News
Recent Posts
Helsinki XR Center 2020 wrap-up – The year of the PandemicFebruary 24, 2021 - 4:13 am
Helsinki XR Center developer hub Roundup for 2020December 11, 2020 - 1:00 pm
Introducing XR Hub team: Dementia XRDecember 10, 2020 - 4:00 am
900 people from all over the world attended the Virtual Reality event Match XR 2020December 3, 2020 - 4:33 pm
Stepping into virtual reality – Match XR 2020 coming on November 25thNovember 4, 2020 - 4:00 am
Helsinki XR Center 2020 wrap-up – The year of the Pandemic
Needless to say, year 2020 was very unusual, as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged across the globe and affected everybody’s businesses. In this post we are describing shortly what the year 2020 meant for us and what we managed to do in spite of it all.
Helsinki XR Center developer hub Roundup for 2020
Despite of the COVID-19 setbacks, the year of 2020 has been very productive to our XR developer teams. In this article we open up what 2020 was like in the eyes of our teams, and show you some numbers – take a look!
Introducing XR Hub team: Dementia XR
Today we are introducing to you our XR Hub team Dementia XR! This fearless team is aiming to reduce the growing dementia burden on global society in the coming decade.
900 people from all over the world attended the Virtual Reality event Match XR 2020
Helsinki XR Center team arranged something special for the XR Community in Finland – an experimental immersive technology conference – Match XR 2020. The event was held in 25 November in Virtual Reality. Over 900 people from all over the world attended the event.
Stepping into virtual reality – Match XR 2020 coming on November 25th
At Match XR 2020 you get to experience the current state of Finnish XR industry: the event is full of interesting speeches, panel discussions and presentations. For Finnish virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) companies Match XR gives a chance to shine and connect globally, and for international audiences it offers an unique opportunity to meet and experience the professionals of the Finnish XR field in a special way. Read more about the event from this article.
Introducing XR Hub team: Imarre
Today we will be telling you a little bit about XR Hub team Imarre! This team is currently building a prototype of a children’s book which has Augmented Reality (AR) built inside the story. Imarre is concerned about the growing trend of children not reading enough books, as reading increases readers’ dialectics and prevents being credulous.
Helsinki XR Center partnering up with VRDays Europe
Helsinki XR Center is partnering up with VRDays Europe, a 3-day conference and exhibition on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality content, creativity and innovation. Read more about the nature of the partnership from this article.
Introducing XR Hub team: Anarky Labs
We are excited to introduce to you our XR Hub team Anarky Labs! This team is solving the problem of the professional or commercial drone pilots having to look away from the robot in the sky into the small displays in their controllers which are crammed full of hard to read information, and they are doing this by using the latest augmented or mixed reality technology, ie. the Microsoft Hololens 2.
Introducing XR Hub team: Unfold Stories
Let us introduce to you our XR Hub team Unfold Stories! This creative team wants to develop a project that has a social impact in our society, not something just entertaining. By taking advantage of new technology, they want to bring stories of people into a new dimension and make them shareable and visible for everyone.
Introducing XR Hub team: Flat Earth Productions
Today we are introducing to you our XR Hub team called Flat Earth Productions! This one-person team by Timo Polvinen creates VR applications, and is currently focused on developing Virtual Art Museums. We asked Timo about his projects, why he became a part of the XR Hub, overall thoughts about extended reality, and more!
Helsinki XR Center featured on IteWiki
An article about Helsinki XR Center was recently published on a Finnish digital industry focused online magazine called IteWiki. It’s headline goes like this: Helsinki XR Center is a meeting place for Finnish VR and AR industry – “Without XR Hub our product development would be further behind compared to where we are now”
Introducing XR Hub team: Path A
Let us introduce to you ur XR Hub team Path A! Path A concentrates on applying XR technologies to contemporary art, and their missio team’s mission is to research how XR technologies can be used when making or experiencing art.
Introducing XR Hub team: 361
This time we are introducing to you the XR Hub team called 361!
This one-person team by Timo Wright makes immersive 360/VR documentary films. Timo believes that VR and 360 can let the viewer immerse themselves into a compelling story in interesting ways – and we totally agree! Re
Introducing XR Hub team: Skeleton Conductor
This time we will introduce to you our XR Hub team Skeleton Conductor! The team is working on a full body movement based XR Art experience called Skeleton Conductor, that allows one to express themself through sound and visuals in VR.
Introducing XR Hub team: Sciar
This time we will introduce to you our XR Hub team Sciar! Sciar solves the problem of insufficient and inaccurate data documentation of scientific research by bringing new technology to the laboratory, remarkably improving data gathering efficiency and quality, as well as enhancing human work and mitigating errors.
Introducing XR Hub team: AXiiO VR Studio
Next we are introducing AXiiO VR Studio, a XR Hub team formerly known as TheaterVR. AXiiO creates entertaining, realistic and emotional immersive experiences in a virtual reality storytelling environment. During summer 2020, we will be posting articles about our XR Hub teams on a weekly basis!
Introducing XR Hub team: Virtual Circus
Did someone say circus? Yes! During summer 2020, we will be posting articles about our XR Hub teams on a weekly basis, and now it is time to introduce to you Virtual Circus!
Introducing XR Hub team: Critical Charm
During summer 2020, we will be posting articles about our XR Hub teams on a weekly basis. Let us introduce to you, Critical Charm!
