“Everyone said it’s impossible and yet, today, we stand here in front of you. As one of the leading global companies in the steel industry,” said POSCO’s CEO Jeong-Woo Choi in the keynote speech that kicked off the POSCO Global Early Vendor Investment Forum, a biannual Forum POSOCO has been organizing since 2010.

In his speech “Next 50 Years with POSCO,” commemorating the 50^th anniversary, the CEO shared POSCO’s vision for the future of the steel industry and extended the company’s appreciation to their devoted customers, promising yet another 50-year of commitment to excellence.

In this global Forum that attracted more than 1,400 attendees from all corners of the world, the Futurist CEO Glen Hiemstra, the Auto/Steel partnership Executive Director John K. Catterall and Edwin Basson of the World Steel Association also participated as the Forum’s main speakers.

In the separate events held in the afternoon, the participants further exchanged ideas on topics that will guide the industry future. While Michael Kervy, the Corporate Strategic Research Manager of the Exxon Mobil led the discussion on The Future of Global Gas Industry, Stefan Röthlin of Jansen AG talked about Smart Construction Methods for Steel-Frame and Glass Façade Systems. High-performance plate for eco-friendly energy and eco-friendly ships were also amongst many topics meant to embrace the environmentally sustainable future.

At “World Premium, a side-held event POSCO also organized, showcased more than 120 products corresponding with each sub-theme of the Forum, such as Hot Rolled Steel, Smart Construction, and Electrical Vehicle Material, among others. The products exhibited at the Premium applied steel technology invented by POSCO and presented differentiated solutions that could set that tone for the future trend in the steel industry.

POSCO Showcases the Next 50 Years of Steel at Korea’s Largest Steel Exhibition

Prior to the EVI Forum, POSCO participated in Steel & Metal Korea 2018 (SMK), Korea’s largest steel and nonferrous metal exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) from October 31 to November 2 under the theme of “Technological Innovation in Steel & Metal Leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Over 130 steel and nonferrous metal companies from around the world gathered to showcase their latest industry trends. POSCO, a dedicated participant since SMK’s first launch back in 2010, presented an unparalleled portfolio of advanced products aimed to drive the company’s growth into a global centennial brand. In line with the effort to honor its 50^th anniversary, POSCO outlined the future vision that innovative steel technologies will help create.

POSCO’s mega-exhibit provides a mega-vision for the future

As Korea’s top steel producer, POSCO occupied the largest exhibit space and set up three mega-trend-themed zones: ‘Eco Energy’, ‘Mega City’ and ‘Neo Mobility’.

‘Eco Energy’ drew a sustainable picture of the future city landscape using eco-friendly energy, one of the key displays being PoSWIND, a wind turbine bearing that is more durable to corrosion and damages. While ‘Mega City’ illustrated future daily life, exhibiting a steel cable for mega-bridges, a lighter and faster car of the future was on display in the ‘Neo Mobility’ zone, with life-size electric vehicles.

Ribbon cutting ceremony at the 5th Steel & Metal Korea show, held at Exhibition Center II of KINTEX on October 31. Photo courtesy of Steel & Metal News.

In the event with over 30 stakeholders from Korea and abroad, POSCO presented a vision for the innovative technology as well as its commitment to a sustainable future.

Today, however, VR is rapidly moving from fiction to reality. There are many VR headsets available on the market, from expensive and sophisticated industrial models to basic consumer models designed to strap a mobile phone in front of your eyes.

A New Market of Amazing Possibilities

In just the two years since Google introduced its bare-bones Cardboard headset and Facebook about Oculus Rift, virtual reality has grown immensely. The amazing success of the augmented reality (AR) game Pokemon Go has spurred the development of this technology even faster. Some market analysts think this year the market for VR hardware and software combined will pass $1 billion for the first time. And one estimate has predicted that market could grow to a staggering $1 trillion by 2035.

The reason for that growth shows that VR is more than just a novelty or even a fun platform for entertainment. VR is also proving to be incredibly useful in a wide range of fields – for architecture and modeling, therapy, medicine, real estate, industrial training and more.

When it comes to therapy, for example, VR is helping people come to grips with a wide range of problems, such as their fear of heights or paranoia. Using VR, people can gently experience life-like situations, while maintaining control over the experience, allowing them to get used to their fears and perhaps even overcome them.

VR simulators can even replicate experiences no one has ever had – for instance, trying out life on Mars. The Martian VR Experience is a 30-minute interactive film that allows people to pretend they are traveling to and then living on the surface of the Red Planet.

Improving Production, Upping Safety

VR is also very useful when it comes to industry, government and other practical fields. Flight simulators have long been a key part of training pilots, both for the military and for commercial airlines, and now VR is taking the effectiveness of that training to the next level.

In medicine, VR is helping patients deal with a wide range of injuries and other issues. For surgeons, VR provides an opportunity to practice complicated techniques and experience rare situations, helping to boost their effectiveness in the operating room.

