This is the final part of VR and/or AR companies whose IP is or could help with the expansion of the Metaverse. Over these last nineteen instalments, the Metaverse Insider has covered some very exciting startups — not to mention VR/AR companies more established — that bring their own expertise to the Web3 epoch.
The future is theirs. What they do with it, though, is anyone’s guess. There is, however, one truth: the Metaverse is here to stay, whether you love it or hate it.
Watch out for more informative lists in the near future on all things Metaverse and Web3.
In case you missed it, here is the link to the first part of the series, published all the way back in March of this year.
Now, enjoy the last instalment!
1. Reactive Reality
Reactive Reality is an augmented reality (AR) provider in e-commerce founded in 2014 by Stefan Hauswiesner, Philipp Grasmug, Philipp Pani, and Dieter Schmalstieg.
Headquartered in Graz, Austria with offices in Paris, France, San Francisco, California and Tokyo, Japan, the team is sixty people strong and consists of world-class engineers and scientists with extensive experience in AR, VR and AI. Reactive Reality’s clients include global fashion retailers such as Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, and it is an active partner of Microsoft and the London College of Fashion.
Its PICTOFiT platform powers the most realistic, scalable and fun online shopping experiences for brands and retailers around the world. It transforms a brand or retailer’s product photos into smart AR assets that online shoppers can try on their own avatars. PICTOFiT avatars are photorealistic depictions of the user and enable accurate size recommendations across brands. The experience is frictionless for users, and fun! Avatars can be dressed interactively, including unlimited outfit combinations and virtual background scenes. The company’s customers report a 6x sales uplift of online shoppers who use PICTOFiT.
2. Geenee
Geenee is a low-code WebAR SaaS platform producing interactive NFTs, games and eCommerce products that amplify human abilities.
Geenee has developed patented web-based AR software, aNFT (augmented reality NFTs) and integrated advanced image and computer vision technologies to drive commerce. Geenee powers dynamic AR products for Fortune 500 firms, and empowers individual creators to monetize AR products from digital art to gaming through aNFTs. Digital ownership can now extend past the 2D internet and blend with the users’ physical environment, blurring the lines and giving NFTs a greater sense of legitimacy since they can now be displayed anywhere the audience is. — NFTs need to be experienced in AR/VR to reach its potential as valuable assets.
Based in Los Angeles, California, Geenee was founded in 2015 by Andrew Rogal, Philipp Holzschneider and Thorsten Magers and has raised a total of $11.4 million in funding over two rounds.
3. R2U Augmented Reality
Based in Brazil’s commercial capital and biggest city, São Paulo, R2U Augmented Reality was founded in 2016 by Caio Jahara.
With R2U Augmented Reality’s platform, retailers can freely command the activation of services, approval of models, download 3D models in various extensions for use in communication pieces, and use links and QR-Codes to promote sales in the various channels of a company.
4. oculavis
oculavis emerged from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and RWTH Aachen University, Germany at the beginning of 2016, and currently employs more than 60 people.
Founded by Martin Plutz, oculavis is redefining interactions with machinery and equipment by unlocking AR empowered processes and has already won numerous prizes such as the European Founder’s Award in November 2019 as the best scale-up of the year in the category Digital Industry.
