European Association for Virtual and Augmented Reality

EuroVR (European Association for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality) is an international non-profit and scientific Association designed to bring together all those interested in Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies and to pursue the development and further deployment of such technologies.
EuroVR activities cover the following aspects:

• Gathering industrials, SMEs, Research Institutes and Academics but also individual members with an interest in VR;
• Federating already established VR/AR National Associations in the field;
• Promoting research excellence in the VR/AR field;
• Providing support to the VR/AR Community;
• Stimulating the development of VR/AR technologies in different application areas;
• Facilitating the structuring and VR/AR research integration in Europe.

HAPTION

HAPTION is the European leader of force-feedback for professional applications. We are active in the markets of engineering, nuclear, and healthcare. In the domain of Virtual Reality, we offer solutions (hardware and software) for large-workspace and high-force manual interaction with virtual objects. Our force-feedback devices are supported by many Open Source and proprietary physics engines, such as H3D, SOFA, Chai3d, XDE, IPSI. Based in France, HAPTION is a founding member of EuroVR, and has been actively supporting the association since the beginning.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

On our booth, the visitors will be able to experience 6D force-feedback (translation and rotation) for different kinds of applications: virtual prototyping, medical simulation, telerobotics, etc. In addition, we will show the results of the article “Automatic Mesh Erosion Method for Interactive Assembly Simulation in the Industry”, presented at the conference, in an operational context.

ICCS

ICCS, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems is a non-profit Academic Research Body established in 1989 by the Ministry for Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs to carry applied Research and Development activities in the area of telecommunications, computer systems and their application in a variety of topics.  ICCS is one of the founding members of the EuroVR Association and hold its’ Presidency from 2011 to 2015. The I-SENSE Research Group (http://i-sense.iccs.gr/) of ICCS which is actively participating in the EuroVR is mainly focusing on the following application areas: Intelligent Transportation Systems, Virtual Environments, Assistive Technologies and the Smart Integrated Systems & Communication. Specifically in the areas of Virtual and Augmented Reality, I-SENSE interest and expertise lies on the VR/AR architecture development with extensive work in designing and implementing versatile anthropocentric applications for industrial use and training.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

On our booth, the visitors will be able to learn more about research and development activities (i.e. Affective computing; Augmented and Virtual Reality in Culture and Cultural Heritage; Remote support and task guidance through AR; Product LifeCycle Integration in Virtual Reality; Training using Virtual Worlds for rehabilitation and for industrial training; Evaluation in Virtual Environment; Navigation in VR using Brain Interfaces; Electrophysiological & behavioral monitoring; Authoring Environments for VR/AR applications;) and experience a live demonstration of a remote support tool for space application based on Augmented Reality.

MiddleVR

MiddleVR provides Virtual Reality software, tools and services. Target markets are training, conception, communication, marketing and health. The company is made up of VR experts from industry and research, combining their knowledge of computer science, design and ergonomics. We offer three different products: MiddleVR Plugin, a Unity3D and Unreal Engine plugin for developers; Professional services, customised applications development for professionals and Improov, a virtual office/meeting room for project review/conception and a collaboration platform for engineers and architects.

Large groups, SMEs/SMIs, universities and research centers - today, we are proud to accompany more than 200 customers worldwide.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

We will be showing a training application we developed with our MiddleVR for Unity plugin. Besides, we present our new product Improov3. Improov3 is a platform for collaboration in virtual reality. You can think of it as a virtual office and meeting room. Users can load multiple 3D models and view them at scale one in virtual reality. The product review can be collaborative, meaning a user in another office, city or country can join the meeting room, either with a classic non-VR application, or with any VR system. It is currently oriented toward CAD (computer aided design) engineers but it will evolve to support many different business cases, such as architecture, training etc. We will show multi-user collaboration between Athens and Paris.

