EON Reality, the global leader in augmented and virtual reality skill and knowledge transfer solutions for academic and industry purposes, is proud to announce the release of EON-XR’s 9.0 update. As always, EON Reality’s goal with each release is to democratize XR usage as much as possible, making the creation and utilization of immersive XR lessons easier than ever for students and instructors.

The Future of Technology
In addition to the improvements made to various features, the 9.0 EON-XR update brings with it an entire new method for experiencing and interacting in an XR state.

The first major feature added is an improvement to Digital Twin technology, which makes bringing real-world objects and surroundings into the platform simpler than ever before. Users can now scan and import assets directly from their smartphones, meaning that anything in your presence can be a part of a comprehensive EON-XR lesson — complete with written information, videos, animations, and step-by-step procedures — within minutes.

From there, users are able to bring those assets into the world around them thanks to EON-XR’s vast improvements in Augmented Reality. While the platform has previously featured upgrades such as markerless AR and the ability to walk through AR environments and interact with life-size AR models, the new integration with ARKit and ARCore allows EON-XR to expand upon existing AR features natively rather than using an intermediary software to provide a comparable experience.

For users, this means that the AR format on smartphones and tablets will now function effectively the same as its VR counterpart, allowing them to inject digital assets and illuminate the world around them. Through these features, every single object physically present in a room can be brought to life — providing the same kind of engaging and informative annotations and activities seen in immersive VR lessons. Plus, the 9.0 release brings with it two new features for AR, allowing users to disassemble objects and snap them into place in their real surroundings without ever leaving the modality.

Finally, the new XR spatial meetings feature allows users to invite their real-world associates and colleagues into their digitally-enhanced physical surroundings. Invited guests can walk around in a one-to-one scale throughout fully interactive augmented reality environments based on the host’s physical location, meaning that everyone can experience remotely the same information, interactions, activities, and more within the exact digital environment in which it’s intended.

Drastically Improved Visuals
The release of EON-XR 9.0 also brings with it a new level of visual fidelity to virtually all assets and components. The video interface has been enriched to all new levels, allowing YouTube videos to run smoother, look better, and be a more efficient and effective part of EON-XR lessons.

Additionally, new technology like physics-based rendering and real-time shadows allow for both 3D and 360° images to be more photorealistic and lifelike than ever imagined. Combined with some brand new UI improvements and entirely new visually impressive features like the slicing plane within the Oculus Quest 2, every single asset within EON-XR looks significantly better with the 9.0 release than they did in prior versions.

More Intuitive Creation Process
EON-XR has always been about showing that XR content creation should be as easy as it is effective, so we’ve redesigned the creation process to make it as simple as possible. In the past, memos and activities weren’t necessarily linked to a specific process or subcomponent within each lesson. While this provided some additional flexibility, it often required the creator to take extra steps to reach their intended target. With the new annotation-driven process, the creator of the lesson first selects the appropriate target, and then builds activities and information around that.

Additionally, the full creation toolkit is now available on Mac, and audio recording is cross-platform as well. Combined with the release providing a new high-water mark for the XR Library with an astounding 1.1 million high-quality 3D and 360° assets and significantly higher-resolution formats for 360° image uploads, high-quality lessons can be created on virtually any device in a matter of minutes. After all, if you can be one thing, you should be efficient.

Administrative Upgrades
The final major addition to EON-XR 9.0 is a completely revamped process and user interface for administrators. While this may not affect the majority of students and faculty members, smoother sailing for those in charge of the technology’s integration will mean a better experience for everyone.

The new interface makes it easier and more efficient to do everything from receiving analytics reports to accessing the Marketplace to simply creating a playlist to assign or share within the institution. Offline mode now includes new features, while managing users can now be handled directly through the main interface. Improved LMS integration also guarantees a more effective way to transfer user data and results in and out of EON-XR.

As always, EON-XR 9.0 includes some additional small tweaks and stability improvements, but make sure to stay tuned for the next EON-XR event for another massive feature reveal.

About EON Reality
EON Reality is the world leader in Augmented and Virtual Reality-based knowledge and skills transfer for industry and education. EON Reality’s 21 years of success are 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 has developed the de-facto standard for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality-based knowledge and skills transfer software that supports devices from mobile phones to large immersive domes. EON Reality’s global development network — with more than 20 locations worldwide — has created the world’s leading AR/VR library for education and industry with over 8,000 applications and over 40 million users worldwide.