#AWE2014
USA TODAY: Augmented World Takes Center Stage at Expo

USA TODAY: Augmented World Takes Center Stage at Expo

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Think of it as the Consumer Electronics Show of the future. The increasingly near future. Augmented World Expo kicks off here Wednesday with some 200 exhibitors of virtual reality-focused tech, a doubling in size over last year that highlights the growing ubiquity of such gadgets and software. “The biggest trend is the technology’s evolution from gimmick to value,” says organizer Ori Inbar, who points specifically to wearable tech’s promising hands-free impact on surgery, training and gaming. “Our interface with computers is going from the mouse to the touchscreen to gestures in three-dimensional space.” See more…...

BitGym App Transforms Cardio Exercise Into An Interactive, Engaging, Personalized Journey

BERKELEY, Calif. — BitGym, the interactive fitness app that turns your cardio exercise into an engaging and personalized experience, announced a preview of live one-to-one virtual fitness mentor and incentive-based rewards to their mobile app built for iOS and Android. The next generation of BitGym builds upon its revolutionary forward-motion video technology and patented tracking solution which immerse fitness users into over forty worldwide panoramic tours, all filmed in 4K Ultra-HD with high-fidelity sound. The new release will take fitness engagement to the next level, while you exercise through iconic riding routes and scenic destinations. “We believe cardio-exercising should be fun, engaging and personalized. Everyone should enjoy it.” says BitGym CEO Jean-Michel Fournier,“With BitGym, we’ve created the first platform to lead the transformation of cardio fitness from being boring to exciting.” The new incentive-based rewards provide fitness users an element of surprise and motivation. Each reward encourages you to dynamically change the pace of your cadence and remain captivated in your exercise. With the use of BitGym’s live one-to-one fitness mentor, you can further optimize and personalize your experience. BitGym connects you live to your own personal fitness instructor and allows your personal coach to monitor your performance real-time. Your personal coach will have the ability to give you instructions, customizing each session to enhance your physical activity. BitGym is used in front of any treadmill, bike, elliptical, or stepper. It only requires the use of the mobile device’s camera, without needing to connect using Bluetooth, WiFi, or the use of any additional hardware. “We’re always working to change the way people think about daily exercise as something to look forward to everyday. With the next release, our dynamic game elements will have users sprinting after a reward one moment or surprising them with a virtual partner interaction, next.” says Product Development Lead, Keerthik Omanakuttan. The next generation BitGym platform will be released to customers by the end of June this year. About BitGym: BitGym is an interactive fitness company that uses mobile technology to transform indoor cardio workouts into the best part of each and every day. BitGym absorbs the user into an exciting and fun fitness journey that takes them around the world, increasing motivation and dedication to the fitness routine. Available on iPad, iPhone, Android devices, and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX device. For more information, visit us at www.bitgym.com. Contact: Jean-Michel Fournier Email: contact@bitgym.com Phone: +1 (408) 306-1569...

Bridging the Gap between Corporate Training and Operations in the Oil & Gas Industry with Augmented Reality and Interactive 3D Simulations

Oliver Diaz, FuelFX CEO and founder, discusses AR technology at the 2014 Augmented World Expo HOUSTON (May 2014): Daily operations within the Oil and Gas industry present many challenges, and the need for successful training isn’t just a matter of doing the job correctly—it can mean the difference between life, death and billions of dollars in environmental disasters. “Industry standards are evolving, and C-level executives are turning to immersive and advanced training solutions to teach the complex processes and procedures used aboard drilling rigs, refineries and across production platforms,” says FuelFX CEO Oliver Diaz. By leveraging the latest virtual reality peripherals, motion capture technology and advanced third-person gaming platforms, we can place trainees in a lifelike simulation, carefully recreating the circumstances along with the tasks they will be asked to execute onsite. With 3D-enhanced graphics, companies have created video game simulations in which users directly engage in a digitally replicated working environment. Now the same assets developed to train employees can be used to help them understand their environment and feed them live digital readouts and instructions on what to do next and how to do it right. Finally, automated procedure management systems can monitor and verify tasks to ensure that they were done, and done correctly. With the help of a smart device and a proprietary application, specific tags can be used in a refinery that displays animations when viewed through a smart device. The animation may inform the user how to correctly navigate the refinery to safety, or how to take the necessary steps to control a hazardous situation. Real-world checkpoints can be outfitted with important working lessons that take users out of the traditional classroom and turn every checkpoint into an engaging, practical training application. “Training is no longer limited to the classroom,” says Diaz. “With augmented reality technology leveraging peripherals like Google glass, object recognition, and procedure management systems, we can bridge the gap between training and operations.” Oliver Diaz, FuelFX CEO and founder brings a unique insight into oil and gas business culture and how to effectively communicate in and out of it. He and his team at FuelFX are a unique mix of creative content providers and technologists. They employ state-of-the-art 3D communications technology, like augmented reality, virtual reality, digital laboratory simulators, parallax web development, and 3D animations for clients like Exxon, Dell and BP for improved training, business intelligence and agility....

