Clostra Announces Award to Bring Virtual Reality Meeting Rooms to the United States Air Force
Miami - January 11, 2022 — Today, Clostra, a machine learning and artificial intelligence company, announced that it has been awarded an AFWERX Small Business Innovation (SBIR) Phase II award. Known as "DeepMeet," the project's goal is to develop and implement enhanced virtual meeting spaces for the United States Air Force (USAF) through the use of augmented and virtual reality technologies.
Building on a 2D video stream, Clostra’s software transforms servicemembers into three-dimensional avatars and situates them in a hyper-realistic version of the meeting room. Utilizing advanced deep learning, the avatars will mirror the servicemembers’ real-world movements and interactions in their environment.
With DeepMeet, USAF Senior leadership will be able to securely join a command room or remote facility from anywhere in the world. It allows for more meaningful and natural ways to interact with other people in a meeting. Operational readiness is enhanced by eliminating COVID-imposed meeting restrictions or attendance limitations.
Moreover, meeting room renderings are precisely detailed CAD models of real-world locations and objects. Virtual control rooms, pieces of equipment, or vehicle renderings would have the same exact controls and steering locations and functionality as their physical counterparts.
Intended to be more than just a meeting tool, DeepMeet can be extended for training needs by transforming 2D videos into immersive 3D training solutions.
“If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that people need meeting solutions that allow participants to join from any remote location,” said Clostra CEO, Stanislav Shalunov. “The United States military requires a safe and secure method to conduct meetings that transcend a simple video call. The DeepMeet technology will address this need in the near-term, while also having the capability to be a viable solution for training exercises and other use cases.”
Approximately 58.9 million Americans use virtual reality, and 93.3 million will use augmented reality at least once per month this year. These numbers represent 17.7% and 28.1% of the US population, respectively. As technology companies like Facebook and Microsoft roll out commercial VR products, these numbers will only grow. Clostra’s expertise in these areas will deliver military-grade solutions in order to address the USAF and the Department of Defense’s needs to enhance communications, operations, and readiness.
About Clostra
Founded by Stanislav Shalunov in 2013, Clostra uses machine learning, deep learning, and peer-to-peer networking approaches to create innovative software for the defense and medical sectors. Clostra leverages its in-house AI expertise as well as the latest breakthroughs in academic research to develop solutions for the most critical problems of the day.
