Events are being halted worldwide amongst the unprecedented sweeping Coronavirus lockdowns. HTC is battling the spread of coronavirus by shifting its annual Vive Ecosystem Conference to VR. This will allow attendees worldwide to attend virtual sessions while eliminating travel and maintaining the CDC’s recommended social distancing.
Today, HTC VIVE® held its fifth annual XR industry conference, now renamed the Virtual VIVE Ecosystem Conference (V²EC), but this time in VR. It marks the first major physical industry event that has been replaced fully by an interactive VR digital twin.
Approximately 2000 participants registered from over 55 countries. Speakers and attendees joined in the form of their own custom avatars and are able to interact in the custom created spaces with each other just as they would in the physical world.
The conference will be taking place within ENGAGE, the virtual reality training and education platform developed by Immersive VR Education. The platform enables educators and companies to host meetings, presentations, classes and events with people across the world. Using the platform, virtual reality training and experiences can be created in minutes. The tools are very easy to use and require no technical expertise. Sessions can be hosted live or recorded and saved for others to experience later.
At the V2EC2020, Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC, delivered the opening speech through her virtual avatar: “HTC’s original intention of entering VR industry is to give human beings the chance and possibility to break through physical limitations and realize their dreams by leveraging advanced technologies. At the same time, in the face of this pandemic, HTC is demonstrating VR’s potential to break through conventional thinking and physical boundaries. This is the real significance of V2EC2020.”
“To help enable collaboration within and growth of the XR industry, we have conducted the Vive Ecosystem Conference every year since 2016,” HTC China President, Alvin W. Graylin said. “This year, in the face of the global COVID-19 outbreak, we are taking the lead to show the world the power of VR to effectively convert an in-person conference into a fully interactive virtual one. The inability to meet and communicate face to face will be an increasing challenge for the world, but XR can be one solution. To stay safe these days, we need to create more distance between people, and conversely, one of the biggest benefits of XR is the ability to remove the perception of distance and boundaries for users.”
“Prior to this virus pandemic, the mindset of many people is that XR is a nice-to-have technology. Post-outbreak, the benefits of XR to overcome the physical barriers between people could make it a must-have technology over time. The killer app of XR isn’t a specific game or application like with prior computing technologies, but rather the ability to regain a part of the daily life we lost due to the new reality facing the world today. Working-from-home, distance learning, home-based fitness, immersive entertainment and networked social interactivity will all be part of the new normal in our lives, and made more agreeable if more users could adopt XR technologies.”
This most recent adaptation of VR use for large events is just another illustration of how VR can benefit enterprise. Hosting large events in this medium elimiates the need to cap attendee numbers, saves money for attendees on travel and allows for replay of any sessions that may have been missed. VR has previosly been used to host large events and festivals, but during these challenging times enterprise in this emerging tech field really have a chance to show the immense benefits of VR and XR.
