Daily Archives: January 21, 2022

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stripchat, the leading free live camming platform that averages over 500 million visits per month, today announced that any adult using Stripchat.com can interact with live stream cam models in virtual reality without the need to install 3rd party applications. On top of this, the most popular all-in-one VR system, Oculus Quest is now compatible with the platform and will connect natively to Stripchat via the web browser.

With 4K quality and no delay, users can now completely immerse themselves in virtual reality alongside their favorite models for free using any pair of VR glasses, whether they be low-cost or advanced technology.

"Watching adult cam models perform in virtual reality has been around for a few years now, but mostly for those who have the money to buy expensive VR headsets and the time to seek out and download third party VR applications," said Max Bennett, Vice President at Stripchat. "Now, we're opening the door to users all over the world who have been waiting to experience virtual interaction at the highest quality. Once you have some VR goggles, you can put them on and use them on Stripchat immediately."

Stripchat has started using new techniques for rendering 3D content with VR glasses, based on partial rendering on various layers, to optimize the application and the image quality. The platform has achieved 60fps when watching 4K video with interface elements in modern virtual reality glasses. Stripchat has also reduced the delay between models' performing actions and users noticing them to a minimum.

The platform has taken all functionalities of its site - tip menu, toy reactions, private shows, interactive chat - and merged them with virtual reality glasses. Features which can also be activated during VR shows include using a microphone to talk to the model and new interactions with physical remotes including standard PC keyboards to facilitate control over the virtual interface.

To experience Stripchat in VR, please visit: https://stripchat.com/girls/vr

About Stripchat:Stripchat is an 18+ LIVE entertainment community, with more than 500 million monthly users, where users can watch streams from both amateur and professional models for absolutely free. Users can browse through thousands of performers and influencers broadcasting live shows 24/7. Besides watching, they can also interact with performers by choosing desired options from the tokens menu, using interactive technology, chatting, and diving into private shows. All models appearing on the site have contractually confirmed to Stripchat that they are 18 years of age or older.

SOURCE Stripchat

Visit link:

Stripchat Democratizes Virtual Reality Live Webcamming - PRNewswire

The registration for the VR Exhibit opened for MLK Jr. Day, but has been available year-round for anyone interested.

MINNEAPOLIS Minneapolis has historically been praised for being one of the best places to live. It has beautiful parks, relatively well-connected bike paths. However, it still remains a place with one of the biggest racial inequality gaps in the nation.

"Whether that's red lining, educational disparities, things about housing and systemic inequities in general..." Tracy Nielsen said. Nielsen is the Executive Director of HandsOn Twin Cities, a volunteer center that coordinates companies, nonprofits and volunteers.

She said they've been partnering with REM5, a virtual reality experience company out of St. Louis Park to host something called 1 City, 2 Realities.

"1 City, 2 Realities is a virtual exhibition space, so basically it can be accessed in real time via phone or computer when people go into the exhibition," Nielsen said. "It's like walking into a museum you have an avatar and you're navigating the space."

Nielsen says this experience has been available to her volunteers for a while, and she thought MLK day was the perfect jumping off point to introduce the public to it, so that they can participate too, without leaving their homes.

"Everyday we are working to make people think about themselves on how they can be more anti-racist as a volunteer," she said. "We really believe that by deeply informing of our history that affects our current circumstance, and the existing need, people will become better volunteers to understand those issues."

Amir Berenjian, The founder of REM 5, the company behind building this VR exhibit, says his company's mission had been the same since the beginning.

"When we first started the company about four years ago, we spent a lot of time deploying this technology for empathy building or soft skills, emotional intelligence, cultural competence, using it as an intimate storytelling medium," Berenjian said.

And ever since the company developed this exhibit, Berenjian says he's worked with schools and corporate groups to not only educate but to also help visualize what the inequities look like in numbers.

The exhibit includes dozens of items, featuring information about educational, housing and wealth gaps in our city.

"When you start to look at the data, we have some of the worst race inequities in the country across the board, so if we can open up people's eyes to that data and that content and those stories using this tool as the medium for it, and get those 10, 20, 100 people in that company to engage in discourse around that and what they can do individually and as an organization to counteract some of these systemic issues, then we've done our job," Berenjian said.

