U.S. CONGRESSMAN JOHN MICA (R-FL) VISITS SERIOUS SIMULATIONS
Orlando, Fla. — U.S. Congressman John Mica (R-FL) Visits Serious Simulations.
ORLANDO-BASED SERIOUS SIMULATIONS SELECTED TO PRESENT AT ‘VETERANS BUSINESS BATTLE’ IN HOUSTON
Orlando, Fla. — Serious Simulations LLC in Orlando was recently selected to present their business before 100+ investors in the “Veterans Business Battle” in Houston.
Sponsored by the Entrepreneur’s Organization of Houston (EO Houston), Rice University, local banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Veterans Business Battle screened more than 130 veteran-owned startup companies from across the country to select a small group to showcase their ventures. Serious Simulations was one of only 16 businesses that made the cut, according to CEO Christopher M. Chambers.
“We were very pleased to be selected as one of the few companies making a presentation in person, and were the only company at the event involved in simulation training and virtual reality,” Chambers reported.
Serious Simulations LLC develops human motion based, virtual reality training systems for professional trainers focused on complex or dangerous military, law enforcement, emergency response, and commercial or industrial tasks. They recently patented new wireless video processes for their own head mounted displays that also have wide application virtual reality displays for use in consumer and commercial markets.
The company designs and assembles training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, display technologies and commercial game engines.
Serious Simulations is a client company of the University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program located at Central Florida Research Park in East Orange County.
For more information contact:
Damon Curry, Serious Simulations, LLC, 937-367-8441 dcurry@serioussimulations.com
Chris Chambers, CEO, Serious Simulations, LLC cchambers@serioussimulations.com
Carol Ann Dykes, Site Manager, UCF Business Incubation Program 407-207-7426 carolann.dykes@UCF.edu
About Serious Simulations, LLC
Serious Simulations LLC, an Orlando based Veteran Owned business, produces wireless head and helmet mounted displays (HMDs) with very high resolutions and wide fields of view. The industry-leading HMDs are available separately and also as components of Serious Simulations’ professional grade VR training systems for military, police, emergency responders and other trainees for complex or dangerous tasks. The company designs training systems using custom made hardware and software components for specific skill training needs, combined with motion tracking systems, wireless communications devices, display technologies and commercial game engines. The company is a partner in the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) network. For more information, visit our web site at www.serioussimulations.com
About the UCF Business Incubation Program
The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth / impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has helped hundreds of local startup companies reach their potential faster by providing vital business development resources.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Apopka, Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. Participating companies sustain more than 3,600 local jobs and have had a total impact of $1.51 Billion on regional sales and $2.48 Billion on regional economic output. During the last fiscal year, the program has returned $7.95 for every $1.00 invested in the program. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS FEATURED AS A LEADING EDGE VIRTUAL REALITY INDUSTRY INNOVATOR
A hologram suspended in a pyramid-like structure is seen in the lobby of the Advanced Technology Center at Gulf Coast State College.
PANAMA CITY — Imagine reading a book where characters leap off the page, or walking down a street where the stores offer you a holographic greeter.
That is the world of augmented reality (AR), said Gulf Coast State College (GCSC) Advanced Technology Center (ATC) Dean Steve Dunnivant.
“AR brings fantasy to life. It merges the real world in front of you with a ‘layer’ of information and virtual intelligence,” Dunnivant said.
The college explored AR when planning the ATC, Dunnivant said, with three students having worked on a hologram that is now displayed in the ATC lobby. With AR combining the skills of design and 3D technology, GCSC’s design programs recently were expanded by Professor Antonio Adessi in developing a certificate in rapid prototyping and fabrication. Assistant Professor of Digital Media Erica Goines, meanwhile, expanded the college’s digital media program and its 3D software offerings.
A study from August 2013 by the AR and interactive print company Layar said mobile AR apps at that time generated nearly $300 million in revenue and was projected to grow to $5.2 billion by 2017, according to digital market research specialists Juniper Research.
And AR is just one part of an increasingly digital world.
‘Game changer’
Virtual reality (VR), similar to augmented reality but distinctly different, places users in a completely simulated world. In Orlando, the company Serious Simulations is using VR and AR in training for military and emergency personnel and others who work in high-danger jobs. The infantry training project Serious Simulations offers allows a full range of physical motion, where trainees suit up just like they would for combat, said CEO and co-founder Christopher Chambers. The simulation takes the same technology used in a video game but with a different aim, Chambers said.
“We’re not trying to entertain people,” Chambers said. “We’re trying to train them.”
Trainees bring their real-life equipment to the virtual session, which adds to the immersive experience, Chambers said. The simulation can be so real users lose the sense they’re training, he said. This, in turn, induces high stress levels, but Chambers said that’s a positive.
“That stress is very, very important … because it focuses an individual’s attention and they attain a higher training outcome,” Chambers said.
The company is just over a year old, though Chambers said he has been involved in simulation and training technology for many years. Chambers was an Army officer and become involved in “America’s Army,” a computer game the New York Times said “was produced by the military and aimed at winning the hearts and minds of tech-minded teenagers.”
