As our Hub continues to grow, we welcome and introduce our new XR Hub teams and update with the latest news of our existing teams. These articles have been written based on interview questions answered by the teams themselves. If you have missed the previous articles, you can find them in the Hub Team Introductions category!
Next up is SoundxVision!
SoundxVision
SoundxVision is a hardware company working on a smart ring designed for interacting with XR devices.
What is the idea/mission behind your team?
Current interaction modalities (such as hand tracking) in XR are cumbersome and inspired by fantasies from sci-fi movies like “Minority Report” or “Iron Man.” While the interactions in these movies look cool, they neglect the accessibility aspect of human-computer interaction. For example, users should not have to hover their hands in the air for an extended period, as depicted in those movies. Our mission is simple: to reintroduce familiar gestures from smartphone usage for interacting with XR devices or future forms of computers, thus makes XR more intuitive and engaging. To achieve this, we are developing a ring that can be worn daily, complementing XR devices such as headsets and glasses.
Tell us about your team members!
Our founding team includes:
Phuoc Trinh: Project lead, who has been working on this idea since his university days three years ago. He also worked at OpenAR, a project to create open-source AR glasses at affordable price.
Dipanjan Das: Business developer with experience in XR research and business for 7 years.
Our team also includes a designer and engineer, and we are currently looking to expand.
What project(s) are you currently working on?
The “ring,” as we call it, is a smart ring created by SoundxVision that utilizes machine learning to recognise and learn user gestures, turning them into input for XR devices. It can also assist users with limited accessibility to interact with electronic devices (not only XR devices) using their desired gestures.
Why did you decide to join Helsinki XR Center’s XR developer hub?
At the time of joining HXRC, it was the most well-known hub for everything related to XR in Finland. Additionally, it is equipped with a wide range of equipment and provides excellent peer support, which helped us make significant progress with our prototype.
When did you join the XR Hub, and how long had your team existed before joining?
We joined HXRC’s developer hub in March 2022 under the name of “Atelier”. Although the team was founded around five months before joining the XR center, it coincided with Phuoc finishing his bachelor’s thesis about an XR controller in the form of a wearable, laying the foundation for the final form of our company – “SoundxVision”.
As a part of the XR Hub, how has your experience been so far?
Overall, our experience as a hub team has been extremely positive. The support we receive from other hub members has been great. We have attended most of the events hosted by HXRC or FIVR, exhibited at MatchXR 2022 and 2023, gaining good exposure and business leads to potential customers. Gathering feedback from other hub teams regarding our device and development has been invaluable.
What is the most interesting or exciting thing about extended reality?
For us, the most exciting aspect of XR is its ability to extend the connection between humans and their surroundings, enabling interaction not just with virtual objects but also with physical objects in the real world. The industry is growing, and it is fascinating to observe. Since we started our journey, many milestones have occurred in the XR space, such as Facebook renaming to Meta and pursuing post-social network reality, and Apple releasing its first headset, setting new thresholds for new XR devices. We are excited to witness further advancements in this medium.
SoundxVision contact
Phuoc Trinh – Project Lead – phuoc(at)xchi.space
Dipanjan Das – Business Developer – dip(at)xchi.space
Also check out our website https://soundxvision.io/
This post is a part of the article series about Helsinki XR Center’s hub teams, running since 2020. This is your chance to get to know our talented XR community!
If you missed the earlier XR Hub team introductions, they are available in our website’s News section.
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