Category Archives: Virtual Reality

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fantasy 360 Technologies Inc. d/b/a Immersive Tech (Immersive Tech, Fantasy 360, or the Company) (CSE:VRAR) (FSE:79W) (OTCQB: FNTTF) is pleased to announce a long term development agreement with HTC Corporation (HTC) (TWSE: 2498), the leading technology pioneer in innovative virtual reality (VR) technologies, and its VIVE VR headset division, to assist with further development to elevate the Companys hyper-immersive VR technologies to new levels.

The development relationship with HTC will ensure the Company is at the cutting edge of VR technology. Alvin Wang Graylin, a director of the Company and the President of HTC China, has been helpful in providing key industry insight and access to necessary resources.

The Company intends to develop its offering around HTCs industry leading VIVE Pro 2 with its wireless adapter capabilities as well as its innovative new VIVE Focus 3 and Flow standalone headset and tracking platforms including its freshly announced wrist trackers. HTCs platforms are uniquely positioned to allow the Company to leverage its deep knowledge in VR technology into the development of next generation hyper-immersive metaverse experiences. We are very excited to work with HTC and VIVE, including access to their senior technical team, to create even more engaging and hyper-immersive user experiences, said Tim Bieber, CEO of Fantasy 360. With our UNCONTAINEDplatform and technology we continue to advance the state of the art in VR experiences, creating the most robust, immersive and memorable experiences in the industry. Our relationship with HTC and VIVE will further elevate our Immersive VR technology and is an ideal platform to build our deep immersion experiences on.

Were excited about our work with Fantasy 360, said Alvin Graylin, President of HTC China. Since joining their board, I have been impressed with their level of enthusiasm and dedication to providing unique and extraordinary hyper-immersive experiences for their clients. I believe the development initiatives will unlock an exciting and deeper level of innovation to further propel their products and technologies in such an exciting and evolving industry.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/058edea5-2e89-413d-86ee-9998ea58ac31

The team behind Fantasy 360 Technologies is a blend of accomplished executives coming together under CEO, Tim Bieber (BroadbandTV, CBS Interactive), Director of Franchise Development, Steven Dooner (The VOID, Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios Japan), Kevin Williams (Walt Disney Imagineering, Spider Entertainment), Dan Burgar (VRAR Association President, Shape Immersive), Lance Priebe (co-founder Club Penguin, Disney Interactive) as well as its Directors Alvin Wang Graylin (HTC China President, Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance President)

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim Bieber, Director and Chief Executive OfficerFantasy 360 Technologies Inc. d/b/a Immersive Techhttps://www.immersivetech.co/

For further information about Fantasy 360, please contact:

Contact - Tim BieberEmail: investors@immersivetech.coTelephone: +1-604-283-3029

ABOUT FANTASY 360 TECHNOLOGIES INC. D/B/A IMMERSIVE TECH

Fantasy 360 Technologies is building the industry's premier location-based Metaverse Platform. Since 2016 the Company has been an industry leader in Social Entertainment, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) entertainment attractions. With its Hardware PlatformUNCONTAINED and its Software Platform Uncontained/OS, the Company helps its stakeholders build user experiences unmatched in realism, depth and immersion. The Company builds experiences on its platforms for some of the world's largest companies including: Intel, Bayer, Capital One, Scotia Bank, the US Food and Drug Administration, Allegiant Airlines and more.

About HTC

HTC is an innovation company, creating powerful new products, solutions, and platforms in mobile and immersive technologies. Beginning with a vision to put a personal computer in the palm of our customers hands, we have led the way in the evolution of smartphones, and are now applying that same innovative approach to connected devices and virtual reality. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). For more information on HTC, please visitwww.htc.com.

About HTC VIVE

VIVE is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality platform, built and optimized for room-scale VR and true-to-life interactions. Delivering on the promise of VR with game-changing technology and best-in-class content, VIVE has created the strongest ecosystem for VR hardware and software, bringing VR to consumers, developers and enterprises alike. The VIVE ecosystem is built around the best VR hardware in market, supported by Vive X, a $100 million accelerator for VR and related technology start-ups, VIVEPORT, a global platform and app store with the worlds first VR subscription model that operates in more than 45 countries, and VIVE Studios, its VR content development and publishing initiative. For more information on VIVE, please visitwww.vive.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements may, without limitation, be preceded by, followed by, or include words such as believes, expects, anticipates, estimates, intends, plans, continues, project, potential, possible, contemplate, seek, goal, or similar expressions, or may employ such future or conditional verbs as may, might, will, could, should or would, or may otherwise be indicated as forward-looking statements by grammatical construction, phrasing or context. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company, the development of VR technologies with HTC and VIVE, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the development initiatives and ensuring the Company is at the cutting edge of VR technology, access to HTC/VIVEs senior technical team, results and timing of development efforts, execution of business strategy, future performance and future growth, business prospects, the Companys expansion initiatives and pursuit of M&A activity, and other factors beyond the Companys control.

Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date such statements are made, including, but not limited to, the Company being able to capitalize on the development expertise of HTC and VIVE, access to HTC/VIVEs senior technical team, and such other assumptions presented in the Companys disclosure record. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Fantasy 360 disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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Fantasy 360 Strengthens VR Development Initiatives with HTC VIVE VR Division - GlobeNewswire

Virtual counselling sessions operated by a robot are more popular with some people than in-person appointments conducted by a human, latest evidence shows.

Researchers from the Edith Cowan University discovered that 30 per cent of adults feel more comfortable opening up about difficult aspects of their life with a robot than another individual.

By using body motion software, the team of academics assessed how communication methods varied between virtual and in-person appointments. Each participant also self-reported how comfortable they felt during each session.

First author Dr Shane Rogers said: Overall people rated VR social interaction as similar to face-to-face interaction, with the exception of closeness, where people tended to feel a little closer with each other when face-to-face.

According to the scientists, virtual reality will soon be used in more aspects of daily life, including business, tourism, education and therapy.

Dr Rogers said: The study found that 30 per cent of people preferred disclosing negative experiences via VR.

This means that therapy might be opened up to new people who dont feel comfortable with traditional face-to-face interactions.

He added: It might also enable therapists to conduct therapy more effectively at a distance, as a person can be in the therapist room (in virtual reality) while seated in their own home.

Over the next decade, virtual reality will dominate social situations, the research study has reported.

More powerful computers are becoming more affordable, VR headsets and peripherals are continuing to develop, and more user-friendly VR interaction software platforms are becoming available and being updated, said Dr Rogers.

The paper, Realistic motion avatars are the future for social interaction in virtual reality, has been published in the journal Frontiers in Virtual Reality.

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Virtual reality improves therapy, study finds - Diabetes.co.uk

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- (TSXV:SEV) (OTCQB:SPVNF) Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. ("Spectra7" or the "Company"), a leading provider of high-performance analog semiconductor products for broadband connectivity markets, today announced that Chief Executive Officer Raouf Halim and Chief Financial Officer Bonnie Tomei will participate in the Alliance Global Partners (A.G.P.) Virtual Emerging Growth Technology Conference on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.

(PRNewsfoto/Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.)

Management will be available for virtual meetings during the Conference. Interested institutional investors should contact Spectra7 Investor Relations at ir@spectra7.com or their A.G.P. representative to secure a meeting time.

ABOUT SPECTRA7 MICROSYSTEMS INC.

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. is a high-performance analog semiconductor company delivering unprecedented bandwidth, speed and resolution to enable disruptive industrial design for leading electronics manufacturers in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, data centers and other connectivity markets. Spectra7 is based in San Jose, California with a design center in Cork, Ireland and technical support location in Dongguan, China. For more information, please visit http://www.spectra7.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provided (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information, please contact:

Matt Kreps/Jim FanucchiDarrow Associates214-597-8200 ir@spectra7.com

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.Bonnie TomeiChief Financial Officer669-212-1089ir@spectra7.com

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.John MitchellPublic Relations650-269-3043pr@spectra7.com

Cision

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SOURCE Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.

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Spectra7 Microsystems to Participate in the Alliance Global Partners Virtual Emerging Growth Technology Conference on February 2, 2022 - Yahoo Finance

Though the metaverse often loosely mimics the organizational mores established by the physical world, the buildings themselves routinely deviate from what might be considered feasible real-world design. In the metaverse, gravity doesnt exist, nor do material constraints. Things like structure, materiality, and cost, for that matter, all go out the window, says Leon Rost, a principal at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), who has worked on a handful of virtual projects for clients. This lack of stylistic constraint has attracted architects who are interested in pushing the formal boundaries of what space can look like. BIG partnered with UNStudio to develop a virtual meeting platform called SpaceForm, where people can collaborate in real time inside futuristic rooms featuring holographic tables that display 3D renderings and data visualizations. Beneville, meanwhile, has built hovering performance stages for clients like iHeartRadio that float in outer space like satellites. Jose Sanchez, a professor of architecture at the University of Michigan Taubman College who designs highly immersive multiplayer videogames through his studio Plethora Project, is designing a videogame where collectives of players can build their own structures that drip in greenery. From a design standpoint, you have to think very differently, because the samerules dont apply in the virtual world as they do in the physical world, Rost says.

