The hey I got food poisoning and could not make it to Augmented World Expo today. Here is a list of the fun things going on.

AWE (Augmented World Expo), the largest and longest running conference and expo dedicated to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), officially opened its exhibition doors today to kick off the biggest event in the event’s 8-year history. With a record-breaking 212 exhibitors, 350 speakers, 300 journalists, 5,000 attendees and a mind-blowing 100,000-square-feet expo, AWE 2017 this year is showcasing the most cutting-edge AR and VR exhibits and demonstrations ever gathered in a single location.
 
Announcements today include innovations in entertainment, gaming and cinema, smart wearables, sensing toys, robotics and consumer electronics, cloud, enterprise and business technologies, human-computer interaction solutions, automotive, and high-performance APIs.
 
In addition, AWE is announcing AWEx, its strategy to partner with passionate experts and influencers around the world to further the growing worldwide demand for AR- and VR-centric events. The expansion takes AWE from the U.S., Europe and China to explore local candidates including Mexico City, Lisbon, Adelaide, Rome, Dubai and Tel Aviv.
 
“The growth of the industry is accelerating, and we are facing demand to bring AWE to multiple cities around the world,” explained AWE founder, Ori Inbar. “That’s why we are proud to announce AWEx. This program will support independent organizers who are passionate about our mission to address humanity’s growing pains, such as overpopulation, globalization challenges and inequality.  AR + VR can help drive economic growth, democratize access to knowledge and health, and increase empathy with sustainability.”
Highlights of today’s remarkable announcements include:
 
CieAR is unveiling its new AR film platform which enables a unique and immersive film
experience in real space and time with life-sized 3D virtual characters. www.ciear.ca.
 
Massless is unveiling the Massless Pen, a  high  accuracy,  responsive  and  intuitive  interface  device  that  enables designers  and  engineers  to  build,  edit,  manipulate,  review  and  collaborate  on  3D  models. www.massless.io
 
Deep Optics is unveiling and showing interactive demos of its tunable lens technology for the AR and VR markets. www.deepoptics.com.
 
Digibit is showcasing the world’s first wearable gaming system that transforms your body into a mobile gaming controller. https://mydigibit.com/kickstarter/
 
Epson is introducing two new Moverio® products – the Epson Moverio BT-350 augmented reality (AR) smart glasses optimized for multi-user “fleet” environments, and the Epson Moverio Pro BT-2200 smart headset for industrial applications. https://epson.com
 
Livemap is unveiling the 3rd pre-serial prototype of its motorcycle smart helmet with HUD based on AR technology. Ride a bike like a fighter pilot! https://livemap.info/
 
Arloopa is showcasing its ““Take a Photo with the Leopard” environmental information campaign to  raise  public  awareness  on biodiversity  conservation and threatened species. http://arloopa.com/
 
AnotherWorld VR is previewing KOBOLD, a new kind of creative fiction that blurs the line between cinema and VR gaming. http://anotherworldvr.com
 
Augmania is announcing the launch of its latest release, an out of the box DIY augmented reality authoring tool and its innovative web AR viewer. www.augmania.com.
 
Arvizio is demonstrating its Mixed Reality Studio Suite, a mixed reality platform that extends HoloLens capabilities as a full-fledged collaboration and conferencing tool. https://www.arvizio.io
 
Catchoom, global innovator in AR and image recognition software solutions is debuting the full suite of its new Visual Shopping solutions. catchoom.com/.
 
EcoCarrier is launching PizzAR, a cost efficient way to promote wares and services through AR on the top surface of a Pizza Box. www.ara2z.com
 
Fraunhofer IGD is presenting VisionLib, an AR one-size-fits-all library tracking system designed specifically for enterprise. https://www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en
 
HDBT is showcasing HDBaseT, a one-cable solution for Virtual Reality, supporting high-def audio, video, USB, controls, Ethernet and power over a single cable. www.hdbaset.org/
 
ICAROS is demonstrating its Active AR product, a fitness device and a game controller that allows users to control their flight path with nothing but their movements. http://www.icaros.net
 
IdentiToy is demonstrating its “machine interface over a display surface” technology, a touch-less, optical triangulation interface completely independent of human touch. http://www.identitoy.com
 
InsiderNavigation is revealing its indoor augmented reality navigation 1.0 tool to enable recording, localization and navigation within buildings. http://insidernavigation.com
 
Joinpad is demoing its remote video streaming and collaboration tool that lets on-field technicians share data and receive support from a remote expert. www.joinpad.net.
 
