Total Immersion Receives USD $5,5M in Funding Led by Intel Capital

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Total Immersion

Press Release :  Total Immersion, global leader in augmented reality, announced today that it has secured USD $5,5M in a funding round led by Intel Capital joined by existing investors Partech, iSource and Elaia Partners. The new funding will be used towards further development of the D’Fusion platform and to drive new usage of augmented reality (AR) for end-users. Specifically, the team will be focusing on expanding operations in Asia and in the US, developing a large community of developers and exploring new consumer markets.

“Augmented reality is one of the key technologies enabling contextual computing on the mobile phone, tablets and PC through interactive experience for exploration, suggestion and direction. At Total Immersion, we’re constantly looking for developing usage of augmented reality experiences for our customers and for end-users and this investment is another big step towards that objective,” said Bruno Uzzan, CEO and co-founder of Total Immersion.

“Total Immersion provides a unique and immersive user experience,” said Christian Morales, General Manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa of Intel Corporation. “Augmented reality is changing the way how people perceive and interact with their environment. It offers new opportunities for both developers and users. We look forward to working with Total Immersion to develop new usage experiences for Intel platforms”

“Augmented reality is a disruptive technology blending real life with digital information which will enable new and exciting businesses” said Marcos Battisti, Intel Capital’s Managing Director for Western Europe and Israel. “Total Immersion is bringing this ground breaking new technology into everyday life and our investment will enable the company to accelerate its growth and adoption. We are truly excited by Total Immersion’s capabilities and their contribution to future evolutions in this field.”

Total Immersion Solutions:

Total Immersions proposes a complete software platform: D’Fusion®, allowing the development and the deployment of immersive Augmented Reality experiences on the following devices: PC, Mac, Tablets and Smartphones.

Total Immersion develops verticals applications such as virtual glasses trying-on.

About Total Immersion

Leading the augmented reality industry since 1999, Total Immersion provides the world’s most widely used commercial augmented reality platform. Through its patented D’Fusion® software solution, Total Immersion blurs the line between the virtual world and the real world by integrating real time interactive 3D graphics into a live video stream. The company maintains offices in Europe, North America and Asia. Total Immersion supports the world’s largest augmented reality partner network, with a diversified portfolio of more than 120 best-of-breed solution providers worldwide.

Find the latest news about Total Immersion at: www.t-immersion.com/

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, home, mobility, health, consumer Internet, semiconductor manufacturing and cleantech. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$9.8 billion in over 1,100 companies in 48 countries. In that timeframe, 189 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 258 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2010, Intel Capital invested US$327 million in 119 investments with approximately 44 percent of funds invested outside the U.S. and Canada. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com.

About I-Source

I-Source is a French venture capital firm dedicated to investing in early stage companies in Information and Communication Technologies, stemming from public or private research.

With more than 70 investments the last 10 years, I-Source is specialized in: Corporate Software and Internet infrastructure, Multimedia content and Technologies, Communication systems, Managed Services, Embedded systems, Eco-Technologies, and associated services.

The company is managed by a team of highly professional investors with in-depth experience in technology, R&D, marketing, business development, sales and management in IT sectors.

More information at: www.isourcegestion.fr

About Elaia Partners

Founded in 2002, Elaia Partners is an independent venture firm focused on Digital Economy. Elaia Partners is run by a team of four professionals with over sixty years of cumulative experience in technology, private equity or in operational roles in technology companies, committed to taking a very active role in the investee companies, helping them benefit from their broad technology know-how. Elaia Partners currently manages more than €80 million mainly through Elaia Ventures, a French FCPR fund backed by a diverse range of LPs – financial institutions, industrials and family offices– and through funds delegated by 123Venture, Neotec and Crédit Agricole Private Equity.