Introducing XR Hub team: Green Pixel
During summer 2020, we will be posting articles about our XR Hub teams on a weekly basis. Now it’s time to introduce to yo the newest addition to the hub, Green Pixel!
Introducing XR Hub team: Radical Rabbit
During summer 2020, we will be posting articles about our XR Hub teams on a weekly basis. Let us introduce to you, the first team of the series, Radical Rabbit!
Summer greetings!
Our HXRC Team will be starting summer vacations soon, but don’t worry! Our social media channels and website will still be full of life, as we will be posting introductions about our XR Hub teams every week. Maybe some updates about the building of our new virtual venue will appear, too! Stay posted!
HXRC Team: Insights about working remotely in virtual reality
During this spring, we tested and wrote about several different virtual reality (VR) platforms with our team, trying to figure out how they would work for formal or informal collaboration and remote meetings. As a conclusion article to the series, we write about the realizations and insights that came along the way, and list some pros and cons of virtual collaboration software in general.
Creating Virtual Helsinki XR Center
Creation of the ‘Virtual Helsinki XR Center’ has begun and our team has grown by two new members – meet the XR developer interns Mikko & Veli-Matti. Our XR-team warmly welcomes them to our team!
HXRC Team: Testing Mozilla Hubs, a mobile-friendly VR platform
Next up on our mission of trying out different kinds of virtual reality collaboration tools was Mozilla Hubs, an immersive social experience, an online 3D platform, that runs in your browser. It is free and works literally on every platform: with virtual reality headsets, on desktop, tablet and even mobile phones. On top of this, Hubs is open source and very customizable. You can upload your own avatar, or even build your own spaces with their online 3D editor!
But we, the Helsinki XR Center team, wanted to find out is it suitable for work purposes as well?
HXRC Team: Testing VRChat, a community creation focused social VR application
Next up on Helsinki XR Center’s test list of social VR and collaboration tools was VRChat, quite possibly the largest and definitely the wildest social VR platform available!
Our team certainly had a lot of fun with it: crazy avatars, games, karaoke … but can it be used for work as well?
COVID-19 and Santeri Suominen’s Virtual Reality Check
Our XR Curator Santeri Suominen decided to “eat their own dog food”, and took a few steps deeper into the world of virtual reality gatherings.
Santeri’s intriguing article is not just about the concrete aspects of a virtual event, but the deeper aspects of virtual reality. How do social roles, identity and action change in virtual reality? Does conventional event structures apply? Do we need them or not?
Our first virtual conference experience at Laval Virtual World 2020
We visited a big virtual conference for the first time, and decided to write some thoughts about! Due to the unfortunate event of Coronavirus pandemia, the Laval Virtual 2020 conference was moved to a virtual environment. How was the all in all experience? Did it feel the same as being in a real-life conference? Read now about our thoughts and experiences!
HXRC Team: Testing Rec Room, a recreational VR platform
Next on our “working remotely on different virtual reality platforms” tour was Rec Room, a free recreational virtual space, where people can socialize and do various activities, such as play paintball or meet in a park. We wanted to find out whether it is also suitable for working purposes, and wrote an article about our experiences with it.
HXRC Team: Testing Bigscreen VR for meeting purposes
The third expedition in our “testing out virtual reality collaboration tools” series took us to Bigscreen VR. Can it be used for meeting purposes, or other work related events?
HXRC Team: Testing AltspaceVR, a social VR platform
Next up on our mission of trying out different kinds of virtual reality collaboration tools was AltspaceVR, one of the most prominent current social VR platforms in the world for hanging out with friends and enjoying virtual events. But is it also suitable for work?
HXRC Team: Testing Glue, a virtual collaboration tool
We realized that this situation is our chance to explore ways of working remotely, and we are now on a mission of trying out different kinds of virtual reality collaboration tools. First one in our exploration queue was Glue, a virtual collaboration platform created in Finland. Supporting Finnish companies is always a priority for Helsinki XR Center!
Half-Life: Alyx – First glimpse of what VR in the 2020’s will be
The next installment of Half-Life is finally here and it is simply groundbreaking. Could’ve we had expected anything less? Our XR Curator Santeri Suominen tested the game out and wrote an article about his experience. Read Santeri’s insights now!
HXRC Team: How will we work remotely?
We will share the journey of how our Helsinki XR Center team, a group of eight persons with different technical backgrounds, will work together weekly in virtual reality using multiple platforms and extended reality equipment from home. Our team will give honest opinions and insights exploring different virtual conference rooms in cyberspace. Does it really work in VR or not? What did our XR experts and other team members think: can virtual meetings be just as good as face-to-face ones?
For XR industry the time to evolve is now
While the situation with COVID-19 is as it stands out, it’s useless to ask whether we need software for remote collaboration. For XR industry the time to evolve is now. And to do this, we need to come together as an industry, not as competitors.
Helsinki XR Center cancels all events in spring 2020
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, HXRC will cancel or postpone all events, visits and group meetings for the spring 2020. The health of our partners, guests, visitors, staff and team members is our highest priority.
Seven new additions to the XR Hub teams
The results of our second open call are now official: seven new teams will be moving to Helsinki XR Center during the spring, and continue the development of their interesting projects.
Helsinki XR Center 2019 wrap-up: full speed ahead!
The year 2019 was truly a busy one, but we couldn’t be happier of everything the year has given us and all the support we’ve got around the world. Now as Helsinki XR Center has turned one year old, we will take a moment to reminisce how the first year was like!