If you are interested in the exhibit as well as other events HandsOn Twin Cities is organizing throughout the week, you can find that info here.

The virtual exhibit is free to view for anyone with a computer or a smartphone, but requires registration. You can also participate in the debriefing session hosted by HandsOn Twin Cities throughout the week.

Watch all of the latest stories from Breaking The News in ourYouTube playlist:

See the original post here:

Virtual Reality exhibition highlights racial inequities within Minneapolis - KARE11.com

Virtual reality (VR) istransforming the way we do business from retail to sales.

Virtual reality (VR) has disrupted the gaming industry. With its incredible features, it provides gamers an entirely new experience, where gamers can directly immerse themselves in the world of gaming. However, we are now seeing practical applications of VR, outside the sphere of gaming. According to theStatista, the global revenue within the VR gaming industry is forecast to grow from 0.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 to2.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. This highlights the rate at which the VR industry is growing, making an increase of approximately four times in its revenue. Experts and professionals are now finding ways to leverage VR in business.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted greater interest in virtual reality products. Virtual realityhas stood out as a means of entertainment as people have navigated lockdown periods, and acted as a form of escapism while theyve been physically confined.VR owners are broadly receptive to using the technology at work. Virtual reality offers every business the chance to rethink how they present and engage with their clients.

How would VR benefit the corporate setup? Well, VR will transform the way business users interact, envision, and drive their business operations. Shared below are few benefits of VR in business that help business users revamp the way they perform their traditional functions.

Foreign business meetings are difficult to attend at all times. Business professionals attribute a lot of their stress, time, and effort to overseas travel for business meetings. With VR, you can sit at your home or office and have a meeting without the need for traveling. A VR device can direct you to the place where your colleagues or clients are present. The recent advancements in video calling technology have reduced the need for flying overseas for meetings. However, the video calling technology offers disappointing results with cracking in audio and video.

Moreover, only one person can express their views at a time. VR can address such issues well and help business users interact with their business partners in the virtual world like they do in the real world.

VR offers numerous benefits for structural engineers. They invest an immense amount of time in mailing their blueprints to seniors and waiting for their response. VR can help engineers enter a virtual world, consisting of their work, and explain to their seniors how their plan will look in the future.

Sitting the whole day long at your workplace is quite monotonous and can cause several health issues too. VR can help you solve such a problem. Having a VR environment at the office will motivate you to move around. Moreover, VR environment will replace the dull workplace environment and add a layer of excitement to work at office.

Source: McKinsey & Company

Virtual reality is gaining a lot of attention these days due to its unusual features. VR in education will allow students to visit places in the virtual world that are otherwise not possible to visit in the real world. VR in the army can help train soldiers in a safe yet closely simulated environment. VR in healthcare can help medical students perform their very first surgery on a patient without injuring them. Moreover, there will be lower stress on students as they can commit mistakes, which will help them to learn without any inhibitions. VR in the real estate industry will allow buyers to view and visit a property much before constructing it.

Go here to read the rest:

Virtual Reality is Changing the Corporate Setup in the Pandemic Era - BBN Times

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UserTesting (NYSE: USER), a leader in video-based human insight, today released new templates for its Human Insight Platform that enable companies to obtain fast, opt-in feedback from any metaverse or virtual reality (VR) user, including those using Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc.). See what the templates can do.

The metaverse is an entirely new product experience for companies and users alike, said Andy MacMillan, CEO for UserTesting. Our new templates can help any organization get rapid, opt-in feedback from real users on how their products and services show up in Metas Horizon Worlds (or any metaverse), what those users value in those experiences, and how those users prefer and expect to transact in this emerging environment. With that critical information, companies including traditional physical goods companies like shoe and apparel brands that are just starting to expand into the metaverse can more quickly and easily create the best, most immersive user experiences.

Inspiration and pre-built testing templates for gathering feedback for more use cases, from more people

Designed by research experts, UserTesting templates provide out-of-the-box sample questions that can be used as-is or customized to fit an organizations exact testing requirements.

