UDEN #15 - AR/VR Deep Dive: Work In Progress

UDEN #15 took place on June 7th 2017.  Access Salt Lake once again generously hosted UDEN for this membership meeting and the Utah Film Commission sponsored the food and drinks!  

As part of UDEN's focus on virtual reality technologies this year, UDEN #15 gathered together some of the various virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality initiatives happening in our sector in our state. We planned it to be a great opportunity for our members to network, learn and find collaborators to help engage in this vital emerging technology.

No panels, no keynotes, but hands-on!

  • showcase of work in progress of yet-to-be-released products!
  • new software offerings
  • different types of hardware
  • opportunity to meet service providers

...and as always the opportunity to network with the best and brightest of Utah's digital entertainment community!

Here is a video recap of the evening: 

Who was there?

Among the individuals and companies that were showing their wares were:

NOORDA TECHNOLOGIES

 

iSLAYER

    • CJ Pollock and his team announced the public beta for their VR FPS for mobile, called iSlayer, and allowed some early hands-on at UDEN #15
    • www.projectportara.com/get-islayer
 

SIGHTSCAPERS

  • Using state-of-the-art VR and AR technology, Sightscapers teach museum visitors of all ages to don not just a set of VR goggles, but new, curious eyes that will stay with them long after they leave the museum exhibit
  • At UDEN #15, they showed VR exhibits using their Vive setup, AR exhibits through smartphones
  • Sightscapers see the world through a child's eyes. Everything is something to be discovered anew for the first time. Sightcapers are passionate about working with museums and higher education to create pre-packaged supportive content as well as specific custom-made life experiences, that all works in tandem with existing exhibits
  • Thanks to AR/VR technologies, a personal interaction with lives and places previously thought gone forever is finally at hand
  • www.sightscapers.com

BULLFROG SPAS and FRINGE CONTENT

  • For over 20 years the name Bullfrog Spas has been synonymous with innovation in the world of well-engineered hot tubs
  • Now Bullfrog Spas is pioneering another first by bringing virtual reality to the spa retail space
  • This was the “can’t miss exhibition” at the Pool & Spa Show and we are making it so you can get a little piece of the experience with our VR viewer and your smartphone
  • www.bullfrogspas.com/vr-view
  • @bullfrogspas

THE GApp LAB

  • The GApp Lab (therapeutic games and apps) is a collaboration between the Center for Medical Innovation and the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program at the University of Utah
  • They showed some of their latest VR medical applications
  • www.thegapp.eae.utah.edu
 

MONKEYTIME SOFTWARE

 

SPY HOP

  • Students in the intro virtual reality class at Spy Hop utilized the programs Cinema 4D and Unity to create 3D worlds that can be explored in Google Cardboard
  • The students in this class range from 13 - 16 years old and they shared their first attempt at creating this type of project!
  • Spy Hop is a nonprofit youth media arts organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah whose mission is to mentor young people in the digital media arts to help them find their voice, tell their stories and be empowered to affect positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. Spy Hop is considered one of the leading youth media organizations in the country. In 2015, they won the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and were named one of seven global Adobe Creative Catalysts
  • www.spyhop.org
  • @spy_hop

SOLITON REACH

  • I represented start-up company Soliton Reach at UDEN #15 and gave live demos of their prototype real-time, drift-free motion sensors for VR, AR and MR
  • The sensors allow you to interact with the virtual world the same way you do in the real world ...with your hands and body. It's only natural!
  • www.solitonreach.com
  • @solitonreach
 

COSMIC PICTURES

  • Cosmic VR is a full service production company creating immersive experiences using virtual reality. We focus on providing cinematic stereoscopic 360° video and VR experiences. Partnering with agencies, brands, venues and artists, we work with our forward-thinking clients to make a real impression at events, exhibitions or anywhere else people get excited for the future of storytelling
  • www.cosmicpictures.com/vr.html
  • @Cosmic_Pictures
 

UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY

  • UVU's Digital Media Program is blazing new trails in teaching VR development technology in its classes. This includes web applications, 360 photos and Cinema
  • UVU will be announcing a new course on Cinematic Storytelling for VR, VR cameras, techniques
  • www.virtual.uvu.edu
  • @DigitalMediaUVU
 

HOLO DEFENDER

  • This AR game was created by a team of four students who are about to graduate from the Software and Game Development program at Neumont University
  • Holo Defender is an arcade tower defense game for the Microsoft Hololens. The goal of this project was to create a simple grid-based tower defense that can be projected into the physical world. It plays as a standard tower defense, with robot foes moving through a predetermined path while trying to reach an end goal, and damage the player’s home base. Players must use their wits to strategically place a variety of towers onto the map to stop waves of enemies from progressing. However, once the player’s base has taken too much damage, it will all be over!