For engineers and architects, VR technology can help them experience what the final design is like, and see what it like from inside and outside and all angles. And for real estate, VR lets house-hunters explore a space from home, making the difficult task of house-hunting much more efficient and enjoyable.

Plus VR allows workers and other experience a huge range of environments and hone their skills in situations that normally would have been quite dangerous. Thanks for this amazing new technology, though, now they are train and work on their skills in a safe situation, until they are ready for the field.

POSCO Gets Real with VR

POSCO, too, is embracing the new and exciting world of VR, using it to highlight and improve its products. Recently POSCO filmed the entire steelmaking process in 360-degree video, from loading and unloading raw materials to shipping the final products, so anyone could experience what it is like to visit a steelworks in person. In addition to allowing viewers to see how steel is made, the VR movie also allowed people to get a close-up look at many parts of the steel process that are usually too dangerous for visitors.

That VR video was on display at Steel & Metal Korea 2016 (SMK 2016), held at the Ilsan KINTEX from September 27 to 30.

What’s next for VR? As more and more industries pour resources into R&D and try out promising new approaches, clearly the sky is the limit. More than just headsets, researchers are now adding interactive gloves and other technologies to make VR ever more immersive and realistic. Look for POSCO, as always, to be at the forefront of these new advances, using the next generation of technologies to lead the world of steel.

POSCO Stands Out at Steel & Metal Korea 2016

POSCO to Use VR Content to Promote Its Steel Products and Exceptional Manufacturing Process

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SMK has been held biennially since 2010 and is an exhibition that highlights steel and nonferrous metals. The event receives great attention globally for its focus on metal materials but also on other technological aspects, including tubing, piping, metallurgy technology, equipment, and the metal business.

By participating in SMK for four consecutive years, POSCO has experienced the accompanied growth of small business participants through close interaction. Through exhibiting the high technical skills it maintains as the leading domestic steel company, POSCO has also contributed to the growth of small businesses.

For this year, POSCO set up a booth at the convention with four different zones, all under the concept of attracting visitors. The booth introduced how WP products can be used in daily life through differentiated exhibitions.

Introducing POSCO’s world-class steel technology

Visitors could experience how WP products could be used in different industries through the divided zones: “Automotive”, which revealed how WP products could be applied to an automobile’s interior and exterior, “Living”, which showed customers how to get acquainted with WP products for daily home use along with “Infra” (infrastructure), which is meant to increase and encourage customer partnerships.

The last and most popular area was the “Hero” zone, which allowed visitors to experience a 360-degree view of the complete steel production process through VR. The footage showed everything from loading and unloading raw materials, to shipping the products.

Since the Automotive zone displayed cars made from POSCO steel sheets, it was possible for consumers to see the technology applied to both the interiors and exteriors of the cars. Models that were displayed included the POSCO Body Concept-Electric Vehicle (PBC-EV), Renault’s Chassis and SM6 BIW (Body in White), as well as examples from MG. All models were manufactured with high-strength body and chassis parts from POSCO.

The company brought car body parts to the exhibition, and incorporated them to show which areas of the automobiles used their special steel sheets. The exhibition also drew the highest attention because of an inclined display, which showed how the inner dynamics of the car would appear as if it were driving on a hill.

The Living zone had a setting modeled after a real home, introducing WP products for daily life usage. Visitors could see the premium home appliances and household products made from POSCO steel in each room of the house, including the living room, utility room, study room and kitchen.

Widely used POSCO WP products were displayed in each room: a washer and an air conditioner in the utility room, a refrigerator, sink, and cooking tools in the kitchen, a computer and a printer in the study room and a TV in the living room.

The Infra zone helped visitors have a better understanding of the principles behind making stronger and safer construction sites, LGN carriers and suspension bridges with POSCO’s structural steel products, such as PosCozy, PosMAC and UL700. Visitors could touch the products, including high manganese, high damping steel and cable bridges that prevent noise between floors. The exhibition also compared POSCO’s steel products to products made from average steel, to help visitors experience the true quality of the company’s premium steel.

Lastly, the Hero zone was highlighted as the most future-oriented space at SMK 2016. The VR component provided a realistic and exciting video tour of the production process at the steelworks – a 360-degree video and immersive sound experience made viewers feel as if they were actually standing in the center of the steelworks.

Besides the featured products in the Hero zone, visitors could also enjoy the kinetic art performance that took place every 30 minutes in the center of the exhibition space. This performance utilized POSCO’s stainless steel in the form of wires, showcasing a fluid steel movement show with a background of beautiful music.

POSCO displayed yet another substantial and high-quality exhibition at SMK 2016, and we are already looking forward to seeing what the company has in store for the next time around.

POSCO to Use VR Content to Promote Its Steel Products and Exceptional Manufacturing Process

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