January 2023 witnessed the Consumer Electronics Show, one of the most influential tech events conducted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).
What is CES?
CES or Consumer Electronics Show is a platform for global innovators to witness breakthrough technologies. This year it took place from January 5 to 8 in Las Vegas and was attended by top brands covering various aspects of the technology sector. People participated from over 170 countries and covered over 40 different technology categories.
Aequilibrium being a tech enthusiast would like to extend appreciation and congratulate the CES and CTA teams for the success of the event.
Why is Aequilibrium interested in CES?
Aequilibrium has been innovating and focusing on possibilities of extended reality (XR) in various sectors like retail, car manufacturing, and banking to name a few. Aequilibrium believes that there are endless possibilities with virtual reality (VR) and in near future, the concept of the digital twin will rule multi-industry companies.
Aequilibrium has also launched AgileVR™, an immersive project management and collaboration tool for distributed Agile teams in December 2022. Now companies with employees working remotely can collaborate better using Jira, Agile framework and VR headsets.
People at Aequilibrium are excited to learn that the points of focus in CES were aligned with similar technologies and the ideas practiced by Aequilibrium. Several trends specific to XR emerged during the event. It was really interesting to see that at CES 2023, some of the notable VR technologies like PlayStation VR2 and HTC Vive XR Elite were introduced.
Retail Industry
In retail, at the event, a variety of gadgets and electronics were showcased featuring VR, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technology. Some of the notable products worth mentioning would be CZ Smart, a smartwatch by Citizen that is powered with Wear OS by Google™ and Evie, a smart ring designed to determine the health of women with medical grade data.
Automotive Industry
From the automotive sector, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW demonstrated exciting car concepts such as intuition, access, and accountability at CES 2023. BMW showcased a concept car, i Vision Dee, which explores the use of E ink to change the exterior color of the car in no time as per desire. It also allows BMW Mixed Reality Slider to project everything from augmented reality scenes to full virtual worlds right onto the windshield of the car.
Volkswagen unveiled its ID.7 Electric Sedan featuring an augmented reality head-up display. Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung, unveiled its Ready Vision Augmented Reality Head-Up Display. Holoride launched a new device to retrofit any car with two HTC VIVE Flow VR headsets.
Afeela, a joint venture by Sony and Honda also was revealed at CES 2023. It used AR to build a luxury electronic vehicle and used digital innovation like metaverse to bring experiences for mobility that go beyond just driving.
Aequilibrium had been interested in and talking about these possibilities for some time now. We feel that it is time for progressive organizations and brands to revamp themselves with the changing technologies in order to stay relevant in today’s world.
Learning and Training
CES 2023 showcased several innovative VR training solutions. For example, STRIVR demonstrated a Black Friday simulator to train and prepare Walmart employees to manage the holiday rush. McDonald‘s worked with Tantrum Labs to implement hospitality training in VR, involving various customer service scenarios to train their employees.
Norcat partnered with the mining company Vale to create realistic replicas of real-world mines and machinery for safety training. BP also partnered with Igloo Vision to train their employees in start-up and emergency exit procedures at their oil refinery. Finally, VirtualSpeech showcased their VR soft skills training that helps employees improve communication and business skills in realistic environments.
In the last 2 years, due to the global pandemic, the workforce of today has shifted to being majorly remote. As people connect, brainstorm and train in virtual spaces, the opportunity with XR and metaverse are endless. AgileVR™ by Aequilibrium was also introduced as an immersive project management and collaboration tool to bring together distributed Agile teams to make collaboration easier, faster and better.
Software
Companies are investing in software to bridge the gap or to shift to alternative realities for better business and communication. Canon launched Kokomo, a VR software package designed for face-to-face communication in virtual spaces. At CES, Canon showcased the trailer of M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming movie, “Knock at the Cabin” through an immersive experience.
Panasonic used VR experience to showcase the Panasonic GREEN IMPACT Experience at their booth. Magic Leap also exhibited eight of the latest AR solutions on Magic Leap 2 including NVIDIA Omniverse and Cisco’s Webex Hologram. LG Electronics partnered with Oorbit to develop gaming metaverse technologies for LG TVs.
Headworn Displays
The demand for head-worn displays has increased over the past few years with the rapid development in the world of XR.
- TCL launched TCL RayNeo X, the world’s first binocular full-color Micro-LED optical waveguide AR glasses powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon® XR2 platform.
- RealWear launched an assistive reality headset, Navigator 520 featuring its new HyperDisplay
- HTC launched Vive Focus 3 the ultimate all-in-one-VR headset
- Sony PlayStation VR 2 is planning to launch at least 30 titles for headsets
- Canon showcased MREAL, the virtual reality headset
The above are examples of how the XR is expanding across various industries and to stay ahead of competitors, businesses need to invest in modernizing their technologies now, if not already.
Aequilibrium is ready to join the workforce of tomorrow. If you are a progressive organization looking to use technology to craft remarkable experiences for your members and staff, contact us. We can organize a complimentary workshop to discuss your current status, objectives, and goals, and build a customized high-level strategy and tailored-to-fit digital roadmap for you.