UserTestings new metaverse and VR templates enable companies building games, products, and other metaverse/VR experiences to obtain rapid user feedback in the form of Customer Experience Narratives (CxNs) video recordings of actual users that have opted in to share their perspectives and experiences as they execute a pre-built series of tasks and instructions online. These CxNs let organizations firsthand:

With the addition of these new VR/metaverse templates, UserTestings Human Insight Platform now features more than 100 pre-built testing templates organizations can use to inspire and jumpstart their testing efforts.

UserTesting also today released several new and expanded features designed to help organizations more easily reach new audiences and develop new use cases, and better optimize their use of the UserTesting platform.

Ability to tap into important insights from new audiences

UserTestings Invite Network feature lets organizations capture perspectives and experiences from their own network of contacts by simply sharing with them a link to a user test. This new product release streamlines the Invite Network feedback process even more with a seamless recorder that enables organizations to quickly and easily solicit input from anyone e.g., employees, customers/clients, prospects, partners on any browser, without installing any software. As a result, organizations can, for instance, more easily conduct live intercept testing and gather fast feedback by adding a custom link to internal communication channels, emails, chatbots, and in-app messaging.

Its hard to prioritize quantitative insights because the process is time-consuming. But everyone at our organization still needs to know what users want and feel, said B. Sanborn, design research leader/principal at DLR Group. UserTesting has enabled us to incorporate client feedback into our process. Invite Network saves us much time, and now, with the addition of the seamless recorder, we can reach even more stakeholders making it so easy for them to participate [in our tests] and give their perspectives.

New template filtering and categorization

UserTesting added powerful new categorization capabilities to its in-platform Template Gallery that enable users to filter templates according to criteria like test methodology, project phase (i.e., discover needs, validate/refine ideas, engage audience, optimize website/conversions, etc.), job role, or asset type, so they can better align testing efforts to broader organizational business goals.

Improved usage monitoring and optimization

A new Usage and History dashboard helps customers on UserTestings new Flex model pricing plan better track, monitor, and manage UserTesting usage across their organizations via increased visibility into factors like overall testing capacity and usage by team member or workspace.

The innovations were announcing today simplify and expedite how different departments across an organization can gather rich customer insights while making it easier for them to reach new testing audiences, said Kaj van de Loo, CTO at UserTesting. All of it is immensely important in todays world of continually changing customer attitudes and behaviors because only companies that deeply understand how their customers really think and feel can deliver the products, apps, and services that win customers and retain their loyalty.

About UserTesting

UserTesting (NYSE: USER) has fundamentally changed the way organizations get insights from customers with fast, opt-in feedback and experience capture technology. The UserTesting Human Insight Platform taps into our global network of real people and generates video-based Customer Experience Narratives (CxNs), so anyone in an organization can directly ask questions, hear what users say, see what they mean, and understand what its actually like to be a customer. Unlike approaches that track user behavior then try to infer what that behavior means, UserTesting eliminates the guesswork and brings customer experience data to life with human insight. UserTesting has more than 2,100 customers, including more than half of the worlds top 100 most valuable brands according to Forbes. UserTesting is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. To learn more, visit http://www.usertesting.com.

Go here to see the original:

UserTesting Introduces New Capabilities for Testing Facebook Metaverse and Virtual Reality Experiences - Business Wire

Auckland video game studio Method has created a virtual reality game in which players walk on the moon, visit ancient Mayan temples, and fend off crocodiles with a baseball bat.

When the game, called Wanderer is released next Friday on the Sony PlayStation VR, it will be the first virtual reality game made in New Zealand to be released by major console maker.

In the game you play as Asher Newman, an unwitting hero thrust into a time-bending journey to change the course of history and prevent the collapse of civilisation.

Sam Ramlu, co-creator of Wanderer said as well as being a fun romp through alternative histories, the game has the potential change the perception of New Zealand creativity on the world stage.

READ MORE:* Jeremy Wells-voiced mini Kiwi blockbuster getting global attention* Chance for young Kiwi filmmakers to make fully-funded short film about sustainability* My Year With Helen: Gaylene Preston's Doco already a sell-out in Wellington

A lot of people, rightly or wrongly, will play this and think this doesnt feel like a game from New Zealand.

