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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 M A R C H 6 , 2 0 2 3 F O C U S E M E R G I N G I N D U S T R I E S events, sales and marketing communica- tion, and collaboration. Ever heard of Zoom fatigue? e immersive web takes the idea of video conferencing and adds more elements of interactivity, which we feel add to the experience to make it a more effective communication tool." "An immersive website is a virtual world experience hosted in the web browser," said Sullivan. "ere is no application to download or requirement for a virtual reality headset. You can use your computer, mobile phone or tablet, or virtual reality headset web browser to access digital worlds for virtual events, online stores, e-learning, virtual tours, and collaboration. Our customers are businesses who use digital worlds to engage with their audiences with immersive 3D content." e base subscription fee is $99 a month. e company also offers premium subscription services for larger enterprise clients needing addi- tional support and scalability at $999 monthly and custom world creation on a project basis. e company would like to expand this toolset to support augmented real- ity and new types of content beyond the visual nature of 3D experiences. Making work meetings fun Events and meetings are just a small part of what these spaces are designed to do. Alakazam has galler- ies, theaters, and spaces that can be used for virtually anything subscrib- ers can imagine — in virtual reality, desktop and mobile. Alakazam creates virtual worlds, avatars, spatial audio, and event envi- ronments, a plug-and-play experience while offering on-demand assistance where needed for business. Once inside the virtual space, users can create ava- tars to look like them, changing their hair, eye color, clothes, etc. Users can have business meetings inside the space. e avatar will talk by the user either typing or speaking into the microphone. Your avatar can also fly around your space, walk around, and add different objects to the space, mak- ing the space their own. But that is not all. Universities and schools have been using the platform to have virtual reality classes. Class is in session Anthony Chow, a director of the School of Information at San Jose State University, found Alakazam by putting out a call for virtual reality consultants to help the university cre- ate a virtual reality presence as well as start teaching the school about the digital literacy behind how to develop virtual reality spaces so they could teach this to the students. "Adding a third dimension using virtual reality that is, of course, a 360 experience truly changes the entire paradigm on how we orga- nize, deliver, and access informa- tion," said Chow. "Case in point, I developed my curriculum vitae in virtual reality and have been able to express myself and share my back- ground in different ways." e space will be populated with a full-body scan of Chow in avatar form. He will also be adding other media, including slides. It will have a virtual reality library that represents his interactive curriculum. "In the end, extended reality — virtual reality, mixed reality, aug- mented reality — is a new world that will continue to increase in popularity because it adds that third dimension," said Chow. "What can we do with 33% (from 2D to 3D) more room to express ourselves and organize, deliver, and access informa- tion? We are also going to be using our mixed reality HoloLens2 at this year's graduation so that students who cannot attend in person can experi- ence graduation from the first-hand view of a student that can." e university will allow graduat- ing students the opportunity to cre- ate their own graduation rooms for friends and family. ey have created a virtual reality marketing space that students can visit on their comput- ers and devices and in virtual reality alpha format, as well as teaching virtual reality, mixed reality, and aug- mented reality through the school's Library Technology Integration Lab. e school has also created digital libraries from symposiums, etc. Alexis Wells, Mainebiz staff writer, can be reached at awells @ mainebiz.biz YOUR BUSINESS GROW START PROTECT 2 0 7 - 9 4 7 - 4 5 0 1 • r u d m a n w i n c h e l l . c o m C O U N S E L O R S A T L A W We have the experience that counts. VOLK PAXIT Leading the Way in Contract Packaging RE-PACK | FULFILLMENT | ASSEMBLY | 3PL SOLUTIONS DONE PACK SHIP ASSEMBLE FULFILL Volk Paxit - your business solution for Ecommerce, 3PL, and labor needs. Scan the QR code to learn more about how Volk Paxit can help your business. www.volkpaxit.com In the end, extended reality — virtual reality, mixed reality, augmented reality — is a new world that will continue to increase in popularity because it adds that third dimension. — Anthony Chow San Jose State University

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