eXcent sees extended reality (XR) as an industrial tool rather than an end.
Crédits photos : eXcent
For over 30 years, eXcent has guided major companies in industrialization projects through innovation. Our XR department is committed to developing extended reality (XR) in industry, to make it a profitable tool. We interviewed Antoine Jeunet, Business Manager at eXcent, who talks about the upcoming projects and the ambitions of the company in the industrial training field.
Can you tell us more about your company?
eXcent is an engineering office, strong with 30 years of experience and 750 team members. We support our clients in their complex industrial projects, covering the whole production chain (study, design, manufacturing, integration, maintenance). As mechanical engineering experts, we bring innovative solutions adapted to your needs.
Our XR eXcent service, presented at Laval Virtual, develops virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) applications, digital twins and photorealistic 3D videos, combining technical and industrial expertise for tailored-made projects.
What will you exhibit at Laval Virtual?
We will present our services in the production of customized VR/MR applications, photorealistic 3D videos and digital twins (in VR/MR or not) dedicated to training, marketing and industrial project design review.
We notice that mixed reality is more and more present in our ecosystem, thanks to (or “because of” according to detractors) META, their new headsets and competitive prices. We also develop that kind of application for competitors’ headsets (HTC, Varjo…). In addition to our latest VR experiences, we will present a MR experience on our booth.
Are you planning any activities or demos at your booth?
Several VR experiences developed with Unreal Engine 5 will be visible at our booth, most likely the most beautiful of the whole exhibition. More than being pretty, the applications we develop have an industrial goal, an objective. They are all tailor-made based on the client’s needs.
We conceive environments from real images, with controls that are similar as in real life, so that when an operator puts on the headset, he or she thinks: “Oh well, that’s my job!”
Does your company have an upcoming project to share with us and our visitors?
We can’t reveal everything, but we have big plans for airport-based training, with various options that can be modified (location, vehicles, events, aircraft present, etc.).
In your business sector, how is your solution transforming the field?
We think that XR is and will be used in industry if and only if the experiences are well done, pleasant to watch and meet an identified need. XR is a tool, not an end. Some training courses don’t need XR to be optimized and some business-specific gestures are impossible to reproduce in XR (at least for now). If we develop an application which is useless to our clients, they will keep in mind that extended reality is just a gadget, whereas it can be far more than that.
Sustainability and the environment are key topics of this century. How do you cope with these concerns in your XR technologies?
Our industry causes pollution, perhaps less than the others, but it still does. Yes, we recycle computers that were dedicated to other activities before, we restrict our travels and when we do travel, we take the train or drive an electric car. It’s not enough and we know it. There are a lot of efforts to make. Our goal is to reduce our carbon footprint by 50 % by 2030. We have a dedicated department in our company.
