The Rails Ahead: Metaverse event, held on October 3, 2024, brought together experts and industry leaders to explore the evolving landscape of AR, VR, and the metaverse. With a captivating opening dance performance, the stage was set for insightful presentations, showcasing how Finnish companies and international experts are pushing the boundaries of digital innovation. The event focused on the future of immersive technologies and their practical applications, from industrial training to healthcare, with a notable emphasis on collaboration across sectors.
Jani Vallirinne, University of Oulu
Jani Vallirinne opened the session with a focus on the integration of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to reshape digital experiences. He emphasized how these technologies could revolutionize industries like tourism, fitness, and even hybrid meetings where physical and digital worlds intersect. Vallirinne discussed the role of digital twins, AI-driven virtual replicas of real-world objects, offering a vision of how businesses can gain a competitive edge by embracing these innovations.
Keynote by Steven LaValle, University of Oulu
In his keynote, Steven LaValle explored the relationship between virtual reality (VR) and human perception, explaining how VR creates believable experiences by manipulating sensory inputs like light and depth. He introduced the Bayesian brain hypothesis, which explains how our brains construct coherent experiences from sensory data, and used illusions, like the famous Ames Room, to highlight how easily human perception can be fooled. He also touched on the future of avatars and embodiment in VR, stressing the importance of improving both hardware and software to avoid disorientation and fatigue in users.
Arto Pussinen, Business Finland
Arto Pussinen highlighted Business Finland’s commitment to driving innovation through its Veturi program, with €20 million allocated to large companies and €50 million aimed at supporting a collaborative ecosystem with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). He urged companies to define clear mission statements and take full advantage of available funding to drive forward R&D initiatives, aiming to raise Finland’s R&D investment to 4% of GDP.
Jari-Matti Taskinen, Patria Group
Jari-Matti Taskinen introduced Patria Group’s Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) system for military training, integrating real-life aircraft with synthetic environments to simulate complex scenarios. He emphasized the critical need for rapid technological adaptation in military applications, inviting collaboration from other companies to expand the metaverse’s role in defense.
Veli-Pekka Luoma, Nokia
Veli-Pekka Luoma from Nokia explored how the company is leveraging the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and immersive technologies to expand its enterprise business. Luoma introduced interactive digital twins, which merge physical and virtual environments for real-time collaboration. He stressed the importance of building trusted, secure ecosystems for technology providers, ensuring that metaverse applications meet high standards of security and energy efficiency.
Iftikhar Ahmad, TietoEvry
Iftikhar Ahmad discussed TietoEvry’s focus on delivering affordable and accessible digital services, particularly in sectors like banking and healthcare. He emphasized the need for trustworthy AI and compliance with upcoming regulations like the AI Act and GDPR, highlighting TietoEvry’s work in enhancing energy efficiency and expanding global VR applications.
Jukka Laitinen, Ponsse
Jukka Laitinen shared Ponsse’s journey in adopting metaverse technologies for the forestry machinery industry, from early skepticism to fully embracing digital twins and virtual simulators for training. Ponsse aims to enhance operational efficiency and sustainability, committing to carbon-neutral machinery despite challenges in real-time data collection in remote environments.
In the second part, MOVYA showcased an immersive demo of 3D world-building, while Medha Gupta from MEFI highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration for metaverse growth. Erkki Nuottila introduced funding opportunities for 3D modeling and digital twins, and Harri Majala from GBuilder presented their work in the construction sector, leveraging digital twins for personalized home-building experiences. Mari Kärkkäinen of Near-Real demonstrated healthcare-focused digital twins for real-time health monitoring, and Pekka Varis from Cineshare showcased collaborative scene creation using NVIDIA’s Omniverse platform. Aurora Piirto from Lingsoft concluded with AI-driven language solutions, ensuring multilingual communication in the metaverse.
Colin Brown, Agentic Workflows
Colin Brown introduced Agentic Workflows, a new AI system where tasks are divided into smaller components, each managed by different AI agents, or mini ChatGPTs. This innovative approach enhances the flexibility and efficiency of AI across various industries. Brown shared his team’s eight-month journey, discussing challenges such as memory loss and limited context windows that occur when AI agents forget tasks mid-process. He also explored the balance between using large, generalized AI models like ChatGPT and smaller, industry-specific models.
Brown highlighted real-world applications of agentic workflows, including collaborations with the World Bank to help smaller organizations in Rwanda and Ethiopia bid on large-scale projects. He also discussed developing a mental health AI chatbot for resource-limited countries, emphasizing how AI can address global issues while maintaining privacy and data security. His talk emphasized that AI development requires not only technological advancements but also human adaptability and expertise to solve complex global problems.
Keynote by Damon Hernandez: Navigating the Future of the Metaverse
Damon Hernandez from MIXX Reality Oy delivered a keynote on navigating the future of the metaverse, emphasizing the importance of specialization for businesses. He encouraged companies to focus on mastering a specific niche rather than attempting to handle multiple projects, which often leads to overstretching resources. Hernandez highlighted the importance of passion-driven innovation, noting that enthusiasm and dedication can drive success even with limited financial backing.
He urged companies to focus on solving real customer problems instead of getting distracted by internal technical challenges. Hernandez emphasized that customer-centric solutions lead to long-term success. He also advocated for collaboration between local and global experts, sharing his efforts to connect Finnish professionals with international pioneers in virtual reality and the metaverse. His work in launching an immersive sustainability lab exemplifies the potential of international partnerships to achieve impactful results.
In conclusion, Hernandez encouraged companies to embrace failure as a learning opportunity and act swiftly in the fast-changing metaverse landscape. With Finland’s strong technological infrastructure and innovative culture, he believes the country is well-positioned to lead in metaverse advancements. He urged participants to collaborate across borders and seize the opportunities that the metaverse presents.
Conclusion by Jussi Leponiemi
Jussi Leponiemi, Key Account Manager at Business Oulu, wrapped up the event by recognizing that while the excitement around the metaverse has shifted toward newer technologies like Generative AI, it’s now the perfect time to focus on building real value. He highlighted the importance of keeping the momentum going and encouraged collaboration between businesses, universities, and tech organizations to drive the metaverse forward. The overall takeaway was clear: Finland is in a great position to lead the way in the metaverse, thanks to its strong tech infrastructure and culture of innovation.
As we embrace the exciting potential of the metaverse, we encourage you to connect with our key contacts: Jussi Leponiemi, Ari Saine, Jani Vallirinne, and Jani Jokitalo. They are eager to discuss opportunities for developing consortiums that can drive innovation and collaboration in this evolving landscape. Let’s work together to create impactful solutions for the future. Reach out and let’s start the conversation!
Contacts for joint initiatives and business development
– Jussi Leponiemi, Key Account Director, ICT – jussi.leponiemi@businessoulu.com
– Ari saine, Smart City Communications Coordinator, ari.saine@businessoulu.com
– Jani Vallirinne, Metaverse Strategy Lead, jani.vallirinne@oulu.fi
– Jani Jokitalo, Account Manager, ICT & Digitalization Business Finland, jani.jokitalo@businessfinland.fi