Understanding How 3D AI Immersive Mixed Reality & Apple May Transform the Metaverse

September 13th, 2023 Dijam Panigrahi Leave a comment

One of the most significant changes in technology use for daily tasks is about to create major change for companies, enterprises, business leaders, and even consumers alike. The Metaverse’s immersive mixed reality technology is challenging the notion that any technology could have a greater impact than networked computers, the Internet, or even mobile computing, which was virtually unthinkable just a few short years ago.

Couple this with Apple’s recent entry into the virtual headset market, and companies in every industry have the chance to completely introduce new ways in which they design, produce, train staff, and build products on the manufacturing floor.

How Companies Will Leverage “Digital Twins”

The Metaverse is a virtual environment where people, consumers, and workers can come together to communicate, collaborate, and share through a virtual presence on any device. Knowledge workers and things are represented by “digital twins” in the Metaverse, which is being built by today’s IT leaders. This calls for businesses to create immersive virtual worlds, or metaverses, that will enable staff to virtually collaborate using their digital twins through chats, emails, video calls, and even in-person meetings.

Well-known companies like Microsoft, Accenture, and Facebook, which itself is now called Meta, are all paving the way toward this new reality of business, but there are companies working behind the scenes building immersive reality, modeling and simulation technologies that will ultimately power this new Metaverse.

What Companies Can Do with the Metaverse

The Metaverse enables people and professionals to interact with one another in an immersive experience once they are able to co-exist in a virtual environment where they exist as avatars, possibly even as holograms in the future. This implies that users of mixed-reality headsets like the HoloLens or Apple’s new headset as well as regular smartphones and laptops can access virtual settings from virtual meeting applications.

In one of the earlier enterprise-level buildouts, Accenture has been developing a “virtual campus” where its employees meet for coffee, parties, presentations and other virtual events. The company also leverages this virtual meeting space when onboarding new employees so they can build their virtual twins.

Modelling is at the center of powering the Metaverse

In this virtual Metaverse, digital twins based on modeling and simulation play a leading role. Simulation allows companies to take copies of the digital twin, run simulations on it and then identify optimizations that are too complex to find by monitoring the physical environment alone.

For enterprises and businesses leveraging the Metaverse, the power of simulation will be a game-changer in a variety of industries, such as optimizing production planning in the automotive sector, accelerating design in the aerospace sector, improving overall production efficiency for construction manufacturers, and increasing accuracy for consumer packaged goods companies. Many companies are poised to use virtual simulation to generate more revenue and make better business decisions.

Optimum immersive reality systems are needed to support ultra-realistic, high-fidelity digital twin visuals during the modeling and simulation process; precise fusion of the virtual on real world in a multi-platform environment and the ability to demonstrate a variety of realistic environments.

Along with Apple’s new headset, the Metaverse is a new kind of application which is enabled by tight integration between real and virtual worlds. The Metaverse is enabled by multitude of new technologies broadly in five groups as shown below:

Communications and computing infrastructure: Metaverse will need to perform large scale compute-heavy tasks, and access large databases to merge the real and virtual world.
Management Technology: Metaverse will need a lot of resources like energy, compute etc. This layer manages and allocates most optimum resources to run Metaverse.
Fundamental common technology: AI, Spatio-Temporal consistency are fundamental common technology for Metaverse.
Virtual Reality object connection: Metaverse will create 1:1 connection between real and virtual world objects and technologies like blockchain, and identity modeling will enable that.
Virtual Reality Space Convergence: Metaverse will fundamentally need a new medium to interact. AR/VR/MR, BCI, Gaming technologies will enable this.

The Metaverse is going to be important for all businesses, enterprises and consumers. Today, people and employees can only experience the internet when they log online on their computer or mobile device, but with new connectivity, devices and technologies powered by immersive mixed, we’ll be able to experience the internet all around every single day.

