Editorial
Why You Need an XR-Specific MDM and Other XR Market Observations with ArborXR’s Brad Scoggin
We had the opportunity to speak with Brad Scoggin, Co-founder and CEO of ArborXR, covering the company’s origins, XR adoption challenges, the evolving XR ecosystem and, more. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Emily Sitnikova: Could you first give us a little background about yourself? Brad Scoggin: Sure. I’m one of three founders at ArborXR, also the CEO, and originally from Oklahoma. I live in Southern California. I’ve got five kids. I went to University of Oklahoma and got a business degree, and then was actually in nonprofit work for seven years, which is a weird background for a tech founder. In 2016, I jumped into VR, so we’re right at about nine years and I’m going to milk it for the next two years and say we’re at 10 years in VR. We entered VR in location-based entertainment because we were excited for VR to make a difference in the world, and then were able to make the shift into enterprise in 2021. Emily: Great. So, where does the name ArborXR come from? Brad: It’s funny, you would think more people would ask us that. First, you have to understand our vision: Part of that vision is we […]
11 min read
How Niantic Spatial Sprung Out of Niantic Labs to Help AI Understand the Real World
We had the opportunity to interview Thomas Gewecke, President and COO of Niantic Spatial, to learn about the company’s origin story, mission, and technology. Niantic Spatial’s living 3D map of the real world is both groundbreaking and fundamental, and the company’s spatial services critical to the ability of XR and AI to usher in a new era of work. Emily; What is Niantic Spatial? Tell us the spin-off story. Thomas: Spun out of Niantic Labs, Niantic Spatial is a new company with a new mission. We’re building technology to help AI truly understand the real world. We bring over 20 years of experience inventing next-generation maps to bear on the challenge. A big part of our mission at Niantic Labs was to build a fundamentally new architecture for fusing the physical and digital – in effect, a real-world computing stack that can now be deployed to help businesses across a range of industries. Emily: What is geospatial AI? Thomas: We see geospatial AI as the next foundational layer after LLMs and crucial for enterprise, AI glasses, and humanoid robotics navigating the real world. The digital maps and navigation systems we use today, including street names, signs and visual cues, were designed […]
4 min read
Meet Sony XYN (/zin/): Interview with Thaisa Yamamura
First announced at CES 2025, Sony’s XYN is essentially a suite of solutions designed for spatial content creation. We had the opportunity to interview Thaisa Yamamura, Head of Product & Development, to learn more and, in particular, what enterprises need to know about the XYN initiative. Discover Sony XYN for yourself at the 2025 Augmented Enterprise Summit. Question: What is Sony’s XYN™(/zin/)? Tell us the story of the Sony’s XYN Solutions spin-off. Thaisa: Sony XYN is an integrated hardware and software solution designed to support spatial content creation. It was launched at CES 2025 as a new initiative from Sony’s XR Business Division. The brand emerged to unify Sony’s leading imaging, sensing, and display technologies and expertise into a cohesive ecosystem for creators working in film, animation, gaming, and industrial design. XYN bridges Sony’s consumer, gaming, and enterprise businesses, streamlining workflows for digital twins, virtual production, and immersive content creation. Question: What products are part of the XYN suite of solutions Thaisa: XYN’s solutions include four core products that support spatial content creation. The first is the XYN Spatial capture solution (Prototype), which uses Sony mirrorless cameras and proprietary algorithms to convert real-world objects and environments into photorealistic 3DCG assets. This solution […]
4 min read
Why Digital Twins Aren’t Just for Heavy Industry & More: Interview with Cintoo’s Dace Campbell
