Epic Games has launched an Augmented Reality Center (ARC) at Oakland University in Michigan. A major gaming engine, Epic Games announced on Friday a collaboration with OU’s College for Creative Studies (CCS).
It will work jointly to build and implement cutting-edge AR technologies for the future of the immersive industry.
Students, companies, faculty, and industry experts will join forces to create real-time tools the XR manufacturing sector. This will prepare future XR professionals for the rise of Industry 4.0, Epic noted.
ARC Aims and Objectives
The Michigan-based institution hopes to boost collaboration, engagement, and immersive tech solutions and applications across industry verticals.
Focusing on three verticals, ARC firstly will use its facilities to incubate an ecosystem of hardware and product demonstrations. These will develop tools such as haptic gloves, new immersive headsets, extended reality (XR) projectors, and other solutions.
However, the key focus of such efforts will involve “practical, day-to-day applications in an industrial setting,” the company said. Creatives can also showcase the products for major firms such as automakers, factories, and assembly processes.
Furthermore, students will benefit immensely from educational programmes at the ARC and collaborate with others in the industry to apply their creations in the real world.
Comments on ARC Industrial Collaboration
Epic Games hopes to foster skillsets for rising XR professionals. The initiative aims to solve the problem of low supplies of qualified developers and creatives. This will prepare those entering the ARC for career advancement before entering the workforce.
Chase Holton, Assistant Professor of Entertainment Arts, CCS, said the partnership was a “collaboration between education and industry.”
He explained,
“By combining professionals who use AR/VR every day for work with students ready to take on this ever-evolving industry, we have the perfect groundwork to solidify their future and give opportunities that were previously unavailable”
Holton continued: “Equipping graduating students with this knowledge will only empower them further as we continue into this age where digital and physical media converge.”
He explained how students could cross-pollinate their ideas in a conducive environment. Doing so allowed people to ‘leave their comfort zone’ and explore their creativity with immersive solutions.
“There’s a pretty large gap of knowledge between the technical and the creative when developing any sort of interactive experience,” Holton added.
He concluded: “When we have a collaboration between both institutions and industry like this, we can meet in the middle and teach students the intricacies not only of making these experiences possible but how we can leverage both sides of our minds to create something special.”
ARC Weighs in on Industrial XR
Dr Khalid Mirza, Founding Director, ARC, explained further the partnership between Epic Games and Oakland University, adding,
“The key thing is collaboration. We’re encouraging collaboration between all these companies and enabling them to solve their piece of the problem, then take away the whole solution to be used for themselves.”
Dr Mizra added that the ARC was unique as it can provide valuable firsthand experience as well as internships for entrants.
He said at the time,
“We’re trying to build an open relationship where there’s an easy flow of resources between the university and industry […] One of the key decisions early on was to realize that when you’re talking about immersive technology, it’s not just engineering. That’s just half the picture—the hardware, how you build the application software. The other part is how you present it to the user”
The executive continued that those monitoring the emerging trends and technologies across XR would note that his centre’s disciplines were “equally important.”
He concluded: “Students who are aware of the other side of the picture are becoming the unicorns needed by the industry.”
Advancement of the Future Proof XR Enterprise
The news comes amid a massive increase in interest in the industrial metaverse. Firms such as Epic Games, Unity, the Khronos Group, and others are leveraging their technologies to build digital twins and assets.
Furthermore, combined efforts with major players such as GE Digital, Siemens, and more have led to working real-time industrial XR tools for industrial automation, AEC, and manufacturing, among others.
Capacity development and supporting future workforces for XR-backed enterprises remains a core objective of the industry. Multiple organisations such as Unity Technologies and the XRA have signed government funding into law with respective initiatives.