More information at: www.elaia.com

About Partech

Partech focuses on high-growth opportunities in internet and information technology. Specific areas of investment include e-commerce, digital media, software, energy optimization and components. In each of these areas, Partech looks for companies with a disruptive approach and a clear leadership potential. Partech is one of the most established venture firms in the European and American markets and is one of the most experienced in growing young companies internationally. It is also a team that has successfully implemented a long-term strategy, over multiple funds. Our global way of thinking has been successfully applied for nearly 30 years. Many of our 100+ portfolio IPO and M&A exits include global companies and transatlantic success stories: Akimbi Systems (VMW), Alvarion (ALVR), Apsylog (PRGN), Ascend Communications (ASND), Brands4Friends (EBAY), Buongiorno (BNG.MI), (Business Objects (BOBJ), Cadence Design (CDNS), Cartesis (SAP), DCT (SYMC), Digital Island (ISLD), Fluxus (BT), Informatica (INFA), ISDnet (CW), Jungo (NNDS), Meiosys (IBM), Pentasafe (NTIQ), Q-layer (ORCL), Quinstreet (QNST), Teknovus (BRCM), Verifone (PAY), Vignette (VIGN) and Visicu (EICU). For more details, please visit www.partechventure.com

Contacts

Olivier Audouze, VP Marketing Total Immersion
+ 33 (0)1 46 25 06 10
olivier.audouze@t-immersion.com

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Total Immersion Develops First Ipad 2 Augmented Reality Application

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Total Immersion

Front and Rear-Facing Camera Features Enable A Whole New Level of Interactivity

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 14, 2011) –Total Immersion, the global leader in augmented reality, revealed today the first augmented reality application developed for the iPad 2.  This playful application titled, “AR Magic Mirror” gives users a selection of wacky virtual hairstyles, glasses and accessories to try on, or to try on their friends.  The app uses facial recognition to identify the user and apply virtual 3D enhancements to their video image in real time through augmented reality functionality.  “AR Magic Mirror” is planned to be a free application available on iTunes.

 

Built on Total Immersion’s patented D’Fusion® platform, “AR Magic Mirror” is a preview of a segment poised for significant growth. “This second generation iPad will be a key enabler to what we will soon see in a massive range of powerful augmented reality applications.” said Bruno Uzzan, Co-founder and CEO, Total Immersion.  “With the portability, processing power and broad consumer adoption of the iPad 2, a simple face tracking app today could soon become an essential makeover tool with beauty products at retail.  Likewise a traditional game of online chess could become a massive, multiplayer game in the real world playing alongside vivid 3D characters and environments.”

 

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Blog Review SD Times : “Businesses still trying to get a feel for augmented reality”

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Total Immersion

Have a look at this article :  Software Development Times

 

Still in the early stages of development, augmented reality (AR) technology can be used by developers looking to enhance the user experience with a tie-in to the real world, experts in the technology believe.

Developers will need to study applications and platforms that have already been created in order to determine how to utilize the technology for their brand, according to research analyst Jackie Fenn, a fellow at Gartner.

She said that these applications need to determine first how they will create the mix between the real and virtual world: Will it be from a camera on a cell phone? Or will it be created on a desktop screen? These applications must then be tested to ensure that they are accurately depicting the text, images and other components correctly, instead of having text, for example, lying on top of a location or item designed to be showcased by the application, such as a sofa being transposed over an empty space in a customer’s living room.

“The most compelling applications, and how you add value, is by having a link to the physical world and helping users make a decision, like in the IKEA application that allows you to take a card from the store and bring it home, and then, with an application and a camera, visualize the sofa in your home in place of the card,” Fenn said.

Forrester senior analyst Thomas Husson, who authored a December report on AR, likes the definition of the technology set by Total Immersion, a company that developed the D’Fusion AR platform. The company defines AR as a technology that “integrates 3D objects into live video, and then the video is digitally processed and ‘augmented’ with 3D components,” according to its website.

In order for the app to be successful, Husson said it must add value to the experience and cautions that is “not always easy to deliver.”

The December report also said, “One of the key success factors that will unleash the potential of AR is to bring together developers on an open platform scalable across multiple operating systems.” To that end, Adobe and Total Immersion announced an alliance in November to create a universal platform for computers, one that didn’t require a plug-in, according to CEO and co-founder of Total Immersion, Bruno Uzzan.

