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Mental disorders cost the global economy approximately US $1 trillion per year as a loss of productivity. That data comes from Worldwide Health Organization which also predicts mental health conditions to become a disease burden to the worldwide community by 2030. These statistics cause concerns, and today numerous doctors will try to find a way to treat people’s mental health. XR technology usage is considered to be one of the prominent ways to cure anxiety, depression, and other disorders. COVID-19 influence on VR therapy development COVID-19 pandemic quite significantly influenced the minds of adults and children. So, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention poll, more than 37% of schoolchildren said they struggled with anxiety, depression, and stress due to the pandemic.  In addition, the pandemic has contributed to changes in the format of healthcare facilities’ work. Due to the shut-down of schools and offices, offline psychotherapist visits respectively decreased to 70%. As of June 2020, remote mental health consultations increased up to 6558%. Actually, this is one of the factors in the AR and VR mental treatment development nowadays.  Kinds of VR mental health treatment 3.5% of Americans are proven to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder every year. It’s not only about war veterans, people of different races, ethnicities, and occupations face this problem. For the PTSD treatment, virtual reality is used for the recreation of situations where the traumatic event happened. During VR therapy, a patient is in a safe and controlled environment under the supervision of specialists who can stop the simulation or limit the negative impact of a trigger. According to the study, the first PTSD symptoms patients experience start to fade away in 3 months after the VR therapy.  Also, VR and AR are applied for phobia treatment. From 7 to 9% of people are afraid of snakes, spiders, and dogs. And 4% of people are suffering from claustrophobia, while 5% of patients are afraid of height. With the help of virtual and augmented reality, specialists can recreate deadly and terrifying situations in a controlled environment. For example, you can create a simulation of a ten-storey building, a forest fire, etc. If a patient is scared of insects and small animals like rats, spiders, and cockroaches, a psychotherapist can use mobile AR applications with 3D projections of objects a patient is afraid of. In 2021, Otago University in New Zealand successfully tested a new VR application, oVRcome, to treat different phobias. 129 volunteers aged from 18 to 54 years were treated with combined cognitive and VR therapy for 6 weeks. Test results indicated that phobia symptoms decreased to 75% in patients.  Examples of mental health applications For example, Recovery VR designed applications for calming the nervous system and meditation. The company offers these programs to clients: guided meditations — the program contains 20 guided meditations which can be done in 50 virtual locations like space, nature, psychedelic areas, etc. The main targets of the meditations are body relaxation, anxiety level reduction, pain decrease, and calming of the mind. Specialists recommend patients do some meditations before physical recovery training. By the way, Recovery VR also designed a number of VR apps for patients’ physical recovery, you can read about them here. nature therapy — with a VR headset, a patient can walk through tropical beaches, forests, or city quays. This app is perfect for bed patients or those who can’t walk outside. British company Enlighten, with the help of Staffordshire university, designed the mobile AR app Mental Health Mentor for high schoolers and college students. Every teenager aged 14-19 years old can scan the code placed on school diaries, posters, postcards, and other material stuff. Then, a student gets their own 3D-mentor, whose design was inspired by anime. An avatar’s image can be changed to look like a user, including all racial and ethnic-specific traits. A virtual mentor asks a student about their well-being and consults them on anxiety, depression, bullying, etc. Also, the mentor can recommend a mental help center and give a quick way to contact close friends, teachers, or parents. If a student feels devastated and has suicidal thoughts, the app with an AR mentor gives them an emergency call button to the mental help center. «We had this idea before the pandemic but by the time the project started, it seemed even more fitting, with the school closures and the uncertainty that young people have been facing. Stress levels are much higher than they would be normally, so I think it’s going to have a massive impact», Enlighten founder and director Suzanne Edwards told.  Conclusion Day by day, the need for XR technologies in mental health treatment is increasing. With the help of virtual and augmented reality, a patient can overcome fear in a fully controlled environment. Also, AR/VR gives them the possibility to relax with the immersion in a virtual simulation of a tropical beach or quiet forest. 

