Launched at the World Tourism Organization’s High Level Ministerial Task Force on Tourism and Security in Madrid on May 12, 2017, the Partnership will deliver Anti-Terrorism Knowledge Transfer to address the tourism industry’s security challenges in the changing environment

IRVINE, CA, June 7th 2017 – EON Reality Inc., the world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer for industry and education, announces a partnership with Catalyst Group International, a security consulting company led by some of the worlds most experienced security and anti-terrorism experts, to establish an online Augmented and Virtual Reality Tourism Safety Academy to provide security training applications to one million individual workers in the tourism industry.

« The World Tourism Organization UNWTO fully supports the project to develop these EON-XR Tourism Safety Academy applications, that can train the millions of people employed in travel and tourism”, said Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization. “UNWTO together with World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and our partners have taken upon ourselves to support this project based on the positive feedback from our members. We have received requests from our members and we believe that this project is very much needed in the current situation of the global tourism industry. »

All over the world, the tourism industry is exposed to global threats such as terrorism, criminal activities, and cyber-attacks. The critical and urgent need to make the tourism industry safer is a challenge because the initiative is in the hands of those who wish to do harm. It is difficult for untrained travel and tourism workers to identify the possible perpetrators, and to take the right decision in the very short time available for a reaction.

To address this challenge EON Reality has teamed up with Catalyst Group International to establish the online EON-XR Tourism Safety Academy.  

The Academy will initially provide EON-XR applications focused on training for suspicious signs for humans, vehicles, luggage, packages, and documentation. A suspicious sign is something that suggests the intent to commit an act of terror.  Quick recognition of suspicious signs is very important as early intervention prevents or minimizes threats to public safety. In life threatening situations, every minute counts.

The Suspicious Signs application, see attached presentation for more details, will be built on EON’s EON-XR Platform focused on two aspects:

• Virtual Trainer that enables users to learn faster, remember longer, and decide better by providing a higher knowledge transfer dimension, transitioning from traditional memorization to the ability to apply, analyze, and evaluate.
• AR Knowledge Injection fueled by AI and IOT provides users with knowledge when they need it and as they need it. It empowers individual non-technical workers in the travel and tourism industry with the much needed contextual security related knowledge for their working environment.

Catalyst Group International will provide the underlying curriculum and required segment matter experts. Catalyst Group International’s leadership consists of world leading security and anti-terrorism experts.

The security training applications will target initially workers in hotels and attractions, public transportation, cruise lines, airlines and airports, security companies and emergency services.

“We will develop these EON-XR Tourism Safety Academy applications that can initially train up to one million people”, said Rami Levi, Chairman and President of Catalyst Group International. “We decided to start with the suspicious signs applications, as they will provide individual workers in the travel and tourism industry with the knowledge required to be aware, to be vigilant, and to identify potential perpetrators of attacks. The program will enable these workers to make the right decisions, in the very short time available for a reaction.”

“We are pleased to develop this Augmented and Virtual Reality (EON-XR) based knowledge transfer solution, targeting to educate many of the 110 million direct tourism industry employees, to tackle the new threats on tourism destinations and infrastructure globally,” said Dan Lejerskar, Chairman with EON Reality. 

“We are currently designing the EON-XR training applications based on EON’s EON-XR Platform and our target is to launch the first five suspicious signs EON-XR applications in September 2017”, added Knut Henrik Aas, CEO of EON Reality Norway, responsible for EON Reality’s Crisis Training operations.

EON Reality is willing to co-invest with governments in establishing Security Interactive Digital Centers, in order to expand the number of applications to provide a deeper level of training. The Centers aim to fast-track development of additional security applications, including public treatment, emergency management, and operational responses. The Centers will adapt the applications for the specific regional requirements. 

About EON Reality
EON Reality is the world leader in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) based knowledge transfer for industry and education. EON Reality’s success is tied to its belief that knowledge is a human right and should be available, accessible, and affordable for every human on the planet. To carry this out, EON Reality, since 1999, has developed the de-facto standard for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes. EON Reality’s global app development network, with twenty-two locations worldwide, has created the world’s leading AR/VR library for knowledge transfer with over 7,000 applications. Over 36 million people worldwide have downloaded these applications. For further information, visit www.eonreality.com.