VR / AR / MR – Seattle’s on the Forefront of Our Changing Realities

Virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality are hot tech that’s quickly innovating communication, entertainment, sports, gaming, business and more.

So, to celebrate everything virtual, augmented and mixed, we held an event earlier this month in Bellevue to learn about the latest trends from a few of our local VR/AR/MR organizations that are making waves in the industry.

A big thank you to all who attended, and especially to the speakers from OddAtom, BigBox VR, CoMotion Labs and Doghead Simulations. It is amazing to see how quickly these technologies are advancing, and how much talent we have here in the Pacific Northwest.

With new, practical applications being developed at a rapid pace, the landscape promises to be very different just a few years from now.

For those unable to attend in person, here’s a recap of the tech and insights our speakers shared.

  • OddAtom, the company formerly known as Flip Riot, kicked off New Tech Northwest’s VR/AR event with an insight into its asset distribution platform for mixed reality (MR). Founder & CTO, Ryan Atkins, spoke of the need to stop showcasing and start solving problems using the technology. His ambitious mission is to increase the adoption of MR by developing standards that will allow its assets to be electronically transmitted as easily as a PDF today.

  • BigBox VR, presented by Co-Founder and CEO Chia Chin Lee, is creating the future of VR multiplayer games. The company’s goal is to produce inspiring content that takes advantage of room scale VR, while developing games that are easy to pick up but difficult to master. The highlight of Chia’s dynamic and fast-paced slideshow was Smashbox Arena, BigBox VR’s multi-player online action game featuring physics-driven powerups, all in glorious virtual reality.

  • Associate Director Elizabeth Scallon runs CoMotion Labs at the University of Washington, a hub for innovators, entrepreneurs, startups and artists involved in Life Sciences, Clean Tech, and AR/VR among other things. Having opened its doors in 2016, CoMotion Labs’ Augmented and Virtual Reality center has already become home to 20 startups. One of the startups, in particular, was highlighted for developing a product that enables surgeons to practice operations in VR before performing surgery on children.

  • Doghead Simulations believes that the age of traveling for business is over. The company’s primary objective is to eradicate it completely with VR software for remote teams. CEO, Mat Chacon, spoke about Doghead Simulations’ drive to eliminate unnecessary travel by facilitating meetings in VR, giving attendees (or at least their customized avatars) a virtual conference room where they can interact with ease.

Like this post? Share it!
X