Prolonged Actuality; How is XR Altering the Digital World?

What Is Extended Reality?

You’ve just seen a wide range of technologies that can access the metaverse. And all of them exist under the more extensive umbrella term of extended reality. As the name suggests, extended reality describes situations where technology extends your reality to encompass the digital realm. AR, VR, and MR are examples of extended reality. But new implementations are sure to enter the market as time goes by.

What Is the Virtuality Continuum?

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of extended reality stems from the way different parts relate to each other. But this aspect is more easily understood by looking at XR as a continuum. Think about the difference between the top of the ocean and the bottom. The two extremes are pretty dissimilar. But you wouldn’t see many variations if you only go one inch away from either. This is similar to extended reality’s existence as a virtuality continuum. Continuums are distinct at the extreme ends but only change slowly as you move from one implementation into another, much like descending into the continuum of the ocean’s waters.

Components of Extended Reality

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality represents the most physically oriented part of both extended reality and the larger virtuality continuum, focusing on the user’s view of the world. It’s all about adding additional information or context to physical spaces. But the physical space is still the priority. This is part of the reason why AR often uses relatively common visual components like a smartphone display rather than headsets. Digital information is essential but still a secondary factor in the overall experience.

AR typically operates through overlays on a 2D screen. For example, a retailer might set up a system where shoppers can see text overlays describing special deals or discounts on specific items. The apparent benefits from retail may have slowed down overall adoption. But people have discovered that AR goes far beyond shopping trips. This is also because many of the biggest names in mobile technology have put their weight behind AR development.

Mixed reality is often seen as one of the youngest forms of extended reality. While that’s true, you shouldn’t take that to mean the concept doesn’t have some history behind it. The phrase mixed reality was coined in 1994 by Fumio Kishino and Paul Milgram in “A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays”. Their paper laid out a vision of mixed reality which isn’t too different from the actual implementations seen today.

And the implementations certainly can be impressive. Augmented reality brings digital elements into the physical world. But mixed reality more thoroughly blurs the lines between the two. When mixed reality entities appear in physical space, they can understand physical limitations and barriers. The key differentiating factor between AR and MR is interactability. AR interactions are typically limited to predefined options.

Virtual reality may be the most commonly discussed and publically understood component of extended reality. After all, most people have grown up seeing fictionalized versions of VR in movies. Today people can try out real VR through relatively affordable VR headsets. These devices do more than add digital elements to your world. The VR system becomes your primary sensory input.

This essentially means that you’re transported into the digital side of the virtuality continuum. VR games have become one of the most popular uses for technology. But it’s used in almost any field you could imagine. Surgeons are using VR to hone their skills, students to study, etc. One of the truly unique things about VR is how long people have yearned for what’s now publicly available.

There’s a vast number of extended reality options and configurations available for your perusal. Enough that it can feel a little intimidating at first. But the subject is easier to approach if you categorize them by type. The following categories highlight the three types of extended reality devices you can use to access the larger digital universe.

VR headsets are popular as metaverse devices, gaming accessories, training simulators, and general computing displays. The headsets essentially offer an immersive experience thanks to their high-quality stereoscopic displays. But the headsets also provide immersive audio and might even feature haptic feedback to simulate touch. VR headsets also use head-tracking and eye-tracking to shift the video output analogously to what you’d experience doing the same in the physical world. Lower-priced units might have some latency when you move your head too fast for the system. But VR headsets are generally highly immersive.

Video: Feel a New Real | PS VR2

Metaverse companies often consider AR the best bet for mass adoption of extended reality. This is in part because there’s little need for people to buy new hardware for AR. Most people can use their smartphones to taste the augmented reality experience. However, there is a market for more immersive takes on AR – especially in the business world. Enterprise-level use of AR really took off with Google Glass. And today, various AR glasses and headsets are used in everyday business and industrial settings. Additionally, most newer VR headsets also support AR.

Video: Google Glass Use Case

Mixed reality needs to work with many elements of extended reality at the same time. Lenses or headsets must present an overlay of the physical and digital world. However, this is more computationally intensive than AR because the digital elements must be context aware. The physical and digital interact seamlessly in MR. The relative youth of MR and high technical requirements mean that MR headsets are relatively rare when compared to either VR or AR. But the future is still bright for MR. Technology is constantly moving forward, and new MR devices are in active development.

Video: Introducing Microsoft HoloLens 2

You’ve now begun to see the tremendous possibilities inherent in extended reality. Moreover, most of these technologies have already been adopted by various professional spaces. The following examples present some of the most notable examples of extended reality in the modern workplace.

