Initiating novel phase in digital landscapes and interactive functions

Nightfall in the Digital Landscape

Last evening, around a hundred folks—VR/AR enthusiasts, curious novices, and passionate specialists— gathered at our platform, World. Over two months since the initial digital rendition of our annual expo, these all-digital World Days were an opportunity to reflect on the virtual journey over the past few weeks.

The Phoenix Rises in Virtual Reality

Last night wasn't about the thrill of discovering the virtual domain; rather, it tasted like reunion. World has become a familiar territory for many people. Since the virtual event held last April, numerous individuals have embraced this digital space to continue their exchanges, sharing, and meetings. Two months later, the digital world built in VirBELA gains significance through these dedicated gatherings like the World Days. These events brim with enrichment and insights, further exploiting these new virtual worlds.

Laurent Chrétien, CEO of World, highlighted in his opening speech, "Welcome home!" This ambition that World and its team set for themselves: the longevity and ownership of the World. This resulted in the creation of the Mayenne World by the French department a few weeks back. The evolution initiated by World continues, and the emergence of virtual worlds is now a certainty.

Laurent Chrétien spoke about the rebirth of a phoenix through the emergence of virtual worlds. The health crisis has necessitated finding alternative solutions for work, meetings, and events. But even after transforming for these months, we realize that many of the solutions invented and deployed may continue to play a role in the future. Some are even seen as ways to preserve the planet and its rich nature. How to further utilize virtual worlds? How can we avoid the exhaustion of innovative solutions that seem too avant-garde? And how can we appropriate new technologies, including immersive techniques, to offer alternatives that are respectful, yet accessible?

A World of Opportunities - Virtual and Augmented

The Success of Virtual Events

A few months ago, hosting conferences and meetings in a completely virtual world, with participants reincarnated as avatars, seemed inconceivable. However, alternative solutions quickly emerged. The world of virtual and augmented reality has now adopted them, appreciating the benefits. Othman Chiheb, Product Marketing Manager for HoloLens Microsoft, spoke about the Microsoft Area from the World.

The Microsoft Area was a reserved space during the World. A space that was built and set up in just five days, after Microsoft decided to support the virtual event. "Microsoft used to be a historical partner for our physical event." The Microsoft teams did not hesitate for more than five seconds when expressing their support for World, sensing the importance of fostering efforts like this.

Enthusiasm was equally strong among Microsoft partners and speakers chosen for the three virtual days: "Our partners really wanted to be part of this world premiere." With more than 80 speakers contributing to the conference program built in just 24 hours, the event was a grand success. Between 70 and 100 people attended, which is much more than during physical events. "3,200 avatars entered the Microsoft Area on the first day", reports Othman Chiheb, and "460 during the keynote of Mark Day."

Maintaining Connections within the XR Community

Othman already observes the benefits of a virtual event, first and foremost the cost, which is much lower than a physical event. He also explains that the World has helped strengthen relationships with Microsoft customers. The same goes for Andrey Lunev, Community Activist for XR Crowd. In his lecture, he explained how the XR community stayed intertwined during the lockdown. Virtual worlds served as a lifeline.

Andrey Lunev began by explaining, "In March 2020, I was looking forward to more events, when suddenly all of them started canceling." So, we had to find another way to bring the XR community together. And what better choice than virtual reality (VR), the center of its universe, to achieve this? #ZeroEvent was then created: "it's a weekly gathering of the community." The goal was to maintain the exchange, but the opportunity was also to test VR platforms: "We all wanted to explore social interactions, and the only way to do that was to get together in VR and test the platforms." Many platforms have been tested: Engage, VirBELA, VR Chat, AltspaceVR, Rumii, Glue Collaboration.

It is these virtual gatherings and tests that led to the choice of VirBELA to organize the World. But they have also fostered relationships between all members, especially between World and XR Crowd. The virtual worlds and events have not only preserved the existing bond within the XR community, but have also spawned new content and research.

Crafting, Enhancing, and Evolving Virtual Worlds

An Online Platform's Journey: VirBELA's Tale

After the exploratory phase of virtual worlds and their infinite possibilities, the question arose: how to develop and refine these already existing virtual worlds to meet the growing demand? How does one know which features are favored? This is the question currently being asked by Alex Howland, founder of VirBELA. He created the platform in 2012 while pursuing his graduate studies. He entered a competition to find the best way to improve higher education. This is where he pitched the idea of using virtual worlds to bring people together from all over the world, enabling learning with a playful tool, and fostering global interaction in a globalized economy.

Today, VirBELA has grown significantly, especially in the past three months, where it has expanded from 20 to 75 employees to meet the burgeoning demand. Many sectors recognize VirBELA. The platform has welcomed religion groups, support groups, consulting firms, and more. The hosting of World demonstrated its ability to manage events of international importance. This also allowed for the testing of functionalities and the planning of enhancements to develop the offer and the possibilities.

