In July 2016, the federal Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) shared our vision that VR/AR technologies will drastically and rapidly transform industrial processes and that Switzerland must adopt a proactive stance to approach these disruptive technologies. They accepted our proposal to create a national thematic network in the domains of immersive technologies and virtual environments simulation, named Virtual Switzerland. The funding has initially been granted for the period 2017-2020 and is renewable.
Virtual Switzerland aims to spark ideas and foster synergies to grasp the full extent of virtual, augmented, and mixed realities. It means bringing together the academic and economic spheres around immersive technologies and linking R&D experts in Swiss universities with those in thriving companies, thereby promoting private as well as academic research laboratories or incubators. Four business sectors are targeted, which together encompass most of the Swiss economic landscape: medtech, architecture and construction, manufacturing, tourism and culture.
The Virtual Switzerland network was launched in January 2017. If you are working in the fields of VR/AR and 3D simulation, you may be interested in joining this network. To know more about the membership, as well as the activities proposed, please check here. You can also contact “info at virtualswitzerland.org” for more information.
Artanim participated to the Nuit de la Science on July 9-10, 2016 at the park of La Perle du Lac. The team showed the public through different interactive and immersive installations how motion capture technologies could be used to better understand the movement of your articulations, immerse yourself in virtual worlds or turn you into avatar.
Best VR installation at Cannes FestivalDan Benzakein, Journalist, Wearable
Our VR installation was setup on the “Croisette”, just a few meters from the red carpet stairs! This was a great honor for us to participate to the most famous film festival in the world and this was a new opportunity after Sundance to gather feedback from the motion pictures industry and a great opportunity to make interesting contacts in the field.
We are the winner of the 2016 Laval Virtual award in the category “3D Game and Entertainment” with our VR platform Real Virtuality! The team was at Laval during 5 days to demonstrate the system from March 23-27, 2017. More info here. Again, the VR platform was acclaimed in the newspaper:
The immersion is so powerful and natural that we are immediately at ease in this virtual universe full of realityJean-Klébert Lauret, Journalist, Les Numériques
Real Virtuality was selected at the 2016 Sundance’s New Frontier Festival that took place on January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Utah. The festival is one of the world’s premiere places to debut new independent films and highlights the best in storytelling technology.
With the support of swissnex San Francisco and Pro Helvetia, Artanim showcased there a new VR scenario mixing real and virtual worlds. Users participated in a time machine experience where they were transported into different futuristic environments: a space station, Dark City and a cave.
The VR experience and the technology was incredibly well welcomed, as the following quotes can attest:
The latest Real Virtuality experience at Sundance is an epic new level of advancement. It is as close as we can get to a holodeck for now. Jonathan Nafarrete, Journalist, VR Scout
The mother lode of Sundance. The most daringly original VR presentation I’ve seen, “Real Virtuality” shows how big the medium can be Steven Zeitchik, Journalist, Los Angeles Times
What’s cooler than VR? Not much except maybe Real Virtuality by Artanim James Finn, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Communication, 20th Century Fox
Several big names also tested our Real Virtuality system. Just to name one, Robert Redford, founder of Sundance characterized our experience as “Spectacular”!