Non-physical elements might not seem helpful for manufacturing. But manufacturing is one of the most significant fields for extended reality. This is largely because augmented reality can make almost any complex physical task both safer and more efficient. For example, Boeing uses AR to help decrease the overall cognitive load of employees working on aircraft assembly. AR can provide constant and easy access to documentation and schematics while people are hard at work. There’s no need to fumble around for books or even tablets when a screen is always available by glancing up. XR has increased manufacturing safety, efficiency, and speed.

Video: Extended Reality (XR) in aviation Manufacturing & Maintenance

Gaming has been many individuals’ first introduction to extended reality. Countless people discovered AR through Pokémon GO. And a considerable number of gamers are venturing into the realm of VR gaming as various franchises make their way onto the platform. Not to mention that the growth of metaverse brands has also impacted public interest in XR technologies. The metaverse is big news. And the availability of games in the metaverse has caught the attention of gamers. The progress has been sped up even more thanks to a continually lowering cost of entry. VR headsets are becoming more and more affordable.

Video: PlayStation VR Worlds – Announcement Trailer | PS VR

Extended reality is quickly changing the future of healthcare. One of the larger issues with medicine comes from communication. It’s often challenging to show patients what’s wrong with them and what needs to be done. Likewise, doctors and nurses often have problems integrating different visualizations into a cohesive whole. XR is changing medicine in a similar way to x-rays. Like x-rays, XR allows doctors to gaze into a patient’s body. Surgeons can even benefit by training on virtual representations of a system. Organ visualization, in particular, is a booming field among many AI startups right now.

Video: Virtual and Mixed Reality for Medical Education

Technological innovation and retail often go hand-in-hand. What would TV or radio have been without advertising? The retail sector has been understandably eager to leverage extended reality as well. Retailers are particularly keen to use XR to bridge the online and in-person shopping experience. What if you could try out a product in VR before you buy it? Or see how furniture would look in your home? That’s a massive improvement over the static images of online stores. The ultimate goal that will benefit retailers and customers alike is to bridge online and offline shopping.

Video: Amazon AR View

Educators are quite familiar with the idea of visual learners. Some people just learn better when looking at physical reality rather than the words describing it. Schools often struggle to help visual learners. Multimedia has helped, but not as much as most would hope. But extended reality offers a real solution to the problem of visual learning. Extended reality can transport students to the areas under discussion, from moments in ancient history to the interior of an animal’s cellular structure. Even otherwise costly experiments can be done economically feasible in the context of virtual environments.

Video: Education in the metaverse

Many of the most time-consuming parts of architecture stem from implementation rather than necessity. The process of design review is often held up by a slow trickle of informed feedback. But imagine if data could be calculated in a moment. Or if problems could be sorted out long before plans were ever discussed in a group environment? Extended reality and related tools like AI and NVIDIA’s Omniverse Enterprise are making that dream a reality. These digital visualization and collaboration packages are becoming a new kind of toolkit for architects. One that can put an emphasis on both creativity and efficiency.

Video: NVIDIA Studio | Accelerated Architectural Workflows

The previous examples gave a general idea of how extended reality is being used in the professional world. But we can also take a more focused look at specific companies. The following examples highlight some of the major players in the XR world.

Apple’s position on extended reality is something of a mystery. On the one hand, they’re among the largest augmented reality companies thanks to iOS and its ARKit SDK. But Apple also has an extensive history with virtual reality and other forms of VR. It’s more a question of when rather than if with Apple and extended reality hardware.

Potential for progress is synonymous with potential for problems. And people do have some concerns about extended reality. This is partially due to the overall metaverse meaning of sitting within a fuzzy position in the world. The larger culture hasn’t decided what to make of the metaverse and extended reality.

There’s still a lot of debate about what should be allowed within it. These concerns become more apparent when metaverse crypto enters the discussion. Extended reality touches on many real-world issues like the economy, the job market, and social interaction.

Some people also worry that socioeconomic issues will become more strained due to the high cost of XR gear. This might not seem like a big issue if you’re looking at extended reality in entertainment. But keep in mind that XR has already become a big part of many professional and academic spaces. Access to XR could give or take the chance of upward mobility for people.

Additionally, there are some privacy concerns. XR requires some level of trust in a company. But even aside from the details you knowingly provide, there are also accidental contributions. For example, XR gear might note which advertisements caught your attention.

Extended reality can seem intimidating at first. It’s not just one complex technology but an entire collection of them. But now that you’ve learned about XR’s foundational elements, you can find the equipment that suits you best and venture outward.

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