VR in Science and Industry – Successful Event and Announcement of the Network
For the second time, the TEMA Technology Marketing AG Aachen and our research group teamed up to organize and carry out the annual event “VR in Industry”. On July 4th, 2018, representatives from science and industry came together to discuss the latest developments in VR.
Accompanied by an exhibition, the workshop program represented the wide range of VR-based research and applications. Robert Menzel from NVIDIA exemplified the challenges of current VR research and pointed out potentials for future applications. The involvement of Felix Hilgert, an attorney of Osborne and Clarke, who clarified legal issues from the perspective of VR, showed that VR is more than just entertainment and a revolution in the gaming world. A slam meet-up with several start-ups from Aachen and NRW showed various VR use cases in industry and every-day life.
| Possible solutions for navigation challenges faced in large-scale virtual environments (Sebastian Freitag), realistic material appearance in renderings (Prof. Dr. med. Arnulph Fuhrmann, Technical University of Cologne) and insights into high fidelity VR (Prof. Dr. André Hinkenjann, Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg) rounded off the program.
The highlight of the event was the keynote by Prof. Dr. Marc Erich Latoschik. With his lecture "From A (vatars) to Z (ero Latency)" he dealt with various topics covering immersive worlds from therapy and training to computer games. Prof. Latoschik presented potential challenges as well as possible solutions to generate believable embodied characters, generated quickly and animated in real-time. |
 (Picture: Keynote by Prof. Latoschik, © Andrea Bönsch) |
 (Picture: Intoduction of VRISI, © Benjamin Weyers) |
The event was also the official introduction of the newly founded network “VR in Science and Industry – the Network NRW e.V.”, lead by Prof. Dr. Torsten W. Kuhlen (Chairman) and Dr. Günter Bleimann-Gather (TEMA AG, Deputy). While Andrea Bönsch and Chantale Wery (TEMA AG) take over positions in the management board, Jerome Perret (Haption GmbH) is the Secretary of the board and Prof. Dr. Christoph Ruschitzka (TH Köln) the Treasurer. |
The network’s goals are manifold:
- Collaboration and networking in research and application development in VR/AR technology
- Strengthening of VR/AR expertise in NRW and marketing for both topics
- Initiation of joint projects and events with science and industry representatives
- Participation in funded projects
- Lobbying for politics, administration and associations
More information can be found on our respective website (which is right now still under construction): https://vrisi.de/. If you are interested in more information on the network or in joining, please contact: info@vrisi.de
