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Ithaca: French Touch Factory showcases their latest improvements
At Laval Virtual 2022, we discussed French Touch Factory‘s Holocap3D project. The goal is to create a fast and low-cost volumetric capture workflow using Kinect-like cameras to generate an animated point cloud. Using one or more calibrated cameras, you can get something quite convincing at a fraction of the cost of a traditional volumetric video capture system.
The project, now named ITHACA, has evolved significantly since 2022. The team showcased tools under development, including an alpha version of their software that can be used for camera calibration, alignment, playback, and sequence exporting. Other tools like keying and filtering have also been developed.
ITHACA relies on interesting tricks, such as a method for streaming data as video (RGBD stream: color video and depth), with point clouds generated client-side (e.g., on a VR headset). This approach benefits from existing video streaming optimizations.
Plans for 3D mesh streaming are also underway, the goal being to provide various techniques suited for different applications.
This product should be released within a year.
Cintoo: a cloud for your point clouds
Cintoo is a SAAS platform designed for digital twins and 3D scans such as 3D meshes and point clouds. Cintoo offers collaborative web-based visualization, annotations, and measurements. It’s also possible to use CAD models (useful for planning installations in a factory scan, for example) and visualize data in VR, load plans, utilize a tagging system, and link to external databases.
Immersion Launches Shariiing XR
Immersion has long offered its Shariiing solution for remote collaborative work. Shariiing relies on large format touch screens or touch tables, targeting mainly large corporations.
During Laval Virtual 2024, we discovered Shariiing XR, a plugin for Shariiing (Advanced version). In a nutshell, this is a Unity plugin that can be added to your XR applications to connect them to Shariiing. From a screen linked to Shariiing Advanced, it becomes possible to interact with a person wearing a VR/XR headset and using your app. Interaction tools include points of interest and arrows, as well as annotations and comments.
We also tested the new version of the Weart haptic gloves at the same booth (see our interview from last year). The main advancement is the support for standalone headsets.
Ageis: surveys, BIM, engineering
We also had the opportunity to chat with Ageis and dive into some of their work. The company specializes, among other things, in 3D scanning and 3D modeling. Depending on the needs of their clients, Ageis can provide plans and surveys, VR visualizations, and real-time 3D projects. They showed us a capture of the Basilica of Evron, and a 3D reconstruction of this location as it might have looked like during the Middle Ages, created using Unreal Engine.
Rob Brohée – Digital Wallonia booth
Laval Virtual also features booths focused on specific countries and locations, such as Destination Rennes or the German Pavilion. On the Belgian booth, we met with Rob Brohée, a 3D artist who came to showcase some of his work, but also to discover new products.
He told us about a project for the SNCB (National Railway Company of Belgium): he is part of a team that created a virtual station (nicknamed Brussels Virtual) with the aim of testing different scenarios. He also spoke about the Espace-Mobilités project, which again involved VR experiments.
These two projects allow testing the visibility of a display system in stations, whether a location can be accessed by people with reduced mobility, verifying the safety of pedestrian zones, etc. More information can be found on this site.
Polymorph, a studio with multiple skills
Further along the booths at Laval Virtual 2024, here is Polymorph, a French studio launched in 2002. Polymorph specializes in the production of 3D content, animated films, and VR/AR applications.
They target the industry, defense, but also museums and the entertainment industry.
Official visit: Marina Ferrari, French Secretary of State, at Laval Virtual 2024
Marina Ferrari, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, made a visit to Laval Virtual 2024. She gave a speech about measures aimed at promoting XR, she met with several French companies, as well as a booth featuring a student project from the IUT of Tarbes (a French school). Not much to add, but it is always interesting to note, over the years, the interest in XR (or lack thereof) of successive governments.
Below: Marina Ferrari at the booth of Olfy, a company whose accessory adds scents to VR experiences.
Laval Virtual 2024: a plethora of XR experiences
Le Haut Feu
Within the area dedicated to VR experiences at Laval Virtual 2024, we spoke with La Vingt-Cinquième Heure, a production company that presented a project at the crossroads of heritage, social issues, and VR.
This virtual reality documentary focuses on the memory of the last blast furnaces. The idea is to mix techniques: testimonials from people who worked in these locations, 360° video, LiDAR, photogrammetry, animation.
Still at the prototype stage, Haut Feu is nonetheless very promising, with a strong topic and visual elements well suited to VR: massive installations, molten metal. The team benefits from institutional support, including IMAGE’EST – Image Pole in the Grand Est region. La Vingt-Cinquième Heure wants to showcase this experience, in French museums, or even abroad by adapting the concept to other mining basins in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg.
Taiko Frenzy: a rhythm game by Glitchr
We already had the opportunity to introduce you to Glitch studio and their VR experiences. The team came to present Taiko Frenzy, a rhythm game with a drum and a Japanese-inspired universe. Available on Meta Quest 2 and 3, the game adopts a stylized artistic direction inspired by Japanese culture.
On the menu: original compositions and different levels of difficulty. A major update should take place this month with aesthetic elements to unlock as you progress. Note: a PC VR version is planned on Steam, and it will allow you to import songs of your choice.
Solis Vi: this Solarpunk utopia needs you!
In the student projects area, we were pleased to meet the team of Solis Vi, a virtual reality game set in a solarpunk future. You must to repair the energy and communication systems of a high-tech farm powered by renewable energies.
You will thus have to solve different puzzles using a control table that displays a miniature representation of your farm.
Solis Vi is a student project from CNAM-ENJMIN available for free, and was developed by four people (Raphaël Bourgueil, Marie Dubois, Vitia Murat, Jules Poulain). The game, developed using Unity, runs on Windows (which means you can, for example, play it with a Meta Quest heaset using Meta Quest Link).
We appreciated the choice of a solarpunk aesthetic, but also the team’s desire to offer an accessible game, with a virtual table adjustable in height: one can play whatever their size, and sitting or standing. Finally, the project is particularly suitable for people who suffer from motion sickness, since the environment is not moving.
