The year 2020 has created a chaotic situation globally. The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has had a drastic impact on the entire human race. The airborne virus has forced people to go indoors.
The hide-and-seek that has been being played for months from the virus has put a halt on the outdoor activities. With the government spreading awareness about social distancing and imposing a country-wide lockdown in its favor, all the commercial and non-commercial activities have been stopped.
No movement has been witnessed in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. This has kept the nation’s economy tumbling. Only the manufacturing and supply of essentials is given the green signal.
To break the barrier that the pandemic of COVID-19 has created, industries are adopting technology for training their employees.
Also, academic institutions are relying on virtual reality for educating students, conferences are held by using augmented reality technology, retail stores are outreaching their customers with the help of augmented reality, and much more technological integration are aiding in ensuring flawless business operations.
Therefore, virtual reality development can be your next resort to operate during the lockdown. Also, augmented reality app development can help enhance the quality of your services and aid in expanding your business while practicing social distancing.
This blog will cover the basics of virtual reality, augmented reality and extended reality. Also, we will discuss the potential of incorporating these revolutionary technologies in your business operations to enhance the quality and reach of your services and provide an improved customer experience.
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Introduction To Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality And Extended Reality
The three technologies, i.e. the virtual reality, augmented reality and the extended reality on one side differ from each other, but on the other hand, they also share some similarity.
All three technologies are based on different concepts; however, the user requires an electronic device to experience it.
Let us start by discussing the concept on which these are based followed by exploring their potential and some implementation.
Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality is the use of computerized technology to create a digital environment. Usually, with the help of a head-mounted gear, the user is immersed in the computer-generated environment. VR technology is widely used for gaming and entertainment purposes. Also, virtual reality is useful for education purposes as well.
Let us discuss how virtual reality can be utilized during this pandemic time:
Recruitment and Training: Virtual reality can be useful in recruiting employees. An imitation of a real-like interview scenario can be used to assess the calibre of the candidates.
Also, it can immerse the employee in a real-like work environment and throw him the challenges that may arise in the real-work situation. This will eventually help in training the candidate.
Further, the training of employees at multiple locations can be easily carried out with the help of virtual reality development.
Medical Treatment: Virtual reality is used in the healthcare sector. Patients undergoing treatments of serious illness like cancer find the technology useful in alleviating pain.
The technology is also used in treating other painful symptoms like burns, bone injuries, open wounds and many more. With the help of the VR headset, the brain signals deviate from their pathways that eventually helps in pain management.
Training Medical Students: It is now easy to train the medical students on performing surgeries without risking human life in real.
Also, with the help of virtual reality, medical students can complete the surgeries in an optimal setting and at a slower pace without endangering the life of the patient.
Game Development: Virtual reality is also used for game development. The gaming experience by using a VR headset is unmatched.
The VR headset with its tremendous potential immerses the gamer into a digitally created environment hence providing a real-like feel.
Tour and Travel: Tourism industry is also being benefited by the VR innovation. With the help of a VR headset, the travel management organizations can conveniently provide a virtual touring experience to the destination holiday places.
This allows the clients to make the best choice and get a glimpse of the culture and traditions before actually visiting the site.
Augmented Reality:
Just like there are two faces of a coin, augmented reality can be called an evolved version of the virtual reality that rather than immersing the user in the digital world possesses the potential to make the digital object come alive or say interact with the real-world environment.
Since the innovation of augmented reality, many industries are being profited and hence investing in augmented reality app development.
Retail Industry: Augmented reality is showing its effective usage in the retail industry. With the help of dedicated apps, brands can project their products in real-life environments for better decision making.
For example, it has now become easier to virtually place a piece of furniture for better judgement. Or you can quickly try on clothing without even actually making any effort to step into a trial room and putting on the clothes hence saving you a lot of time.
Augmented Reality Games: Game developers are using technology to deliver next-gen gaming experiences. Augmented reality app development enables the user to project virtually created images into the real world using electronic devices.
Navigation: The Gatwick airport passenger app is a classic example of the creative use of augmented reality technology.
Taking the help of more than 2,000 beacons across both the two terminals, passengers can conveniently access the AR maps from their smartphone to find routes through the airport.
The app, with its further advancements, is aimed for enhanced traffic management in the airport.
Healthcare: Augmented reality has shown its tremendous potential in healthcare by allowing medical aspirants to train in augmented reality environments that enable medical practitioners to interact with patients.