Cintoo is an all-in-one platform for reality and 3D scan data synergy. By managing 3D scan data from the built environment, Cintoo empowers teams to leverage reality capture data and maximize BIM and digital twin workflows. We recently had the chance to interview Dace Campbell, Product Manager & Business Manager of XR & Metaverse at Cintoo. Read our conversation below. BrainXchange: What is Cintoo’s origin story and where did the name come from? Dace: Cintoo got its start when now-CEO Dominique Pouliquen met 3 researchers working on mesh-compression technology, and encouraged them to apply it to laser scan data. The name Cintoo originates from Monte Cinto on Corsica, because one of Cintoo’s original co-founders is from Corsica, and creating the company was his “Mt. Everest.” Since then, Cintoo has quickly scaled, surpassing Series B funding and expanding globally, across all important industries. BrainXchange: Digital twins aren’t entirely new but are a “hot” topic right now in enterprise. Why do you think that is? Dace: Enterprises and professionals across industries such as AEC, manufacturing, and energy face multiple crises and challenges in the 21st century, including sustainability, productivity, and labor equity. Businesses are innovating to mitigate the impacts of these crises, and technology innovation […]
7 min read
In their own words: What’s top of mind for enterprise XR users going into 2025
What XR adoption challenges are currently plaguing enterprises? What are their vendor red flags? Discover what’s currently on enterprise XR end users’ minds based on the in-app topic discussions and responses started and shared by attendees of the 2024 Augmented Enterprise Summit: Part 1: Challenges Enterprise end users commiserated over common challenges including network issues and data privacy and security. When asked what issues are preventing wider enterprise adoption, users mentioned lack of standardization/compatibility, high costs of hardware and content development, usability/user experience issues, and regulatory compliance. When it comes to privacy and compliance, several users concurred that tech companies, government agencies, and other institutions will have to work together, though it seems unlikely. They also noted vendors’ limited awareness of industrial companies’ needs. On the shop floor in particular, smart glasses remain a health and safety issue. Moreover, if there are too many steps involved – if it takes longer than a PSTN phone call – then it’s not suitable for the shop floor. Accessibility is another barrier, with several users prompting discussions on making XR more accessible to people with disabilities, including people who rely on hearing aids or other assistive devices (ensuring audio cues are compatible with […]
3 min read
Top Enterprise XR News from AWE 2024
AWE USA went down last week in Santa Clara. Here are some of the most publicized enterprise-related announcements and developments that took place around the big XR event. LENOVO Ahead of AWE, Lenovo announced the availability of its new ThinkReality VRX all-in-one VR headset in select markets worldwide. Powered by the Snapdragon XR2 + Gen 1 processor and supported by a full suite of end-to-end services, the enterprise-only device starts at $1,299 and is expected to be available in select markets starting this month. *Get hands-on with the ThinkReality VRX at Augmented Enterprise Oct 24-26. Lenovo is a principal sponsor at the event. CGS Also in advance of the event, CGS unveiled Immersive Learning as a Service (ILaaS), an out-of-the-box, end-to-end solution to launch, deploy, and scale immersive learning experiences. McDonalds and Scoot Airlines are among those already using the solution to onboard and train employees with mixed reality. Adaptable for any industry, ILaaS allows enterprises to “pilot MR and demonstrate ROI without the headache of procuring devices that they may not need in the future.” *Discover TeamworkAR and ILaaS at Augmented Enterprise. Visit sponsor CGS’s booth in the expo for live demonstrations. Scope AR Scope AR announced support for […]
3 min read
New Questions Arise from XR End Users on the Factory Floor
Factory workers' questions indicate growing interest and acceptance of XR in manufacturing and beyond.