In a recent project, Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg of Space Popular, an architecture studio based in Spain and London, created a virtual gallery for the Spanish organization Fundacin Arquia modeled on the layout of Barcelona. Digital avatars can wander through seemingly endless labyrinths of sunrise-hued rooms whose architectural features look as if they were pulled from an M.C. Escher drawing. The rooms were designed with a misty softness that Lesmes says is helpful for loading times and for easing screen-addled eyes into a new environment. Lighting is incredibly important; it can make a virtual space feel a lot better, she says.

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What Will Our Virtual Reality Be? - Metropolis - Metropolis Magazine

Mark Zuckerberg's vision of a sanitized, hypercapitalist metaverse will likely never be as compelling or idiosyncratic as VRChat, the virtual reality community that's been home to anime fans, Furries and a slew of other sub-cultures since 2014. That's my main takeaway from We Met in Virtual Reality, the first documentary filmed entirely in VRChat, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival today.

There's no chance Zuck's metaverse would let people wear trademarked avatars without paying a ton, attend exotic clubs to receive (or give) virtual lapdances, or allow users to build whatever the hell they want. VRChat, as portrayed by director Joe Hunting, is basically a proto-metaverse where anything is possible. And for many, it has served as a crucial social hub during the pandemic, a place where they can forget about the world, relax with friends and maybe find love.

But of course, that's been the nature of practically every online community. We're social animals people have always been able to connect with each other over BBS, IRC, Usenet and the plethora of forums and chat services that populated the early internet. I spent most of the '90s hanging out in anime and gaming chat rooms, the sorts of places that today's connected youth would probably find quaint. Still, the people I met there helped me survive the worst parts of middle and high school. Those relationships, and the internet itself, shaped me into who I am (for better or worse).

We Met in Virtual Reality proves that the unbridled, experimental sense of online community is still alive and well today, despite relentless consolidation from Big Tech. But now, instead of staring at tiny CRT monitors, people are slapping on VR headsets to explore fully realized environments. Hardcore VRChat users are also investing in powerful computing rigs as well as upgrades like finger and whole-body tracking. In the '90s, I was grateful to get another 16MB of RAM so that I could have more than one browser window open. Today, VRChat devotees can communicate using American Sign Language, or have their anime avatars show off their belly dancing skills.

Hunting approaches his subjects with the eye of an anthropologist, without any judgment towards their sometimes ridiculous avatars (do all the anime ladies need to have jiggly, Dead or Alive-level boob physics?). We Met in Virtual Reality begins as a chill hangout flick we follow a group of friends as they have virtual drinks and go on joyrides in crudely-built VR cars but it quickly moves beyond the novelty of its setting. One person credits their VRChat girlfriend for helping them to "unmute" after being silent for two years. An exotic performer explains that being able to dance for people in VRChat helped her grieve with a family tragedy and manage a bout of alcoholism.

Joe Hunting

The film chronicles how that exotic dancer, a young woman based in the UK, formed a romantic relationship with another VRChat user in Miami. These sorts of cyber relationships arent anything new, but the VR platform allowed them to do much more than trade links and memes over IM. They could exist in a space together, go on dates to new environments every night. I wont spoil where things end up for the couple, but I can say that it wouldnt have been nearly as effective outside of VR.

We Met in Virtual Reality effectively conveys why people would gravitate towards VRChat, especially during a pandemic. But it doesn't fully capture the wonder of exploring these environments yourself. Seeing people hop on a virtual rollercoaster isn't nearly as thrilling as doing it, where your entire field of vision is covered and you can easily get vertigo. But I don't blame Hunting too much for that; his job was to boil down the VR experience so people can enjoy it on a 2D screen, and the film is mostly successful in that respect. The film was shot using a virtual camera that could mimic all of the functionality of a typical shooter, from focus points to aperture levels. So even though it's produced in an alien environment most people aren't familiar with, it still feels like a traditional documentary.

Hunting has spent the past few years making VR documentaries, starting with a few short films, as well as the series Virtually Speaking. Its clear from We Met in Virtual Reality that hes not just dropping into the community for a quick story. Instead, he sees the humanity behind the avatars and virtual connections. These people aren't just escaping from their lives with VR their lives are being made richer because of it.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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'We Met in Virtual Reality finds love in the metaverse - Engadget

Virtual reality (VR) is one of the hottest trends in tech right now, thanks to the growing popularity of concepts such as the metaverse as well as the utility of this technology in popular niches such as video gaming.

