afternow – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

May 20, 2018

The VR Job Hub: Mid May Opportunities Around The Globe

With the royal wedding now come and gone, it now seems like a good time to look for a new job opportunity within the immersive industry. As always VRFocus is here to help with a selection of different positions available for your viewing pleasure below.

With positions open for software engineers, community managers, artists and even producers, there is plenty to look at this week in another entry of The VR Job Hub.

Every weekend VRFocus gathers together a number open position from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe, to help make finding the ideal job easier. Below are a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on VR, AR and MR.

Location	Company	Role	Link
Culver City, CA, USA	AfterNow	Unity3D Developer	Click Here to Apply
Bangalore, India	AfterNow	Unity3D Developer	Click Here to Apply
Raleigh, NC, US	Downpour Interactive	Community Manager	Click Here to Apply
Raleigh, NC, US	Downpour Interactive	Software Enginner	Click Here to Apply
Stockholm, Sweden	Fast Travel Games	3D Artist	Click Here to Apply
Portland, OR, US	Happy Finish	3D Artist	Click Here to Apply
Portland, OR, US	Happy Finish	Lead 3D Artist	Click Here to Apply
London, UK	Happy Finish	Junior Producer	Click Here to Apply
Bristol, UK	University of the West of England	Senior Lecturer in Virtual & Extended Realities	Click Here to Apply
San Mateo, CA, US	Jaunt XR	Producer	Click Here to Apply
Costa Rica or Florida	SweetRush Inc	UX/UI VR Designer	Click Here to Apply
San Jose, CA, US	Adobe	Senior Content Services Engineer, Augmented Reality	Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there was nothing in this week’s feature that was a good fit for you, you can always look at the previous edition of The VR Job Hub.

As always, if you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to myself at keva@vrfocus.com and also pgraham@vrfocus.com.

Check back with VRFocus next Sunday at the usual time of 3PM (GMT) for another selection of jobs from around the industry.

February 9, 2018

New Tool AfterNow Prez Allows You To Craft AR Presentations Using Microsoft HoloLens

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) can be used for so much more than videogames and industrial applications – you can make your own presentations and creations utilising the new technologies, to turn your presentations into the most memorable presentations your clients and business partners are likely to see. That’s the thinking behind AfterNow Prez, the new software tool that will make it easy to create memorable, powerful and impactful presentations using Microsoft HoloLens.

Designed for sales demos, marketing engagements, hands on tutorials and more, users can simply upload 3D models, images and videos, and then physically place in the real world with the HoloLens technology. Users can sequence scenes in their presenations and apply transitions, and viewers can watch the presentations unfold in their real world environment through the AR technology.

We keep seeing more technologies making great use of Microsoft HoloLens and designed creative applications for the head-mounted display (HMD). We’ve seen trainees learning about ultrasound with HoloLens, and Microsoft are continuing the create spaces where developers can create new HoloLens software.

Philippe Lewicki is the captain at AfterNow, and he shares his enthusiasm for their latest software; “We were building augmented reality presentations for Fortune 500 companies and seeing how effective AR presentations were; we decided to reduce the complexity and cost of creating engaging and immersive augmented reality experiences. That’s when we started AfterNow Prez.”

There are three primary use cases that AfterNow Prez is designed for which are;

Sales, meetings or pitches
Tradeshows and demonstrations
Exhibits and showrooms with tour guides

The founder of INSCALE and INSCALE Interactive has also chimed in, sharing his high opinion of AfterNow Prez; “AfterNow Prez is a great opportunity to present in a whole new way. Very intuitive and easy to use! it’s all I ever wanted digital presenting to be!“

Anyone that has ever worked in an office environment or regularly hosts business meetings can already imagine the implications the software has. Business partners can be hard to impress, and fellow employees can sometimes find it difficult to follow long, drawn out presentations. With the new technology, it’ll be easier than ever to create memorable experiences that’ll capture those you’re presenting to. As long as the technology is on hand, in the right hands it can change careers. Should VR or AR technology be modernising any other technology we use every day, you’ll read about it on VRFocus.

September 21, 2017

AfterNow Releases ARKit Tool Aimed at Filmmakers

The announcement of Apple’s ARKit toolset for augmented reality (AR) generated much excitement, with its enhanced AR capabilities prompting several companies to try out the technology. One such company is AfterNow, a specialist in AR who have created a new AR app for filmmakers.

The new app, called Blocker, is a creative tool for directors and filmmakers. It combines a director’s viewfinder with the ability to place virtual characters in order to quickly compose shots and check conditions such as lighting, angle and composition.

By combing virtual characters with real world scenery, filmmakers can better prepare for filming, getting a better idea of where to place cameras, characters and props. The current version of the app includes a director’s viewfinder, 3D content to aid in composing a scene, a lighting model that simulates shadows and colour and the ability to share images including shot information.

Users can even pick the camera they wish to use, with a selection of over 400 available, complete with the ability to adjust focal length to accurately reflect how a shot will look.

