Taking a step into the future: AR/ MR/ VR
Have you ever watched Iron Man? If yes, then you must have seen him being able to project an object in the real world, and then look at the object’s inner components. You may be thinking that it is another one of those “movie things” 🙄— which can never be true, but in reality this is the coming future! The technology which is being used in this scenario is Augmented Reality. Not exactly only AR, but also MR — known as Mixed Reality.
Here is what this article includes:
- What is Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality?
- The Future of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
- How is AR/VR Impacting the Military and the Manufacturing Industry?
What exactly is Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality?
Many of you may have heard the terms AR, VR and MR, but what exactly are they?🤔
Starting off with AR, this is a technology which alters the real world — by making virtual modifications, such as placing a computer-generated object at a specific area. These virtual modifications are attained through the use of AR technologies which can include a AR headset or even your “regular smartphone”.
You may not have known before, but you have probably used AR in a lot of ways without even knowing. Maybe while running on the streets to catch your beloved Charmander!😂 “If you don’t know what I am talking about” — well, I am referring to the “famous” game Pokémon GO. This is a fun AR game in which you can catch and train Pokémon using a device. The game uses a GPS(Global Positioning System) to see where you are, and when you are in the game, it spreads Pokémon around your area, allowing you to later go “hunt them down”. Enough with the talking, there is still so much more to tell. So read on …
Let’s move onto the definition of MR. Mixed Reality is a technology which pairs up with AR. This technology allows you to be able to unlock the links between a human and a computer, allowing you to interact with the computer-generated object projected through AR technology.
An example of a Mixed Reality application is the Microsoft Hollo Lens. This is a headset which uses AR and MR to make it possible for someone to view digital 3D models in real spaces. Sound’s cool right? Well… not so cool when you hear about the price! This product costs about $3000! But wait till you hear about one way this headset can be used!
Let’s see how Microsoft Hollo Lens can be used in Medical Education. Hollo Lens can allow you to look at a virtual simulation, of a 3D model — of a diseased body. From this, medical students can become more educated on how diseased organs would look like, and can also train for performing surgery on the the 3D model! Imagine how much easier this would make for students to cover these topics, especially for visual learners. These aren’t the only applications of Microsoft Hollo Lens, there are still so many others! But now we have to move onto the next part, which will explain the definition of VR.
Here is a video to get a better understanding of Mixed Reality
Here is another video to understand Microsoft Hollo Lens
Now finally, let’s discuss about what is VR! VR or Virtual Reality is a technology which is a fully computer generated 3 dimensional environment. This technology can allow you to experience playing a game in it’s real environment! Look at the gif above to get a better understanding on what I mean by “its real environment”. Imagine being able to play games like “Among Us”, “Minecraft” or even “Roblox” using a VR headset!! Wouldn’t that be so cool?!
Now, wait there… What were you doing? You were going to scroll down😱? You can’t before I tell you a little about the 6 and 3 degrees of freedom. So the degrees of freedom(DOF) is your ability to move in the computer generated environment. The 3DOF is when you have the ability to only rotate, and 6DOF is when you have translational movement, meaning you can walk and rotate both. The degrees of freedom though, really depends on the headset you buy. Here is an example of what 3DOF and 6DOF would look like:
How is AR/VR Impacting the Military and the Manufacturing Industry?
AR/VR are both revolutionizing technologies, which are all becoming more and more known each day! All theses technologies are impacting industries in many different ways, and in the future they are going to have a even bigger impact.
Beginning with AR, this technology is currently impacting various industries, but I will be mainly focusing on how this technology — is impacting the manufacturing industry. In the manufacturing industry, safety is really important. If the smallest error occurs, someone can be severely injured. But using AR technology, even a newbie can do a task from this industry easily. The AR technology can easily look at the object from its camera, and then provide the necessary information for how to safely do the given task. Not only that, but AR can also help a worker to see if something is wrong with a particular part or component of what they are fixing. What do you think about that? In my opinion, that could allow manufacturing tasks to be done way quicker and safely! Wait, were you about to go somewhere? If you were, then wait right there, because we are not done just yet! We still need to talk about the impact of VR on the Military! So stay right there and read on.😁
One way VR is being used right now is in military — to train the soldiers for war. You may be wondering why is VR needed for this? Well unfortunately, during training sessions, about 1–20 deaths can happen! To put a stop to this, VR is being implemented into the soldiers training — allowing it to be much safer for them. Using VR for training is also know to be much cheaper, and also allows the soldiers to train in various different conditions. What do you think about that? Do you think the soldiers have a better training experience using a VR, or the normal way?
Future of AR/VR:
Wait Wait Wait… why are you here? Oh yeah…😅 I was just going to tell you about the future of AR and VR.
AR and VR are technologies with a lot of potential! These technologies have come a long way, and soon in the future are going to have an impact on billions! Starting with AR, there is an exciting news that in about 1–2 years, Apple(The world’s best company) may be creating something called the Apples glasses! Although, Apple glasses is not yet final, but if it is, then in my opinion it is going to be an amazing product! I know right now you may be wondering, that what is this thing called Apple Glasses. Well, this is going to be an AR technology allowing you to basically access your whole phone(iPhone Specifically!). It is said that this product will have a 8K resolution, which is way higher than one of a normal TV! Also, these glasses will be made so that they can adjust to your eyesight. SO no more going to get new glasses. If your eye sight changes, then these glasses will be already adjusted! I know, this is crazy sick! And also these glasses will not be including a camera. How will these glasses then work? Um… These glasses are going to be using something called LIDAR. This is a method for scanning far surroundings(Lidar can scan even the shape of a near object) without a camera. There may be some changes to product in the future. But that is something time will tell…
Enough talking about Apple Glasses! Now let’s finally see how much money will certain industries spend on AR and VR.
The graph above indicates the amount of money that will be spent on AR and VR by various industries by the year 2025. Looking at this graph, you can tell that it is predicted that the most money will be spent on the video game industry by consumers. According to this statistic, I think that the most money is being spent on VR, since its a more of a technology which is used a lot for gaming. What do you think about that? Does this mean that in the future VR technology is going to be used more than AR, or something completely different? Well only time will tell that… Let’s wait and see!
Goodbye!
WOW, you reached this far? Well, that was the end of my article! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and learned something new!
Comment down below how these revolutionizing technologies will impact us is in the future? And which future applications are you enthusiastic about?
Well, that was it, See you next time !👋🏻
