Current XR Situation
The XR market is expected to be valued over $460 billion in five years due to the exponential growth in demand for XR over the past two years. According to a survey by Market & Markets Research, XR has a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of more than 62%, which is extraordinarily strong. This growth is mostly the result of organizations adopting digital transformation in the enterprise sector.
The primary causes driving increasing investment in XR, in addition to the epidemic, are:
Accessibility of more cost-effective options.
Adoption – Disruptive technology is being accepted more readily by businesses of all sizes.
Hybrid Workforce: The modern workforce, characterized by hybrid employment and the demands of younger generations for a wider range of technology.
Describe XR
The three main categories of immersive technologies—AR, MR, and VR—are collectively referred to as “Extended Reality,” or XR. Any technology that extends or supplants reality for the user digitally is considered immersive technology. Smartphones, HMDs like the HoloLens, or VR headsets like the Oculus are used to accomplish this.
Smartphones and tablets are used in augmented reality (AR) to enhance the actual environment. Consider it as an additional layer of information above your immediate surroundings. The iOS app Angry Birds AR, which allows you to interact with 3D characters in the actual world, is a wonderful illustration of this.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a term used to describe an experience that completely immerses the user in a virtual environment while blocking out the outside world. Employees may communicate, share workspace, and manage a project all in a virtual environment with the help of Spatial’s collaborative VR workplaces.
Mixed reality (MR) is an exception. MR is the midway technology if AR and VR are the two extremes of a continuum. It combines the capacity to interact with the physical world while also allowing the user to overlay digital information upon it. Holograms can be used in applications like Valorem’s Digital Twin to interact with real-world objects.
With the aid of these technologies, businesses can effectively communicate vast amounts of information graphically, train staff, and do so while also saving money. When deciding which technology to use, it is simpler to make a better informed choice if you are aware of these differences.
How to Pick the Best Immersive Technology
Based on these 4 areas, pose questions to yourself.
1. Users
Always start with a solution that is user-centric. Consider how the user’s life will be made easier by the solution you are offering. Who will be the final user? Is there a high learning curve or do they already have experience with this? The type of gadget that people use most frequently should also be taken into account.
2. Situation
Then consider “where” this device will be used the majority of the time. For instance, is it on the couch being used by a customer or is it in a confined place in an elevator by a technician? You could use either MR or AR for both of these cases, but it makes more sense to utilize MR in the technician situation since, unlike the consumer, the technician needs a hands-free solution that visualizes contextual information.
3. Involvement
Does the user need to have a solid foundation in reality, or not? For instance, would the user be completing a training module to learn how to put together a complicated piece of equipment or will the user be engaging in ‘hands-on’ training to learn how to perform tasks in settings where it would not be safe for the user to do so, such as surgery? In the first case, augmented reality (AR) would be the greatest solution because it makes instructions easily accessible whenever needed and can be easily viewed in relation to the user’s surroundings.
In the second illustration, virtual reality (VR) would be most appropriate since it is simple to replicate a setting in which a user can learn sophisticated surgery in a controlled setting.
4. The application’s goal
What purposes will the app serve, such as training, data visualization, product design, seeing designs, etc. Your choice of technology for the solution you’re designing will be influenced by the app’s intended use. You can select between MR and VR, for instance, if you want to create an app that allows stakeholders to examine a building at life-size scale in order to review plans and materials.
With VR, you can perform flythroughs while completely immersed in the simulated environment, as well as obtain various points of view and display everything in real-world scale. You can choose the one that makes the most sense once you have determined your main goal.
Summary
When should you use AR?
Information must be displayed in the real world, but it need not interact with anything there.
when a phone is simpler to access than other gadgets.
when complete immersion is not necessary.
Work can be done in teams.
can be employed in any setting, including industrial and commercial settings like manufacturing and advertising.
When should you pick VR?
Users must be completely submerged in order to experience reality; they must be completely unaware of their surroundings.
Both outdoor and industrial use are inappropriate. Ideal in a regulated setting where the user has the ability to roam about and complete their virtual activities.
Real-time remote interaction and collaboration.
Scale-up your 3D modeling, but without regard for context.
When should a device combination be considered?
One more thing to think about is that occasionally a combination of devices is the best choice. For instance, the primary surgeon may communicate with the patient and make the diagnosis while donning a Hololens. Smartphones or even tablets might be the major device used by the nurses and administrative personnel who work with and assist the doctor. This is an important factor to take into account when the budget does not permit all users to use the same device or when the primary user requires a certain device, while support users can collaborate using other devices that are more readily accessible.