Key insights about VR, AR and XR from Laval Virtual 2022

The TaaS Platform Transforming brands into Virtual Personas Wins Laval Virtual Awards 2022

If you haven’t noticed it yet, yes - this subtitle refers to Virbe and our virtual beings! That’s right, we are this year's winners of Laval Virtual Awards in the category of VR/AR for Virtual Worlds! The nominees were selected from among the projects developed between July 2021 and April 2022. For 20+ years, Laval Virtual has committed itself to promote creators of XR solutions worldwide. That is why we feel honored to be one of the winners of Laval Virtual Awards recognized among the outstanding virtual reality and augmented reality projects and their creators. 

The prestigious award ceremony took place on Wednesday 13th April 2022. And the statuette looks stunning in our office in Poland!  You may find all the winners here.  

Botpress-based Virtual Host available 24/7 as your customer support 

This was the first event of this kind and scope hosted by two metahuman Virtual Hosts. The virtual hosts were created especially for this occasion by Virbe with a support of Botpress tech stack. You could meet a male and a female version of the virtual hosts, both named “Alex”:) throughout the entire event. The hosts were strategically situated at the entrance hall and at an info point where the visitors could ask them questions about the event or the venue. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors who wanted to give this unprecedented type of info point a try. Our hosts were asked about the program of the conference, or about the places the visitors could eat something, but there were also those who were asking Alex for a joke, which Alex gladly delivered. We would like to thank all the visitors who met us at our booth, and all the attendees of both info points, for your sense of humor and patience with our hosts. 

Below is a short footage of the event if you would like to see our virtual beings acting as virtual hosts:

Abyss Glass Partnering with Virbe

Interactive mirrors are an innovative space where you can see much more than just your reflection. During the Laval Virtual event 2022 we had a pleasure of showing one of our Virbes on the Abyss Glass interactive mirror. This Poland-based company was a natural fit for the event where client-brand interaction and technological advancements where in full-focus. 

The arrival of Neo 3 Link

We were excited to witness Pico Interactive revealing the Neo 3 Link, a VR headset that should rival the Oculus Quest 2 or even the Quest 2 Pro. The company announced that they were entering Europe's consumer VR market, in selected European countries throughout the year, with their beta B2C headset which debuted at Laval Virtual Europe 2022. The Pico Neo 3 Link has a 5.5-inch display with a 3,664 x 1,920-pixel resolution, a 773 PPI pixel density and a 90 Hz refresh rate. Also, the headset offers a 98° field of view, 58-69 mm IPD and inside-out tracking via 4x mono fisheye cameras. Moreover, Pico Interactive has included a 3.5 mm jack, plus integrated microphones and speakers. However, the Pico Neo 3 Link can be connected to a computer too, either through DisplayPort or Wi-Fi. 

Light field display technology 

We have seen many amazing products displayed during the event. But one of them drew our attention for much much longer than the rest. The 3D display system of Dimenco. It is almost unbelievable that the light field display system built on SR creates a natural sense of volume and depth that can be experienced without the need for additional glasses or headsets! The breakthrough light field display can be experienced by all. Once you position yourself in front of the display you’re immediately and undoubtedly immersed, experiencing a new reality - Simulated Reality. This 3D display technology delivers a comprehensive taste of the future of human-computer interaction. We would be very curious to see how our Virbes would look on screens of this kind. 

See you in Laval in 2023

This was an exclusive opportunity for us to present our Virbes to the public and meet the best start-ups that imagine tomorrow's technology, historical and emerging VR/AR players and international specialists like e.g. Bob Cooney, or Christopher Lafayette who came to share their expertise. We are looking forward to the 25th edition of Laval Virtual in 2023.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far. If you have any questions or comments to the above please contact me: [email protected]