High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC)

The High Value Manufacturing Catapult is the go-to place for manufacturing technology innovation in the UK. Our 7 centres across the country collectively cover the full range of manufacturing technology capabilities, from materials to biologics and from additive manufacturing to automation. Our centres offer open access to the leading edge industrial scale equipment, world-class expertise and an environment of collaboration between industry, academia and government. We work with businesses of all sizes and all sectors to take risk out of the innovation process, turning ideas into commercial reality by bridging the gap between technology concept and real commercial value add.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

The HVMC VR & Visualisation Forum support users in exploring the benefits of applying advanced visualisation technologies to particular industrial applications and domains. In alliance with ‘Immerse UK’, the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and the IET, the group are driving the adoption of advanced visualisation within industry. We are creating opportunities for Applied Visualisation, including Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality, by bringing together a volunteer led working group that operates across industry sectors. This group is set up to support users exploring the benefits of applying advanced visualisation to a particular industrial domain across sectors.

The group will facilitate discussion on hardware and software advances and applications in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Data Capture and Visualisation, encouraging those working in the field of visualisation and VR to share their expertise and good practices. The community being developed will help to promote the use of advanced visualisation tools and techniques, enabling its members to position themselves at the leading edge of this important and growing field.

ART / VRON

ART is a leading manufacturer of high-end optical motion tracking systems for Virtual and Augmented Reality applications with all products being developed and manufactured at the company’s headquarter near Munich, Germany.

ART offers a comprehensive range of motion tracking systems, including the only optical tracking solution made specifically for use inside closed Caves and other multi-sided projection systems. At the heart of every system is our DTrack2 control software which provides rapid and stable setup of tracking cameras and devices.

The company also provides an extensive range of custom tracking targets for the most popular brands of stereo glasses as well as our Flystick and Fingertracking input devices, all designed specifically to meet the needs of navigation and interaction with VR and AR applications. All ART systems and accessories are designed for high reliability and maximum flexibility and are continuously improved in order to satisfy the individual requirements of each customer.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

Take your chance to experience a new developmenet currently carried out at ART and to be launched in one of the next DTrack2 releases: the ART hybrid tracking (optical / IMU) for HMDs (prototype) presented with the Infinitus Prime tVR HMD (prototype) and supported by the collaborative VR software "vr-on stage" by our partner vr-on.

EVA-ITIA CNR

EVA Group – Enterprise Engineering and Virtual Applications – is a research group belonging to ITIA, Industrial Technologies and Automation Institute, part of Italian National Research Council. Marco Sacco is the head of the group, which is composed by 25 researchers divided into three premises: Milano, Bari and Lecco.

For 20 years, EVA has been conducting research in the fields of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Simulation applied to the Virtual Factory framework.

Further research is focused on the development of semantic applications (ontology-based) as a tool for formalization and use of knowledge to support interoperability of systems (Milano). In Bari research is concentrated on Augmented Reality and training. In Lecco the challenge is to apply the same technologies on rehabilitation, health and wellbeing.

Finally, special attention is devoted to the Human Factors that ensure the centrality of the human being, both in the relationship with production and technologies as well as in the different domains in which EVA operates.

Demo at EuroVR 2016

In the EVA-ITIA booth an application of the Smart Home Simulator is shown. It is a mixed reality application supporting the design and the configuration of the smart objects within a domestic environment, with the aim of answering to specific users’ needs. Smart Home Simulator finds its most suitable exploitation in the field of Ambient Assisted Living, providing tailored services to the home dwellers. In particular, it exploits the virtual and mixed reality features, which allow the simulation and testing of different Smart Objects solutions. Smart objects are made interoperable taking advantage of semantic web technologies, which provide a comprehensive overview on the relevant aspects that must be considered to tailor the proposed solution to the end user’s needs, also including his/her health condition.

Visitors are able to test a configured bedroom scenario in which the physical activity performed on a cycle-ergometer is monitored in real time, taking advantage of physical devices. Thanks to a semantic platform, it is shown how it is possible to configure physical exercise for a specific user and monitor his/her performance.