What is virtual and augmented reality? Could it change our future?
Virtual and Augmented Reality are the two words that might have been ringing in your ears since a time. It isn’t something that you can escape from. Such is going to be the future as well. Let’s get in deep about these two!
Augmented Reality
What is the augmented reality and what does it do?
A digitalised image represented to interpret as a real-life object for the easy understanding of the viewer is called Augmented reality. Augmented reality enables users to have the real-time experience of the objects. These AR creates a computerized object to be displayed in front. This representation would go a long way in experiencing different objects and products. Hence this has a great scope in the field of technology and sales.
Who invented augmented reality?
Ivan Sutherland was the one who made the equipment and fed it with the computer design to make out an augmented reality. He hanged a device out from the ceiling and the device was put over the head. Although the Augmented Reality was invented by Ivan Sutherland, Tom Caudell was the one who coined the term “Augmented Reality”. This augmented reality was expected to be a huge thing but wasn’t in talks as much. But now, with the implementation of new things day by day, augmented reality is back in talks again and has quite a promising future.
Who uses and benefits from augmented reality?
Augmented Reality is an invention, that still has a really broad scope and has a number of places to implement it on. The augmented reality gives us an experience of a non-existing object. These objects might cost us millions or might consume a lot of time to try on. But with the AR, that has become a not so tough job. Hence, there’s a dire need for every industry to upgrade their equipment towards AR. Let’s just read further about this in order to have a good view on the advantages of AR.
Who are all investing and working on augmented reality?
E-Commerce:
The e-commerce industry that is still the giant in selling products, has been trying hard to keep its place in the market. How does an industry survive in the competition? Yes, by updating themselves again and again. That’s what these industries are trying to do as well. If you operate an E-commerce and deliver products to your customers, and they don’t like it. What are you going to do? Accept their return! Yes, in order to fulfil their needs, you need to have those products returned back to you and send the new ones. This causes a huge loss for these industries.
What if the customers can try on the products sitting at home itself? Wouldn’t that be amazing? It not only saves the time but also E-commerce industries will save a lot on all those pickup and delivery charges. I wouldn’t say that the concept of returning the products will be wiped out completely. But I’m pretty sure that it’s going to go down to a great extent. Read more about how e-commerce attracts the customers here.
Source: Wikipedia
Facebook has also introduced their own version of AR marketplace to make the purchases right there. The users have the liberty to see how the product suits them using the AR experience. There’s a large scope for this ahead of this. You can experience it live after logging in to the facebook here.
Games:
Pokemon Go
2 years back from now the idea of Augmented reality was so oblivious to people but with the introduction of pokemon go, augmented reality took a great leap in connecting with the audience. The audience started playing the game as if it was the task of their life. They made it a part of their lives, traveling as far as possible in the anticipation to find their favorite pokemon. Not just that, with the announcement of iPhone X, there were a few other sets of applications launched. Few of those were the AR games. These AR games, though haven’t garnered as popularity as the pokemon go could, still they have a long way to go in the future of gaming.
Apps:
Wikitude
Source: Wikimedia Commons
AR applications also came out with the IOS 11 last year. A few of the games that would display your star position in the sky. All those zodiac signs that can be interpreted through the stars could be navigated easily. Not just that, Google, in their i/o conference 2018, explained how they are going to incorporate AR in their maps. It’s going to be displayed in their Android P once it comes up. You can read about the Android P features here. If you’d turn your camera on, you can actually see a digitalized creature that would guide you to your destination. It’s just like having a travel guide but even more interactive and fun to watch.
Architecture:
IKEA
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This is another field that has been trying really hard on the Augmented Reality. The architects have a great vision, but the vision is not as easy to express as it is to think. In this case, augmented reality comes to the rescue. With augmented reality, one can have a real-time experience of the object that an architect is trying to show. The person can, in fact, put the digitalized object at the right place and the suitability can be experienced as well. Not just that, a good understanding would require the measurements too. Augmented reality also offers you the feasibility of showing the dimensions of the products. Can you imagine, putting a furniture of your choice digitally, to see if that suits the corner of your bedroom? Yep, that’s possible and has brought to use as well. Houzz, DecorMatters, Homestyler are few of that kind of applications.
Surgical Purposes:
Source: Flickr
A new device ARveo Augmented Reality microscope helps the doctors with the surgery with AR. It generates some visual overlays that help the surgeons during brain and spinal surgeries. The Uconn health hospital in Connecticut was the first to incorporate such kind of technology into their field. You can read further about it here.
Advertising and Promotions:
Well, this is the age of Marketing. No matter how you market, all that you need is a proper marketing technique to be able to reach your customers. The marketing can be easily done and even more sophisticated techniques can be incorporated into AR. You can make your viewers see how those glasses from Ray Ban would fit you or how the luxury from Zara would suit your newly purchased top. That’s not it, you can actually feel their presence looking at your front camera while they do their cheapest and the most efficient way of marketing. So if you think the augmented reality might not grab the attention through these ads, then you got to wait and see.
What devices does augmented reality support?
Augmented reality currently supports the mobile phones. The mobile phone with the cameras are the ones where you can experience this AR for yourself. Although AR is a great experience, still it doesn’t excite the millennials as much due to its battery consumptions. the applications use a great amount of your phone’s juice to be able to show what you see on the screen. This would cause a great deal of battery to drain.
How can augmented reality be used in the future and how can it change the world?
Augmented reality has a great future. You must have understood by this time looking at all the industries craving to have it. This is just the beginning, there’s still a lot to come in this field and we’re all waiting what wonders can it pull. With the introduction of Pokemon go itself, everyone was in awe of what AR could do. But let me assure you one thing, Pokemon Go is just the beginning. There’s still a lot of this to come and you can be pretty sure it will. New advances that would change the way we do things will change and yes, it’s for good.
