Citrix Blogs

Keeping IT Real: Unleashing Virtual Reality Within the Enterprise, Part II

Read Part 1, of “Keeping IT Real: Unleashing Virtual Reality Within the Enterprise” here.

In a recent blog post, I explained how the mission of Citrix is to power a world in which people, organizations and things are connected and accessible to make the extraordinary possible. And I explored the rapidly evolving concepts of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR); viewed from the perspective of the promise we see in these innovations to transform the way people live and work.

True to our mission and to our culture of curiosity, we’ve taken a long, hard look at VR, assessed where we can add significant value to our customers, and begun to work on creating an amazing experience.

Allow me to introduce you the prototype of V2R or, to give it’s full name, Virtualized Virtual Reality.

At the core of the idea, V2R recognized the current challenges (as mentioned earlier) with current VR solutions – namely the requirement for high powered PC’s, tethered connections to the HMD and general complexity of set up and configuration. As all good engineers do, our HDX & Receiver team in the UK asked the question “Is there a better way?” … and what they came up with is absolutely astounding.

V2R allows a VR HMD user (in the case of the prototype, an HTC Vive) to become mobile by untethering them from the desktop PC while delivering an unmatched HDX 3D experience to allow the VR application to be run remotely with near-native performance. This solution leverages the best of Citrix technology—based on our philosophy of “better together”to provide a unique solution for delivering next-generation VR.

The prototype allows an Intel i5 NUC, running Linux and the Citrix Receiver for Linux to be packed neatly into a standard size backpack and powered by external batteries. The HTC Vive is then connected to the NUC and Receiver for Linux is used to connect to a Windows 10 Virtual Desktop (HDX 3D Pro VDA) that leverages an NVIDIA M60 vGPU and Citrix XenServer 7 to provide the 3D graphics capability via HDX.

Sounds too good to be true – right? But it’s not! Let’s take a deeper dive.

First, the image below identifies the enabling hardware components for the prototype.

Second, the “block diagram” below shows the Citrix products that come together with the Dell, Intel, and NVIDIA hardware to power the V2R solution.

Third, all we need is a trusting and willing CTO to be the tester.  ::GULP::

To provide an even better explanation—and a sneak peek into what the experience “feels like”—check out the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD6LQZ66nVI

To clarify, let me explain in a few words, what exactly was going on in the video.

The V2R innovation is yet another stellar example of our commitment to providing the best user experience for securely delivering apps & data to any device.

The impact of VR, led by the influx of consumer-grade devices to the market, is almost certain to have a similar trajectory to that of the smartphone and tablet, just a few short years ago. I believe there will be a profound effect on many organizations as they look to VR, AR, and MR to improve productivity as part of their individual digital transformation strategies.

It only remains for me to give a huge thanks to the UK HDX & Receiver Team – Joanna Farley, Andy Woodard, Muhammad Dawood, Ben Waine & James Cole – we’re only just getting started !

Stay tuned for further updates on V2R, along with future posts that provide details of our prototype work in both AR & MR.

The future is here and things are about to get REAL.

https://citrixblogs.wpengine.com/2016/12/12/keeping-it-real-unleashing-a-new-reality-within-the-enterprise/

Exit mobile version