We are thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with Avatour, the remote collaboration platform for on-site meetings. Using real-time 360° video capture, Avatour enables remote and on-site personnel to collaborate effectively with the full spatial context of a physical location, and with an Igloo immersive space, that capture can be shared with groups of people for a shared experience.

This powerful integration revolutionizes the remote collaboration experience, and will enable remote team members to experience a virtual "boots-on-the-ground" perspective, immersing themselves in real places and engaging in discussions with a heightened sense of presence, as you'll be able to see in the below video.

The Shared Vision

At the core of our partnership lies a shared vision to redefine remote collaboration; to build technology that will allow seamless collaboration with colleagues based anywhere in the world. By combining our respective strengths, we envision a future where remote teams can feel fully engaged and actively participate in discussions on site.

Both Avatour and Igloo recognize limitations of existing collaboration and video conferencing tools. These tools simply do not provide the experience necessary to allow remote teams to explore and observe real places and processes.

With this partnership, operators on site will now be able to capture and share live and pre-recorded 360° video of a physical location. Team members back at HQ will then be able to physically step into that environment using an Igloo immersive space to experience a new level of immersion and interaction. Getting groups of people inside an immersive space to view this content enhances collaboration and allows people to view, interact with and discuss that content at the same time.

Real-world applications

One of the most compelling applications of this exciting new integration can be observed in one of the world’s largest liquified natural gas projects. This project involves extracting and processing gas in a remote location, designated as a nature reserve, which makes it of utmost importance to minimize any potential impact from the project on its delicate ecosystem.

The challenges of operating a massive project while conserving the environment are manifold. In particular, regular site visits, inspections, and meetings that require their personnel traveling to and from the location was a significant concern for disturbing the habitat and increasing their carbon footprint.

This particular company deployed Avatour and Igloo to facilitate “boots-on-the-ground” virtual visits, allowing stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs) to walk the site without physically being there. By simply having an operator on site set up the 360° camera, teams can collaboratively view, discuss, and make decisions in real-time, experiencing the project from a distance, while creating opportunity for further engagement with the project.