Portugalglobal | july / august 2024 21 The main challenge for Ground Con- trol is sector specific. The founder ex- plains that the video game industry is relatively new in Portugal. When Ground Control started, there were no support structures such as spe- cialised accountants, lawyers or spe- cific legislation. In addition, the lack of specific incentives makes the sector less competitive and difficult for new companies to survive. Rui Guedes believes that Portugal is an emerging market for video games, attracting foreign operators and offer- ing the potential for exciting business opportunities through partnerships with larger companies. Despite inter- national competition, the success of national producers is a testament to Portuguese talent. Notable examples include Hello Games' No Man's Sky, developed by a team of 15, which has generated €310 million since 2016, and Supergiant, with a team of 12, which has generated €200 million since 2011. According to Rui Guedes, the key to these results is to enable companies to overcome first failures and keep producing. Beyond video games, Ground Con- trol Studios also uses its ability to help companies find solutions for their operations, a process the founder de- scribes as "using gaming technology to solve real-world problems". "Initially, we focused on interactive VR tours, immersive VR training expe- riences and augmented reality prod- uct catalogues," explains Rui Guedes. As internal processes matured and knowledge grew, they began work- ing with digital twins, 3D room con- figurators and advanced augmented reality solutions. Examples include the MaxMat Kitch- en Configurator, operational in 33 stores since 2018, which generates around 1,000 kitchens per month with an innovative remote rendering solution for photorealistic images; and the Tube Bending Machine Simu- lator, operational since 2020, which uses digital twins to preview the re- sult before the actual bending, works in real-time and is scalable to new models and components. Another solution developed for com- panies, in collaboration with Bosch Aveiro and Ovar, is a remote mainte- nance and technical data visualisation project supported by artificial intelli- gence. This project created a tool that allows field technicians to communi- cate and exchange information with remote technicians in real-time, view- ing telemetry data, technical diagrams and 3D views. This project has evolved and is being tested in the Vodafone Boost Lab with Vodafone/Ericsson and other potential customers. "We are currently exploring machine learning and computer vision to teach the system to visually identify equip- ment and faults, improving its utility and usability," says the founder. "The company's B2B unit is committed to maturing this solution and identify- ing use cases and potential partners where it can be beneficial." gcontrolgames.com
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