In emergency cases, augmented reality apps can provide real-time information about the area being treated to support analysis, surgery and treatment procedures.
For example, a handheld device by the name AccuVein can scan the veins of a patient. This has reduced the risk associated in treatments, including veins by up to 45% as the surgeons can pre-plan the procedures before actually performing an operation or making the first cut.
Cosmetics Retailers: An innovative application of AR technology can be explained by taking the example of a cosmetic brand namely ‘Sephora’ that uses the AR technology intelligently by allowing the customers to experiment with their looks and try out different styling options on their eyes, lips and cheeks with a wide range of products and colors on their digitally projected face.
This is an impressive way to boost the sales by gaining the customer’s confidence allowing them to try new looks in a fun way to try out new looks.
Mixed Reality:
Mixed reality is the co-mingling of the virtual and real-world, where both the world exists at the same time, and real-time interaction takes place.
It does not actually take place in the real or virtual world but is actually the mixture of two that bypasses augmented reality as well as virtuality with the help of immersive technology.
Some of the applications of mixed reality are stated below-
Military Training: The defence sector is extensively using MR technology to train new recruits for the worst-case scenarios without actually risking the life of the military personnel.
Simulation-Based Learning: The MR technology replaced the boring old way of learning through texts and has opened the gateways for simulation-based learning that makes the learning process easy and retainable.
Remote Working: With the help of mixed reality, it has become possible for the organizations to collectively tackle the challenges with real-time visualization overcoming the distance barrier.
Also, modern apps are developed with built-in translators that successfully bridge the language gap.
Interactive Product Catalogue Management: Replace the old way of displaying products and services to the clients by incorporating mixed reality that has the potential to overlay the products in the catalogue over the real environment with the help of digital devices.
Real Asset Virtualization Environment: The mixed reality has given a new facet to the way business once operated. You can conduct virtual meetings by sharing the agenda in advance and setting-up schedules by keeping in mind the time-zone differences.
Further, it helps to enhance the efficiency and output of the meeting just by ensuring that every member shares the same technological platform.
Hololens app development can be an ideal solution to incorporate the benefits of mixed reality into your business operation.
Extended Reality:
Extended reality is the new buzz word apart from the former two that has been taking the market by a storm. It covers the entire spectrum between the real world and digitally created or the virtual world, including the two.
It extends its reach up to the entire human-computer interaction that is achieved with the help of electronic devices. The technology covers all the three components, i.e. virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.
If stated in a philosophical context, then extended reality can be mentioned as the rainbow with virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality as its components.
Extended reality is a rapidly growing area that has been astonishing the sectors of entertainment, real estate, marketing and many more with its tremendous potential.
Let us discuss some of its applications to get a clear picture of how it can boost your business with a strategic implication-
Real-estate: As mentioned above that the extended reality covers all the scope of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, it can be intelligently used by the real estate agencies to provide the customers with a real-like view and inspection of the property from anywhere around the globe.
Sharing Experiences: With the help of extended reality, people are able to share the same experiences even if they are situated far away.
Next-level Storytelling: Say goodbye to the old way of story narration. With the help of XR, you can experience the story instead of just reading the way you used to do before.
There is no doubt that extended reality has changed the functioning of many business operations. It is possible to carry out production and deliver services in a much more efficient and safe environment.
It is expected for the extended reality industry to touch a bar of 110 billion dollars by the end of the year 2025.
Impact Of COVID-19 On VR, AR And XR
After knowing the basics of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and extended reality, the reason is clear to why these technologies are considered as new-age technologies.
Having immense potential as discussed, these technologies can amp-up the way your business was once practiced. Be it interactive classroom sessions, marketing or business meetings, the technologies can cater to the business requirements from a distance.
Sensing the current and future needs of social distancing, many companies have invested in inculcating extended reality services to provide a seamless experience. .
After reading this blog, you must now be aware of the three revolutionary technologies. The immersive experience that these technologies offer has risen the quality of services.
Since its launch, they have been accelerating the market at a much faster pace than ever experienced. Investing in augmented reality app development or any other domain of extended reality will take you one step closer towards achieving new heights.
A software solution company like BR Softech Pvt. Ltd. that excels in developing apps and websites can integrate VR, AR and MR services depending on your business requirements to maximize productivity.
A skilled content writer and a lifelong learner with an ongoing curiosity to learn more, I specialize in technical, banking, hospitality, and poetry content writing; while taking every opportunity as a responsibility and believe in creativity that is beneficial for society.