2 min read
What Apple Vision Pro Means for Enterprise
After years of speculation and delays, Apple revealed its first XR device yesterday. Apple Vision Pro is a highly impressive first-generation headset that appears to seamlessly blend the real and digital. Here are some observations and first thoughts on what Apple’s headset could mean for enterprises. Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg APPLE’S VISION: “The era of spatial computing is here.” Noticeably absent from WWDC 2023 was any mention of the words Metaverse, mixed reality, or virtual reality. Instead, Apple uses “spatial computing” to refer to what most call XR or extended reality. Nevertheless, Vision Pro is a mixed reality device that’s capable of full immersion (VR). In the keynote, Apple primarily positions Vision Pro as an augmented reality headset, which accords with Tim Cook’s views about AR versus VR. Vision Pro’s EyeSight feature reflects what Cook dislikes about VR–that it’s an isolating experience. With Vision Pro, though, “you see your world and everything in it.” INTRODUCING THE MASSES TO SPATIAL COMPUTING: “A stunning new way to use the apps we love.” Thus far, XR has struggled to convey its value to consumers. In yesterday’s presentation, Apple stressed the ability to bring your favorite apps into your space. Freeing apps “from the boundaries […]
5 min read
Top Enterprise XR News from AWE 2023
AWE USA went down last week in Santa Clara. Here are some of the most publicized enterprise-related announcements and developments that took place around the big XR event. LENOVO Ahead of AWE, Lenovo announced the availability of its new ThinkReality VRX all-in-one VR headset in select markets worldwide. Powered by the Snapdragon XR2 + Gen 1 processor and supported by a full suite of end-to-end services, the enterprise-only device starts at $1,299 and is expected to be available in select markets starting this month. *Get hands-on with the ThinkReality VRX at Augmented Enterprise Oct 24-26. Lenovo is a principal sponsor at the event. CGS Also in advance of the event, CGS unveiled Immersive Learning as a Service (ILaaS), an out-of-the-box, end-to-end solution to launch, deploy, and scale immersive learning experiences. McDonalds and Scoot Airlines are among those already using the solution to onboard and train employees with mixed reality. Adaptable for any industry, ILaaS allows enterprises to “pilot MR and demonstrate ROI without the headache of procuring devices that they may not need in the future.” *Discover TeamworkAR and ILaaS at Augmented Enterprise. Visit sponsor CGS’s booth in the expo for live demonstrations. Scope AR Scope AR announced support for […]
3 min read
How to Spearhead XR at Your Company
Although extended reality (XR) technologies have been around for decades, only in the last few years has it matured enough for widespread enterprise adoption. Innovators love the adage “Think big, start small, scale fast,” but when it comes to XR, organizations continue to struggle to get to the scaling part, becoming stuck in “proof of concept purgatory.” While there’s no guaranteed method for getting buy-in, here are some suggestions that can help you make inroads at your company. Executive Sponsorship At some point, you will need at least one champion from the C-suite. Even if your company culture supports grassroots efforts, it will be difficult to get budget and support from other groups like IT and Cybersecurity without executive sponsorship. There are champions out there: Identify those leaders responsible for innovation or digitization at large as well as leaders from different areas of the business who have a stake in the outcome of adoption. For instance, if the solution increases quality, then find the quality “czar.” Seek guidance from your management on how best to approach these key individuals. You can also make champions of executives by having them try the technology for themselves. This is important because extended reality […]
4 min read
Metaverse this, Metaverse that: Is it practical to work in VR?
Someone has to say it: The metaverse today is what we in the enterprise technology space have been calling virtual reality for the last several years. If you’re having FOMO about NFTs or dystopian nightmares of a virtual world ruled by Mark Zuckerberg, you’re not alone. It’s too early to predict what the metaverse will become or, really, what today’s individual metaverses-slash-virtual-worlds will become. How will we enter the metaverse? Who will moderate it? How do virtual economies translate into real money…Welcome to the Wild West of the metaverse, where only one thing is certain: The metaverse will start in the enterprise. In fact, it already has. Though the word has come to encompass pretty much any concept or venture in the digital world, the metaverse can be seen as an emerging business model that’s less reliant on the physical world. It’s an extension of our social life and a new frontier or marketplace for corporations to compete and sell to consumers. It also – and this is very important – does not exist yet, as Will Oremus writes in the Washington Post. Instead, we have many virtual worlds and immersive experiences requiring different devices, apps, profiles, and currencies […]
5 min read
Metaverse: The New Frontier for Inclusivity in the Workplace
We don’t know the full extent to which the metaverse will change our lives. We don’t know what today’s collection of virtual worlds and immersive experiences will ultimately become. But we do know that AR/VR/MR (XR), the technologies underpinning those metaverses, have already changed and will continue to transform how we work. But is extended reality truly accessible to everyone, to all employable persons? It’s not hype: Companies are already using XR to train employees, facilitate remote support, enhance collaboration, shorten design cycles, market products, engage with customers, and more. Productivity and cost saving benefits aside, XR has the potential to remove barriers to employment for marginalized groups. Today, most people “enter the metaverse” using a desktop or mobile device, but experts say headsets will replace both as the main means of entering the metaverse in the future. People around the globe, in all kinds of situations, will need to have access to these essential work tools, including people with disabilities (PWDs). CURRENT SITUATION According to the WHO, around 15% of the global population live with disabilities. Another estimate puts the number at 1.85 billion people living with disabilities, a population that is “strikingly under-employed:” In the U.S., the unemployment […]
6 min read
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