Augmented World Expo (AWE) had its fifteenth annual convention and exhibition in Lengthy Seaside, CA, final week (June 18-20). The convention featured over 500 audio system over three days, and the expo corridor had over 300 exhibitiors. My story instantly after the present targeted on the keynotes, panels, and main bulletins, which targeted on cellular AR and Combined Actuality. AI, regardless of my predictions, took a backseat. On this story, I’m going to speak about what I noticed on the bottom within the exhibit corridor. There, we noticed an AWE the place enterprise, entrepreneurs, video games and leisure meet.
AWE’s Stroll of Fame honoring the primary 101 pioneers inducted into the brand new Corridor of Fame.
There have been a slew of bulletins by gamers not named Meta, Snap, Qualcomm and Niantic because the present opened. They are often discovered right here. The largest tech firms have their very own developer conferences, so their presence on the expo flooring is restricted,(however at all times well-liked). Certainly, experiences within the Meta Quest app retailer, appears to have delivered probably the most succcess to indie builders like
Coaching and simulation from ForgeFX. Actual controls, actual tools, digital actuality coaching.
Distance Applied sciences, established by the co-founders of enterprise headset maker Varjo, confirmed off its prototype utilizing an LCD panel pointed up at a windshield with a reflective coating, projecting a clear picture onto it just like heads up shows in Audis and Volvos. These easy programs use a microprojector on the sprint and use the windshield because the reflective display screen, thus making a composite view. Distance Know-how makes use of an eye fixed monitoring system to indicate a completely 3D map, which might be toggled to indicate completely different views. Urho Konttori, CEO and co-founder of Distance Applied sciences informed me their goal market is automotive and aerospace.
Johnny Monsarrat gave me a spontaneous demo of his exceptional out of doors roleplaying online game (Outside RPG) for cellular AR. It’s free within the app shops now. In contrast to scavenger hunt video games the place you stroll to GPS factors and cease, Monsarrat lays out a recreation panorama throughout any actual world out of doors house, which you stroll via to discover. “This fashion,” says Monsarrat, “any park could be a theme park.” In your telephone’s digicam mingled with bodily actuality you see tons of of fantasy bushes, rocks, creatures, buildings and different recreation content material, forming a roleplaying recreation world.
Spacetop does not have a monitor, it makes use of Xreal’s display screen extending smartglasses. Word the extra … [+]
On the entrance to the exhibit corridor the very first thing I noticed have been Spacetop, Meta, Faucet, and Qualcomm. Spacetop is a laptop computer with out a monitor. As a substitute, it makes use of Nreal’s new XR glasses to supply what seems to be an enormous display screen monitor.
Faucet is a wristband that replaces your keyboard, mouse & handheld controller. Customers faucet on a desk prime, or the air. TapXR now helps superior multi-finger gestures, delivering a extra fluid, immersive and intuitive solution to navigate, scroll, choose, drag, drop, and activate content material in each spatial and commonplace computing environments – with out sacrificing precision or consolation.
Meta’s small sales space was mobbed each time I walked by.
Meta was on the entrance of the Expo flooring, connecting with a crowd of builders serious about new Meta Quest Way of life app accelerator grants. They have been mobbed each time I walked by.
Qualcomm’s at all times certainly one of AWE’s largest and hottest exhibitors.
Qualcomm’s sales space was stuffed with its companions and members of its developer relations staff for Snapdragon Areas, which permits builders software program to function throughout all of the gadgets utilizing their Snapdragon chipset.
Coaching and simulation from ForgeFX. Actual controls, actual tools, digital actuality coaching.
Most of what you see on the ground is for enterprises, not shoppers. Both firms promoting tech to the XR trade, or XR firms offering {hardware} and software program for coaching and simulation. There are distributors of optics (Digilens), sensors of every kind (Ultraleap), equipment (FreeaimVR), Video games instruments for creating, managing, modifying, and storing 3D content material (ShapesXR, Playbook AI), and collaboration instruments like Campfire 3D and Cisco WebEx.
HaptX Gloves G1 now transport, G1 improves ergonomics and match, provides a number of glove sizes, expands … [+]
Attempting out the brand new HaptX G1 on the present flooring.
HaptX introduced it has begun transport its new G1 haptic gloves. The corporate says they’ve tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in preorders to fill. The G1 has improved ergonomics and match, a number of sizes, expanded haptics, and multi consumer collaboration options.
This 12 months’s Playground featured a file 17 cubicles stuffed with interactive tales, progressive XR fundraising campaigns, multiplayer video games, AR unicorn rides, an enormous arcade cupboard, and an inflatable astronaut hovering over all the playground. You possibly can view all of the Playground experiences right here.
I am, a sucker for an enormous inflated astronaut.
There have been 4 pretty massive installations within the playground: Black Rock Inventive, Spacebar, Creator Campus, and a free-roam location-based VR expertise, The Lunar Mild.
Athena Demos with a tiny artwork automobile referred to as “The Rock-It” by artist Justin Gunn.
Huge Rock Inventive had an eye catching speeder in its sales space. They have been sharing BurnerSphere, an immersive app that lets customers expertise Huge Rock Metropolis in VR with 3D fashions and 360/180 movies from Burning Man. They opened up their alpha model purposes in the beginning of AWE, June 18.
Spacebar is a VR barcade set within the wild west of our on-line world. Their 15’ tall arcade cupboard invitations gamers on the surface to make use of bodily pinball controls, whereas others go contained in the machine, for a head-to-head contest of pinball meets dodgeball. Dwell VR video games are enjoyable, interval. We performed knock hockey and darts, however there have been many extra.
