SynergyXR 2.3 Release Highlights

Here’s what we’ve packed inside the latest version of SynergyXR 

• Procedures that let you standardize and scale your training 
• iOS AR mode that makes collaboration fast and easy 
• Layered 3D models that give you greater detail   

Do you want to save money by minimizing machine downtime and improving productivity and safety for your employees? With the new virtual procedures training feature, you can standardize training programs and deploy them at scale. With virtual procedure training, you can train employees faster, without having to stop production, and with zero risk of injury.  

Are you looking for a faster and more cost-effective way to connect your experts with on-site technicians using the device they already carry in their pocket? Now you can with SynergyXR for iOS! Now you can use your iOS device (i.e., iPhone/iPad) to create photorealistic digital copies of entire technical installations on the fly and provide the crucial contextual information remote experts need for faster troubleshooting.  

We’re excited to offer this and much more in SynergyXR 2.3. 

Procedures let you standardize and scale your training 

SynergyXR has always been a go-to platform for virtual education and onboarding. And with the new procedures training feature, it’s now easier for employees to retain new skills by creating interactive and intuitive training sessions that workers can complete on their own and at their own pace. Procedures are perfect for complicated step-by-step training situations like product assembly, safety protocols, and machine maintenance.   

Procedures are custom-made training experiences built on top of the SynergyXR platform. What used to cost millions is now baked directly into the platform (at a fraction of the cost) and gives the user access to all the tools of the SynergyXR platform.  

SynergyXR procedures offer three types of training: 

• Instructor-led training  
• Group training 
• Self-paced training 

Now companies can standardize and scale their training programs faster. And by converting tacit and written knowledge to a digital format, it’s easier to preserve and share as the most knowledgeable employees leave the company.

iOS AR mode makes collaboration fast and easy 

Being able to create a spatially persistent digital copy of a real-world location and then making it instantly available so your colleagues elsewhere can join you to collaborate and troubleshoot is something that has only been possible through devices like the HoloLens. Until now!  

With the latest update to SynergyXR for iOS, on-site technicians can now grab an iOS device (with LiDAR capabilities) and create a photorealistic scan of an installation that is spatially anchored to the real world.  

This enables true next-generation remote support, troubleshooting, and collaboration. Experts can join through PC or Virtual Reality (VR) to appear as virtual avatars right next to the on-site technician who made the scan literally minutes ago. With intuitive touchscreen controls, it’s never been easier to interact with the digital copy of the real world when compared to traditional MR devices. 

Remote support just got a whole lot faster and easier.  

See more of your 3D models 

Many users today upload complex 3D models to SynergyXR for design reviews, teaching, and other educational goals. We’ve added a new feature that now lets users access all the model’s layers and decide which layers to show and which layers to hide. You can even highlight individual layers to draw attention to them.  

This is a fantastic tool to use when reviewing design alternatives or exploring layers like, for example, electrical installations and water pipes that are often layered in 3D models of buildings.

SynergyXR 2.3 – technical release notes

Sign up for a 7-day free trial directly from our homepage 

• Users without previous SynergyXR experience can now signup for a free trial 
• A completely new Organization and Workspace is automatically being created, making the user the first admin, ready to invite colleagues 
• The free trial is limited to 6 users for 7-days 

Procedures 

• Procedures are complex pieces of content that our world-class Professional Services team can build to fit your specific training needs 
• A Procedure consists of a series of steps each giving the user clear guidance to what he/she is expected to do, including:
• Textual description of the next step 
• Audio guidance of the next step 
• Highlight of objects the user should interact with 
• Highlight of drop zones where objects should be placed 
• Arrows pointing to the next object to interact with 
• Users can be asked to press buttons, grab objects and move them to other positions, walk around in the environment, interact with tools and touch screens, look at certain objects, and many more types of interactions 
• Users grab and move objects using the grab button in VR 
• Users press buttons directly with the avatars hand 
• Users interact with other types of elements by pressing the trigger button in VR 
• Procedures can be delivered in different languages, allowing text, audio guidance and even 3D models to be localized 
• When in a Space containing a Procedure, the wrist menu in VR is collapsed in a “burger” menu to ensure the wrist menu does not interfere with operations done during a Procedure 
• Underneath the “burger” menu, a special Procedure menu is placed for easy access 
• Users can always read the guidance to the next step from the Procedure UI 
• Users can also call the Procedure UI to their position from the special Procedure wrist menu 
• Users can request the latest audio guidance to be repeated from the special Procedure wrist menu 
• Users can skip to the next step in the Procedure from the special Procedure wrist menu 
• Users can restart the Procedure from the special Procedure wrist menu 
• Procedures are often delivered fully installed in a custom Environment – these can be found in the “New Space” tab under the “Procedures” category 
• Procedures can also be placed in existing Environments by adding them like any other type of content from the special “Procedures” tab of the content browser. 
• While placing a Procedure, all content of the Procedure is shown in a ghost outline showing how much space is needed for users to perform the training 
• Procedure interactions are most natural in VR, but are also fully supported on PC, and iOS in both virtual and AR mode. Unfortunately, Procedures are not supported on HoloLens.  

