K-VR/AR Technology Companies Overcoming the Pandemic

    LOS ANGELES, CA, December 05, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ --

- Gyeonggi Content Agency holds NRP BIZCLUB Global Business Conference to support 10 VR/AR companies to enter the global market
- Helping pave the road to becoming global VR/AR companies during the COVID-19 era
- Leading to more than 70 online business matching connections in Europe, USA, India, and Southeast Asia markets

COVID-19 has brought a lot of changes in our lives. In the early stage of the pandemic, most of the companies' and people's activities were limited while waiting for the virus to pass. As the country have gone through Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Social Distancing, people have found ways to adapt to the COVID situation. With the increase in time spent at home, the consumption of media content and online shopping has increased, education utilizing AR contents have expanded, video meeting platforms have become the norm, and the demand for indoor activity contents have replaced outdoor activities.

Businesses have faced a lot of challenges. Due to the pandemic, the opportunities to showcase new products and meet buyers, typically offered by international conferences and exhibits, have all been blocked. However, this has brought out innovative changes in how companies operate. To accommodate the changes in everyday lives of the consumers, they have evolved their services by building on existing technologies. They are putting their best efforts in to pursue better life to resolve the problems and needs arising from the new lifestyle.

Thus, starting last month and through the 4th, Gyeonggi Content Agency (GCA, President: Kyunghee Song) is supporting the global business matching of selected companies in 2020 NRP World Wide K-VR/AR Startups, as a part of "Global Expansion Supporting Business" of companies in Gyeonggi.

"NRP World Wide" is a specialized support program of GCA global overseas expansion for foreign commercialization. In order to overcome the hardship to reach the overseas markets during the COVID situation, GCA has selected K-VR/AR companies of Gyeonggi and is supporting IR video creation and NRP BizCLUB for foreign expansion of these companies. NRP BizCLUB is a business meeting specialized platform where foreign buyers, investors and experts can research Korean companies, choose a meeting schedule, and meet the companies through online video conferencing.

VA/AR technology has received tremendous amount of interest during COVID situation. The following are K-VR/VA companies from diverse fields such as education, music, tourism, and industry, whose products will enrich our lives.

• Realwith – Healing children's emotional health with Mind Coloring XR Mandala Contents
As the COVID situation has been prolonged, the focus on mental health care has become more important. As people's activities have been limited and become further removed from typical everyday life, it became necessary to relieve the stress that came from it. Since the time spent at home has drastically increased, children's emotional health needs to be taken care of.

Mind Coloring XR is a stress-relief content with 10 minutes of coloring a day. It's also effective in brain development, mental development, fine-motor skill development, mental stability, and concentration improvement through stimulating the mind. Parents are able to understand their child's current emotional state, as well as understand the child's inner feelings.

Mandala contents, added since COVID, promotes creative thinking in art education and helps with mental stability. Newly released app now features a way to measure the happiness index and life satisfaction index. Let Mind Coloring XR help manage your child's mental health care.

Data analysis service that quantifies children's happiness index and life satisfaction index

• You Need Character –"Cricket Pang" targeting the global market
Cricket Pang, made specifically for the global market even since the imagination of the characters, will be airing its animation on Indian television and OTT channels starting next January.

Cricket Pang is a comical show featuring friends who love playing cricket, a sport popular in England, India, and South Africa. Cricket Pang Flashcards, AR English learning content geared towards children 8 and younger, launched last September on the online market.

We look forward to the day that Cricket Pang will become a global IP, on par with Disney characters, Hello Kitty, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Pororo.

Cricket Pang character group image. Source: You Need Character

• With Plus – Remote Business Management Simulation Training, Challenge24, that can be used during COVID
During the remote learning era caused by COVID-19, digital game learning has been shown to be effective compared to the original learning method. The best learning method is when the student naturally learns and retains the information while enjoying the experience, instead of forcefully memorizing the material.

This is why the first digital game learning training program in Korea, Challenge24, has become a focus of attention. It was adopted by schools and public institutions as remote training contents due to prolonged COVID-19 situation. It has the advantage of being able to run on PC or mobile and also has the flexibility to be used online or offline.

Conducting team gains/loss analysis after the completion of Challenge24 voyage. Source: With Plus

• The Coder – Skin care device customizing to the daily life pattern, BEAUNEX
The Coder, industry leader in security authentication technology, is garnering attention for its launch of AI beauty device, Beaunex, which utilizes the New Excellent Technology certified DoT technology.

Facial masks have become one of the most popular K-beauty items. As Made-in-Korea products have become more popularized, so has the problem of counterfeit products increased. Since the DoT technology, used in various industries such as money, gold, brand clothing, and document security, is able to track authentic products, it seemed fitting to develop a new product.

It is an AI facial mask maker that makes daily customized masks catered to the user's life pattern and skin type. Both the ampules and the device itself has the DoT technology applied, and the attempts to copy the authentic products can be tracked by the company. The counterfeit's authentication can immediately be tested. Korean product authentication process is projected to gain more value. Beaunex will be available on the market early next year.