Mordor Intelligence estimates that the virtual reality market could clock a compound annual growth rate of 34% through 2026, pointing toward a sharp increase in sales of VR hardware. More specifically, VR device shipments are expected to jump to 112.6 million units in 2026 compared to just 13.5 million units in 2020.

Image source: Getty Images.

Investors can take advantage of this fast-growing market through Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). While Meta is already taking advantage of the VR opportunity, Apple is rumored to be joining the fray in 2022. Let's see why investors looking to buy VR stocks shouldn't overlook these tech giants.

Social media giant Facebook announced in October last year that it would be rebranding itself as Meta Platforms to reflect its focus on developing the metaverse. This concept is aimed at helping people collaborate in a three-dimensional virtual world to work, study, play, or work out, among many other activities.

Meta points outthat virtual reality will be a key building block of the metaverse, which explains why the company will be investing significantly in this technology in the future. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the October 2021 earnings conference call that the company is "building multiple generations of our VR and AR products at the same time," and it was on track to invest $10 billion on these technologies last year.

Meta plans to increase its investment in this area in the long run, so it won't be surprising to see it dominate a market where it already has a head start. For instance, Meta leads the VR headset market by a huge margin. Counterpoint Research estimatesthat Meta's Oculus VR headset controlled 75% of the market in the first quarter of 2021, recording a massive increase from its market share of 34% in the prior-year period.

This puts Meta in a terrific position to benefit from the augmented reality (AR) and VR headset market that's expected to grow nearly tenfoldin the next four years. Counterpoint Research estimates that AR/VR headset shipments could jump to 105 million units in 2025 from an estimated 11 million units last year.

Meta is pulling out all stops to capture this massive growth. The company is reportedly working on the next generation of its Oculus Quest VR headset projected to hit the market in 2023. However, analysts expect Meta to launch another VR headset in the second quarter of 2022 that could give users a more immersive experience.

What's more, Meta has partnered with Ray-Ban parent EssilorLuxottica to offer smart glasses. The two companies launched the Ray-Ban Stories series of smart glasses in September 2021 at a starting price of $299. This could unlock another opportunity for Meta as Mordor Intelligence expects the smart-glass market to generate almost $8 billion in revenue by 2026 compared to $3.9 billion in 2020.

All this indicates that Meta could turn out to be a top VR stock in the long run. Its annual earnings could grow faster than Wall Street's projectionof 21% for the next five years as the VR market continues to expand. That's why investors looking to make the most of this market should consider buying Meta stock as it is tradingat 24 times trailing earnings -- a discount to the S&P 500's multipleof 28.5.

Apple is a consumer electronics giant that sells popular products ranging from iPhones to iPads and MacBooks. So, it is not surprising to see reports of the tech titan entering the AR/VR headset market.

Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saidin December 2021 that Apple could launch its first-generation headset in 2022, followed by another device in the second half of 2024. Naturally, Apple hasn't officially confirmed the existence of such a device, but there are further indications that the iPhone maker looks set to make the jump into the lucrative AR/VR headset space.

Citing anonymous sources aware of Apple's headset development plans, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 14 that the company's first mixed reality headset -- supporting both AR and VR -- could hit the market in 2023 instead of this year. The report points out that Apple was originally planning to reveal the device this year at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Development challenges faced by the company have probably led it to delay the release by a few months.

While that may be a near-term setback, the important thing to note here is that there is now more evidence of Apple being in the mix for AR/VR headsets. It is also worth noting that Apple is working on a mixed-reality device combining both AR and VR. This could be an important selling point for Apple's device since it can give users the best of both worlds.

Apple is reportedly looking to price its headset at $2,000 at least. That may seem expensive, but investors should note that the average selling price (ASP) of an AR headset stoodabove $1,800 in 2020, while that of a VR headset was $357. So, Apple's mixed-reality headset could find takers since consumers won't have to spend on two different devices.

Apple reportedly expects to sell 7 million to 10 million units of its headset in the first year, which indicates that this could turn out to be a multibillion-dollar product for the company given the estimated price point. Additionally, it won't be surprising to see Apple achieve its sales target, given the massive iOS ecosystem with an installed base of 1.65 billiondevices at the beginning of 2021.

Apple is in a terrific position to cross-sell its anticipated headset to a huge customer base, and that could make it a top tech stock to benefit from the VR space.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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2 Stocks to Invest in Virtual Reality - Motley Fool

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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