Virtual Perceptions

The Immersive Wire

Weekly analysis of the immersive industry

By Tom Ffiske // 1 July 2020Been forwarded the newsletter? Subscribe here."This newsletter was previously sent at 8am BST yesterday, and re-sent today to all non-openers. Enjoy!"

Blending learning theory, gaming interaction design and technical excellence, Make Real Ltd creates immersive learning experiences based upon measured, validated outcomes. From Virtual Reality to web and mobile serious games, Make Real Ltd works with large global enterprise customers across a range of sectors, including AEC, automotive and finance.

Find out more here.

THE BIG STORY

brewed a healthy community of developers.But beyond that, Google's long-term strategy is opaque. Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore are like mandarins and oranges: there are differences, yes, but they are broadly similar. At best, Google and Apple supply the software behind AR experiences, completely isolated in the Kingdom of iOS or the United States of Android.Still, the tech can be added to future versions of Google's AR glasses, the second path. Currently Google is focusing on enterprise-class devices, like the Glass Enterprise Edition 2 that was announced in May 2019. The company never positioned it as a mainstream product; it's always been relatively niche. For a while it looked like Google was leaving the 'consumer AR glasses' race to other tech companies. Well, until Google announced their acquisition of North, who were building AR glasses. Google's official blog post is riddled with clues for why, with phrases 'helpful devices' or 'ambient computing'. The wording reminds me of Apple's ecosystem; a network of devices that communicate with one another, at home or away. In any case, it sounds like they want to build consumer-friendly glasses (again).One day, the two paths may converge, and ARCore will work with their upcoming specs. But until then, the paths will be rickety and littered with obstacles.

OTHER STORIES

• Facebook’s Reality Labs developed ultra-thin VR specs, as part of their research. One quote is rather telling for their long-term strategy: 'Lightweight, high resolution, and sunglasses-like VR displays may be the key to enabling the next generation of demanding virtual reality applications that can be taken advantage of anywhere and for extended periods of time.'

• Google added dinosaur filters to Google Search. If I were a child, I would love it. As an aducation tool for younger generations, I adore it. Adding AR to topics is a powerful teaching tool that will surely grow quickly.

• Fancy another VR rhythm game? Ragnaröck is a multiplayer game where the speed of their ship depends on their success and their accuracy on the musical notes. Keep an eye on their Twitter for updates.

• You know, I've stayed up at night wishing that BIM 360 models accessible on HoloLens 2, Magic Leap and mobile AR. Now they are! Arvizio announced that Autodesk BIM 360 works on their enterprise platform.

• Niantic announced their partnership with Punchdrunk. This continues the trend of Niantic AR tech having multuple uses.

• Perpetual Nomads, a cool VR story, won he inaugural 2020 Woollahra Digital Literary Award, Readers’ Choice Prize. Congratulations!

• The Ghost Howls is an excellent newsletter which I read every week, and you should check them out. Sign up here.

• PwC launched an excellent study about the impact of VR on soft skills. Well worth a read.

• VIVE X, the accelerator program, announced that that it has nearly doubled the value of investments since its founding in 2016. The more help for promising companies, the better.

• Here is a neat COVID-19 MR solution: Luminous Group launched new environmental monitoring platform to detect and track COVID-19 on surfaces in food manufacturing plants.Neat.

• I don't know about you, but I need to relax. Virry Happy offers a beginners’ guide for practising mindfulness in short, daily sessions, which have been shown to improve psycho-social symptoms of stress in users.

• Still looking into a career in VR or AR? Here is another event which may help you out.

Got any stories, prmotions, or people moves? Please send them over to [email protected].

JAMES WATSON - THE IMMERSIVE WIRE INTERVIEW

James Watson started his career in digital marketing and innovation over 20 years ago, he has spent the last 5 years developing enterprise VR solutions for companies including Major League Baseball, Shell, GE and DHL. Currently as Chief Marketing Officer at Immerse he is working across industry sectors to help drive the adoption of enterprise VR training.In this episode, we explore how to market VR enterprise solutions among many other topics.