Today, students use different ways to consume information. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok offer a new experience of interaction with content where visuals are prevailing:  short videos, social media posts, and other kinds of fast content. In 2022, more than a half of the Earth population uses social media. It also affects student achievement, since school schedules are mostly organized using methods designed long before the existence of modern social media.   That’s why AR and VR are gradually applying to educational institutions. These technologies  can simplify learning exact and humanitarian sciences and help modern generations to concentrate during lessons.  What’s wrong with traditional way of teaching Today, traditional ways of teaching are gradually losing their efficiency. Classic school schedule requires students to keep up with the teacher’s speech and writings on a blackboard. However, 74% of millennials and Gen Z said they were  constantly distracted by  other things during work and study. 36% of them said they spent more than two hours of their work and study time checking news feeds on smartphones. This is due to the fact that the information flow has significantly accelerated, and the whole world gradually transfers data in the digital world. Moreover, modern youth spends, on average,  less than a second on a web page if it’s not opening fast enough. Also, people usually keep 5 opened tabs in a browser for the second look. And, according to Time, the average internet user spends 15 seconds on a web page. It explains why modern children are losing interest in textbooks and slowly becoming demotivated at learning school subjects. Especially with the emergence of YouTube and TikTok that give children and teenagers fast information with bold and understandable visuals. That’s why internet medias like MTV, Mic, and Newsfeed are creating more video content and paying less attention to making longreads.  The way augmented and virtual reality help education Modern schools encourage students  to get educated with AR and VR technologies. According to statistics of science magazine Annals of Anatomy – Anatomischer Anzeiger, more than 80% of students felt more motivated to study after AR lessons.  These programs and applications make the studying process more interesting due to immersion in the virtual and augmented reality. With AR and VR, a student can see virtual molecules and planets, make a shot with a 16th century musket, and hear dinosaurs roar. Virtual trips to historical ages or the world of atoms and molecules can help students to understand a subject better and learn new skills. 93% of  students said they improved their knowledge of school subjects after AR classes.  Doctor Mihye Won, researcher and Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Curtin, said that VR programs for learning chemistry let students see and comprehend the molecular world. «VR gives a superior sense of what is happening in the molecular world – you can zoom in and out, and move around in an intuitive way. It makes it much easier to see molecular structures and key parts of a reaction, which is not done as well via other modes», said Won. Moreover, the virtual and augmented reality also gives a possibility to organize lessons both at school and at home. Remote lessons became more relevant when the  COVID-19 pandemic began. According to 2021-2022 statistics, 95% of British schools have all the necessary equipment for remote AR and VR lessons.). Also, 61% of education workers say the number of content for online studying will increase more than any kind of resources and technologies. AR and VR education apps There is a big number of AR and VR programs and applications which are designed to enhance studying for modern children and teenagers.  Virtual reality in history education BBC VR App is designed to immerse students into key historical events. The report of British radio correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas from World War II is one of these events. Vaughan-Thomas made radio broadcast straight from British fighter plane,  which took part in bomb shelling of Nazi Germany in September 1943. Virtual simulation recreates the historical night from the sight of a VR headset user, who stays at a plane board during the whole trip. Also, there’s an original Vaughan-Thomas radio broadcast used in this app, where the journalist himself describes the raid to Germany as “the most beautifully horrible view I’ve ever seen”.  AR in mathematics and other school subjects  For those who have difficulties with learning exact sciences, MergeEdu developed the AR program Merge Cube to explore 3D figures. It’s a special cube, which interacts with smartphone applications and shows three-dimensional pictures on a gadget’s screen. With Merge Cube, a student can learn more about body parts, planets of the Solar System, geometrical figures, etc. AR objects can be zoomed in and out, and the program contains detailed information about them. Also, Merge Cube offers a possibility to play mobile games and listen to music.  Virtual reality in chemistry education Chemistry lessons in VR is one of the current projects of our company. VR Chemistry Lessons App is a gamified educational program. This app has its own learning plan and a score table with the results of every finished lesson. The interactive virtual environment looks like a classroom with a blackboard, screen for presentations, and the Mendeleev’s  table the student mostly works with. VR Chemistry Lessons App is exclusively designed for Oculus Quest 2. The way VR is changing education Learning school subjects with XR can make students engaged and motivated. When a student is in the virtual or augmented reality, they are capable of learning and understanding school subjects better and faster, thanks to the prevalence of gamified visual content.