[more]

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Total Immersion And eBay Bring Virtual ‘See it On’ Feature To eBay’s Fashion App

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Total Immersion

Relationship Raises the Bar in E-Commerce Innovation

LOS ANGELES (February 1st, 2011) – Total Immersion revealed the first public release of its relationship with eBay – a mobile shopping feature within eBay’s Fashion app called “See It On” where the user can virtually try on sunglasses in real time through augmented reality functionality. Using an iPhone 4 or iPod Touch with a front facing camera, the app uses facial recognition to identify the user and apply virtual sunglasses to their video image. The user is able to adjust the fit, choose different styles, frames, lenses and colors to find their perfect look.  Within the app they can then browse through eBay to find the perfect pair at the perfect price.

Built on Total Immersion’s patented D’Fusion® platform, “See It On” Sunglasses allows users to virtually try on sunglasses in real time through augmented reality functionality. “We are thrilled to be working with eBay, and part of a rich collaboration that can potentially redefine how people shop,” said Bruno Uzzan, Co-Founder and CEO, Total Immersion. “The ability to provide consumers with realistic simulation in shopping environments not only builds confidence in their decision, but also dramatically enhances the discovery and efficiency aspects, creating an overall more satisfying shopping experience.”

“eBay’s goal is to make it simple, fast and convenient for consumers to shop virtually anywhere, anytime,” says Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile. “By working with Total Immersion, we were able to bring augmented reality to the eBay Fashion iPhone app to allow consumers to experience products on eBay in a whole new way. Shoppers can skip the lines at stores to virtually ‘try on’ and shop for sunglasses wherever they are.”

eBay Fashion can be downloaded for free at the iTunes App Store (currently available in US & Canada); search for “eBay Fashion”. Additional information on the app and a video demonstration can be found at http://mobile.ebay.com/iphone/fashion.

About Total Immersion

Total Immersion (www.t-immersion.com) is the global leader in augmented reality. Through its patented D’Fusion® technology, Total Immersion blurs the line between the virtual world and the real world by integrating real time interactive 3D graphics into a live video stream. Leading the augmented reality category since 1999, the company maintains offices in Europe (France and UK), Asia, and North America. Total Immersion supports the world’s largest AR Partner network, with a diversified portfolio of best-of-breed solutions providers worldwide.  Find the latest news about Total Immersion at: http://blog.t-immersion.com.

Contact:

US & Canada:
Greg Davis, General Manager,
+323-617-4841
greg.davis@t-immersion.com

Europe & Asia:
Emmanuelle Pasturel, Marketing Manager
+33-146-25-06-11
emmanuelle.pasturel@t-immersion.com

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Meet and Greet @ E-Marketing Paris 2011 : Jan. 25/26th

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Total Immersion

Total Immersion will have a massive presence @ E-Marketing Paris 2011 taking place in Paris on January 25-26th.

Total Immersion’s CEO, Bruno Uzzan will be speaker at the opening keynote “Optimizing its Digital Footprint” (January 25th – 9h-10h).

Olivier Audouze  will animate a session about Digital Marketing and Augmented Reality on Mobile on the 26th. (10h10-10h30)

Visit our booth in the “Mobile Space area” located at the third floor where you can experience live our latest projects

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Total Immersion on TV : Making of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch Augmented Reality Campaign

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Total Immersion

Discovery Channel unveiled an interactive advertising to promote Deadliest Catch. This ad features an Augmented Reality Game : Big Catch Game.

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Vantage Surgical Systems Joins Total Immersion’s North America Partner Network, Aims to Deploy Augmented Reality in Live Surgery

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Total Immersion

Total Immersion has announced the addition of Vantage Surgical Systems as a Certified D’Fusion Value Added Reseller to its North American Partner network, the world’s largest network dedicated to AR.

Based in Los Angeles, Vantage Surgical Systems is a new medical technology company pioneering advanced surgical visualization solutions through the use of AR and other techniques.  Its mission is to improve patient outcomes through superior visualization during live surgery, which is accomplished by overlaying and tracking diagnostic data on a surgeon’s field of vision in real time.  Vantage calls this technology “Computed Surgical Visualization” (CSV™), and believes CSV will in time be applied to any surgery using endoscopes or visual aids such as microscopes.

