VISR-VR
Photo by Mario Azzi on Unsplash
Imagine if you will, walking into a room and seeing a car right in front of you in a place where no car should be able to go. It’s fully realised, detailed and ready to go. At the touch of a button, you can now inspect that car and delve into its inner workings, all without the confines of “normal” reality. A fellow engineer appears in front of you, as if by magic from another part of the country, and you get to work on solving a complex mechanic issue that has cropped up in the design phase, now writ large in 3D space.
Later on that night, you go home to play “Scrap Attack” a new VR game, delivered using a Google Cardboard headset that the same company manufactured, and with all the immersion and freedom that VR offers. You might even use a Microsoft Hololens headset to then do some computer work on several giant screens on your wall or enjoy a film on a cinema sized screen, all within the comfort of your own home.
Welcome to the worlds of Mixed Reality, and Virtual Reality. Welcome to VISR-VR...and cue the “Star Trek” music.
VISR-VR is a tech company that is going places. From being the largest manufacturer of Virtual Reality cardboard products in Europe, to now being an official Microsoft Mixed Reality partner, this company, based in the Enterprise Centre at the University of Hull, is poised to take the world by storm and become a leading player in what is emerging as a highly valuable and practical market for both companies and individuals alike.
The company was first formed in 2014 by co-founder and director Mr. Lindsay West, and co-founder and director Mr. Louise Deane, himself a graduate of the University, and has now grown to take over the majority of the third floor of the building, with an emphasis on VERTX Studio, VR gaming and Mixed Reality experiences for businesses.
Mixed Reality, or AR (Augmented Reality), as it used to be called, has itself become something of a major topic in the technology world, with Microsoft and its Hololens Technology taking the major lead in this area. It is the simple conceptual idea of using some form of wearable technology to overlay graphics on top of “normal” reality, which the user can then interact with in real time.
A graphics designer, for instance, could interact with an architect from the other side of the world, in real time, to brainstorm ideas for how a logo might look on a new building being designed, with the actual building in front of them, virtually delivered, and with all the detail intact with which to inspect and interact with.
This is just one example, and VISR-VR are keen to push ahead with the so-called, “Industry 4.0” for businesses, which Mr. Deane sees as the only viable way for both VR and Mixed Reality to grow sustainably, rather than simply being consumer products which may become something of a novelty and have no real profit potential in the long run.
Businesses however, do have the money to burn, and they might well choose to burn some virtually at the end of a long work day when nothing goes right (ahem), or indeed have a lovely virtual bonfire to celebrate a good days work. That’s the thing with Mixed Reality: anything’s possible, and VISR-VR are certainly poised to take the lead in developing this sense of possibility as the company grows stronger and stronger.
In regards to this, they are about to host a “Hololens Acccelerator Bootcamp” at The Enterprise Centre, from the 18th June to the 17th August, in what promises to be a very exciting and potentially revolutionary kind of event, which hopes to generate and accelerate new ideas within Industry 4.0; giving both students from the University of Hull and interested businesses, the chance to really collaborate and break through in this new and exciting industry.
Be sure to watch this space for more developments at this event as they come, and I look forward to seeing how VISR-VR progresses going forward.