Work of the Future
VirtualGrasp
Hands-on virtual reality training to upskill workers in the manufacturing industry
Our pitch:
Our brain is not built to memorize things we read, it is built to learn by doing. Still, the main way to learn a new work task is to read manuals and look at how others are performing the task. This has a massive impact across different industries, not least the manufacturing industry, where companies
face great challenges to secure competence among staff. The annual cost of
downtime caused by human errors in manufacturing companies are estimated to
€385bn. VR training has been proven to save large costs for industry companies.
However, currently it is too difficult to create and provide interactive
VR-training in a cost efficient and scalable way.
Our solution VirtualGrasp is the first product to enable VR-training that is adapted the customer's needs in a scalable way. With VirtualGrasp a manufacturing company gets access to a VR training application that enables the employees to practice in a natural and realistic way on how to operate the machines, specifically adapted the the company's manufacturing environment. We have standardized core components of the VR development process to be able to create customized VR training applications in an efficient way by re-using learning models and automating technical components. Our software VirtualGrasp automates the complex process of enabling interactivity in the training simulations. The technology is based on 8 years of robotics research and is the first of its kind.
Not only have we proven that VR is a great way for existing staff in the industry to learn, but we have also made a large study related to enabling VR for people with disabilities. In this study we found that VR is an efficient tool for people with neuropsychiatric disorders as well as people with dyslexia to learn and get new jobs.
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Stockholm, SverigeThe dimensions of the Challenge our solution addresses:
What makes our solution innovative:
Our technology is the first to enable natural and realistic hand interaction in VR. It is based on 8 years of awarded robotics research at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. The technology has been proven to enhance the memorization ability for people training in VR with over 54%. By combining our interaction engine with a standardized learning framework, we are able to create interactive, realistic and pedagogical training experiences in VR. The solution has been built together with leading research institutes in Sweden and France, and been tested and proven with global manufacturing companies.
How technology is integral to our solution:
Our solution is based on predictive algorithms that creates hand motion and interaction in real-time for artificial hands. Originally developed for robots, the software is now the first to enable realistic interaction in VR.
Our solution goals over the next 12 months:
We have built a scalable technical solution and proven that the product works with real manufacturing companies. We are now finding new application areas and reference cases to showcase the potential of the product.
Our vision over the next three to five years to grow and scale our solution to affect the lives of more people:
Our vision is to build a simple and scalable way for people to use VR for learning.
Our initial focus is on the manufacturing industry to generate large cost savings. Within 3 years we aim to expand the solution to other industries with complex practical tasks, incluing healthcare, maintenance among others. Within 5 years we aim to expand the solution to non-practical tasks, including education.
Our promotional video:
The key characteristics of the populations who will benefit from our solution in the next 12 months:
The regions where we will be operating in the next 12 months:
How we will reach and retain our customers or beneficiaries:
Our solution is cloud-based software that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. The customer needs a VR headset to use the product. The software is compatible with all major VR hardware on the market.
How many people we are currently serving with our solution:
The software has been deployed with a number of manufacturing companies, currently reaching over 1000 employees.
How many people we will be serving with our solution in the 12 months and the next 3 years:
WIthin 12 months we estimate the software to reach over 10 000 employees through 10+ companies. Within 3 years we aim to reach over 100 000 employees.
How our solution team is organized:
For-ProfitHow many people work on our solution team:
10How many years we have been working on our solution:
3-4 yearsThe skills our solution team has that will enable us to attract the different resources needed to succeed and make an impact:
We have a team comprised of awarded entrepreneurs and world-leading researchers working on the latest tech for the booming VR market.
Our revenue model:
We sell our software as SaaS to manufacturing companies all over the world. Thanks to our scalable technology and standardized learning framework we are able to supply customers with a customized training experience in VR as an easy-to-implement solution. This way we are able to scale the business in a way that previously have not been possible for customer-adapted VR training.
Why we are applying to Solve:
Virtual Reality has been proven to be able to fundamentally change and improve how people will acquire skills in the future. We have already started exploring how VR can be used to help people with disabilities to get new jobs as well as learn new tasks. We need to make sure that we develop the technology so that it helps all people around the world. In order to do this we need to work together, MIT Solve is the ideal forum for us to collaborate and find new partners to achieve this.
The key barriers for our solution:
Research has proven that VR is ideal for learning and training. The hardware and software has rapidly advanced the latest few years resulting in VR being accessible to anyone. If the society was ready, VR could fundamentally change and improve how people acquire skills already today. However, it takes time to embrace new technology. Our main challenge is to educate people all around the world about the potential of the technology, we believe that Solve can help us with this.
The types of connections and partnerships we would be most interested in if we became Solvers:
Solution Team
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Jakob Way CEO, Gleechi
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Our tagline:
Enable the next generation of learning with hands-on VR training.