The Immersive Wire - 5 January 2022 (News edition)

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

// 5 January 2022

The new year started at 100mph. I wonder where the momentum will take us all?

A surprise is incoming...

TOP STORIESYou might want to get that checked

EXCLUSIVE STORY - XRHealth and HTC VIVE announced that they will offer virtual treatment rooms on the VIVE Focus 3 and VIVE Flow.

• Basically, clinicians will be able to use VIVE Focus 3, preloaded with XRHealth’s applications, to create a virtual treatment center that will engage and treat patients remotely. The virtual treatment rooms will offer a variety of treatments including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and pain management.

• “As the metaverse builds momentum, providing virtual treatment rooms will be paramount,” says Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth. “Providing virtual treatment for patients is going to enhance all clinician practices by offering the most innovative solutions to anyone, anywhere.”

• I do not think this is part of the metaverse. It isn't part of an interoperable network of any sort. But it does provide an immersive way to access high-quality healthcare, which I can see the benefits of. 

• XRHealth on VIVE Focus 3 in the US will be available starting 1 Feb 2022, and will be available on VIVE Flow in Spring 2022. My thanks to XRHealth for the exclusive. Share the story with colleagues.

Qualcomm is working with Microsoft on custom chips that would control lightweight AR glasses.

• The apps will be used for use by both consumers and businesses for metaverse apps.

• No details yet, but very exciting to see what will come up from the companies. 

ThirdEye unveiled the Razor MR Glasses. 

• This is their first product directly for consumers. Makes sense to use their B2B expertise to pierce the B2C sphere. 

• “Through the feedback we’ve received from customers since we launched in 2016, we’ve found there to be a great desire to bring our lightweight solutions and user-friendly applications, like RemoteEye, for home use as well,” said Nick Cherukuri, Founder and CEO of ThirdEye.

• “For the Razor MR Glasses, we wanted to accommodate a variety of needs. For example, these mixed reality glasses are lightweight and myopia friendly, allowing nearsighted users to adjust the Razor MR Glasses from zero to negative five diopters with a single twist of a knob on the side of the glasses."

A surprise is coming... So here is a puzzle to work out what it is.<surprise><secret>✋︎ ⬥︎♓︎●︎●︎ ♌︎♏︎ ♋︎■︎■︎□︎◆︎■︎♍︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ♋︎ ♌︎□︎□︎🙵 □︎■︎ 📂︎📄︎ ☺︎♋︎■︎◆︎♋︎❒︎⍓︎📪︎ ♍︎♋︎●︎●︎♏︎♎︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎ 💣︎♏︎⧫︎♋︎❖︎♏︎❒︎⬧︎♏︎🖳︎ ✌︎ 🏱︎❒︎□︎♐︎♏︎⬧︎⬧︎♓︎□︎■︎♋︎●︎ ☝︎◆︎♓︎♎︎♏︎📬︎ ✋︎ ♒︎□︎◻︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♏︎■︎🙰□︎⍓︎ ♓︎⧫︎✏︎  </secret></surprise>

OTHER STORIES

A CESpit of stories 

Got a news story? Let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com. 

• FitXR announced a range of new items, like the following: 

  • A four week, 12 class workout regimen curated by experts to help members discover the class style, coach, and music they prefer;

  • Three new formats for workouts;

  • Three new trainers, including a vegan one. 

• Mojo Vision raised $45m in seed funding. 

• Nvidia made Omniverse free for creatives or artists. 

  • The company also called it the 'metaverse for engineers.' We will see. 

• Phiar Technologies and Qualcomm Technologies announced that the former will bring their computer vision-based spatial AI technologies to Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms, for automotive in-vehicle infotainment environments.

• PwC bought land in The Sandbox. 

• Rendever announced that its interdisciplinary VR fitness platform, RendeverFit, is now shipping globally. 

• Shiftall announced the lightweight consumer VR headset that can play SteamVR content.

Jobs boardSENIOR COMPUTER SCIENCE and SOFTWARE DEVELOPER (3D, Linear Algebra, C++). We are looking for a unicorn computer scientist from anywhere in the world who can help build 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. To apply, contact info (at) metavrse (dot) com. 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. DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER. ArborXR is device management for AR & VR devices. We power some of the largest headset deployments in the world with Fortune 500, ISVs and companies around the world. Looking for someone with experience in the B2B SAAS marketing space who would enjoy working with a fully remote team based in the US, Canada and Europe. Would join a quickly growing marketing team with a hot product that is selling rapidly. Click here for more. WEB-AR DEVELOPER wanted to work with veteran AR agency. Experience in JavaScript, Three.js, A-Frame, and 8th Wall preferred. Ideal candidate thrives working remotely. Includes competitive salary and full benefits. To apply, send resume to [email protected].INTERNSHIP, US. The intern will be primarily focused on developing proficiency in the use and application of tools designed for experiences in VR/AR headsets. GRIP-IE interns will assist the Get Real management team and clients in the design, development, and implementation of features within both internal and partner platforms. Interns will follow industry best practices including continuous improvement through code reviews of existing and new code. GRIP-IE interns will also be responsible for managing communication with software vendors on a variety of topics including bug identification, feature requests, troubleshooting, and documentation materials. Click here for more. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, UK. Here at CIRCUS (an award-winning creative agency, specialists of Virtual Brand Experiences) we're on the lookout for an enthusiastic B2B Business Development Manager on a part-time, remote basis. If this sounds of interest and you love all things virtual, we'd love to tell you more. 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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That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com. Have an excellent day!