SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AWE (Augmented World Expo), the largest and longest running conference and expo dedicated to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), officially opened its exhibition doors today to kick off the biggest event in the event's 8-year history. With a record-breaking 212 exhibitors, 350 speakers, 300 journalists, 5,000 attendees and a mind-blowing 100,000-square-feet expo, AWE 2017 this year is showcasing the most cutting-edge AR and VR exhibits and demonstrations ever gathered in a single location.

Announcements today include innovations in entertainment, gaming and cinema, smart wearables, sensing toys, robotics and consumer electronics, cloud, enterprise and business technologies, human-computer interaction solutions, automotive, and high-performance APIs.

In addition, AWE is announcing AWEx, its strategy to partner with passionate experts and influencers around the world to further the growing worldwide demand for AR- and VR-centric events. The expansion takes AWE from the U.S., Europe and China to explore local candidates including Mexico City, Lisbon, Adelaide, Rome, Dubai and Tel Aviv.

"The growth of the industry is accelerating, and we are facing demand to bring AWE to multiple cities around the world," explained AWE founder, Ori Inbar. "That's why we are proud to announce AWEx. This program will support independent organizers who are passionate about our mission to address humanity's growing pains, such as overpopulation, globalization challenges and inequality.  AR + VR can help drive economic growth, democratize access to knowledge and health, and increase empathy with sustainability."

Highlights of today's remarkable announcements include:

CieAR is unveiling its new AR film platform which enables a unique and immersive filmexperience in real space and time with life-sized 3D virtual characters. www.ciear.ca.

Massless is unveiling the Massless Pen, a  high  accuracy,  responsive  and  intuitive  interface  device  that  enables designers  and  engineers  to  build,  edit,  manipulate,  review  and  collaborate  on  3D  models. www.massless.io

Deep Optics is unveiling and showing interactive demos of its tunable lens technology for the AR and VR markets. www.deepoptics.com.

Digibit is showcasing the world's first wearable gaming system that transforms your body into a mobile gaming controller. https://mydigibit.com/kickstarter/

Epson is introducing two new Moverio^® products – the Epson Moverio BT-350 augmented reality (AR) smart glasses optimized for multi-user "fleet" environments, and the Epson Moverio Pro BT-2200 smart headset for industrial applications. https://epson.com

Livemap is unveiling the 3rd pre-serial prototype of its motorcycle smart helmet with HUD based on AR technology. Ride a bike like a fighter pilot! https://livemap.info/

Arloopa is showcasing its ""Take a Photo with the Leopard" environmental information campaign to  raise  public  awareness  on biodiversity  conservation and threatened species. http://arloopa.com/

AnotherWorld VR is previewing KOBOLD, a new kind of creative fiction that blurs the line between cinema and VR gaming. http://anotherworldvr.com

Augmania is announcing the launch of its latest release, an out of the box DIY augmented reality authoring tool and its innovative web AR viewer. www.augmania.com.

Arvizio is demonstrating its Mixed Reality Studio Suite, a mixed reality platform that extends HoloLens capabilities as a full-fledged collaboration and conferencing tool. https://www.arvizio.io

Catchoom, global innovator in AR and image recognition software solutions is debuting the full suite of its new Visual Shopping solutions. catchoom.com/.

EcoCarrier is launching PizzAR, a cost efficient way to promote wares and services through AR on the top surface of a Pizza Box. www.ara2z.com

Fraunhofer IGD is presenting VisionLib, an AR one-size-fits-all library tracking system designed specifically for enterprise. https://www.igd.fraunhofer.de/en

HDBT is showcasing HDBaseT, a one-cable solution for Virtual Reality, supporting high-def audio, video, USB, controls, Ethernet and power over a single cable. www.hdbaset.org/

ICAROS is demonstrating its Active AR product, a fitness device and a game controller that allows users to control their flight path with nothing but their movements. http://www.icaros.net

IdentiToy is demonstrating its "machine interface over a display surface" technology, a touch-less, optical triangulation interface completely independent of human touch. http://www.identitoy.com

InsiderNavigation is revealing its indoor augmented reality navigation 1.0 tool to enable recording, localization and navigation within buildings. http://insidernavigation.com

Joinpad is demoing its remote video streaming and collaboration tool that lets on-field technicians share data and receive support from a remote expert.www.joinpad.net.

Kodak is showing off its PIXPR0 Orbit360 4K VR Camera - a minimalist approach to an all-in-one 360° VR camera utilizing two fixed focus lenses in a futuristic body. www.kodakpixpro.com.

