That was the World XR Forum 2019

Art, research, technology trends and many exciting encounters from near and far. The World XR Forum in Crans Montana remains a friendly meeting place with an international character. The B2B tech event in the Swiss mountains almost has Silicon Valley character in view of the many speakers, and yet everything remains very relaxed and manageable in the multi-storey congress area of the inconspicuous ski village. In addition to a very long non-stop lecture programme in the keynote hall, trade visitors had the opportunity to visit the many exhibitors, most of whom also gave lectures, on the lower floors of the congress centre.

Of course, the Swiss VR flight simulator "Birdly" was not to be missed at the World XR Forum. And there are also new high-altitude flights with the flutter machine. We once took the flight over Zurich. 

Am I still, am I not?

There are still so many aspects to research on the degree of immersion, because the brain registers much more than one wants. Tech-behavioural researcher Bruno Herbelin of the EPF Lausanne wants to show this as an example in current research with delay effects. For a good two decades, the computer and neuroscientist has been working on the benefits of virtual reality in behavioural therapy. Using simple examples such as arm movements, statistics have been used to investigate what happens when VR arm movements are accelerated and slowed down by a few frames. In any case, the animations also illustrated that, to our astonishment, the brain can forgive many distortion effects of the virtual physique.

Funny, but also exciting: we blow away roses with a pinwheel on the HTC Vive.

Entertainment and inspiration on an artistic level was also provided, and not only with an evening cello concert accompanied by a VR Track Lab musician who operated the electronic accompanying instruments with an HTC Vive. The VR artists at HanaHana have also been exploring neuronal mechanisms of bodily self-awareness and the experience of embodiment and presence in VR for a long time: for example, with what happens when the VR walker sees many surreal sculptures like interwoven hands and is sprinkled with spherical bubble effects. In a hackathon experience that was created in a few hours in collaboration with the Brazilian research collaboration swissnex Brazil, the aim was to blow various VR rose petals around in a surreal painting landscape.

BoD celebrities in Crans-Montana

Also in attendance on the gaming scene were high-profile guests such as the Beat Saber-composer Jaroslav Beck. The Czech music artist talked about how he spontaneously came into contact with the game studio to show that spontaneous cooperation with small indie developers and large studios can sometimes result in unexpected potential. Of course, the Lausanne game developers OZWE Games, who have just announced "Death Lap", a Mario Kart-inspired sci-fi racing game for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift, were also present.

And suddenly there he was: Jaroslav Beck: the music composer of "Beat Saber". 

Finally, we were able to test the "Sensoryx". Researchers at the ETH have developed a new type of glove that precisely records the gestures of the hand. The glove is equipped with stretchable sensors that precisely measure the position of the fingers. We were able to test various demo scenes such as shooting, painting and playing the piano. Overall, the finger measurement with the data glove already works amazingly well. A software development kit is already in the works and should be ready soon. We will probably know more in two to three years. In any case, the goal is to bring the two VR gloves to the B2B market in two to three years. We will certainly follow the development with great interest and report back to you.

Playing the piano, painting colourful pictures in virtual space, doing shooting exercises with a gun. The Swiss cyber glove Sensoryx should be ready for the B2B sector in two to three years.

VR against old-age depression

The B2B sector was also very broad. For example, the Italian VR service provider Silverwear is trying to bring older people to travel destinations with VR film experiences or to give handicapped seniors a swimming adventure. The elderly are the "best users for virtual reality", they say euphorically. Now that the headsets have become wireless and better film quality is possible, for example on the Pico 4K headset, they consider themselves lucky to be able to make things possible once again for people in old age that they can no longer do. Many patients enjoy such an experience for the first time, and it is very "heart-warming" to watch the seniors doing it. Of course we had to try it out - the film quality is good!

"Realtà Virtuale" (as the Italians say): Swimming once more in immobile old age and experiencing distant cities in 360-degree immersion: The VR company Silverwear has many "heart-warming experiences" with its visits to old people's homes.

People also want to use VR technology to combat fears of depression or to compensate for the lack of socialisation. It's good when there are finally more usable tools to make it easier to assemble complex 360-degree videos and prepare them properly. For example, the still young German Mobfish VR Studio has launched a video content management system that can be operated quite intuitively via drag-and-drop to assemble 360-degree videos from common consumer cameras and prepare them as an app for video VR glasses. We also wish this start-up much success and are already looking forward to the further developments of the exciting 360-degree CMS video platform.

In short, there was so much going on at the World XR Forum that it is almost impossible to list just a few of the many highlights and speakers. In any case, we are already looking forward to the next time.