Big XR News from NVIDIA, Meta, EndeavorXR, and Spatial

Enterprise XR technology is at an inflexion point. After years of hype and speculation, XR firms are highlighting how the technology is reaching wider enterprise end-users.

The technology behind enterprise XR is expanding quickly, and with headsets coming from various XR leaders, the innovative space is drawing fresh eyes.

Despite positive prospects, many individuals do not use or accept technology outside of entertainment. But as firms highlight positive enterprise use cases, optics can improve, perhaps leading to greater adoption.

However, the immersive journey is not always smooth sailing as Meta once again lays off workers from its Reality Labs division.

NVIDIA Omniverse for VR Neurosurgery

Recently, VR medical surgery training firm Atlas Meditech partnered with NVIDIA to leverage its Omniverse platform to empower surgeons to train before entering the operating room and rehearse complex procedures with AI and lifelike imagery.

Via its MONAI medical imaging framework, the firm uses integrated NVIDIA tools to train brain surgeons with greater depth and realism, using artificial intelligence (AI) and photorealistic, accurate simulations. Combined, integrated technologies aim to boost surgical outcomes and patient safety worldwide.

In an NVIDIA blog post, Dr Aaron Cohen-Gadol, the Founder of Atlas Meditech and Nonprofit, Neurosurgical Atlas, explained the functionality of the platform, explaining:

The Atlas provides a collection of multimedia tools for brain surgeons, allowing them to mentally rehearse an operation the night before a real surgery. With accelerated computing and digital twins, we want to transform this mental rehearsal into a highly realistic rehearsal in simulation.

NVIDIA Omniverse supports these technologies with its platform for developing and hosting 3D metaverse applications. With it, Atlas Meditech can build bespoke visualisations of patient breaks to rehearse surgeries before entering the theatre.

Meta to Issues Layoffs

This Wednesday, reporters emerged, highlighting how Meta plans to lay off a fresh round of workers from its Reality Labs division.

Meta is cutting employees from its Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST) department, linked to its bespoke silicon designing capabilities.

Initially, employees received notice of their redundancies on Workplace, Meta’s internal discussion forum, on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters the day before the announcement.

Currently, FAST hosts 600 staff, many building bespoke semiconductors for Meta’s device lineup. These allow the company to compete with chipsets for designated tasks, computing requirements, and efficiency.

Creativity the ‘Linchpin’ to Decision-Making in XR, EndeavorXR CEO Says

Amy Peck, Founder and Chief Executive, EndeavorXR, spoke with XR Today to discuss this week’s Creativity Conference and explore the importance of developing innovative XR solutions.

During her conversation, Peck noted:

It’s interesting because I think we understand creativity, especially relative to gaming and entertainment. However, in my work, which is largely focused on the enterprise and innovation, I think it’s equally important but somewhat undervalued.

Even when we talk about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, I firmly believe it’s STEAM education because it’s the arts — it’s creativity. It’s not necessarily pure play creativity in the way we think about it, in terms of output, but the way that we solve problems, which is also creative thinking.

Peck also explained how firms are “constricted by investments, quarterly reporting, our boss,” and XR champions should “push out the door on a day-to-day basis. Rather, companies can allow their employees to sit back and form cross-functional creative teams to explore other more productive, interesting ways of doing things more about invention instead of incremental improvement. Those companies are going to be positioned for this deluge of technology that’s coming towards us.”

Jack Daniel’s, IW Group Leverage Spatial Metaverse

In another exclusive interview this week, XR Today spoke with Keenan Harris, Brand Director, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Telly Wong, Chief Content Officer, IW Group, to discuss The Verse, an XR marketing campaign.

Using technologies from the Spatial platform, buyers across smartphones, tablets, PCs, and VR headsets can access a branded immersive experience.

Telly Wong noted how the firm created The Verse to celebrate the nearly 20-year history of Jack Honey’s Art, Beats + Lyrics program while also “looking towards the future of urban art and hip hop, especially in the wake of hip hop’s 50th anniversary.”

Wong also added:

By tapping into the power of Web3 and VR, we’re not only providing a global platform for the featured artists, but also uniting hip-hop fans around the world who are equally fascinated by these new technologies.

Moreover, Wong explained how the firm leverages genAI services such as Midjourney and Dall-E for the project, enhancing the creative development phase workflows behind some of the service’s visuals.

Keenan Harris concluded by adding:

XR is an exciting new frontier for Jack Daniel’s. Our digital marketing teams have been looking very closely at these technologies and platforms over the past several years, and The Verse is one of our first activations in this space.

We’re looking forward to exploring ways to marry these new technologies with our existing IRL programs and tactics, as we have with The Verse.