It was the 15th anniversary of AWE, and 10 years since my first visit to AWE back in 2014. You could say a lot has changed in that 10 years, or if I can be a little presumptuous, not as much as I would have hoped for.
The reason for the oxymoron after visiting the worlds largest gathering on XR demos, presentations, workshops and networking opportunities, is that I left knowing that Think Digital is in fact at the forefront of XR development.
However, we have a life-long-learning mindset at Think Digital – we don’t know what we don’t know. In our industry, there are always new XR technology developments and deeply focused platforms that hit the market that we need to stay up to date with.
There is only so much you can get from a LinkedIn post or YouTube video. As such, attending events such as AWE 2024 certainly helps to fine tune our knowledge, widen our industry radar, and also get hands on experience with the technology. This way, we can discover technological gems for us to utilise for solving complex problems in agriculture.
Over the past 10 years, Think Digital has been immersed in the XR industry with a laser focus on how we can use immersive technology to solve problems in agriculture. It’s important that we look over the fence at other industries that are leading the way with XR solutions such as health, manufacturing, and defense. Through this, we can discover new ideas on how a similar approach could be applied to agriculture.
We’ve developed and array of cutting edge and practical Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality solutions for agriculture over the past 10 years. In doing so, we have to ensure we remain on the forefront of the technology.
Knowledge aside, catching up with colleagues, trying on new tech and forming new networks was extremely valuable. AWE 2024 was certainly an impressive line up of trade stands, workshops that deep dive into specific topics, and eclectic XR enthusiasts that walk the lobbies.
It’s hard to believe that the first HMD was developed in 1968 – the same in year we saw the first keyboard, mouse and screen! Yep, VR has been around for a long time! However, it’s only in recent years that are we now seeing VR become mainstream, and may I say – being accepted as the next evolution in human and computer interaction.
It feels great to be one of the those creating an immersive future for all and driving new levels of engagement, learning and inspiration for the world to enjoy.
AWE 2024 Goals
I set some clear goals, as there are plenty of Silver Butterflies at AWE2024.
Each goal links to its own blog post containing further information.
- Geo-located AR wearable experiences – ideally with cm accuracy on data pins.
- Inspiration for immersive storytelling – what’s new, what can I learn, novel approaches.
- XR Training – ideas and adoption opportunities for agriculture.
- Immersive Analytics – AI data analysis and tracking VR usage.