Apple has consistently concentrated on utilizing cutting-edge technologies to produce high-value products that ooze the brand’s promise of quality and sophistication over the past few decades. The company’s new headset has the potential to work in tandem with today’s top cloud-based 3D-AI mixed immersive platforms to assist enterprises and business in almost every industry change the way business is conducted, increasing overall efficiencies, lowering costs, and improving profit potential across the entire spectrum.

About The Author

Dijam Panigrahi is Co-founder and COO of GridRaster Inc., a leading provider of 3D AI cloud-based AR/VR platforms that power compelling high-quality AR/VR experiences on mobile devices for enterprises. For more information, please visit www.gridraster.com.

Global Trade Daily

Virtual Production Market size to reach US$ 8 Bn by 2032

August 21st, 2023 Global Market Insights Leave a comment

As per the report by Global Market Insights Inc. “Worldwide virtual production market was valued at USD 2 billion in 2022 and will surpass a revenue collection of USD 8 billion by 2032 with an annual growth rate of 15% from 2023 to 2032.”

The demand for immersive and interactive experiences in the entertainment industry, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications, has surged, leading to increased adoption of virtual production techniques. The Cambria VR headset from Meta (previously Facebook) is scheduled to go on sale in 2023. Cambria will be a premium headset intended for both consumers and corporate customers.

Advancements in technology, such as real-time rendering and motion capture, have revolutionized filmmaking and content creation, enabling filmmakers to produce high-quality visuals efficiently and cost-effectively. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards virtual production, as it offered a safer and more flexible alternative to traditional on-set shooting.

The overall virtual production market is classified based on component, type, end-user, and region.

Based on the component, the hardware segment will contribute significantly to the market over 2023-2032. As virtual production techniques become more advanced and complex, the need for powerful and efficient hardware is paramount. High-performance graphics cards, processors, and memory modules are crucial for real-time rendering and rendering-intensive tasks. Motion capture systems and camera tracking devices are also in high demand to capture real-world movements and integrate them seamlessly into virtual environments. As the demand for visually captivating and immersive content grows, hardware components play a vital role in driving the virtual production market forward.

By type, the virtual production industry size from the post-production segment will show a high growth rate through 2032. As virtual production techniques become more prevalent, the need for skilled professionals to integrate virtual elements seamlessly into live-action footage is essential. Post-production tasks like compositing, visual effects, and color grading play a crucial role in enhancing the final output’s quality and realism. As content creators and filmmakers embrace virtual production for its efficiency and creative possibilities, the demand for post-production services in the virtual production market continues to grow.

In terms of end-user, the commercial ads segment of the virtual production market will depict notable growth over 2023-2032. Brands and advertisers are embracing virtual production techniques to create visually stunning and innovative ads that captivate audiences. Virtual production allows for cost-effective and efficient production processes while offering endless creative possibilities. With the growing competition in the advertising industry, brands seek to stand out and deliver engaging content, driving the increased adoption of virtual production in commercial ads and contributing to the market’s expansion in this segment.

Regionally, the Europe virtual production market will gain traction during the forecast period due to the region’s film and television industry embracing virtual production. Using techniques for their ability to enhance creativity, streamline production workflows, and reduce costs in the industry supports growth. Additionally, European content creators and filmmakers are increasingly focused on delivering visually immersive and high-quality content to meet the expectations of tech-savvy audiences.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Metaverse: a new way for businesses to connect with consumers?

March 4th, 2022 Eva Martín, CEO at Tiendeo Leave a comment

Although not a new concept and with a long road ahead, the “Metaverse” is currently seen as the future of the Internet, which is why technology giants such as Meta, Google and Apple are competing to be number one in the race to dominate the metaverse.

Eva Martín, CEO at Tiendeo, a company that specializes in the digitalization of the retail sector, kicks off the debate with the following question: Are we facing a fleeting fad or a new world that is opening the doors to a powerful business model? By way of introduction, he invites us to ask ourselves what we think of the metaverse, to enter this world to find out how it is changing people’s lives, the opportunities it offers retailers and brands to connect with the consumer.