Kopin is unveiling a reference design with Goertek for a new lightweight, super high-res, OLED-powered head-mounted display. www.kopin.com

LC-Tec Displays AB and SKUGGA Technology AB are demonstrating prototypes of the next generation automatically dimmable sunglasses. www.lc-tec.se

ManoMotion is releasing a SDK that provides developers and content creators with the tools and know-how to incorporate hand gestures into VR, AR, MR and IoT products and applications. http://manomotion.com/

Meta is unveiling the Meta Workspace, its spatial AR operating environment designed for creativity and collaboration . https://www.metavision.com

Wikitude, with Lenovo New Vision, is announcing a collaboration to develop an Augmented human (AH) Cloud. https://www.wikitude.com

Moback is demonstrating Perplexigon, a new multiplayer VR physics building game recently released on Steam's Early Access program and now available for purchase. http://perplexigon.com

Optinvent is debuting its new Ora-X smart headphones, blending audio and display for an unprecedented wearable entertainment experience. http://www.optinvent.com

Quantum Interface is introducing its groundbreaking, truly hands-free User Interface (UI) controls for headworn displays for industrial and enterprise applications. http://quantuminterface.com

Re'Flekt is unveiling the first platform to support simultaneous direct publication and model-based tracking for the Microsoft Hololens. https://www.re-flekt.com

Resonai will demonstrate Resonai Search, a visual search engine for VR/AR content. http://www.resonai.com

Scope AR is introducing significant updates to its live support video calling platform, Remote AR, making it the first remote assistance software to enable markerless tracking. http://www.scopear.com .

Soap Collective is debuting Atlas: Prologue, an interactive sci-fi adventure short highlighting episodic content and debuting on Oculus Rift + Touch. http://www.thesoapcollective.com

Stereolabs is announcing ZED Mini, a pass-through stereo camera accessory that gives VR developers a head-start on making mixed reality content. https://www.stereolabs.com

The Future Group is demonstrating its next-generation platform for creating immersive IMR, AR and VR content for TV production, mobile gaming and commercial solutions. https://www.futureuniverse.com

Tractica has released a new white paper assessing key use cases for augmented reality in smartphones and tablets, as well as new capabilities for smart glasses. https://www.tractica.com

twnkls is showcasing new mobile AR applications and solutions. http://twnkls.com

uSens is showing off its new, industry-first single-camera/dual-lens combined inside-out 6DOF (degrees of freedom) head-tracking and 26DOF hand-tracking technology. https://www.usens.com 

VividWorks is demonstrating its VividPlatform4, a Cloud-based 3D visual sales solution delivering photorealistic and user-friendly visualizations on-device and in-store. http://vividworks.com

Wrnch is demonstrating BodySLAM, a human pose estimation engine, enabling anyone with a smartphone to capture human motion. https://wrnch.com

Zappar is showcasing Zapbox, which does for mixed reality what Google Cardboard did for Virtual Reality. www.zappar.com

Zenko Games is unveiling its first gaming title, Diamonst Augmented Reality RPG, based on geolocalized narrative arcs, strategic gameplay and virtual pet features. http://zenkogames.com 

To see AWE 2017's full agenda of more than 300 speakers, visit http://www.augmentedworldexpo.com/agenda.

More about Augmented World Expo

AWE (Augmented World Expo) is the largest AR+VR conference and expo showcasing technologies which are augmenting our human capabilities, turning ordinary experiences into the extraordinary and empowering people to be better at anything they do in work and life: Superpowers to the People. AWE USA 2017 will feature more than 300 speakers and 250 exhibitors leading the charge in augmented and virtual reality. Join over 5,000 attendees to explore over 100,000-square-feet of cutting-edge demonstrations.

For more information and to register to attend, please visit www.awe2017.com. Journalists can request a complimentary press pass to Augmented Reality Expo 2017 by emailing jennifer@lightspeedpr.com.

Please follow Augmented World Expo on twitter at @ARealityEvent and #AWE2017.

More about Augmentedreality.org

AWE is produced by AugmentedReality.ORG a 501 (c) (6) non-profit organization. All profits are reinvested in AR.ORG's services. Its mission is to Advance Augmented Reality to Advance Humanity. It's Goal: 1 billion active users of AR by 2020.

AR.org facilitates and catalyzes the global and regional transformation of the AR industry by

• Educating and boosting awareness about the real power of AR
• Connecting the best talent around the world with the best in AR
• Hatching AR initiatives and helping bring them to market

SOURCE Augmented World Expo