Varjo Technologies has upgraded its Varjo Reality Cloud solution with global cloud streaming, bringing the company closer to its vision of a real-life collaborative platform for the Metaverse, the firm announced on Wednesday.
The world’s top provider of enterprise-level virtual and extended reality (VR/XR) solutions revealed the upgrade, which offers select Varjo customers early access to the platform to stream XR apps, experiences, and content from the cloud.
The Helsinki-based firm’s world-first tool will also stream VR/XR content with human-eye resolutions to its VR-3, XR-3, and Aero headsets, providing a massive increase in immersive workflow scalability with tethering to smaller, less powerful devices.
Today, we’re proud to share a massive milestone in our #VarjoRealityCloud platform – the world’s first #VR/#XR cloud streaming in human-eye resolution. Our early access customer @Rivian can stream @Autodesk #VRED car models directly from the cloud: https://t.co/tlJc00dqHZ pic.twitter.com/UE8kAkf6zs
— Varjo (@varjodotcom) January 19, 2022
Varjo’s Reality Cloud will also provide professionals with immersive workflows with “infinite” computing power, backed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and NVIDIA’s graphic processing units (GPUs), to significantly reduce local computing requirements.
According to Lisa Bell-Cabrera, Director of Business Development XR for NVIDIA, the new platform enabled professionals access and additional benefits from using NVIDIA’s A10G Tensor Core GPUs, stating it was a “great step forward” for scalable, hyper-realistic VR experiences in the industry.
Varjo headset owners can also connect via a link to join encrypted cloud sessions and collaborate in the Metaverse with global users, anywhere and at any time, using only 35 mb/s in bandwidth.
The firm is also currently developing the solution and plans to expand streaming capabilities for other software platforms this year, and has opened the programme to interested groups.
Varjo Reality Cloud and the ‘Rivian Effect’
Electric automaker Rivian was among the first to join the early access programme to design upcoming car models on the acclaimed computer-aided design platform Autodesk VRED.
Lukas Fäth, Senior Product Manager for Autodesk, explained how Varjo Reality Cloud allowed users to create VRED sessions “on-demand” with Varjo’s human-eye resolution headsets to view “realistic, real-scale” virtualised card models in real-time.
The three enterprises have teamed up to boost Rivian’s design review processes by transforming them into a cloud-based, immersive workflow system, Varjo explained.
The Irvine, California-based EV manufacturer has also tapped Autodesk’s VRED platform to create on-demand, collaborative sessions to incorporate key company decision-makers in the processes.
Users across the globe can join cloud-hosted sessions on Varjo Reality Cloud via a provided session link, enabling attendees to develop high-resolution 3D models of vehicles without local resources.
Urho Konttori, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Varjo, said in a statement the cloud solution was a “game-changer” for firms scaling their use of VR/MR solutions, adding,
“Now, with our new cloud streaming service, users can join photorealistic virtual experiences with almost any laptop with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU and a Varjo headset and start collaborating in an immersive environment”
Trevor Green, Visualisation Design Lead for Rivian, added Varjo Reality Cloud had integrated “high-fidelity immersion” into his company’s design development processes, adding,
“This is a turn-key solution that allows users with very different skill levels to be brought into an immersive environment to collaborate – something that hasn’t been possible before”
The news comes just days after the Finnish XR enterprise announced a strategic partnership with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to upscale the availability of the latter’s certified HP’s Z workstations and Varjo’s headset product lineup, leading to the development of future Metaverse solutions.
The premium head-mounted display and solutions’ provider also unveiled its Aero headset and Teleport Metaverse solution at a huge product launch last year, and later began initial shipments to pre-ordering customers in December last year.
Groups such as VRM Switzerland and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have adopted the headset for training aircraft pilots using the device’s hyper-realistic simulation capabilities.