Nowadays, a big number of hospitals and rehabilitation centers are already applying virtual reality as the way to provide patients’ recovery. It helps to improve recovery rates, gives patients more motivation, and creates controlled and safe space during the practice. In this blog post, we will tell you more about interesting solutions in virtual reality training, their advantages, and fields where this kind of training is applied. Fields where VR physical recovery is applied Generally, VR technology is created for patients, who are recovering after stroke and serious injuries. The ones who suffer from chronic pains and ones who get through chemotherapy get their own VR treatment too. VR training for stroke survivors are designed to develop self-care habits and improve the control of disease consequences. For patients with chronic pain, VR is a coping mechanism, which helps to distract a person’s attention from the pain and slowly overcome discomfort, using immersion in a virtual adventure. Patients who are on the mend after wounds and injuries have their own VR therapy not only to reduce the pain, but for full or partial resumption of wounded muscle or limb’s capacity. VR training is also applied for cancer patients who get through chemotherapy. Passing games in virtual reality helps to improve memory, common well-being, and distracts from painful discomfort. VR therapy serves as a relieving factor which diverts from chemotherapy side effects such as vertigo, fatigue, vomiting, general weakness, etc. VR industry advantages in patients’ recovery As a supplement to a traditional offline training program, VR therapy has a lot of advantages, including: increasing brain’s work and its cooperation with limbs with the help of special head equipment during the therapy; chronic pain relief — after VR therapy, chronic pain level in patients was proven to decrease by 33%; due to the gaming format and immersion effect of virtual reality, patients become more motivated during the practice; controlled and safe environment of the training; improving patients’ recovery rates, compared to traditional offline therapy — according to the Recovery company statistics, patients improve their motorics during VR exercises by 20% more than during offline therapy. Also, patients with motor impairment recover by 15% faster after VR training; instant and detailed feedback, which is shown up after passing game level in the shape of a tournament table. VR games are a convenient way to monitor a patient’s progress. The results of every game are automatically recorded in the database, which significantly facilitates patient’s health condition tracking. Rehabilitation apps for stroke survivors Many great companies have developed different VR programs specifically for patients who recover from stroke and injuries and work at improving their own bodies’ motorics. MindMotion Go by MindMaze is already used by more than 3000 patients in 90 rehabilitation centers. This program is intuitive, adaptive, and has 17 types of exercises for arms, legs, head and back muscles, etc. Every exercise is made as a 3D arcade, which makes monotonous training more interesting. Also, patients can use MindMotion Go at home. They can make their own exercise program, have unlimited time for training, and periodic video conferences with doctors. Recovery App develops a bunch of physiotherapy and chronic pain relief apps. Specialists have designed a VR therapy for those who suffer from complex regional pain syndrome, chronic and phantom limb pain. These apps are made for restoration of sensitivity, distraction from pain, and breaking the pattern of constant pain and injury fear. Also, the company has announced programs for pain relief and increasing body movement control. RealSystem also offers a gamified VR rehabilitation. For example, in Happy Valley patients help penguins to harvest, go fishing, build houses and do other tasks, as well as make the sun rise in their village. The main target of this program is to restore physical and cognitive habits. Another program, Music in Motion makes patients develop upper body muscles by rhythmical movements, accompanied by music in a candy land, small coast town, and other locations. All RealSystem programs are available as free demos.   Time after time, VR technology proved its efficiency at recovering patients with diseases of the musculoskeletal system. These technologies do not just fasten the recovery, but serve as a good addition to traditional offline exercises. Also, VR technologies enable patients to determine the training schedule and adjust the complexity level of exercises.

