The XRcon 2022 of the nextReality Hamburg e.V. took place in a very unique atmosphere. The digital-only event was hosted on the Corporate Metaverse Platform ve. by Demodern. We elaborate on how the newly developed features of the platform performed, takeaways on the event and more.
XRcon 2022
nextReality.Hamburg e.V. is a non-profit association for companies and universities with the goal of helping to shape the topic of virtual, augmented and mixed reality for the region. We at Demodern want to help shape this process and play a central role in the development of these technologies in Hamburg.
With exciting presentations, breakout sessions and panel discussions, the XRcon is one of the highlights in the field of Next Reality in Germany. In terms of content, the event covers topics of virtual and augmented reality from the academic and tech world to the business world with relevant use cases.
Hosted on ve. Platform
The event was hosted on Demodern's Corporate Metaverse solution ve., which is no longer used exclusively as a persistent metaverse platform but also available for individual single-day events. Within a few days, an exclusive virtual event space can be set up on the platform, which can be used on all end devices (smartphones, laptops, desktops) directly in the Internet browser without any further app installation.
Spatial Audio
In the run-up to the XRcon, we have once again extended the functionalities of the ve. Platform to achieve a high quality event experience. For one, we added Spatial Audio to the event space to ensure an even more immersive user experience in the space while providing a seamless and natural flow of conversation in video calls.
Speaking of video calls, these can be started automatically in predefined zones on the platform. Thanks to a new user interface, up to 50 users are now able to enter one of the networking areas at the same time to meet, network or discuss the content of the previous heard talks.
New featureds for a more immersive event experience
In addition to the video calls, users could also exchange information via the chat function. However, the chat has now been optimized to the extent that visitors declared as hosts could now also address the audience in a global chat to provide information on the course of events or to ask questions for the Q&A session after a presentation.
Besides text-based moderation, XRcon hosts - moderators and speakers - were also able to interact directly with users using the new Speak-to-Audience feature. An audio bubble above the host avatar acted as a visual cue to make them more recognizable.
Engagement is key
Seven keynotes guided XRcon visitors through the day, including one by Demodern's Technical Director Jan Beutgen on the "User Experience in the Corporate Metaverse - Mobile meets VR & AR". A total of 150 users listened to the keynotes throughout the day, with between 30 and 50 avatars gathered in front of the stage at any given time.
Nearly 75% of XRcon guests entered the space via deskop, while a quarter participated in the event via their smartphone or tablet. What they all had in common: they enjoyed the event! Over 1500 emojis were clicked throughout the day - clapped 800 times and danced almost 200 times ;-) - and more than 400 chat messages were sent. An indication that the conference and the ve. Platform have inspired engagement and interaction.