BEAUNEX front view, projected to launch early 2021. Source: The Coder

• DeepFine – Jarvis for Industrial Sites, ARON
How long will it be until AI assistant service become widely commercialized? AI assistant service only viewed in movies and television shows have become specialized for industrial sites. It's DeepFine's artificial intelligence AR solution, ARON.
It's been a long time since Google Glass has come out, but it seems we are still far from the day when we will be using something like Tony Stark had. DeepFine's ARON may change your perspective on this.

DeepFine utilizes its proprietary AI technology in concert with software-based noise cancelling to allow for accurate voice recognition even in a noisy environment on a work site. It also uses head tracking to manage the controls, leaving two hands free to work and to safely handle any dangerous situations that may arise onsite.

Recently, in collaboration with Gyeonggi-do, DeepFine is developing a problem-solving business that applies smart glass, IoT sensor, and AR technology to managing dangerous facilities such as aged building, bridges, embankment, and retaining walls. As ARON is adopted more in the fields with many dangers, the work environment will hopefully become safer.

Working remotely in collaboration with an onsite smart glass user through ARON

• Studio VR – The Future of K-Classic, CONDUCT VR
Classical music is embedded into many parts of our everyday life. People come in contact with classical music indirectly, younger generation through public education on music and the general public through public tv or radio and signature or background music used on the internet.

Studio VR combines classical music with VR to make classical music feel more approachable. Studio VR's K-classic VR contents provide a classical music experience that is drastically different from typical VR images. UHD images up to 8K resolution using the 5G network recreates realistic feeling of seeing the performer in real life.

Recently, they launched Conduct VR, where a user can become a virtual orchestra conductor and experience classical music, to enter the global market. Conduct VR is a high-quality edutainment content with both the fun and convenient user experience using hand tracking, eliminating the use of the handheld controls. Conduct VR can be downloaded on Google Play Store.

Promotional YouTube Conduct VR video produced for the global market - https://youtu.be/I7Blcq58SRU

• Emotionwave - AI rhythm action game, Super Musician Project
Have you heard music performed by a robot? AI music technology RIMA developed by Emotionwave is being utilized in many fields. It can hold performances with a real musician at a music hall or give detailed instruction by a famous artist to students far away.

Emotionwave launched Super Musician, a game that lets users play with real instruments on immersive screen. Users can enjoy the game with the sound created with RIMA AI technology and the performance by a robotic band.
During the time when live performances are difficult due to COVID-19, it will provide a way to enjoy a new indoor performance culture.

Super Musician project screen. Source: Emotionwave

• Mammossix – Watching Sport Broadcasts and Touring Foreign Cities through VR, KBO VR LIVE
The virtual reality field has had an exponential growth, especially since COVID-19. Crossing between virtual reality and real life has been the popular topic among tv shows, movie, animation, web cartoons, and books for a while.

Mammossix provides digital twin service, creating a literal digital twin of real life and reimagining a virtual space that is similar to reality. Inside Mammossix's digital twin content, users attend performances, go shopping, or attend classes. Recently, Mammossix featured a digital twin of Uijeongbu at Future Show 2020 put on by Gyeonggi-do and broadcasted KBO sports through VR LIVE on U+.

Just as digital documents can exist on the cloud on a computer, it seems possible that one day our lives will exist on the cloud with the use of digital twin technology.

Image 1. Actual screenshot of U+VR KBO broadcast in November, 2020. VR LIVE

Image 2. Comparison of digital twin and real image of Uijeongbu Station Haeongbok-ro during the Future Show 2020, November, 2020.

• Alpha Circle – Enjoying VR Contents without Motion Sickness in 16K, AlphaView
Soon there will not any complaints of motion sickness from using VR equipment. That is because using Alpha Circle's AlphaView solution enables 8K 3D high resolution images to be made into VR contents as clear as 16K images.

Most VR contents have low resolution images. Because of this, the eyes have difficult time focusing on the image, causing motion sickness and dizziness. Alpha Circle has solved this problem by partitioning and restructuring the high resolution area where the 3D image is rendered. In a nutshell, every time the user focuses on a new area, it restructures a new 8K area by converting the 8K television image contents into 360-degree VR 3D image.

Alpha Circle was selected as a finalist for TIPS, tech incubator program put on by Ministry of SMEs and Startups last August. Alpha Circle has commercialized AlphaView, a technology that can play 8K 3D VR images by partitioning and synchronizing 360-degree images, and applied it to the concert contents for MAMAMOO.

Recently, they are in the process of developing a VR technology that can record and stream VR images in real time. Avoiding VR contents because of dizziness will soon be a long-forgotten problem.

Conceptual map of AlphaView. Partitioning and synchronization of 360-degree image

• Hub – A Must-Have COVID-19 item, AR Bucket List, ARLO
One of the industries hit hard with the effects of COVID-19 is the travel industry. Even with the end of the year approaching, because of the new surge of cases, planned vacations are cancelled and meeting up with friends have been put on hold. ARLO is an AR item that reinvents the direction of traveling in this new era.

ARLO is an app that uses AR to bring to life bucket lists that are typically difficult to accomplish. Compiling a list of places to go and activities to do can make those accessible through ARLO. Korean products such as K-POP, K-Beauty, and K-quarantine items have become popular lately. AR bucket list, ARLO, brings those Korean beauty and fashion items to people around the world who thirst for a chance to visit Korea.

Demonstration of ARLO bucket list in front of Gwanghwamun Gate

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