We are developing a virtual reality graffiti drawing application for our client. To make the drawing process as realistic and convenient as possible, we have implemented several features, including: The ability to shake the can with realistic sound Visibility of spraying a cloud of paint Dependence of the line thickness on the position of the can Realistic texture filling with paint  

Nowadays, augmented reality has become more than science fiction. AR is vastly used in retail, entertainment, production, healthcare, military training, education, etc. The advantages AR gives to this field explain its growing popularity. The key advantages of them are simplifying the educational process, increasing user involvement, creating customers’ unique experiences, and increasing business efficiency. We would like to tell you about the 5 most interesting technologies, gadgets, and applications, which most clearly represent augmented reality trends in 2022. Virtual Try-On Virtual Try-on technologies bring real fitting rooms into the digital realm. Using the device’s camera, a customer can try the virtual product on. AR technology creates a realistic image of a product on customers’ bodies, which allows them to choose the right clothes without visiting physical shops. Such companies like ASOS and Adidas use AR try-on for a wide range of models in different sizes. 1822 Denim uses YourFit widget by 3DLOOK which significantly simplifies the process of choosing the right size for women. This program scans the customer’s body and then automatically calculates the right size. According to statistics, 90% of the company’s customers felt more confident about personalized recommendations. And 70% of customers went on a purchase after using 3DLOOK technology. Intravenous Assistance AR technologies can also improve healthcare and patients’ treatment. Some augment reality technologies scan a patient’s body parts and reveal an accurate picture of the circulatory system. AR intravenous assistance gadgets and programs are mostly implied during cosmetic procedures, intravenous medication delivery, treatment of varicose and other vein diseases, and so on. AccuVein is a handy gadget with augmented reality technology which helps to find the right vein in a patient’s body. This gadget reduces failed attempts at intravenous medication delivery. According to statistics, from 7% up to 21% of first attempts are failed, even by most experienced doctors. AR Military Training Augmented reality in the military sector is mostly used in different kinds of training. With AR technologies army successfully and safely trains jet pilots, infantry, fighting vehicles, tank crew, etc. One of the most recent technologies — is tactical augmented reality. The Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Centre (CERDEC) recently introduced a heads-up display. TAR uses a helmet-mounted eye display, wirelessly connected to the small computer on a waist. TAR also has integrated mapping, navigation, and 3D models to improve tactical maneuvers and fires. Current AR military technologies are using monochrome images, but CERDEC plans to display fully-colored videos and pictures to improve soldiers’ experience. AR in Education As it was proven multiple times, AR technologies in classes increase a student’s engagement, and interest in a subject and improve content understanding. AR can be used for virtual trips, which help students to learn about foreign cultures during History lessons. Using 3D geometric figures, a student can solve complex geometry tasks. For those who struggle with mathematics and geometry, Photomath is the right choice. After you scan an exercise from a physical worksheet with this mobile VR app, you’ll get the way how to solve a math problem, using interactive 3D graphics. Also, Photomath is suitable for solving problems in geometry, trigonometry, algebra, statistics, etc. This educational AR app has been downloaded from GooglePlay and App Store more than 300 million times. Art & Photography Augmented reality is also used as a new space to create art. AR mobile apps are both a perfect place for artists to make some experimental art and a helpful tool to create real paintings and photos. Like, for example, Sun Surveyor is — a mobile app, made for professional photographers. This app helps artists to find the right location for the photoshoot. It shows an AR picture of the chosen location, with the current location of the sun and the moon in the sky at any particular moment. This app allows calculating the length of shadows and distance between elevations. Sun Surveyor is available at GooglePlay and App Store for $7.99. More than a million users have downloaded this app (with the addition of the Lite version). It’s only a tiny part of the possibilities, which became available with augmented reality. The number of fields where AR is getting applied is growing every year.

The field of augmented and virtual reality development is developing by leaps and bounds: Facebook announced its plans to build a metaverse, major market players release new AR / VR / MR devices, new technologies and tools appear regularly. These factors represent both opportunities and challenges. It is very easy to lag behind the development of new directions, to concentrate on the familiar and convenient. Research & Development in VR/AR In order to stay at the peak of new solutions, we at Qualium Systems made a decision about a year ago to create an R&D department in virtual and augmented reality. As part of this department, we master and test new features, tools and capabilities. We use everything that has a perspective to solve the business problems of our clients. Passthrough API For example, we were one of the first to test a then new feature for Oculus Quest 2 – Passthrough API. This technology enables mixed reality experiences that combine real and virtual worlds into one. Immediately after an update became available, we started testing the API. It is an exciting promise by Oculus and has a lot of perspective. We are already brainstorming the ideas of using Passthrough API to solve our clients’ business issues. To test Passthrough API, we used the following Technology stack: Unity SDK, Oculus SDK 31-34, Passthrough API. Our experiment with the Passthrough API was for V31 when the technology was in experimental mode. In the further V34 version of Oculus, the Passthrough API has ceased to be an experimental function and now it does not need to be activated by a user via the console. You can watch our experiment in the video.   