Kodak is showing off its PIXPR0 Orbit360 4K VR Camera - a minimalist approach to an all-in-one 360° VR camera utilizing two fixed focus lenses in a futuristic body. www.kodakpixpro.com.
 
Kopin is unveiling a reference design with Goertek for a new lightweight, super high-res, OLED-powered head-mounted display. www.kopin.com
 
LC-Tec Displays AB and SKUGGA Technology AB are demonstrating prototypes of the next generation automatically dimmable sunglasses. www.lc-tec.se
 
ManoMotion is releasing a SDK that provides developers and content creators with the tools and know-how to incorporate hand gestures into VR, AR, MR and IoT products and applications. http://manomotion.com/
 
Meta is unveiling the Meta Workspace, its spatial AR operating environment designed for creativity and collaboration . https://www.metavision.com
 
Wikitude, with Lenovo New Vision, is announcing a collaboration to develop an Augmented human (AH) Cloud. https://www.wikitude.com
 
Moback is demonstrating Perplexigon, a new multiplayer VR physics building game recently released on Steam’s Early Access program and now available for purchase. http://perplexigon.com
 
Optinvent is debuting its new Ora-X smart headphones, blending audio and display for an unprecedented wearable entertainment experience. http://www.optinvent.com
 
Quantum Interface is introducing its groundbreaking, truly hands-free User Interface (UI) controls for headworn displays for industrial and enterprise applications. http://quantuminterface.com
 
Re’Flekt is unveiling the first platform to support simultaneous direct publication and model-based tracking for the Microsoft Hololens. https://www.re-flekt.com
 
Resonai will demonstrate Resonai Search, a visual search engine for VR/AR content. http://www.resonai.com
 
Scope AR is introducing significant updates to its live support video calling platform, Remote AR, making it the first remote assistance software to enable markerless tracking. http://www.scopear.com .
 
Soap Collective is debuting Atlas: Prologue, an interactive sci-fi adventure short highlighting episodic content and debuting on Oculus Rift + Touch. http://www.thesoapcollective.com
 
Stereolabs is announcing ZED Mini, a pass-through stereo camera accessory that gives VR developers a head-start on making mixed reality content. https://www.stereolabs.com
 
The Future Group is demonstrating its next-generation platform for creating immersive IMR, AR and VR content for TV production, mobile gaming and commercial solutions. https://www.futureuniverse.com
 
Tractica has released a new white paper assessing key use cases for augmented reality in smartphones and tablets, as well as new capabilities for smart glasses. https://www.tractica.com
 
twnkls is showcasing new mobile AR applications and solutions. http://twnkls.com
 
uSens is showing off its new, industry-first single-camera/dual-lens combined inside-out 6DOF (degrees of freedom) head-tracking and 26DOF hand-tracking technology. https://www.usens.com  
 
VividWorks is demonstrating its VividPlatform4, a Cloud-based 3D visual sales solution delivering photorealistic and user-friendly visualizations on-device and in-store. http://vividworks.com
 
Wrnch is demonstrating BodySLAM, a human pose estimation engine, enabling anyone with a smartphone to capture human motion. https://wrnch.com
 
Zappar is showcasing Zapbox, which does for mixed reality what Google Cardboard did for Virtual Reality. www.zappar.com
 
Zenko Games is unveiling its first gaming title, Diamonst Augmented Reality RPG, based on geolocalized narrative arcs, strategic gameplay and virtual pet features. http://zenkogames.com  
 
To see AWE 2017’s full agenda of more than 300 speakers, visit http://www.augmentedworldexpo.com/agenda.
 
More about Augmented World Expo
AWE (Augmented World Expo) is the largest AR+VR conference and expo showcasing technologies which are augmenting our human capabilities, turning ordinary experiences into the extraordinary and empowering people to be better at anything they do in work and life: Superpowers to the People. AWE USA 2017 will feature more than 300 speakers and 250 exhibitors leading the charge in augmented and virtual reality. 