VividAR brings Augmented Reality for large spaces

VividWorks brings VividAR with Extended Tracking for Furniture Industry VividWorks has extended its unique 3D design-to-purchase concept for the Furniture Industry with Vuforia’s latest Extended Tracking feature. We go beyond basic single product viewing to merge multiple products simultaneously to experiment with furniture combinations in an actual place. This truly grabs the customer’s attention and keeps it – making the Purchase Experience Extraordinary. “Buying habits are evolving; customers want to evaluate options, visualize and trust a product prior to committing to a purchase. We offer a global, industry proven, Cloud based, online sales solution integrated with SocialMedia where 3D product configuration is combined seamlessly with Augmented Reality”, says Jorma Palo COO of VividWorks. The value of 3D and AR in interior content sales is clearly recognized and VividWorks’ rapid global expansion includes now 100 international customers. Among others, European based giant Ekornes launched their Stressless Design Online solution, based on VividWorks technology. The solution is used globally as strategic sales tool for the whole collection and with full integration to back-office. Stressless Design Online App was extended recently with VividAR new features serving end customers on all sales regions. ”The new extended tracking feature works in large spaces so you can arrange and view furniture as you walk freely around your chosen location with an iPad camera in live mode”, continues Jorma Palo Watch the video to see how it works. [youtube=http://youtu.be/cVx8-qPl8GI] About VividWorks VividWorks offers an industrial grade, online 3D design-to-purchase platform that enables real time visual verification of any interior content – at any time, and enables customers to make a purchase within minutes. VividWorks specializes in bringing usability for sales solutions with intuitive UI, combining Augmented Reality seamlessly with 3D and real time back-office, e- commerce and ERP integration. VividWorks has a global customer base with offices in Finland, Denmark, USA, Singapore and Japan. To find out more: www.vividworks.com Contact: COO, Jorma Palo (jorma.palo@vividworks.com) (cell +358 40 708 9177)...

Wikitude, SAP and Marenco present 3D augmented helicopter on smart glasses

Santa Clara, 27th May 2014 – At the annual Augmented World Expo, where the global augmented reality (AR) industry gathers once again to innovate, revolutionize and dream, Wikitude surprises with its latest augmented reality innovation. In partnership with SAP’s Co-Innovation Lab and Marenco Swissconsulting AG, the AR leader demonstrates how enterprise customers can leverage augmented reality technology to add value and efficiencies to their business processes. Hands-free Enterprise Application With the latest augmented reality smart glasses in front of your eyes and by simply “looking” at the unique glass cockpit of Marenco’s helicopter at the Wikitude booth, information drawn from the SAP backend will be displayed instructing you on how to disassemble the turbine step by step. The information provided ranges from augmented multi media content like video and audio to complex 3D objects containing metadata. Hand in hand with SAP’s Visual Enterprise solutions these industrial applications are taken to the next level to address the needs of enterprise product lifecycle management. Besides Google Glass, the demonstration can also be experienced on Epson’s Moverio BT-200 as well as Vuzix’s M100 smart glasses. Wikitude’s augmented reality software development kit (SDK) has been optimized for these wearable smart glasses and provides the underlying platform for hands-free business applications. “SAP Visual Enterprise solutions link business data to product, plant, and process graphics to help people understand complex situations more quickly. When combined and used with Augmented Reality, we now have a new way to support situations where context relevant information is important.  This enables our customers to solve problems faster and to take action with confidence knowing that they have the right information in front of them.”  Mark Landrosh, SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Solution Management. “There is an increasing demand for augmented reality applications in the enterprise sector and we are thrilled to partner with both SAP and Marenco to show today what business applications on mobile devices and wearables will look like in the very near future”, says Andy Gstoll, CMO Wikitude. Visit us or Try It now! If you can’t make it to the event in California to try the AR experience on sight, don’t worry, you can also get a live and interactive demonstration right here right now by going to http://www.wikitude.com/try on your desktop or to http://code.wikitude.com/demo on your mobile device (smartphone or tablet). Simply follow the 3 simple steps provided after downloading the Wikitude App from Apple’s App Store or Google Play and be amazed! Wikitude’s booth number 73 can be visited from 27-29th May at the Santa Clara Convention Center, more information on the event can be found at Augmented World Expo. About Wikitude® Wikitude GmbH is the renowned pioneer of mobile augmented reality (AR) technology and the company behind a number of award winning AR solutions for smartphones, tablets and wearable display technologies. Its fully in-house developed AR solution is available in the Wikitude AR SDK  and Wikitude Studio, and enables thousands of apps, brands, agencies, developers and AR enthusiasts to achieve their project goals. With tens of thousands of developer accounts and published AR apps, Wikitude is the globally leading AR technology platform. The company chairs the international AR technology standardization as part of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Wikitude® is a registered trademark of Wikitude GmbH, for more information please visit: www.wikitude.com...