GPU Technology Conference – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

May 13, 2017

Nurulize Win GTC’s VR Content Showcase

Earlier this week NVIDIA held its annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2017 with CEO Jen-Hsun Huang giving a keynote address on the third and final day. As part of the event the company held the second VR Content Showcase competition, the winner of which has just been announced as Los Angeles-based software developer Nurulize.

The showcase featured 120 entrants with pitches by 10 finalists. To actually participate, contestants needed to have raised no more than $5 million USD in funding and come from industries other than videogames. Nurulize took home the grand prize of $15,000 in cash plus three NVIDIA Quadro P6000 GPUs. Phillip Lunn, CEO and co-founder at Nurulize and Scott Metzger, Nurulize co-founder and chief creative officer both said they plan to distribute the cash to employees.

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Each company had to impress a panel of judges in just five minutes, then they were grilled by Jeff Herbst, vice president of business development at NVIDIA, and Mark Rein, Epic Games’ vice president and co-founder.

Nurulize won with its GPU-accelerated Atom Wise software, aimed at simplifying and speeding the creation of virtual reality (VR) experiences. “It’s great to be selected and recognized for the work we’ve been doing,” said Phillip Lunn, CEO and co-founder at Nurulize on the Nvidia blog. “It’s a significant validation of the path we’re on and the technology we’re developing.”

The company’s competitorsincluded Cavrnus Inc., Doghead Simulations, FundamentalVR, Funique VR, Kalloc Studios, Opaque Media Group / Opaque Space, Sheencity, Theia Interactive and von waldkirch.

During GTC 2017 Nvidia made several VR related announcements, such as the launch of its VRWorks Audio software development kit (SDK) and VRWorks 360 Video SDK. While during Huang’s keynote address he revealed Project Holodeck, demonstrated alongside Swedish supercar manufacturer Koenigsegg.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Nvidia, reporting back with all of its latest VR related news and updates.

May 8, 2017

NVIDIA Unveils Proof-of-Concept Multi Headset PC

Currently, multi-user virtual reality (VR) in one location isn’t exactly streamlined for the most part. A setup requires multiple PC’s depending on how many headsets need to be run, taking up space whilst adding a massive network of cables. So graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA has come up with an experimental solution, an all-in-one PC that can run four HTC Vive’s at the same time.

At NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC) today, the company showcased the proof-of-concept PC that uses four Quadro P6000 GPUs running four virtual machines on a PC server.

NVIDIA 8-vr-poc-system

This design of system would have many use cases such as theme parks, arcades, or for companies looking to train employees. Not only does the design minimise space, its also ensures reduced power consumption and cooling states NVIDIA in a blog posting.

“Initially, the reason for developing this system was to figure out a way to support multi-user VR. However, other interesting use cases began to emerge, including a mixed-reality spectator view, where some virtual machines drive head-mounted displays for participants, while others drive virtual cameras for observers,” wrote NVIDIA’s Victoria Rege.

“The possibilities are endless,” said Tom Kaye, a senior solutions architect at NVIDIA who helped develop the system in the blog posting. “With the addition of remote management and reliability features, such as multiple templates, clone on boot and remote rebuilds, we could see system builders working to create a robust, ready-to-deploy multi-user VR appliance.”

At the conference, CAVRNUS, a VR company that specialises in solutions for collaborative design, engineering, training and education, will showcase in-the-field training utilising the multi-user VR PC. “When NVIDIA shared this system with us, we knew it would be an ideal solution for our collaborative VR platform for our most demanding users, ” said Anthony Duca, founder and CEO at CAVRNUS. “The feedback and reaction to the multi-user, virtualized system, particularly in the engineering and defense markets, has been tremendous.”

VRFocus will continue its coverage of GTC 2017, reporting back with the latest announcements.

April 7, 2017

McLaren, NASA and Ubisoft Heading to GTC 2017 to Showcase VR Development

NVIDIA’s annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) takes place next month in California, and the event is set to be filled with the latest discussions on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. There’s going to be 48 sessions focused on immersive tech, featuring the likes of McLaren, NASA and Ubisoft.

McLaren Automotive for example has built a mobile AR app letting fans explore every aspect of how it designs its supercars. While McLaren veteran Mark Roberts will join Epic Games’ Partner Technology Manager Doug Wolff and several other industry luminaries for a panel called: “Beyond Games: How Unreal Engine is Putting the Reality into Virtual Reality.”

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NASA on the other hand has a long history of VR and AR experimentation. The organisation will be holding a session titled ‘NASA’s Hybrid Reality Lab: One Giant Leap for Full Dive’, hosted by Matthew Noyes – Aerospace Technologist/Hybrid Reality Lab Software Lead, discussing its use of commercial game engine and consumer-grade VR technologies at its Johnson Space Center for improving the engineering workflow.

While Ubisoft’s vice president of Digital Publishing, Chris Early, will talk about key learnings, insights on player behavior, game-play design tips and more, gathered from Ubisoft VR’s Eagle Flight, Werewolves Within and the soon to be released Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

Other notable sessions include:

Insights from the First Year of VR – Jason Holtman – Head of Publishing, Oculus

Vulkan VR Rendering – Ingo Esser – Senior Developer Technology Engineer, NVIDIA

Immerswive VR with NVIDIA VR Funhouse – Dane Johnston – Lead Producer, VR Funhouse, NVIDIA

Passengers: Awakening VR, When Film Meet VR – Francesco Giordana – Researcher, MPC and Damien Fagnou – CTO, MPC

GTC 2017 runs from 8th – 11th May 2017, in San Jose, California. If you wish to attend then prices start from $275 USD for an exhibits only ticket.That cost then jumps to $660 for a one day conference pass or $1500 for multiple days.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of GTC, reporting back with the latest updates.

February 9, 2017

NVIDIA Opens Submission Call for $30,000 VR Content Showcase at GPU Technology Conference

NVIDIA’s annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC) takes place in May and returning for another year is the VR Content Showcase. With a focus on showcasing the most cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) innovations, the graphic card company has now announced the opening of submissions for the competition.

Open to almost anyone with a good idea for VR, the showcase is an opportunity for 10 startups, universities or individuals to gain global recognition for innovation in the field of VR or augmented reality (AR). During the showcase, 10 selected entrants pitch their idea on stage for five minutes to a panel of judges, followed by three minutes of Q&A. They’ll also receive free booth space in the exhibit hall to demo their technology.

Realities.io - VR Content Showcase winner 2016

Participation is open to teams from universities, research programs, individuals and startups with less than $1 million USD in capital. The VR Content Showcase is open across enterprise and industry segments, including science, technology, education, art, medicine and more. Technologies must run using an AR or VR headset attached to a computer or workstation with a GPU. Applications must be currently using or have plans to integrate GPU technology such as GameWorks, DesignWorks or VRWorks.

Submissions are open now until Wednesday, 15th March. A total of $30,000 in cash and prizes will be available to winners.

In last year’s competition VR tourism company Realities.io took home the first prize.

“Winning the VR Showcase at GTC was an extra boost forward for Realities.io in many ways! We received valuable feedback from people at the heart of the industry and made many important contacts,” said Daniel Sproll, CXO, realities.io. “It also accelerated many aspects of our business, from fundraising to our photogrammetry processing, thanks to the powerful NVIDIA Quadro GPUs that were part of the prize. If you are looking for a fast-track to get your VR company in front of the right people inside the industry, the GTC VR Showcase is the way to go!”

For further updates on the VR Content Showcase, keep reading VRFocus.