Today, let us dive into augmented and virtual reality.
The most notable tech giants of today are leaping on the VR/AR display, each pushing forward new and forthcoming product lines. Think about Facebook’s Oculus, Amazon’s Sumerian, Microsoft HoloLens, and Google’s Cardboard (Apple plans to launch a headset in 2021).
And as plummeting prices meet exponential development in VR/AR hardware, this proliferating disruptor is on its way out of the early adopters’ marketplace and into the majority consumers’ homes.
In the next five years, he predicts emerging five trends will take hold, together interrupting major players and introducing new ones.
Let’s dive in!
Top 5 Foresights for VR/AR Inventions (2019-2024)
1. The transition from PC-based to independent mobile VR devices
Previously, VR devices have depended on PC connections, including wires and clunky hardware that limit a user’s field of motion. However, since VR enters the dematerialization stage, we’re going to see the rapid rise. A standalone and thoroughly mobile VR experience economy.
Oculus Go, the primary standalone mobile VR device available on the marketplace, requires just a mobile app for installation and can be carried anywhere with WiFi.
With a customer audience in mind, the 32GB headset is priced at $200 and shares an app ecosystem using Samsung’s Gear VR. While Google Daydream is standalone VR devices, they take a docked mobile phone rather than the built-in display of Oculus Go.
In the AR space, Lenovo’s Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 leads the way in presenting tetherless experiences.
Releasing headsets from the restrictions of hardware will make VR/AR more interactive and portable, a continuous add-on whenever, wherever. Within a matter of years, it might be as simple as taking lightweight VR goggles anywhere you go and throwing them on at a moment’s note.
2. Broad field-of-view AR displays
Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 leads the AR business in headset comfort and display quality. The most crucial problem with their prior version was that the limited rectangular field of view (FOV).
By applying laser technology to make a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, though, HoloLens 2 can place waveguides in front of the eyes of the users, directed by mirrors. Consequently enlarging pictures can be done by altering the angles of these mirrors. Copulated with a 47 pixel per degree resolution, HoloLens 2 has now increased its predecessor’s FOV. Microsoft expects its headset’s launch at the end of the year at a $3,500 price point, first targeting companies and finally rolling it out to customers.
Magic Leap offers a similar FOV but with lower resolution compared to HoloLens 2. The Meta 2 possesses an even wider 90-degree FOV but requires a cable attachment. The race to attain the natural human 120-degree horizontal FOV continues.
The technology to extend the field of view is going to make those devices much more useful by providing you larger than a small box to look into.
3. Mapping of the actual-world to enable persistent AR’ mirror worlds’
‘Mirror worlds’ are alternative dimensions of fact that can blanket a physical space. While seated in your room, the floor underneath you can dissolve into a calm lake and each desk into a sailboat. In the classroom, mirror worlds would convert tabletops into touch screens and pencils into magic wands.
Pokémon Go offers an introductory flash into the mirror world concept and its massive potential to unite people in real action.
To create this mirror world, AR headsets must accurately understand the structure of the surrounding world. Rosedale prophesies the scanning accuracy of devices will improve fast over the following five years to make these alternate dimensions achievable.
4. 5G mobile devices decrease latency to undetectable levels
Verizon has already started 5G networks in Chicago and Minneapolis, compatible with the Moto Z3. Sprint intends to follow in May with its 5G launch. Samsung, LG, Huawei, and ZTE have declared upcoming 5G devices.
5G is rolling out this year. It is going to materially affect the process which is making you feel as though you’re speaking to someone else directly face to face. 5G is significant because now the mobile devices cause much delay. So it does not feel real to communicate to somebody face to face on these systems.
To function seamlessly from anywhere on the planet, independent VR/AR devices will need a strong 5G network. Improving real-time connectivity in VR/AR will transform tomorrow’s communication methods.
5. Eye-tracking and facial expressions built-in for complete natural communication
Companies like Pupil Labs and Tobii give eye-tracking hardware add-ons and software to VR/AR headsets. This technology enables for foveated rendering, which contributes a given picture in high resolution only in the fovea area, while the peripheral regions emerge in lower resolution, preserving processing power.
As observed in the HoloLens 2, Eye tracking is also used to recognize users and customize lens widths to offer a comfortable, personalized experience for each individual.
The first opportunity for both VR and AR is to enhance human communication. One thing to note is that headsets miss several aspects of communicating. Eye movements and microexpressions offer valuable insight into a user’s desires and emotions.
Coupled with emotion-detecting AI software, like Affectiva, VR/AR devices may shortly convey richly expressive and textured interactions between any two people, transforming physical barriers, and also language gaps.
Final Thoughts
As these bright trends start to transform the marketplace, VR/AR will inevitably change our lives. Maybe to the point where our virtual worlds become just as meaningful and fulfilling as our physical world.
A blessing for next-gen education, VR/AR will enable adults and youth alike with holistic learning. Incorporates social, emotional, and creative elements through storytelling, physical experiences, and simulation. Going to another time, manipulating the interiors of a cell, or even planning. A new city will become regular aspects of tomorrow’s classrooms.
In real estate, buyers will make decisions through virtual tours. Corporate offices may evolve into areas that only survive in ‘mirror worlds’ or grow virtual copies for remote workers.
In healthcare, the efficiency of diagnosis will skyrocket, while surgeons attain access to digital services as they conduct life-saving operations. Or take production, wherein training and assembly will become exponentially more efficient as visual cues guide complicated tasks.
In the small matter of a decade, AR and VR will unlock unlimited applications for new and converging enterprises. And as virtual worlds unite with AI, computing advancements, 3D printing, and beyond, today’s experience markets will collapse in scale and scope. Prepare yourself for the exciting disruption ahead!