That is one of the things we want to change. We want people to look at Aotearoa and think that these kinds of high quality productions are what comes out of New Zealand, Ramlu said.

Ramlu said being one of the first local companies to build a VR game from the ground up was an epic achievement, and she was immensely proud of the work her team has put into the game.

RICKY WILSON/Stuff

New VR game developed by Auckland gaming studio could change the perception of New Zealand game development, say co-directors Euge Eastlake, Sam Ramlu, and Ben Markby.

The game has been in the works since early 2014 when Ramlu and her team became excited by the prospect of using virtual reality technology in gaming.

In 2016 they secured $25,000 funding from the NZ Film Commissions interactive fund. Using this and $200,000 of their own money they set to work building a demo of the game.

We created this demo that we were super excited by, it had so many possibilities. We loved the idea of using VR to go back in time, we were imagining what if we could see this historical event, or that one. We knew we had a great concept, Ramlu said.

After the demo was created the next step was to bring investors on board, to fund the completion of the game. But it took years of hard work to find the financial backing to get the game completed.

In 2016, no one in New Zealand was interested. It was such early days for VR that most people didnt have a strong understanding of what a game like this would look like. We knew from the start that we would have to go international if we wanted to get this off the ground, Ramlu said.

But even internationally getting attention for a small New Zealand based game studio was difficult. The directors travelled the world to game events pitching the demo, but it would take until 2019 before Sony partnered with the studio.

RICKY WILSON/Stuff

The game has been in the works since 2016. The studio want to give players an experience of being immersed on other worlds and other timelines.

Once we had confirmation of Sonys backing in September 2019 that is when things really got going for us. We were able to hire more people, at our peak we had 25 people working on this game with contractors around the world. It was a huge project, Ramlu said.

The studio worked on the game for another two and a half years before Wanderer was ready for release.

Ramlu said Wanderer was a game that was different to any other on the market.

For people that are playing VR games there is a lot of arcade type games that focus on action and fighting. While we have combat in our game, the game is very much about exploration and discover and puzzle solving. The fact that this game is story driven is quite unique, there are not a lot of VR games out there like this, Ramlu said.

Ramlu said the experience of working on the game has made her all the more excited for the future of VR.

We are right there at the beginning of a new technology. There are so many opportunities for us to do more in this space and to find new ways to bring the technology forward, she said.

Wanderer is part one of three part series. Ramlu said she hoped to start work on the next instalment of the game this year.

Link:

Local virtual reality game putting New Zealand on the world stage - Stuff.co.nz

Participants are needed for a graduate research study to examine how museum educators can apply augmented and virtual reality technologies. Anyone interested in participating may visit the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art from Tuesday, Feb. 1, through Thursday, Feb. 10, to take part and help the museum field.

Participating visitors will wear a head-mounted camera that will record their experience in the galleries, noting which objects they are looking at and actual time spent viewing. Participants will then complete a survey asking how much attention they paid to each object for comparison, as well as their overall attitudes about augmented and virtual reality.

A new slate of exhibitions, including work by faculty and contemporary artists and collection objects, opens Friday, Jan. 28. The museum is located at 901 S. College St., and admission is free. For more information, go to jcsm.auburn.edu or call 334-844-1484.

See the original post:

Head-mounted camera research to take place at museum Feb. 1-10 - Office of Communications and Marketing

In Reality Check: How Immersive Technologies Can Transform Your Business, expert author Jeremy Dalton, who leads PwC's extended reality (XR) team, explores the world of XR, an umbrella term that covers virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, spatial and other assorted -- or still emerging -- categories of immersive technology. This book is for people with some familiarity with XR who are interested in its business applications, how XR is already being used, the main challenges of the tech and common myths associated with it. If you're "virtually curious," read this excerpt from the chapter titled "Why XR means business."

The value of XR in business stems from the unique attributes of each technology.

