Use of Augmented Reality Glasses in Conferencing

The circumstances of the COVID pandemic have accelerated the pace of adoption of innovations in the events industry. To ensure Geneva is a hub of modern conferencing and that UNOG conference services continue to meet the needs of its clients, InnoVent 2 is organized as a one-day event to explore current innovations in conferencing. In line with current trends in the events industry, part of InnoVent 2 is dedicated to exploring the potential of using technology to provide more immersive meeting experiences. In an Experience Zone, the organizers of InnoVent 2 wish to provide participants of the event (i.e. conference organizers of the UN and other international organizations in Geneva) with an opportunity to experience such technologies first hand to be able to provide feedback about potential use cases related to meetings and events in the multilateral context. The current call wishes to cover in particular the use of smart glasses with holographic displays or providing Augmented Reality capabilities in the context of multilateral meetings. Unlike Virtual Reality Headsets, such glasses allow users to enhance the reality they are visually and/or auditorily experiencing. This is done by displaying 3D holograms (images generated using light diffraction techniques) overlaid on the real world. These devices may also display animations or videos retrieved from computers or mobile devices via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. In the conferencing environment, this means that instead of being represented by an avatar in a virtual world (i.e., the metaverse), conference participants attend the event in person and wear the devices to have more tailored experiences such as seeing live captions there, a small window with sign language, listening to interpreted output, looking at specific areas in the room to get more information on something, etc. In the Experience Zone, organizers of InnoVent 2 wish to include up to 3 stands featuring smart glasses where participants can try out the functionality of such glasses, ask questions and get answers about potential use cases and provide feedback about the potential usability in the environment of international conferences. The company would be requested to set up a stand within the Experience Zone and have one or two knowledgeable staff available for support, demonstration and to answer questions. All expenses related to bringing the stand to the experience zone, set up, staffing, etc., have to be borne by the company.