Currently, surgeons analyze diagnostic images prior to surgery, mentally create a plan of action, commit everything to memory, and then translate these mental images into action in the operating room, in 3D and real-time.   CSV will greatly relieve surgeons of this burden and by accurately overlaying such diagnostic images over a live, moving camera feed, effectively enable them to “see through organs” while performing surgery.

According to Vantage CEO Vacit Arat, ophthalmology, especially retinal surgery, offers the quickest promise of rapid CSV deployment.  In today’s retinal laser surgical procedures, while the eye is continuously moving, surgeons must manually aim lasers one target at a time, leaving a great deal of room for inaccurate execution and taking a long time to go through the whole procedure.  When used as part of an automated retinal laser surgery procedure, the AR system helps eliminate human error in targeting while greatly accelerating the time it takes to perform the surgery.

“An ophthalmology AR system could be on the market in a year or two, well ahead of other applications in surgery, because it builds on various FDA-approved procedures,” Arat said.  “We’re hopeful that its success, in turn, will inspire development of similar AR systems in other fields of surgery.”

“Vantage Surgical Systems is at the forefront of an AR revolution in medical technologies,” said Total Immersion CEO Bruno Uzzan.  “This system represents a real breakthrough in how AR is being applied to address – and solve – some of the most daunting challenges in medicine and science.   We view augmented reality as a new way of seeing, so perhaps it’s fitting that the first application area involves protecting the gift of sight.”

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AR Immersion 2010 Video: Mobile AR

Posted on November 30, 2010 by Total Immersion

Bruno Uzzan (Co-Founder and CEO, Total Immersion), Jason Smith (Pre-Sales/Product Marketing, Total Immersion), Hartwig Adam (Visual Search, Google Goggles) and Michael Breslin (VP Marketing, Glu Mobile) speak in the Mobile AR panel at AR Immersion 2010, November 9, Los Angeles, CA.

For more videos from AR Immersion, visit Total Immersion’s AR Immersion 2010 YouTube Channel.

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AR Immersion 2010: Summary: Mobile AR

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Total Immersion

Bruno Uzzan, Jason Smith, Hartwig Adam and Michael Breslin gathered during the “Mobile AR” panel to discuss new features in Total Immersion’s D’Fusion Mobile SDK and what the future has in store for mobile augmented reality.

Total Immersion defines AR for mobile devices as markerless tracking and image-recognition, as opposed to geolocation (GPS, real-time 3D data) and marker-based tracking.  Developing successful mobile AR applications depends on integration with the unique hardware features of the smartphone as well as with mobile apps. The D’Fusion Mobile SDK , which boasts optimized algorithms for such tracking, is now available for partner development on the Android and iPhone, with such features as facetracking.

Glu’s Michael Breslin sees AR as spurring a revolution in mobile gaming. Smartphones have become an ubiquitous platform with a projected 3 billion sales in 2011, and an install base of 1.9 billion mobile cameras at the end of 2008. AR games can be defined as a “new and rich game experience allowing players to move and interact in their physical environment with 3D content”. Two current trends in mobile AR trends are small, modifiable apps, and larger-scale games that integrate physical and virtual triggers (i.e. geolocation-triggered text messages). The freemium model can be adapted to AR gaming with upsells for AR features and content. For example, in-game purchases of AR poker chips for a mobile poker game bring in more revenue than one-time downloads.

Google Goggles is an image-reading and recognition technology that connects user-submitted image queries with information and content on the web on a global scale, enabling mobile AR interactions. It can currently recognize 1B pieces of artwork, and other such image categories as logos and product packaging. Google’s streetview database also allows realtime location tracking, for such applications as 3D annotations and virtual graffiti. Query return speeds depend mainly on Wifi vs 3G; currently image-recognition takes 500 ms, making it the least significant contributor to latency.

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AR Immersion 2010 Video: Keynote: The Past, Present and Future of TI

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Total Immersion

Bruno Uzzan, CEO and Co-Founder of Total Immersion, speaks about the past, present and future of Total Immersion during his keynote at AR Immersion 2010, November 9, Los Angeles, CA.

For more videos from AR Immersion, visit Total Immersion’s AR Immersion 2010 YouTube Channel.

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