A whole new universe in the making

The Metaverse is a virtual space that we can connect to through devices such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) glasses or helmets and applications that offer the promise of an immersive experience that feels like we are there, interacting with other people and objects.

In this alternative world, everything will be possible through an avatar: buying goods and services, attending concerts, traveling, playing games, and even working. The amazing thing about this universe is that you can teleport from one experience to another without leaving your room. The development of the metaverse seeks to extend the real world into the virtual world by making everyday actions into a spectacle.

What makes the metaverse so appealing?

The great potential of this technology as a business model is what has led several companies to create their own “omniverses”. To be successful they must understand that the user ventures into the metaverse to escape from the real world, because it offers them the alluring possibility of creating their own personality, their own reality: to show themselves as they “feel” they really are, taking the user experience to another level. Brands have seen in the metaverse the opportunity to create that aspirational reality and self-expression that, many times, the user is not able to develop or transfer to his real and physical life.

This introduces a new form of interaction between consumers and brands through the D2A (direct-to-avatar) model where we will no longer buy clothes for ourselves, but for our representation in the metaverse. This opportunity to improve conversions through fully immersive shopping experiences also has other benefits. In this universe, there are no stock or store space limitations, and manufacturing these products does not require raw materials or workshops to create them, so the profit margin is much higher.

The challenge for companies will be to get people to carry out the bulk of their activities in this digital universe, just as we do in the physical world, giving rise to virtual marketplaces that already move large sums of money. This is not so far-fetched in an age where humans are already glued to technology, whether professionally, socially, or both, and it is speculated that by 2030 we will spend more time in the metaverse than in “real life”. As such, the desire to dominate the new virtual spaces reveals an eagerness to control the way people interact with each other.

The Metaverse at the forefront of the retail sector

The opportunities offered by the Metaverse are endless, especially in the field of commerce. Technology company Wildbytes estimates that in the next five years, 70% of major brands will have a presence in the Metaverse. By 2023 some companies are already promising to launch a new product while others are already looking at the possibility of creating malls, boutiques, and virtual stores where avatars will be able to buy NFT products and pay in cryptocurrencies.

The retail sector is one of the most heavily invested in the Metaverse. For example, Gucci has already started selling its own virtual clothing, the Gucci Virtual 25 trainers and H&M has recently launched its first virtual collection through Nintendo’s social simulation game Animal Crossing.

Ikea also uses AR technology in its App to allow customers to create their own spaces and see how furniture would look in the physical world using AR technology.

There are brands that go even further and have no hesitation about making a clear commitment to the Metaverse. This is the case for Nike, which has gone so far as to create its own virtual universe: Nikeland. A space that offers access to various sporting arenas, as well as a showroom where users can equip their avatars with Nike shoes to take part in competitions. The brand also uses it as a testing ground so that younger generations can experience its new products through avatars before purchasing them in real life.

In short, the metaverse revolution holds the promise of a digital experience in which the virtual world and the real world intertwine and merge under a single reality. It is now up to brands and retailers to find their place in it and explore its full potential.

Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily, Software

Understanding How Immersive Mixed Reality Will Power the Metaverse

January 30th, 2022 Dijam Panigrahi Leave a comment

The way in which businesses, enterprises, industry leaders and consumers utilize technology for everyday tasks is set to undergo one of the most drastic evolutions ever. Just a few short years ago it was nearly impossible to think any sort of technology could have a greater impact than networked computers, the Internet or even mobile computing, but now immersive mixed reality powering the Metaverse is challenging just that.

How Companies Will Leverage “Digital Twins”

Today’s IT leaders are building the Metaverse – knowledge workers and things being represented by “digital twins” – a virtual world where people, consumers, workers all gather to communicate, collaborate, and share through a virtual presence on any device. This means companies will build immersive virtual spaces, aka metaverses, and it will allow employees to virtually collaborate using their digital twin through chats, emails, video calls and even face-to-face meetings.