Virtual reality's power comes from its ability to immerse users in an environment or perspective safely, cost-effectively and in less time than would be possible physically. This is the principal feature of VR that differentiates it from other technologies. It achieves this by:

Successfully immersed users react to the virtual world in the same way that they would to similar circumstances in the real world. Place a user on a stage in an auditorium in front of a virtual audience of 1,000 people and they may feel anxious. Put a user on the receiving end of a verbally abusive rant and they might feel upset. Suspend them 100 meters above the ground to perform maintenance on a cell tower and it could cause them to panic. In other words, VR is capable of evoking a true-to-life sense of pressure, anxiety, awkwardness, empathy and a range of other emotions relevant to different workplace situations.

How many times have you witnessed a colleague multitasking in a meeting, attempting to pay attention while transfixed by their mobile phone? Have you ever been on a video call, muted your microphone and minimized the window to work on other tasks? The modern world is full of tempting distractions across a range of devices. When you are engrossed in a completely virtual environment both visually and audibly, there are no application windows to open or close and it is much harder to quickly check a notification on your mobile phone without deliberately disconnecting from the experience and jumping between the virtual and the physical environment -- possible, but a process that carries more work, which acts as a natural disincentive.

While being an effective immersion tool, VR also doesn't limit you to what is physically possible. You can collaborate with colleagues in a virtual workshop without having to physically travel; spawn an unlimited number of screens without worrying about the logistics of transporting, setting up and powering them; and walk through a refurbished version of an office without having to buy any materials. 3D models can be resized to better examine them at a human scale: Molecular structures can be enlarged while towering buildings can be downscaled. VR also makes it possible to revisit a past scenario or simulate a future one in an impactful way. What would you do as the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 after its engines had lost power? How could you simulate a scientific research mission on Mars?

Augmented reality's power comes from its ability to connect to, make sense of and display information on the physical objects and environments around us in a user-friendly way. To expand on this, AR technology:

This information is displayed intuitively in context with the physical environment and objects. At a glance, a technician can view the current temperature and tempo of a machine they're looking at, receive instructions on how to safely take it apart and be visually guided to the next machine in the maintenance queue; a retailer can give customers the ability to view products remotely without any specialist hardware; a field worker can call for assistance remotely and within seconds a senior colleague on the other side of the world can see everything they're seeing and highlight which compartments to open, buttons to press and screws to remove.

Not everything can be seen with the naked eye -- from the network of pipes under our cities to the highways of veins beneath our skin, we live in a world of hidden machinery, and AR can help bring this information to the surface.

Having both hands available is a requirement in many scenarios, from performing surgical procedures on patients to mechanical procedures on machinery. The key benefits are being able to save time, reduce risk and eliminate errors that come from having to refer to documentation or instructions that are away from your place of work or are inconvenient to access. You may be a mechanic examining the undercarriage of a vehicle. Having to stop, take out your smartphone or printed materials, refer to a complex set of instructions, commit them to memory, return to the task and successfully apply the information is a series of steps that is time-consuming, prone to error and potentially dangerous if you are working in a hazardous environment. In some cases, it may not even be possible -- if you are working in half a meter of mud servicing a broken-down tractor, it isn't practical to get out a tablet. And even where not absolutely necessary, implementing hands-free AR technology can lead to improved productivity.

Read more from the original source:

New book explores business benefits of immersive technology - TechTarget

Jeremy HartmannPhD, Cheriton School of Computer Science>Founder, MTION.tv>Researcher in human computer interaction

Jeremy Hartmann successfully defended his dissertation in December 2021 and launched an entrepreneurial venture that took his academic research to the next level.

As a graduate student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, Hartmanns PhD was a study of merging the real and the virtual, which his new company MTION is putting into practice as a virtual reality streaming service and digital clubhouse.

While pursuing his PhD, Hartmann was involved in the Waterloo innovation ecosystem and was a winner of the Concept by Velocity startup challenge for graduate students. He completed internships at Microsoft Research in 2018 and Adobe Research in 2019, and developed the technical side of his current venture in the Human Computer Interaction Lab, supervised by computer science professor Daniel Vogel.

My research program took up different types of extended reality, Hartmann said. Ive been working to build and understand different interaction techniques and different systems to enable things like augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality.

