, and collecting/consolidating customer requirements back to the Beijing DevSupport team. Through this role you will be the technical liaison between Pico Interactive Europe customers and Pico product teams to ensure Europe region's commercial success. In Europe, Pico is one of the premier enterprise hardware companies in the rapidly growing VR market. Click here for more.TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER, Pico Interactive Europe. As Technical Project Manager you will be responsible for evaluating improvements to the devices, services, logistics, and operations to continue the high growth business of Pico Interactive Europe. In Europe, Pico is one of the premier enterprise hardware companies in the rapidly growing VR market. The Pico Europe business is responsible for all business opportunities in Europe, Israel, Russian Federation and India. Click here for more.  Display your vacancy in front of thousands of talented VR/AR professionals in just a few clicks. Click here for more info.

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