BIZ BAHRAIN JAN-FEB 2018

Interview | NGN International
defense enterprises were the first ones to
test VR technology for training purposes
and become convinced in its efficiency.
One of NGN International's partners
is a company that delivers 3D engines
optimized for huge virtual worlds, ideal
for designing and testing strategic
and tactical solutions for any military
operations and simulating joint
operations by various branches of the
armed forces, while maintaining a highquality
graphics.
Tell us about the benefits that VR can
provide for educational process at
schools and universities.
Virtual reality can contribute
to more interactive, exciting and
immersive educational process. An
obvious value of VR is a capability to
create a unique personal experience for
every participant, while ensuring the
collaboration between an instructor and
students, even if they are far away from
each other.
We also cooperate with engineering
companies and universities, striving
to create the synergy of businesses,
educational institutions and
manufacturing companies. This triangle
works everywhere in the world, including
a variety of manufacturing sectors.
Although Bahrain still needs some
development in this area, I am happy
to see more young specialists who are
really excited about it.
What do you think are the biggest
barriers for AR/VR right now?
One of the key factors that hamper
the VR market growth is a limited
number of VR content developers and,
hence, lack of qualified content. Highquality
VR content requires powerful
computing capacity and expertise. For
example, game developers produce
content of acceptable quality, which
is however insufficient for using in
manufacturing and business. VR content
developer is still very young profession
and needs time to mature. The more
professional VR developers we have
the more business-focused VR content
reaches the market.
Still seldom use of VR devices also
slows down VR application in business.
Many people expect too much of VR
technology and think it can do anything.
HMD devices that can truly immerse
users in virtual reality are very expensive
and rarely used by businesses. We think
this is going to change. The devices will
become cheaper and more cost-effective.
Failure-free VR technology operation
requires a VR-Ready infrastructure and
sufficient number of users and devices
that support VR. Just like computers
decades ago, virtual reality will move
beyond military and industrial use
and finally reach every household and
become very attractive for businesses.
We have invested $2
million in state-ofthe-art
VR & AR Centre
of Excellence lab and
training facilities in our
office in the Bahrain
World Trade Centre
to inspire Bahraini
youth to learn and use
these cutting-edge
technologies.
How mainstream is it really going to be?
I am sure that eventually VR
technology will drastically change a
variety of sectors, including healthcare,
oil production, and automobile
manufacturing, and will help reduce
costs and accelerate decision-making.
I believe the major growth will
happen in the industries where the
process reproduction in real life is much
more expensive than in virtual reality
or impossible at all. Retailers, telcos, oil
and gas, and manufacturing enterprises
will drive VR development to address
their own business needs. Promising
targets for VR and AR could be blue
collar training, technical visualization
for industrial design, and support of real
estate sales.
The key factor here is budget and
cost effectiveness. For example, an
emergency drill for oil and gas site
personnel in real life can cost tens of
millions of dollars, while VR content
production and VR simulator training
will be much less expensive. Another
case is astronaut training. Even though
it is almost impossible to simulate space
conditions on Earth, virtual reality allows
astronauts to practice docking and other
on-board operations step-by-step.
What are some of the general VR trends
in the market today?
Nuclear energy, shipbuilding, aircraft
engineering, and defense industry
became the first manufacturing sectors
to implement VR and AR technologies,
mainly for design and training tasks,
and acquired relevant hardware and are
now looking for hardware and software
updates, thus adopting VR Ready
infrastructure approach.
In addition, it is now evident that
companies are eager to use HMD devices
and CAVE systems at the same time.
For example, HMD is a tool for employee
workstations, while CAVE systems are
installed in special labs (R&D centers)
to enable collaboration, demonstrate
research deliverables, and visualize both
calculations and certain processes.
Companies are now adopting
digital information materials and
computer simulators, including
Learning Management System (LMS).
The next step of this evolution will
include so-called Serious Games and
VR apps focused on trainings with
high granularity. Moreover, standard
booklets, computer apps, 3D and VR apps
already define operating procedures and
algorithms that should be in place at the
enterprise.
A lot of people think that technology
distracts us from the real world; that it
pulls us away from reality. What would
you say to them?
People are always skeptical about
innovations. However, I am convinced
that virtual reality technologies give
us much more than take. For instance,
with VR, you can simulate how a natural
disaster will affect a nuclear power
plant to be located in a coastal area,
and thus identify challenging points,
even before starting the construction.
VR technology helps deal with mental
disorder and phobias, while surgery
simulation in virtual reality is a big aid to
physicians preparing for operations. VR
is a real godsend for emergency drills at
manufacturing facilities, which prevents
injury and even death. And it is just the
top of the iceberg.
January-February 2018
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