A large inflatable astronaut drew me to Lunar Mild by Again to House. Donning a backpack, you journey to the moonbase on a monorail taking within the sights of the lunar floor. I’m informed they’ll be bringing their attraction to Santa Monica, CA later this 12 months.
Customers in VR headsets raced themed electrical wheelchairs via gates solely they might see.
Brent Bushnell, former of Steam Carnival and Two Bit Circus has created Creator Campus, “a downloadable theme” you may put in a park, car parking zone, ball subject, anyplace. It provides plenty of blended actuality video games, together with a shooter and a racing recreation, Rydeables, through which customers in VR headsets raced themed electrical wheelchairs via gates solely they might see. It was an excessive amount of enjoyable and I had too little time. This looks like an excellent concept to me.
Darkish Arts’ “Let’s Dance” had them twirling a accomplice solely they’ll see at AWE 2024.
The three issues folks mentioned I’ve to strive have been Pillow (Lucas Rizzotto), Fanport (Dave Lorenzini) and the VR dancing app, Let’s Dance, from Darkish Arts. We’ve reviewed Pillow up to now however they’ve added options like Sky Fishing, only for AWE. If Meta is on the lookout for Combined Actuality life-style purposes, they have been in abundance in AWE’s playground this 12 months. They will’t miss Let’s Dance. My digital dance accomplice mentioned I used to be nice, and cherished her wardrobe adjustments.
Fanport, created by Draw & Code, is social, interactive and designed to do issues {that a} VR arcade or different established location-based programs can not – clear up the throughput drawback. Within the demo, three of us wore Magic Leap 2 HMDs to battle invaders which accurately got here out of the wall, very like the unique ML 1 recreation “Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders.” Supposedly the system can deal with over 100 simultaneous customers, which might be a breakthrough. Getting that many individuals into headsets without delay – and cleansing them – is the brand new logistical drawback. Kagami, an experimental efficiency with 100 folks in Magic Leap 2 headsets ran for a month final summer time at New York’s Shed theater off-Broadway.
Neon Arches led attendees from the expo flooring into the XR Museum, which featured over 80 classic XR gadgets donated by pioneers. Highlights embrace the 1990 Xybernaut (one of many first wearable computer systems), The Disney Aladdin Headset, The Nintendo Digital Boy, and the unique Meta AR headset, which was made years earlier than Fb acquired their title.
Particular immersive experiences offered by The Immersive Archive Mission USC Cell & Environmental Media Lab will enable attendees to discover Ivan Sutherland’s first ever Head Mounted Show from 1968, and Morton Heilig’s Sensorama from 1961 – the primary multisensory immersive cinema expertise pre-dating VR, which is
My very first totally occuluded VR expertise was Virtuality in 1992. Consider it as Pong, in VR. At a … [+]
being restored by a staff beneath Scott Fisher at USC. Moreover, the XR Museum pays tribute to the primary 101 XR pioneers who’ve been inducted into the XR Corridor of Fame in 2024 with a photograph gallery and their declare to fame. Their “stars” adorned the museum’s wall and in addition have been on the carpet on the Conference Middle entrance.
2024 Auggie Award winners.
The Auggie Awards happened on Wednesday night, June nineteenth, proper earlier than the induction ceremony for the primary 101 members of the AWE Corridor of Fame.
The Auggie Awards. Folks covet the hideous issues.
Finest Artwork or Movie: JFK Memento by TARGO: An Immersive Chronicle
Finest Marketing campaign: New Messi Sandwich, CamIOn XR
Finest Local weather Change Answer: SAMARitan by HENSOLDT Sensors
Finest Collaboration Instrument: Webex Hologram by Cisco
Finest Shopper App: Pillow MR on Quest
Finest Content material Creator(s): Between Realities VR Podcast
Beat Creator and Authoring Instrument: STYLY
Finest Developer Instrument: eighth Wall/Niantic
Finest Training & Coaching Answer – ImmerseLearn by Korea Electrical Energy Company (KEPCO)
Finest Enterprise Answer – Campfire
Finest Sport or Toy – Kluest by Sons of a Bit Leisure
Finest Headworn Gadget – Meta Quest 3
Finest Well being & Wellness: American Coronary heart Affiliation’s Arms-Solely CPR
Finest Indie Creator: 3lb Video games
Finest Interplay Product: HTC Vive Final Tracker
Finest startup – Playbook XR, which additionally gained the startup pitch competitors, judged by buyers Marco DeMiroz (The Enterprise Actuality Fund), Adam Draper (Increase VC), and Abigail Albright (WXR Fund).
Finest Location-Primarily based Leisure – Japantown Geospatial for Paper Tree Origami by Rock Paper Actuality
Finest Societal Affect – TouchKEY+ Multisensory Station by WEART
Finest Use of AI – AI and Augmented Actuality at Pfizer
Finest Web3 Implementation – SEPHORA UNIVERSE by SURREAL Occasions
Ori Inbar, AWE co-founder and CEO, celebrates his fifteenth annual keynote on stage at AWE 2024.
AWE co-founder and government director, Ori Inbar, shut the present as he started it, on the primary stage. Right here Inbar introduced the Finest in present Awards. The winners have been:
Viewers Favourite – HaptX
Breakthrough Expertise – In Arms Analysis, by Felix Herbst
Superior Award – VR Retrospective, by USC
Winners have been handed some cool tech giveaways from Pico, Trying Glass Manufacturing unit, and bHaptics gifted to 3 fortunate folks.
Subsequent have been the Nextant Prizes from the Digital World Society. Tom Furness took the stage once more handy out three extra awards. The winners have been:
Spirit Prize – Krystal Curley
Rising Star Prize – Damon Hernandez
Legacy Prize – Jackie Morie