“[VR] has become the big game changer in training because it allows so much flexibility,” Chambers said. “It is the wave of the future.”
What’s trending
The virtual tour company RTV Inc., located in northern Michigan, is taking note of the rise of new technology and planning to adapt. By this year, RTV, which works with real estate agents and business owners, wants to use 3D technology that can enable a panoramic view of property during a virtual tour.
“You can’t stay in the same place. … Part of our success is looking at what’s trending and taking advantage of that technology,” RTV digital imaging specialist and social media coordinator Jay Stringham said.
RTV has been around since 1999 and is a hosting platform for virtual tours. RTV sells virtual tour and home staging software on its website, along with professional photography services. The virtual tours, said RTV Vice President and founder Jason LaVanture, can involve still images, voiceovers and virtual clips that take a person to another place without leaving their seat. Virtual tours are limited only by the imagination of their creator, LaVanture said, with some being intense and detailed.
LaVanture said when the company began, a lot of real estate agents were still mailing out VHS tapes of their property. LaVanture and others at RTV wanted to bridge the gap they saw in real estate productions.
The end goal for RTV is to get customers to want to visit a place and schedule a home showing with a realtor based on a virtual tour, LaVanture said. Customers always should demand a virtual tour, he said.
Video can be found at the following link
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS NAMED A FINALIST IN THE 2ND ANNUAL VETERAN’S BUSINESS BATTLE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
On February 8th, 2016, Serious Simulations of Orlando Florida was notified that it had been selected as one of 16 Veteran Owned Small Businesses out of a field of over 130 applicants to attend a special investment opportunity in Houston Texas. The event was organized by EO Houston (Entrepreneurs Organization – Houston chapter) and was sponsored by Rice University, who also hosted the event for two days on campus in McNair Hall. The event provided business owners three chances to “pitch” their company’s ideas and investment opportunities to a large group of investors which included individuals, Venture Capitalists, and others. The pitches were given as two minute “elevator” pitches, a 15 minute more detailed presentation, and a one minute summary pitch at the event’s dinner gala. Some businesses were given commitments on the spot (pending due diligence), and many others which had more complex products and capital structure, including Serious Simulations, are following up with investors in detail after the event. Nearly $1 million dollars of investment was generated by meetings during and after the 2015 event, and organizers were expecting the amount to grow for the companies in the 2016 event. Chris Chambers, Co-Founder and CEO of Serious Simulations, was invited to attend the event as one of the 16 finalist presenters from around the United States.
SERIOUS SIMULATIONS UNVEILS A GROUNDBREAKING WIRELESS TRANSMISSION METHOD FOR OCULUS VR HEADSETS AT VISION SUMMIT 2016
ORLANDO, Florida, USA – Serious Simulations LLC announces accomplishment of a new milestone for its patent-pending wireless video “Reformatter” by adapting it for the Oculus Rift. The Reformatter now establishes itself as the world’s first wireless video interface for the Oculus DK2 head mounted display (HMD), and its industry-unique approach to frame rotation ensures it is and will remain the world’s fastest wireless process. The popular Oculus development kit, released only in a wired configuration, is being used by an estimated 140,000 developers for virtual reality entertainment and simulation applications.
Oculus Rift shown here adapted for 60 GHz wireless video
Serious Simulations’ Reformatter is a device that adapts a computer video output into a wireless feed for a variety of wired head mounted displays, and eliminates the substantial frame rotation latency that is induced by other wireless methods. As such, the Reformatter overcomes longstanding limitations associated with attempts at untethering Virtual Reality experiences. Most importantly, it totally eliminates the long latency video frame buffering technique that has been standard in the past. The Reformatter device delivers video frames to the screen in approximately 17 micro-seconds which is 1000 times faster than standard frame buffering.
The Reformatter enables wireless operation of many HMDs for better and more immersive virtual reality. Without the hassle of wire tethers, users can experience 3D virtual worlds with unencumbered freedom of movement. To enable a full wireless set-up for the Oculus DK2, users currently require a commercial-off-the-shelf wireless video transmitter, a battery, and a wireless USB 2.0 set, in addition to the Reformatter. A more complete integration that includes the DK2 Software Dev Kit (SDK) program is being pursued to further improve the method.
Serious Simulations anticipates that order quantities will rapidly be sufficient to allow offering an Oculus DK2 version of the Reformatter at a much lower price than currently listed. OEMs are welcome to license the technology from Serious Simulations now as well. The first Reformatters were just recently offered for sale on its website, www.serioussimulations.com and have garnered tremendous interest from the VR community.
In addition to adapting other wired HMDs for wireless use, Serious Simulations uses the Reformatter in its own “Peripheral Vision Immersive Device” (PVID), the highest resolution, widest field of view, zero frame latency wireless HMD on the market today.
Questions or sales inquiries about the Reformatter may be sent to info@serioussimulations.com.
Serious Simulations is headquartered in the Central Florida Research Park in Orlando, FL.
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