Digility2018:CologneasanInternationalInnovationHotspotforDigitalRealities
(Source: DIGILITY / Images: Koelnmesse/DIGILITY 2018)
In 2018, the DIGILITY, a B2B conference and expo for technologies and services around Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, 3D, and Artificial Intelligence, took place for the third time in Cologne. It impressed all participants with an outstanding program on three stages and an even broader range of offerings from exhibitors by including new topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics. A key focus this year: The use of immersive technologies in employee training. DIGILITY 2018 demonstrated significant progress in this area: For companies, the savings and optimization potentials are becoming more apparent. More providers are offering support or are able to respond to companies' needs individually and program corresponding solutions. Central to this development is the exchange with developers, who for the first time were given their own stage program this year. VR/AR applications for rehabilitation and health prevention are also taking clearer shape and were made tangible for visitors at the DIGILITY exhibitors' stands through demos and prototypes of applications and products.
Playing foosball and climbing in VR
It was interesting for us to see how many VR installations worked in combination with real physical haptics, for example, by wearing a VR headset and sensor gloves on a climbing wall to simulate climbing or a foosball tournament in virtual reality.
Giving space to developers
For the first time, a two-day conference for developers took place as part of DIGILITY. It provided space and time to exchange ideas and delve deeply into topics. Topics presented included “The challenge to design powerful VR applications”, “Solutions for large CAD data automatic preparation & optimization”, “Spatial Sound – Immersive 3D Audio Developing“, “xR applications with Unity technology” and “Applying AI to AR/VR”. Developers are the focal point of all technologies presented at DIGILITY; without them, little can be achieved today.
Artificial Intelligence also a key topic at DIGILITY
The use of artificial intelligence was part of many presentations on all stages and in various contexts: Ethical and moral aspects were discussed, as well as concrete use cases in everyday life and industry. This area is expected to play an even larger role at DIGILITY in the future, especially since there is currently no trade fair format for this topic in Germany. DIGILITY is the ideal transmitter between technology offerings and the demand for tangible application scenarios in the market. Around 1,400 participants experienced this firsthand in 2018 on the 5,000 square meter area.
Until next year...
The next DIGILITY will take place on May 8 and 9, 2019, parallel to photokina - the world's leading trade fair for imaging. For DIGILITY and its participants, this offers the opportunity to activate the large international visitor and business potential of photokina for themselves and to gain new cooperation partners. For the imaging industry, Digital Reality represents an extremely important growth area.