What Companies Can Do with the Metaverse

Microsoft in particular believes individuals will engage with one another in an immersive experience once they can co-exist in a virtual setting where they exist as avatars, perhaps even one day as holograms. The company expects people to access virtual settings from its Mesh for Teams application through mixed-reality headsets like HoloLens, as well as everyday smartphones and laptops.

Modeling is at the center of powering the Metaverse

The power of simulation will be an exact game-changer for enterprises and businesses throughout the Metaverse in a variety of industries, such as optimizing production planning in the automotive sector, accelerating design in the aerospace industry, improving overall production efficiency for manufacturers, and increasing accuracy for consumer packaged goods companies, many companies are poised to leverage virtual simulation to make better business decisions and generate the greatest return on investment.

Metaverse is a new kind of application which is enabled by tight integration between real and virtual worlds. Metaverse is enabled by multitude of new technologies broadly in five groups as shown below:

1. Communications and computing infrastructure: Metaverse will need to perform large scale compute-heavy tasks, and access large databases to merge the real and virtual world.

2. Management Technology: Metaverse will need a lot of resources like energy, compute etc. This layer manages and allocates most optimum resources to run Metaverse.

3. Fundamental common technology: AI, Spatio-Temporal consistency are fundamental common technology for Metaverse.

4. Virtual Reality object connection: Metaverse will create 1:1 connection between real and virtual world objects and technologies like blockchain, and identity modeling will enable that.

5. Virtual Reality Space Convergence: Metaverse will fundamentally need a new medium to interact. AR/VR/MR, BCI, Gaming technologies will enable this.

Immersive reality solution providers offer the following foundational technologies to run industrial enterprise Metaverse:

1: Virtual Reality Space convergence:

a: AR/VR:

Ultra-low Latency High Fidelity Rendering: Low latency is extremely critical to provide an immersive experience in Metaverse. AR/VR partners provide unparalleled realism of environments by leveraging ultra-low latency remote rendering on cloud/on premise in full fidelity and wirelessly streaming the solution to affordable commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices – HMD, Tablet and Desktop.

High Precision 3D Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Spatial Mapping: Uses high-fidelity remote spatial mapping with high fidelity 3D scene reconstruction, scene segmentation and 3D object recognition using 3D vision and deep learning-based AI with precise fusion of the real and virtual worlds to merge real world and virtual worlds.

Game engine: Consumer game engines have limitations that they can only handle a Metaverse that can fit in a single server. The metaverse will be ever growing as more digital twins are created to simulate real objects in the virtual world. The right AR/VR partners have created a data-centric simulation engine which scales for any complexity of metaverse.

2: Communications and computing infrastructure:

a: Cloud computing/edge computing: Industrial enterprises will always subscribe to multi-cloud, edge cloud. Depending on different factors like data sensitivity, latency, cost, different parts of the Metaverse need to be run at different clouds/edge in a distributed manner. AR/VR partners automate running the Metaverse for industrial enterprise.

b: Messaging framework: In the distributed Metaverse there is a need to update the Metaverse at global scale so users can collaborate seamlessly. AR/VR partners have messaging framework updates distributed to the Metaverse at global scale.

Fundamental common technology:

Security and privacy: Security and privacy is one of the biggest issues facing today’s world. Since Metaverse has the digital twin as an integral part, the Metaverse will have much richer data. The security and privacy in Metaverse cannot be solved by traditional security tools. AR/VR partners have built tools that handle security and privacy related to digital twins.

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About The Author: Dijam Panigrahi is Co-founder and COO of GridRaster Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based AR/VR platforms that power compelling high-quality AR/VR experiences on mobile devices for enterprises. For more information, please visit www.gridraster.com.

Understanding How 3D AI Immersive Mixed Reality & Apple May Transform the Metaverse

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