VR Collaboration is “The Next Big Thing”
The next big thing that will take global collaboration to a higher level is virtual reality (VR) and an innovative virtual meeting platform.
Cambridge, UK and Pittsford, NY – 6 April 2022
Distributed teams protect the environment and meet online today. In today’s world, online meetings are part of everyday life. We have become accustomed to it and for many it is as normal as a cup of coffee in the morning. It’s quick, there’s no travel time and everyone has the necessary technology at their fingertips these days.
People meet online
Online meetings can be attended on a PC as well as on a smartphone, tablet or browser without any problems. And this is not only the case in the world of work, but also in many people’s private lives. We are now living the technology instead of just using it.
What is "The Next Big Thing" in communication?
It is already part of our habit to switch on the webcam in video conferences to see the other person live. But the spatial impression and the feeling of being able to meet together in one place are missing. This is exactly where virtual reality helps us to make a breakthrough, because now we can meet in a common place despite the great distance from anywhere in the world.
“In a video conference, you are always bound to the perspective of one individual and there is no direct interaction with the content. In contrast, in a VR meeting everyone moves independently in a virtual space around virtual objects, be it individual components, such as an engine, or an entire plant right away,” says Thomas Schubert Managing Director of CAD Schroer GmbH. “The possibility of being able to view the virtual objects in their actual environment, e.g. a factory floor, is an enormous advantage here.”
With virtual reality, the workplace becomes a conference room, a design studio or a factory floor. From anywhere in the world, it is possible to immerse oneself in a virtual environment where meetings can be held with colleagues and business partners, products can be demonstrated and collaboration can take place. This offers great potential for communication in projects, as it is now possible to meet directly in the building, factory, or next to the machine that is being designed. A new level of immersion now provides the next level in communication. And this technology is not only influencing industry, but will also find its way into our everyday lives.
Simplicity makes it simple
For a technology to be adopted and used, it must also be easy to use. In the case of online meetings, it is the apps that can be quickly installed on any platform and then simply work. You get sent a link, click on it and the appropriate app is installed or called up. If you don’t want to install anything, you just use the browser version. That’s exactly what we’re used to and that’s exactly what a modern collaboration solution should do.
VR Meetings with i4 MEETING –
Online meetings in virtual reality
Virtual and in Virtual Reality
If we want to participate in a VR meeting, we click on a link and we dive in with the device that is currently available, whether it is VR glasses or a tablet. It is also important here that this decision is left to the users themselves. They only have to be able to determine whether they only want to be represented virtually on a tablet or the PC, or whether they want to really immerse themselves in the virtual meeting with the help of VR glasses. But no matter what is ultimately decided, we all then want to move through any 3D world and talk to the other meeting participants, who are all represented by an avatar in the meeting.
The vision has already become reality!
What sounds like a secret technology from the laboratories of renowned universities has already been brought to market maturity by a German company and has been released for some time. The i4 MEETING VR meeting solution, developed by the Industry 4.0 (i4) team at CAD Schroer GmbH, meets all the requirements mentioned here. So what sounds too good to be true has already become reality in the year 2022!
With i4 MEETING, CAD Schroer has created an online platform that can be used to organise virtual meetings worldwide. If you want to organise a VR meeting, you simply register with i4 MEETING and create your meeting. The 3D models for the VR meeting, which could simply come from a CAD system or a 3D designer, are loaded here.
Promoting creativity with virtual meetings
Now only the other participants are missing. They receive access with the appropriate link to the planned meeting. Thus, the participants meet in a newly designed factory or take a walk through the building, which previously only existed as a 3D design. What is special here is that the VR worlds for the meetings can be designed completely freely using the participants’ own models. This means that there are no limits to one’s own creativity.
Participating in a meeting is similarly easy, because with a simple web link all participants can decide how they want to take part. i4 MEETING offers apps for Windows, iOS and Android that can be started with the link. Those who want to do without an installation simply participate with their web browser. Others can immerse themselves in a meeting using their VR glasses. This makes i4 MEETING easy to use, available everywhere and immediately usable.
Anyone who wants to try i4 MEETING can simply dive into one of the trial meetings on the CAD Schroer website. The i4 MEETING apps are already available for download from app stores and also on the CAD Schroer website.