SpirOps will be presenting its innovative tracking technology at Laval Virtual 2024.
Crédits photos : SpirOps
Founded in 2004, SpirOps is a company dedicated to the research and development of artificial intelligence. One of SpirOps’ objectives is to apply artificial intelligence to industry in a practical way. SpirOps will be exhibiting at Laval Virtual on April 10-12, 2024, on booth A8. Interview with Thibaut Gaudin and Quentin Prévost, members of the animation team.
Can you introduce your company?
SpirOps is an independent decision-making artificial intelligence laboratory based in Paris. With 20 years’ experience in developing expert systems, it is a pioneer in AI research in France. Its unique no-learning approach to AI for decision-making enables the development of systems that are frugal, real-time, transparent and without black-box effects.
Its deeptech research activity is funded by developments applied to industry in collaboration with partners such as Small Creative, Stellantis, Thales, Alstom and the SNCF. His team is working on a range of subjects, including procedural animation and the development of full body estimation technology for VR avatars, as well as crowd simulation, city generation and decision-making for autonomous vehicles.
What will your company show at Laval Virtual 2024?
We are delighted to announce an update to MimIK, our full body estimation technology for VR/AR free roaming experiences. MimIK is the result of many years of research aimed at reproducing the entire body of VR users, including their legs, from just three tracking points.
With the rise of free roaming collective experiences, we are seeing a need for immersion solutions that are more robust, realistic and adaptable on a large scale. The aim of MimIK is to improve the VR embodiment of users while guaranteeing the credibility of avatar movements. Using just three tracking points (head and hands) available on any standard VR headset, our solution generates realistic postures that can be adapted to a variety of constraints. Our aim now is to find partners to develop our solution further, to test it against different use cases, and to work together to improve embodiment in VR.
What is your company’s current innovation?
The DNA of SpirOps is innovation! We are currently involved in several projects in collaboration with partners on our various subjects. As far as procedural animation is concerned, our aim is to continue our work by focusing on the naturalness of the movements produced. To achieve this, we are continuing to improve the various systems involved in the movement generation process. We are currently developing a new demo of our technology to give you the opportunity to test all these features.
What innovation do you think has most transformed the world of VR/AR?
The world of VR/AR has been driven forward by successive innovations, but the disappearance of external sensors and the arrival of standalone VR headsets have marked a real turning point in the field. Previously, these elements represented a significant constraint on the user experience, limiting the feeling of freedom so characteristic of today’s VR headsets.
The introduction of wireless headsets has finally enabled users to move freely in virtual environments, profoundly transforming the way they interact with space. It was by observing this change that we came up with the idea of developing a solution to improve VR embodiment and increase the user’s presence at the centre of the experience.
The baseline of our 26th edition is “Act For The Future”. In your opinion, how can immersive technologies impact the world of tomorrow?
Immersive technologies will have a considerable impact in many areas. The ability to immerse yourself in new situations and places opens up a whole host of possibilities! In our opinion, this impact will be greatest in the fields of education, culture and the medical sector. The future perspectives for these technologies are already very promising!