Comparison of the Oculus 2 with Passthrough API and HoloLens 2 Also, in continuation of our experiments with the Passthrough API technology, we decided to test the hypothesis – Can the Oculus 2 with Passthrough API take the place of HoloLens 2? After the MRTK library has been adapted to the Oculus Quest 2 and in the ver. 30 of the Operating system we received a pass-through feature, we decided to check if Oculus 2 could be used as an alternative to expensive HoloLens 2. To validate the idea, we’ve made two applications with the same features on the Oculus Quest 2 and on the HoloLens 2. You can see the result in the article http://ad88-46-150-10-153.eu.ngrok.io/blog/ar-vr/can-the-oculus-2-with-passthrough-api-take-the -place-of-hololens-2-checking-the-hypothesis. As part of our experiments, we are trying to highlight the industries that can most benefit from XR technologies, especially during a pandemic and its aftermath. The standalone application with computer vision base on Barracuda and TF model We understood that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost the opportunity to train in the gym with a trainer. Lack of coaching support can lead to improper exercise performing, which in turn can lead to injury. But thanks to modern technology, it has become possible to train correctly. We are creating a standalone application with computer vision based on Barracuda and TF model. You view a recording of an exercise with a trainer and repeat it in real time. The computer vision based on Barracuda and TF model technology compares your movements and displays information on how well you perform the exercise. You can see the result in the video.   Tensorflow lite body recognition As part of testing our hypotheses that can be applied to sports and fitness, we compare Tensorflow lite body recognition based on PoseNet model and Unity Barracuda using tfjs-to-tf and tf2onnx.   Face tracking on PC with Unity SDK and UltraFaceBarracuda One industry that can benefit from XR adoption is Retail. As part of this direction, we tested Face tracking on PC with Unity SDK and UltraFaceBarracuda: depending on the face position, the picture that a person is looking at moves. As a result of this, the effect of a hologram is created. It is an interesting solution for marketing purposes with the ability to track people’s actions and test various marketing activities. To do so, we used the Technology stack: Unity SDK, UltraFaceBarracuda. See the result in the video. This is a small part of our experiments. We continue to research, hypothesize, and help our clients.

The AR / VR industry is rapidly evolving. One by one, tech giants announce the release of new devices, solutions and technologies. We decided to make brief reviews of the most interesting news, so that you keep abreast of the latest events. Lynx-R1’S Successful Kickstarter Ends With Over $800,000 Raised The Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for the Lynx-R1 mixed reality (MR) headset was a success before it even had time to warm up, managing to exceed its $300,000 USD funding goal in less than a day. Now the campaign has concluded with over one thousand backers supporting the project and just over $800,000 raised over one month. https://www.vrfocus.com/2021/11/lynx-r1s-successful-kickstarter-ends-with-over-800000-raised/ Meta and Microsoft announce partnership to integrate Workplace and Teams Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, announced a partnership with Microsoft that will allow customers to integrate Meta’s Workplace enterprise social network software with Microsoft Teams. The integration gives customers access to Workplace content inside the Teams app. Likewise, users can view Teams video meetings in the Workplace app. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/meta-and-microsoft-announce-partnership-to-integrate-workplace-and-teams.html Nreal Brings The First AR Glasses To America, Via Verizon Light was previously only available in Germany, Spain, Japan, and South Korea. It weighs around three times a heavy pair of sunglasses, or a third of a Magic Leap One headset. To achieve this form factor Light is powered by your smartphone over a USB cable, there is no battery or full-fledged chip onboard. https://uploadvr.com/nreal-light-ar-glasses-usa-launch/ Ultraleap raises £60 million in Series D fundraise to be the primary interface for the metaverse Ultraleap, the world leader in interface technologies – hand tracking and mid-air haptics – announced it has completed a £60 million ($82 million) Series D round of investment. The raise will enable Ultraleap to further develop and commercialise its revolutionary technologies for existing and next generation computing platforms. https://www.ultraleap.com/company/news/press-release/series-d-fundraise/ Huawei Launches VR Glass 6DoF Headset Speaking at the Huawei Full Scenario Smart Life Conference, the Chinese tech giant said as quoted by Huawei Central it would launch its VR Glass 6 degrees-of-freedom (DoF) game headset, which weighs only 188 grammes and can connect to Huawei smartphones and PCs with a Type-C cable. https://www.xrtoday.com/virtual-reality/huawei-launches-vr-glass-6dof-headset/ Niantic Receives $300 Million Investment From Coatue Niantic Inc., developer of the world’s first and only planet-scale AR platform, announced that Coatue has made a $300 million investment in the company at a valuation of $9 billion. Niantic will use the funds to invest in current games and new apps, expand the Lightship developer platform, and build out its vision for the Real-World Metaverse. https://nianticlabs.com/blog/coatue/

