A Simple Explanation of Extended Reality
Consider what life and employment in our globe could be like in 2030 and beyond. You could be able to shop for a new home anywhere in the globe as if you were truly there, or go to lunch in a distant location, due to developments in extended reality (XR), a general term for immersive technology that can mix the real and virtual worlds. The XR market is anticipated to grow to $209 billion by 2022, which is eight times where it is now. This enormous growth might indicate that the realities of our lives in 2030 are incomprehensible to us now.
What is extended reality (XR)?
XR is a newly coined term that refers to all immersive technology. The ones that are still in development as well as the ones we already have, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). By fusing the virtual and "real" worlds together or by generating a completely immersive experience, all immersive technologies expand the reality we experience. More than 60% of respondents, according to a recent study, thought XR would become widely used over the next five years. Let's examine each of the current technologies to gain a clearer idea of XR.
Augmented reality (AR)
In augmented reality, digital items and information are superimposed on the real world. Through this encounter, digital details like photographs, text, and animation augment the real world. Through televisions, tablets, and smartphones in addition to AR glasses, you can access the experience. Users can still engage and see what is happening in front of them because they are not cut off from the outside world in this way. The most well-known applications of AR include the Pokémon GO game, which superimposes virtual creatures on the actual world, and Snapchat filters, which let you wear virtual hats or spectacles.
Virtual reality (VR)
Users are completely submerged in a digital simulation during a virtual reality experience, as opposed to augmented reality. For a 360-degree view of an artificial world that tricks the brain into thinking the user is, for example, walking on the moon, diving under the ocean, or entering whatever new universe the VR developers built, users must don a VR headset or head-mounted display. Early users of this technology included the gaming and entertainment sectors, but organizations across a range of sectors, including the military, construction, healthcare, and engineering, are finding great value in VR.
Mixed reality (MR)
Real-time interaction between digital and physical items is possible in mixed reality. Hybrid reality is a term that has been used to describe this most recent immersive technology. It needs far more computing power than VR or AR and an MR headset. A wonderful example is Microsoft's HoloLens, which, among other things, enables you to place digital items into the space in which you are standing and then interact with them in any way you see fit. Businesses are investigating how they might use mixed reality to address issues, promote projects, and improve their operations.
Extended Reality Applications for Business
XR has a wide range of useful uses. To name a few:
Retail: XR allows buyers to experience products before they buy. With the help of an augmented reality app, you can try on Rolex watches on your own wrist, and IKEA buyers can use their smartphones to arrange furniture in their homes.
Training: Especially in life-or-death situations, XR can offer hyper-realistic training tools that will assist soldiers, medical professionals, pilots/astronauts, chemists, and others in finding solutions to problems or learning how to react to hazardous situations without endangering their own or anyone else's lives.
Remote work: Employees can connect to their home workplace or with experts around the globe in a way that simulates being in the same room.
Marketing: The potential for XR to engage with consumers and potential customers will have marketing professionals considering all the ways they may use XR to benefit their business.
Real estate: If people can "walk through" areas to decide if they want it even when they are in another location, finding purchasers or tenants may be easier.
Entertainment: The sector will continue to develop new applications for immersive technologies as an early adopter.
Challenges of XR
Some of the barriers to widespread adoption are being overcome by those working on XR technologies. First, XR technologies gather and analyse enormous amounts of very sensitive data about your daily activities, including what you look at, do, and even feel. This data must be protected. In addition, the cost of adopting the technology must decrease; otherwise, many businesses won't be able to do so. The wearable technology that enables a comprehensive XR experience must be stylish, comfortable, always connected, intelligent, and immersive. The display, power and thermal, motion tracking, connectivity, and common illumination are just a few of the significant technical and hardware problems that need to be resolved in order to prevent virtual objects in the real world from appearing identical to real objects, especially when the lighting changes. We are getting closer to finding solutions to these problems every day, which means that over the next few years, all XR technologies will be used in a much wider range of everyday applications.