Many ideas run through Alex Howland's mind. He identifies a broad opportunity in the event space, the remote work space, and the education space. Regarding VirBELA, the aim is to "keep accessibility a top priority," promising efforts to improve the overall user experience in virtual reality (VR). For instance, improving the management of presentations and screens in VR is a priority. Today, multiple teams are working on this to make the experience smoother. It is also planned to integrate webcam sharing, so that you can see the people you're conversing with in small groups.

A Multitude of Virtual Reality Platforms to Explore

Since 2014, Kent Bye has attended almost 100 conferences and gatherings. When they started going virtual, he had to attend as well. He was then able to compare the virtual with the real. He then asserts with authority that an online platform such as "Zoom can manage conferences and talks." His question is mainly: what else does VR offer? And what can be improved to make this virtual experience closer to reality?

A virtual reality world enables users to navigate through a space, as opposed to a simple online conference. Users will then be able to meet people, talk, engage in small-group discussions, and form connections. However, we cannot communicate like we would in real life. Kent Bye takes the example of VirBELA and regrets the lack of isolated areas for private conversations. Since the World, the platform has improved audio isolation and has particularly implemented spatialized sound: when you move away from a group that is talking, you can no longer hear it.

International cooperation continued during the panel, with Kent Bye, but also Asha Easton from Immerse UK, Liudmila Bredikhina from the University of Geneva, and Lorelle Vanfossen from Educators in VR. Social interactions were the most frequently mentioned issue. According to Lorelle Vanfossen, "a virtual event is no different from scheduling in the real. You need space, to breathe between the events." Meeting spaces are essential for an event, virtual or physical. Participants should have opportunities to meet before and after the conferences, to exchange ideas. She went on to say that in the virtual world, it is essential to schedule these moments of exchange, to encourage people to gather at a specific time and place.

Virtual worlds and events have a promising future; numerous improvements are still needed to make the experience as rich as that in the physical world. But these encounters were a breath of fresh air for continuing the exchange with members of the XR community, eager to delve into every corner of the virtual world.

Toward an Expanding Digital Universe

But then, what can we do to continue exploiting these virtual worlds while the return to reality gradually occurs? Valentin Régnier, Community Relations Manager at World, expressed the desire to trigger encounters, partnerships, collaborations, projects, both in real and virtual environments. Virtual worlds are starting to become an invaluable tool for building business opportunities by connecting people and sharing tools. This is why the World will remain permanent for companies, artists, researchers, scientists, and students who wish to continue learning and exchanging. The world will now be accessible through a membership, which will also offer access to virtual meeting rooms, exclusive VR/AR content, and a comprehensive directory in the field of immersive technologies.

Surprises were plenty, as Laurent Chrétien announced in conclusion that a new virtual world was opening its doors: the World Congress Center. It will serve as the stage for numerous external virtual events over the next few months, ensuring that June and July are already booked, says the CEO of World. At the same time, Laurent Chrétien announced the signing of a partnership with XR Latam to export the World concept to Latin America. See you in 2021 for the Colombian exhibition!

Finally, and to build on the success of World, Benjamin de Wit of VR Days announced the virtualization of the event co-organized by World. "If people can't come to VR Days, VR Days will come to the people. We have set ourselves the goal to host the most immersive event of 2020!" The program includes an extended marathon of online conferences, a virtual exhibition space, an immersive investment market, and the Church of VR creation space entirely in virtual reality. The goal is clear: "We're going to bring XR to the masses!" An ambitious goal that virtualization might fulfill.

Watch the conferences on replay

Additional Insights:

As virtual worlds continue to develop, optimizing their use for events, collaboration, and social interactions is crucial. Here are some strategies to improve these experiences:

Immersive Technologies: Utilizing Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies can create immersive experiences, enhancing engagement and interaction during virtual events and collaborations.
Interactive Features: Incorporate interactive tools such as avatars, virtual environments, and real-time communication to simulate in-person interactions.
AI and Personalization: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to personalize experiences, automate tasks, and analyze user behavior within virtual environments better tailors content, improving user engagement.
Hybrid and Gamified Events: Implementing hybrid events that combine virtual and in-person elements, offering flexibility and broader reach, as well as incorporating gamification elements to make interactions more engaging and fun, enhancing collaboration and social interaction.
Content Strategy and Visualization: Using AI tools to visualize and strategize content flow, user journeys, and interactions within virtual worlds is essential for planning and optimizing virtual experiences before development. Continuous feedback is also vital, enabling iterative improvements to ensure virtual environments meet evolving needs and expectations.
Monetization and Sustainability: Exploring various monetization strategies, such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), sponsored content, and subscription models, ensures virtual worlds remain financially sustainable. Emphasizing sustainability, such as using cloud technologies and reducing energy consumption through efficient data centers, further enhances their appeal.

Technology played a significant role in the World Days, as the digital space built in VirBELA gained significance through these gatherings.

The evolution of virtual worlds continues to be a certainty, with events like the World Days brimming with enrichment and insights, further exploiting these new virtual worlds. Several virtual reality platforms, such as VirBELA and HoloLens Microsoft, are adopting innovative solutions to capitalize on the benefits of virtual events, fostering connections within the XR community.

Initiating novel phase in digital landscapes and interactive functions