Virtual Reality
What is the Virtual Reality and what does it do?
A 3-dimensional environment created, by wearing a headset where the person could feel the environment is called virtual reality. A reality experience that’s created virtually to be interpreted as real. This experience can be created by creating a digital environment that would appear as real for the viewer. Although many of you might have already experienced it one time or the other, still it’s always a delight to have such experiences.
Who invented Virtual Reality?
Morton Heilig, who is known as the “Father of Virtual reality” for his works and research on this field was the innovator. He innovated the “Experience Theatre” also known as Sensorama Stimulator, as a first step towards the progression of Augmented reality. This theatre would show the digitalized objects on the screen when put over the head. So that’s how the great step towards the augmented reality was taken.
Who uses and benefits from Virtual Reality?
Multiple industries are already investing in virtual reality. It has started as a gaming experience and now is expanding to multiple fields. These fields are trying their best to make the most out of this and provide their own share of virtual experiences. This helps them stand out from the rest. With virtual reality talks being everywhere, a number of industries are willing to use this feature.
Who are investing and working on Virtual Reality?
Apps:
FIFA World cup: Russia 2018:
Source: FIFA.com
The FIFA world cup app had the VR feature in it to allow the fans to have a real-time game experience. The virtual reality application has the feature of displaying a 360 view of every game. This not only helps the viewers have a great experience but will also cheer all those who couldn’t make it to Russia in order to watch the game live. You can read further about it here.
A number of application developing agencies are using this feature in their own special way to offer an exquisite experience to their customers or clients. The applications can be used to help the users experience the real-time situation of a location or an area. This would give them a practical understanding of what they are getting into. t’s like helping them see the real version of it, without having to change their respective locations. They can stay right at home and enjoy the experience of saving both their time and energy.
Games:
Batman Arkham VR
Source: Flickr
The gaming world is going to change completely with the initiation of this virtual reality. Almost every game that has come out recently have this features in them. Even in the recreational and fun parks, you can see a number of stores helping you experience their own virtual reality games. Have you seen people wearing those headsets and moving every possible way? Some of them tend to shout and get startled by what they see on their device. Some of these games could include roller coaster or have an experience of a dangerous ride. There are a number of computer games as well that give a real-time environment to take the game experience to a new level. You can get your hands on or read more about this game here.
Travel:
YouVisit
Source: Flickr
The travel industry is booming and hence no one wants to back out from all the technological advances that they can make. SO the travel industry is going down the same path as well. Incorporating VR into their applications. How would you feel if you can give your customers a glimpse of what they can see in after traveling there? Instead of pictures, it would be more like a real visit and experience. that’s what the travel industry has been doing to help their customers see all these things. Not just that, recently a ziplining agency, used the VR to give the users a feeling of ziplining at very high altitudes. These guys have made a 30-second ziplining feel like a 3 minute one. mark my words, VR is a big deal when it comes to creating delusions.
Therapies:
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This is the best part. When you come home from all that long day of work, what would you need the most? A little time in the mountains? Experience a beautiful sunset? Watch and count the stars in the sky? Well, that isn’t really an all-time happening thing but you can make that happen. With VR, you can experience these things in the real time and keep the stress away from yourself. You can also surround yourself with all the funny jokes and positive people in order to calm yourself and find some new faces.
The virtual reality is also being incorporated in the field of surgery to take this to a next level and help the people in their surgeries. This will also prepare the doctors on their surgical advances.
Real Estate:
Smart2VR
Source: Smart2VR
This has changed the life of many people who are looking for a new home. The virtual reality feature has been utilized by a number of organizations to show their own homes or by the broker industries that want to sell their client’s properties. It saves time and the buyers don’t even have to visit the home. They can have a real-time walkthrough of that respective flat and can explore it the way they want. They can walk and switch from room to room and understand the kind of ambience they have there. Thre are a number of real estate brokers incorporating this into their applications.
What devices does Virtual Reality support?
Virtual reality is supported in almost every mobile phone that has a wide screen. Though you need to have a smartphone in order to see these things. If your phone has the gyroscope sensor, then you’re good to go. Get yourself a good headset that is comfortable to you and has a good view capacity. Make sure the headset fits your phone. Now put the phone in the headset and you’re good to go. Find yourself a good cardboard video which is frequently available on youtube in order to experience this.
Which is the best headset for Virtual Reality?
Well, there are a number of devices have this feature. From cheapest of the headset starting at $1-2 to one of the costliest in the field, you can find the right headset based upon their specifications. But do understand that there might be the different headset for different phone sizes. The most reputed and one of the first VR headset to come into the market is the Oculus Rift. It has been purchased mostly by the gamers for a great gaming experience.
How can Virtual Reality be used in the future and how can it change the world?
Virtual reality has a number of applications. They have already been used in a number of applications, games, devices etc., and there’s a lot of need to explore its limitations. As a matter of fact, there are a number of new ways that have been coming up and been surprising us with its innovation. Just like AR, VR has its own innovative ways to amuse us.
Mixed or Hybrid Reality:
The mixed reality often referred to as Hybrid reality, is the mixture of both the augmented reality and virtual reality. This will be a great step towards the digitalization of experiences. The early mixed reality experiments were practised at the US Air Force Laboratory. This feature was developed in order to provide a flight simulation for the pilots.
Key Take Away:
All these reality devices are on the verge of becoming something really big in the near future. There is a constant need for the betterment of all these practices in order to see a better-digitalized world. But one thing is not to be forgotten, though there’s a great need for this to be incorporated, still, you need to make sure the usage is up to the limits and doesn’t go beyond the permissible usage.
