Fascinating Trends of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality This Year
Ever since the onset of Internet 4.0, things have never been the same again. Forecasts speculate an expenditure of more than $100 billion on XR (VR and AR) technologies by 2023. From gaming and entertainment, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are finding extensive application in defense, education, and healthcare sectors as well.
As 2020 comes to a close, let us examine XR’s strongest impact in five major domains. It is high time to get access to fast streaming services for a better taste of these technologies. Watching HD VR-based movies is a lot of fun. Thanks to my Spectrum internet, I can seamlessly stream videos and watch them on my Virtual Reality box for an immersive experience.
Healthcare and Surgeries
While this year was mostly about the test phase, the upcoming year will see a lot going in the application. What do we have as of now? We have some very good results and successful trials backing us about XR’s great prospects in healthcare.
We already know that VR has played an instrumental role in allowing autistic patients to improve their social and communication skills. Moreover, physicians have successfully used VR to understand patient eye movements. As a result, they can effectively check for visual or cognitive impairments.
AR promises to provide great applications in the future. Using AR, doctors can conduct remote surgeries. Furthermore, senior doctors will use this technology to train novice surgeons as well.
Headsets and Display Units
Immersive experiences are quite popular now. Since the past few years, VR headsets are in high demand. Currently, the main focus is to make them smaller and easier to wear. Contributing to their big size is their processing hardware. A special focus during 2019-2020 was on making such devices untethered.
Facebook’s Oculus headset saw a great transformation. Previously, it was necessary to connect it to a PC. Now, it’s a self-contained technological wonder. The research on AR headsets is also underway, and the applications are very promising industrially.
Defense and Training
Now, sitting in the comfort of one’s own office, military personnel can engage in real-time and life-like training sessions using VR and AR technologies. Take the example of Call of Duty, except that the experience is far more immersive, and you play against professional shooters sitting in the same room.
This is a great breakthrough for many industries. Take the example of a firefighting department tasked with training their employees. A real situation may not present itself, and it shouldn’t, hopefully, but one can train against it. How? Trainees sit in a training room and wear an XR headset. They can move around freely on a walking platform, much like a treadmill. If it’s driving training, they can sit on a chair with the clutches and car brakes. And then, the training simulation begins. Everything seems real as you advance levels and master your skills. As a result, when a real challenge presents itself, these trainees can respond with great efficiency.
VR CAVE is Here
The CAVE in VR CAVE stands for Cave Automatic Virtual Environment. It is a leaping step towards far more advanced and immersive environments. It’s actually a room that comes with more than three walls (they are actually monitors) and provides a wide field of view. As a result, the user can interact with a larger environment normally present on a head-mounted display. Many industries can reap amazing benefits from this technology. They can develop their existing technologies to serve more purposes. Imagine the application of their tech in crop technology, and you can imagine the prospects.
Social Life
VR and AR impacted social life during 2019-2020. Many applications used the value from these emerging technologies to attract their customers. Take the example of WeChat. By incorporating VR into their messaging system, they allowed individuals to network more effectively. Samsung phones now come with an AR zone to allow users to interact with their environments in a fun way.
The use of AR and VR saw applications in the offices as well. Virtual whiteboards, pinboards, and objects are now a thing.
If you are a fan of VR and AR, then make sure to stick to technology news. The advancements are many and occurring on a daily basis. I keep connected to the news on Spectrum TV as I excitedly wait for my 3D TV to arrive. I plan to watch VR movies on it. Are you a fan of VR and AR too? Well, let’s keep our fingers crossed, as this is just the beginning.
