The future that we always imagine is no longer far from reality. As technology advances, the way we currently live and work changes beyond our imagination.
Think of it this way. Ten years from now, instead of checking on your branches’ business operations from various places in person, you are at home, sitting on your couch while watching over what is happening.
This scenario might sound farfetched, but anything is possible with the advancement of extended reality (XR). If you are hearing this term for the first time, know that XR is the next biggest technology trend that will change the reality of everyone.
What Is XR Technology?
The acronym XR stands for extended reality and is an emerging umbrella term for immersive learning technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) technology.
Here are the differences between these three immersive learning technologies:
- Virtual Reality
- This immense learning technology refers to fully immersing an individual in a simulated digital landscape using a head-mounted display or VR headset. It provides the user with a view of 360-degree real-world content, entirely of synthetic content (CG), or a combination of the two that tricks the brain into thinking they are experiencing whatever simulation is shown.
- Augmented Reality
- It is a layer of computer-generated (CG) content overlaid in the real world, allowing users to interact with it in real-time. There is no separation between CG content and the physical world with AR.
READ MORE: Augmented Reality: Giving life to imagination
- Mixed Reality
- It is a combination of the actual and virtual worlds, allowing anyone to experience natural and intuitive 3D environmental interaction. Computer vision, graphical processing, display technologies, and cloud computing are the factors that contributed to making this new reality possible.
Differences between VR, AR and MR
Even though these immersive learning technologies have the same primary goal of connecting the virtual world to humans, each has its unique qualities.
The main distinction is that VR users get a completely virtual experience, whereas AR users have digital assets added to their real-world experience. On the other hand, MR allows users to interact with new virtual features in real-world experiences in real-time.
All of these play a crucial role in the XR landscape as they extend reality by simulating reality with the help of digital devices like smartphones, headsets, and many more.
That is why the X in XR stands for any variable that combines real-and-virtual environments generated by computer technology, which refers to the encapsulation of AR, VR, MR, and everything in between, giving anyone a real-life experience.
4 Uses Of XR For Business
1. Customer Experience
Businesses use XR to let customers try the products they offer to see how they look in person before making a purchase. A good example is this app from IKEA.
Here is a list of what you need to do to use this XR feature from IKEA.
- Check to see if your iPhone device is already running iOS 11
- The IKEA PLACE app is available for free on the Apple App Store
- Scan a part of the room
- Look through the app’s product list to see what’s available
- Decide the product you want to place
- Move and insert the product into the available space
2. Interactive Learning
As much as XR is becoming increasingly popular in the educational landscape, many businesses use extended reality to teach employees what to do in dangerous circumstances at work without risking their lives.
Here is a video on how NASA uses XR when training their scientists and astronauts on what they need to do before they experience the real thing in person.
3. Marketing & Sales
Another use of XR for businesses is to create an interactive promotion to further connect and engage with consumers. For the past few years, many businesses are already using XR to showcase their showrooms. While others use XR to allow their potential consumers to wear a 3D version of their preferred clothes or accessories whenever they wanted, so they would not have a hard time visualising whether it was good on them or not. With this, they will be able to make the right decision when shopping online since they can see themselves wearing the item, thanks to extended reality.
In this GIF, for example, you can see that a consumer is looking for a matte lipstick, but before they check out the product, they use XR to find the perfect colour pigment that works perfectly with their style.
4. New Entertainment Experience
XR is also quickly taking over the entertainment industry. Whether you are playing games, attending exhibitions, or even live music performances, XR can give you a new entertainment experience.
For example, if you want to go to a live music performance of your favourite band or singer but you are not in the same country where the concert venue is, XR can help you with that. By wearing a head-mounted display or XR headset, you will feel like you are actually there inside the concert venue. You can hear sounds from the attendees watching and the melodies that the artists are singing.
Experience The Future With Extended Reality!
Even though the global economy has yet to recover due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the extended reality is continuously thriving. It is not surprising that XR has become a solution for businesses to interact, connect, and communicate well with their employees and customers as social distancing and virtual connection settle and become the norm of the future.
The future of XR has become more apparent as more businesses consider including extended reality in their digital transformation, and that includes you. Consider jumping on the bandwagon as XR continues to rise and move forward.
To learn more about extended reality technology, reach out to OOm at 6391-0930 or leave a message so we can further explain everything about XR on a more personal level.