“Our goal is to pull storyboarding and shot blocking into the real world, so that it’s intuitive and expressive,” said Jesse Vander Does, the Director of Technology at AfterNow.

“ARKit from Apple is enabling developers to create more valuable and practical augmented reality applications on mobile phones,” according to Philippe Lewicki, Captain of AfterNow added.

Blocker can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for the iPhone6 and newer, running iOS11. Further information can be found on the AfterNow website.

VRFocus will continue to report on new and innovative uses for AR.

March 30, 2017

Mixed Reality Easter Egg Hunt to Feature at VRLA

The VRLA Conference and Expo in Los Angeles will this year have a new feature as part of its virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) demos – a Mixed Reality Easter Egg hunt.

Organised by AR/VR development agency and content creators AfterNow and FLARB in cooperation with Microsoft HoloLens, visitors to the VRLA will be able to look through a HoloLens headset and see the virtual Easter eggs which will be hidden throughout an indoor park space. The egg hunt is just one of hundreds of AR and VR demos that will feature through the VRLA weekend.

VRLA is set to feature a full schedule of panels, talks and discussions. The creative team from Epic Games who worked on Robo Recall will be offering details of the development process behind the successful videogame. Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and Unity CEO John Riccitiello will be offering keynote speeches on the Saturday and Friday respectively.

A slate of exhibitors from industry names like Samsung, Oculus, nVidia, HTC and Google will be in the exhibition hall, alongside a dedicated ‘Indie Zone’ where smaller development teams can show off their products. In addition a ‘Girls Make VR’ workshop is being planned, where young women will be able to get to grips with the Unity 3D engine and have the opportunity to produce their own VR applications.

Tickets for VRLA are still available with the business-focused 2-Day Pro Pass at $299 USD and a 1-Day Pass for Saturday priced at $40. The event will take place on 14th-15th April at the Los Angeles Convention Centre.

VRFocus will continue to bring you the latest updates on VRLA and other industry events.

March 9, 2017

HoloLens: Wenn ein Smartphone zum Controller wird

Microsofts HoloLens befindet sich zwar noch in einem Entwicklungsstadium, aber einige interessante neue Ideen und Anwendungen für das Gerät wurden in dieser Woche schon vorgestellt. Ein Video zeigt dabei, wie sich euer Telefon in einen Controller für das Mixed-Reality-Headset verwandeln kann.

AfterNow setzt auf eine andere Art von Controller

Derzeit wird HoloLens hauptsächlich per Hand durch Gesten gesteuert. Die Navigation ist zwar auch durch Spracherkennung und Blicke möglich, doch den Entwicklern von AfterNow reichte das nicht. Sie wollten die Möglichkeiten zur Kontrolle bieten, die auch VR-Controller schon liefern wie z.B. die ansichtsbasierte 6DoF-Objekterkennung der HTC Vive. Anstelle eines Vive-Controllers setzt AfterNow auf das Smartphone – ein Gerät, das schon Millionen von uns besitzen.

Das Smartphone des Anwenders funktioniert nicht nur als 6DOF-Controller, sondern auch als eine Art virtuelles Startgerät. Im Video zaubert der User virtuelle Würfel auf den Bildschirm des Smartphones und kann sie dann vom Screen wischen, um sie als Objekte in der realen Welt vor sich zu sehen.

Einige Einschränkungen bleiben bestehen

Auch wenn es sich um ein faszinierendes Mittel zur Kontrolle für die Plattform handelt, könnte es durchaus sein, dass Microsoft selbst vielleicht nicht zustimmen könnte. Jesse Vander von AfterNow ließ in einem Blog-Post verlauten, dass sämtliche Interaktionen 1,5 Meter vom Benutzer stattfinden sollten, um sowohl die Belastung für die Augen zu reduzieren, als auch sicherzustellen, dass die Elemente, mit denen der Benutzer interagiert sich innerhalb des Rahmens befinden. Vander fügte jedoch hinzu:

„Trotzdem gibt es auf jeden Fall Einsatzmöglichkeiten, bei denen sich die Controller lohnen. Darüber hinaus gibt es viele lustige Dinge die wir mit einem 6DoF-Controller machen können, der zudem einen Touchscreen hat.“

Er nannte Beispiele, darunter eine Mixed-Reality-Version von Tilt Brush, bei der Benutzer beginnen, eine Linie auf dem Handy zu erstellen und sie dann anschließend durch einen realen Raum ziehen, um 3D-Bilder entstehen zu lassen. Wiederum lassen sich 3D-Assets auf das Display packen.

Während HoloLens keine Controller anbietet, bringt Microsoft auch VR-Headsets auf den Markt, bei der physische Controller verwendet werden können. Das Unternehmen stellte dazu fest, dass 6DOF-Controller auf der Plattform ebenfalls noch an Bedeutung gewinnen werden.

(Quelle: uploadvr.com)

Der Beitrag HoloLens: Wenn ein Smartphone zum Controller wird zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!