ARLOOPA's easy to use AR app and their work to help companies like the WWF make them a company to check out at AWE as well as in our Augmented Future

ARLOOPA is brining great AR experiences to the world.  They also provide valuable AR technology jobs to the Armenian people as well as AR content to help them. The company is currently working with brands, creative advertising agencies, museums, schools and cities on cost effective and fun AR experiences.

In May of this year WWF Armenia and ARLOOPA launched “Take a Photo with the Leopard” environmental information campaign in the country to raise public awareness on biodiversity conservation and threatened species. People could take an augmented photo with the Critically Endangered Caucasian leopard with their special ARLOOPA application.

The initiative captured audience’s attention at once. The marker has been scanned more than 4000 times and dozens of photos and videos have been posted on Facebook with special hashtag #LeoAlive in a week.  

Mr. Karen Manvelyan, Director of WWF-Armenia, said: “The use of modern technologies will increase the efficiency of the campaign helping to create a unique connection between man and nature”.

http://arloopa.com/

The application will be presented at AWE exhibition in booth #200 where everyone can feel the presence of leopard and make photos/videos with him. Please come and check out this wonderful company.  ARLOOPA will have the soon be adding a Donate button to assist WWF in fundraising activities.  

The ARLOOPA app is one of the best mobile VR apps that I have seen as far as simplicity and UI. Being able to record GIFs, Videos, take photos and share them makes ARLOOPA a company to watch as we move forward to an Augmented World

augmentedworldexpo.com

Deep Optics will showcase the latest lens technology for visual focus control at AWE 2017

Deep Optics, the inventor and pioneer of proprietary and patent-pending liquid crystal (LC) electronic lens technology, will be unveiling its tunable lens technology for the AR and VR markets at AWE 2017 (booth #437).  The technology will be in action for the first time, with the company offering interactive demos of its customized lenses with leading HMD (head-mounted display) systems.

Deep Optics’ tunable lens transforms any AR/VR optics into an auto-focusing system by enabling the realization of a real dynamic focal plane. This unique technology creates a more vivid, comfortable and immersive 3D experience and alleviates negative side effects usually associated with augmented or virtual reality, such as blurred vision, headaches, or queasiness. Such discomfort is caused in current VR/AR devices, because virtual objects (e.g. holograms) are displayed at different virtual distances from the viewer and the device’s projecting system uses static optics that are unable to synchronize the optical signal with the varying distances.

Deep Optics’ adaptive lens is based on Liquid Crystal, a birefringent material that has a different refractive index for different light polarizations. Liquid Crystal molecules change their orientation under electric voltage. By applying different voltage profiles to a liquid crystal layer, it is possible to control the effective refractive index of different areas of this layer. In order to achieve high precision control over the liquid crystal layer,

Deep Optics has developed a unique Liquid Crystal panel, similar to an LCD, with a very high resolution, transparent electrode grid. This dense electrode grid enables the application of high precision voltage profiles over the liquid crystal layer, without sacrificing transparency, or other optical properties. The result is a single panel that can implement many lens prescriptions, dynamically – positive and negative prescriptions, at a large diopter range and unlimited accuracy (not limited to 0.25D steps). The center of the lens can also be controlled in real-time; it can be positioned anywhere in the panel, and moved across the panel dynamically.

Yariv Haddad, Co-founder and CEO of Deep Optics, said, “We’re excited to demonstrate our AR/VR auto-focus solution at the show. Our tunable lenses dynamically change their focal power and position, allowing us to effectively cover a large field-of-view, a critical requirement from AR/VR HMDs. Visitors will be able to try out the superior augmented reality experience for themselves in different headsets.”

Haddad continued, “Our aim is to continue our partnerships with tier-1 players in the AR/VR market and introduce products powered by our lenses in 2018.”

Yariv Haddad, Deep Optics’s Co-founder and CEO, will be speaking at the AWE Conference on Friday Jun 2 - Room 209/210, 10:30am - 11:00am, on “Foveal Adaptive Optics - Large Aperture Liquid Crystal Lenses”.

http://www.augmentedworldexpo.com/