Augmented reality is layered on top of our everyday physical reality, such as through a pair of digital glasses that may show information or overlaid images in physical space. Virtual reality is a more immersive experience, such as through VR headsets that create a digital space. Mixed reality and extended reality are terms to describe the combination of various forms of augmented reality, virtual reality and physical reality.

The way I like to think of it is as a continuum, Hartmann continued. On one side you have unmediated physical reality. Thats the space we occupy with our physical bodies. On the other side of the continuum we have a completely virtual reality, with things like VR headsets.

The more senses that are immersed in the virtual world, like visual, auditory and touch sensation, the further on this side of the continuum. Then you have things in the middle, like augmented reality, where you have a blending between the real and the virtual.

What Hartmanns company MTION is doing is somewhat unique, even in this continuum of realities, in that it builds a virtual reality space that then incorporates the physical reality into that space, both through the design of the space and through sources of video, audio and other feeds.

Hartmann's virtual avatar withinthe VR space,looking at a screen showing Hartmann in physical reality. Image courtesy MTION.tv.

You still get the benefits of being immersed inside the virtual world but then you can also take aspects and pieces of reality and impose them into your virtual space, Hartmann said.

The main customers for the service and the clientele the company caters to are currently video-game streamers. MTIONs virtual clubhouse, as Hartmann calls it, changes the way that video games are spectated by allowing the audience to essentially be inserted directly into the game, such that they can interact with the streamer and other viewers around them and move through a constructed 3D game-like space.

Because of its unique approach to virtual spaces, Hartmanns company and his research are contributing to the creation of the metaverse, a concept that has come to public attention recently. The slogan for Hartmanns company is building the metaverse, one virtual brick at a time.

In a general sense, the metaverse points to these various forms of blended and mixed realities, to something that amplifies, makes more of, or transcends a particular way of being. The metaverse, as it is being created by entrepreneurs like Hartmann, is a conjunction of physical and digital worlds. It is not just reality or virtual reality or augmented reality, but an intermingling of all these kinds of reality.

A piece of concept art for metaverse spaces that mapor overlaysome typical and not-so-typical physical spaces. Image courtesy MTION.tv.

The metaverse is really a collection of a bunch of different things, Hartmann explained. Virtual reality and augmented reality is one aspect of it. But theres also the issue of how we use these spaces and how they complement or overlap with everyday life. A big part of it, at least right now, is about play and entertainment, and so thats where MTION is positioning itself.

Asked about the future trajectory of the metaverse and the technologies that make it possible, Hartmann said its all about creating things that in some way improve peoples lives.

I think what people fundamentally want is to live meaningfully. Any versions of mixed reality and any emerging aspects of the metaverse are going to have to be things that people can get something from. It all has to be in the service of creating meaningful and authentic human experiences.

Overview of the MTION studio streaming software, showing the ways users can create and manipulate a 3D space that incorporates a video feed.

Continue reading here:

Innovation, entrepreneurship and building the metaverse | Waterloo News - uwaterloo.ca

The eight graduating startups demonstrated the value derived from a niche data driven B2B tech startup accelerator program

National , 21 January 2022 NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), a global cloud-led, data-centric software company, announced the completion of theninth cohortof its flagship accelerator program, NetApp Excellerator at a virtual demo day event. The eight graduating startups Datamotive, Continual Engine, eCommerce Insights, FireVisor, FabrikSpace, NetObjex, Neuropixel, and Spectrum Analytics are leveraging disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality/ virtual reality, intelligent automation and blockchain. FabrikSpace created a Metaverse App Platform for individuals, businesses and enterprises where they can create their own metaverses in just a few clicks. On the other hand, NetObjex leveraged Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence and is working on use cases from diamonds to cars to build smart contracts and seamless authentication.

Of the startups that graduated, three startups Continual Engine, FireVisor, and eCommerce Insights were mentored under NetApp ExcellerateHER a subset of the NetApp Excellerator program that focuses on mentoring and promoting women-led B2B tech startups. The global nature of the program is fuelled further by a virtual world with FireVisor being based out of Singapore, and eCommerce Insights and Continual Engine both founded in the USA.

