3D Content - Driving the XR Platform. Mike Festa - Boston Chapter President VR/AR Association - March 20th, 2019

1. 3D Content
Driving the XR Platform
Mike Festa
Boston Chapter President

2. AR + VR + MR =
XR 1990: PCs
2000: Internet
2010: Mobile
2020: XR
BostonAR.org

3. What makes XR
Unique?
Contextual / Spatial
Computing
Data Escapes the Screen
3D User Interface
Content to Real-World Scale
Presence / Collaboration

4. XR Industry
History
2014 - Oculus VR acquired by
Facebook for $2B
2015 - Microsoft announces
Hololens, Magic leap raises $800M
2016 - Pokemon Go popularizes AR,
Consumer VR headsets launch
2017 - Apple releases ARKit on iOS,
Google replaces Tango with ARCore
Standout events of
the past few years

5. Current State of
the XR Industry
2019
Focus on Industrial Use
Standalone VR Hardware
Mobile / Web 3D + XR
AR Headsets for Developers
Standardization

6. Content Matters
Everything in XR is in 3D
Environments for VR
Legacy Catalogs of Images
3D is Hard to Produce
No Quick & Easy 3D Capture
The Chicken and Egg Problem

7. How To Make
3D Content Convert Existing CAD / Hi-
Res 3D Files
Draw From Scratch
3D Scanning
Photogrammetry

8. Producing 3D
Content is Hard
CAD assets need to be optimized for
Web/XR (Millions of triangles to < 50k)
3D Drawing from scratch takes a lot of
time
Photogrammetry doesn’t work on all
materials (glass, shiny, featureless)
Good 3D Scanners are expensive and
slow ($25k+), affordable ones ($150+)
give mixed results

9. Suggestions
GLTF and USDZ formats
Limit Geometry to 50,000
Triangles
Keep File Sizes Under 5MB
Use Physically Based
Rendering (PBR) Materials

10. Distributing
Content for XR Multiple Platforms/Devices
Standards Still Being Defined
Data Transfer Speed and File
Size Limitations
Multiple Levels of Detail to
Stream Refinements

11. Follow Industry Standards
Optimize for Web / Mobile
Load Content on Demand
Cache 3D Content
Suggestions

12. Application
Examples Rapid Prototyping
Product Visualization
Smart IoT Devices
Product Assembly Guides
Digital Décor

13. Rapid
Prototyping
Ford Dearborn Studios
Microsoft HoloLens allows
designers to see and manipulate
proposed design changes virtually
and collaboratively
https://social.ford.com/en_US/story
/technology/innovation/virtual-
reality-technology-for-car-
design.html

14. Product
Visualization
Wayfair Next
Space planning made
simple
See how a product will
look and fit in your home
before you buy
https://tech.wayfair.com/category/
wayfair-next/

15. Smart IoT
Devices
PTC
Digital Twin Overlay
Real-time Sensor Data in AR
Digital Controls
Field Service Guidance
https://www.ptc.com/en/products/iot
/thingworx-platform

16. Product
Assembly
Guides
AssembleAR*Proof-of-concept
Animated Videos, in Context
Easier to Understand
Could Replace Printed
Manuals
https://adampickard.com/AssembleAR

17. Digital Décor Content Linked to Physical
Spaces
Declutter/Redecorate
Instantly
Low Distribution Cost
No Waste and Can’t Break!

18. theVRARA.com
Questions?
@MikeFesta
Mike@Festa.tech