iOS AR mode 

• Users on a LiDAR capable iOS device can choose to create a new Space by scanning part of the real world 
• Users will be guided through the scanning process. For reliable spatial persistence the users are asked to move around allowing SynergyXR to scan at least approximately 15m2 
• Users are advised to keep distance to walls and objects – optimally 3-4 meters. 
• Once done, the user can name the new Space and save it. The user is then automatically placed in the virtual version of the new Space allowing him/her to review the quality of the scan before proceeding building out the Space 
• At any point in time, the user can choose to switch to AR mode to see content placed in the Space as augmented overlay on top of the real world 
• When switching to AR mode, the user is asked if he/she is physically in the location where the scan was originally created. The reason for this is that SynergyXR needs to recognize the real world and align the virtual content to this in order to offer a spatially persistent AR experience 
• PC-users can also request video to be streamed from the iOS user in AR mode allowing video-based remote support similar to from HoloLens 

3D model layer 

• If a 3D model consists of more than a single object-layer, a new “Model layer” option is available in the content “burger” menu 
• Clicking this, shows a UI panel with each layer of the model as a separate element of a scrollable list 
• When hovering on a layer element in the UI, the corresponding part of the 3D model is highlighted 
• Users can choose to enable or disable rendering of each individual layer of the 3D model
• The Model Layer UI panel can be moved around freely in the 3D Environment, and pinned in place 

Empty Space categories 

• When creating a new Space, available empty Spaces are separated into the following categories: 
• Scanning & AR: Only available for LiDAR enabled iOS devices 
• Custom Spaces: List of all custom Spaces the user has available on the Workspace 
• Procedures: List of Spaces including a custom-made Procedure 
• Common Spaces: List of all common Spaces that is available as part of SynergyXR 

Demos and Template Spaces 

• A new demo showcasing Procedures as been added to the list of demos. Try out everything the Procedures have to offer when being guided through the assembly of a steel beam 
• In the “Demos & Templates” section we now offer three Templates for Onboarding, Sales and Showroom use cases respectively 
• Templates are “clean” versions of the existing Demos but without any domain-specific content 
• Templates contain placeholder content that users can use as inspiration for building their own experiences in SynergyXR 
• When creating a new Space based on a Template, any changes made are saved to a new Space that can be found in the “Load Space” tab 

Screen-space UI for iOS and PC 

• To improve usability, we have started rolling out screen-space UI on PC and iOS 
• We aim at providing screen-space UI for all relevant UI for flat screen devices in the future, but we start with UI spawned inside a live SynergyXR session, including: 
• Content browser 
• Portal menu 
• Participant list 

KTX compression 

• We have identified several cases where the KTX compression of images and 3d model textures have resulted in undesirable visual artefacts 
• KTX compression is now disabled by default when uploading new content in SynergyXR – Manager 
• Users can still enable KTX compression to save on device memory, and allow for more content in a single Space 
• We have made several visual improvements to the resulting visual appearance, but we advise users to do their own quality assurance in case they decide to use KTX compression 

Miscellaneous other changes and improvements 

• The maximum scale of content is increased from 500% to 2000% 
• When browsing for content, users can now enable/disable built-in content delivered as part of SynergyXR in their search results 
• VR in-app screenshot feature has been improved ensuring that the camera seeker and the resulting screenshot is better aligned 
• The tutorial is now a “Demo” space that can be accessed from the “Demos & Templates” tab. This means, that it no longer can be accessed from the door in the lobby 
• Two new “Common Spaces” have been added – stylized white rooms that can really make your products pop