The highlight of the program however was the availability of Spotlight. With most of the startups being cloud-native, NetApp for the first time offered the participants access to Spotlight a unique cloud cost optimization and automation solution. Spot enables average savings of up to 73% off the cloud compute bill, providing a huge advantage to the startups. Additionally, direct access to the Spot solution architect and implementation teams helped them further optimize their cloud usage and reap maximum benefits.

Data is growing exponentially, and it will grow more in the next three years than it has in the last 30. With our laser-focus on innovation in the cloud, we are well positioned to offer tailored solutions irrespective of where a business data lives and how it is being used. With our cloud capabilities and experience, we have been mentoring tech startups with an aim to fuel innovation within the tech and startup ecosystems. We have mentored 58 startups so far and all of them have been an integral part of our journey to the cloud, saidRavi Chhabria, managing director, NetApp India.

Since its inception in 2017,NetApp Excellerator has received industry-wide recognition. Recently, the program was featured as one of the top 5 accelerator programs in India on corporate innovation by NexTT Awards. Out of 50 alumni startups, six have had successful exits through acquisitions which is a testament to the success of the program. 13 of these startups are also engaged in proofs of concept (POCs), with NetApps backing in funding and technology, while a few others are under exploration.

Madhurima Agarwal, director of engineering programs and leader, NetApp Excelleratorsaid, With every cohort, we learn more about the needs and challenges the startups face in their growth stage. We offer startups an opportunity to work on use cases across the spectrum. In the current cohort, we are supporting one startup on their Python review code on-prem deployment while another startup is working on an automated APIs testing POC with NetApp. We also support them with tech expertise and infra to accelerate their growth journey. Spotlight is a great example of how we are using our technology to help startups right-size their cloud consumption and has added to the value they derive from us.

Agarwal was also recognised as one of the top 10 corporate innovation leaders in India at the NeXTT Corporate Innovation & VC Summit, in early December.

Throughthe course of the program, participating startups are assigned dedicated mentors and get access to NetApps stakeholders including customers and investors.Over the years, the award-winning NetApp Excellerator program has received over 1,700 applications. The tenth cohort is now open to applications, with a focus on cloud, internet of things (IoT), big data and analytics, machine learning, virtualization, data security, data management, and storage.

Here are the NetApp Excellerator Program cohort 9 startups,at a glance.

About NetApp

NetApp is a global cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organisations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software, and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organisations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services, and applications to the right peopleanytime, anywhere. Learn more atwww.netapp.comor follow us onTwitter,LinkedIn,Facebook, andInstagram.

See the original post:

Blockchain, Virtual Reality among key technologies leveraged by startups during the ninth edition of NetApp Excellerator Demo Day - CXOToday.com

Facebooks parent company Meta, is once again facing scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and several US states, and this time its virtual reality division is at stake.

according to the sources, a bloomberg Over the past few months, the FTC, as well as several states, have been questioning developers of third-party apps for the Oculus headset. Its purpose is to verify whether the company is using its dominant position to crush the competition.

The issue is how the Oculus Application Store can discriminate against third-party companies competing with Metas software. Clearly, researchers want to know more about the Mark Zuckerberg-led companys strategy for virtual reality headsets and whether their prices are competing at risk.

Previously, developers of third-party applications may have complained that Meta rival is using its power to eliminate companies offering games or services, even as it claims That the tech giant copies the ideas it considers most promising.

It is recalled that, in June 2021, a US court ruled that Facebook was right, after halting the sale of Instagram and WhatsApp, with the FTC resubmitting its complaint against the company in August of that year to charge I came back. , Months later, the court hearing the case ruled in favor of the FTC.

Under the ruling, the FTC can now move forward with its antitrust lawsuit against Meta, which could force it to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. In August, the FTC had accused The company illegally acquired both platforms, formerly its rival, in order to maintain its monopoly.

The antitrust case against Metas practices could go ahead, but the FTC would have to present more evidence to be able to force the company to sell the platform.

More here:

Oculus: Meta's virtual reality division is in "sight" of new US investigation - Sprout Wired