Virtual reality is a continuously developed technology as a powerful tool for learning in enterprise environments. The main advantage is that virtual reality training allows students to practice working processes with near real-life experience in a suitable time and place. It allows to check a student’s knowledge and trained skills consistently by using well-developed work processes flow scenarios with assessments on the special checkpoints and, what is important, all of that is going in-game. The PwC study found that VR in soft skills training can provide such advantages: Employees in VR courses can be trained up to four times faster. VR learners are more confident in applying what they’re taught. Employees are more emotionally connected to VR content. VR learners are more focused, VR learning can be more cost-effective at scale. In this article, we are providing two case VR simulators overviews that were developed by our company, so based on this information, you could consider whether it’s a good idea for your company training strategy as well. You can consider the VR simulators usage if: You want to train and cooperate in VR despite distance and time. You want to save money and time. You want to make your training effective and engaging. You want to engage employees in a fun like a game way to reduce overwhelming. You want to train safety procedures in a comfortable, safe environment. Let’s go deeper into the specific VR simulators area of usage. Please note that we developed our simulators for Oculus Quest 2. This device has a low price, but it allows you to use all the possibilities of virtual reality. Safety skills training Chemical safety training VR simulator VR can be used to carry out affordable, simple to organize safety skills training of various types under the regulatory requirements. If your company manufactures chemical mixtures in Canada, Europe, or the US, you may be subject to different regulatory requirements, one of which is the presence of chemical safety training modules for the workers. Our VR simulator provides near real-life experience training in the VR environment for the workers and allows them to go through the whole tech process step-by-step. The training provides tips for each step with consistent implementation. The worker gets theoretical knowledge and sharpens practical skills under the safety rules set for this specific industry. Technology: Unity3D, C#, 3DS Max, Photoshop Equipment training VR welding training VR can be really an irreplaceable thing when it comes to training the skills of working with special equipment. VR welding simulator is intended for students as a near real-life training which simulates the whole process of the welding torch set up before starting the work. VR simulator, as an operation and maintenance of welding and cutting equipment, is conformed to the provisions of American National Standard Z49.1, “Safety in Welding and Cutting”. VR allows students to experience real-life experiences without real-life consequences. VR offers a student the opportunity to become completely immersed in a given working situation using equipment that can be set up virtually anywhere. This experience is different to screen-based learning since a student becomes surrounded by the experience. Technology: Unity, UnityXR Interaction Toolkit, Blender, C# Conclusion If you want to avoid mistakes in the working places, save money and time for their correction, you can get on track with the VR cutting edge technologies implementation into your corporate training world which will bring a bunch of benefits for your company.

The AR / VR industry is rapidly evolving. One by one, tech giants announce the release of new devices, solutions and technologies. We decided to make brief reviews of the most interesting news, so that you keep abreast of the latest events. Qualcomm launches new AR dev kit, acquires Clay AIR Qualcomm today launched a new developer platform for building head-worn augmented reality experiences: the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform. https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/09/qualcomm-launches-new-ar-dev-kit-acquires-clay-air/ Niantic releases Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit AR technology company Niantic has announced that it is opening its Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit (ARDK) to developers that will make creating augmented reality experiences more accessible. https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/niantic-releases-lightship-augmented-reality-developer-kit/2366292/ Meta Announces AR Glasses Prototype Project Nazare Alongside the reveal of the new Project Cambria VR headset, Meta (formerly Facebook) has just given a codename to its first pair of consumer AR glasses. Meet Project Nazare. https://uploadvr.com/meta-ar-glasses-project-nazare/ Cisco Launches Webex Hologram For Meetings At WebexOne, Cisco unveiled a preview of its next-generation hybrid work collaboration product. Webex Hologram is the industry’s only real-time meeting solution that takes advantage of augmented reality headsets to combine feature rich Webex meeting functionality with immersive 3D holograms. http://svdaily.com/2021/11/02/cisco-launches-webex-hologram-for-meetings/ Microsoft Teams enters the metaverse race with 3D avatars and immersive meetings Microsoft is entering the race to build a metaverse inside Teams, just days after Facebook rebranded to Meta in a push to build virtual spaces for both consumers and businesses. Microsoft is bringing Mesh, a collaborative platform for virtual experiences, directly into Microsoft Teams next year. https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22758974/microsoft-teams-metaverse-mesh-3d-avatars-meetings-features