Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technology On Its Way To Shape The Future

By Sharad Singh

2018 was game-changing for
augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) industry. The demand for AR and
VR jobs skyrocketed in the last few years when in the VR world, wireless became
a norm and in AR world, stand-alone HMD became a buzzword. In fact, a wave of
new AR-based apps has hit the Apple Store and Google Play Store so hard that it
has allowed users to even measure a distance without using a tape or preview
set of the living room furniture without actually buying anything.

As we enter the new year, the AR
and VR market has slowed down a bit, however, the new announcements from major
market players such as Snapchat and Apple have given hope for the brighter
future of AR and VR market. According to a research firm, Allied Market
Research, the global AR
and VR industry is expected to reach $571.42 billion by 2025, registering a
CAGR of 63.3% from 2018 to 2025. With new market strategies such as the acquisition
of startup: Infinity Augmented Reality by Alibaba and new applications of VR in
“eye-tracking”, it is obvious that the AR- and VR-based applications are here
to stay.

Acquisition of Infinity Augmented Reality

The Israeli startup, Infinity Augmented
Reality, recently confirmed its acquisition by Alibaba. The two companies had been
involved in a partnership since 2016 when InfinityAR and Alibaba collaborated
on computer vision, AR, and even artificial intelligence (AI) projects.

The startup was established in
2013 and its augmented glasses platform has enabled several developers to incorporate
AR into their applications. Moreover, InfinityAR’s has developed various products
such as software for OEMs and ODMs and a SDK plug-in for the 3D engines. On the
other hand, in 2016, Alibaba started showing interest in VR, when the company
signed an investment deal with Magic Leap, an American startup that deals with
head-mounted VR display.

However, the acquisition
of InfinityAR is aimed at to create about 100 million jobs by 2036. The
R&D team of InfinityAR is expected to be working from Alibaba’s Israel
Machine Laboratory, which is an arm of DAMO Academy and is estimated to bring
revenue of $15 billion by working for about two billion customers by 2036. Moreover,
the DAMO Academy works together with various universities across the globe and
the Israel Machine Laboratory has an affiliation with the Tel Aviv University
and is aimed at machine learning and video analysis.

Toyota launches of new AR app

The Japanese automobile company,
Toyota, recently launched its AR application that offers a chance to “see
inside” the company’s C-HR model. The company’s U.K. arm worked with digital
agency Brandwidth to develop the AR
application. The iPad app incorporated both AR and VR technology to overlay
graphics of the inside of the car onto the physical vehicles. The customers
visiting the shopping centers, showrooms, and trade shows could use the app and
interact with each other and know more about the hybrid system that is used in
the car and experience the “hotspots” that can be clicked to know about its key
features.

Upcoming trends in AR and VR market

AR in marketing & advertising

Over the last few years, various
brands have used AR technology for the company’s marketing & advertising
campaign as it offers an immersive experience to the consumer as well as increases
user engagement and brand recognition. For instance, in 2017, IKEA launched its
AR app that enables users to visualize which kind of furniture would look aesthetic
in their house, eliminating the need to buy the fixtures and in turn saving
money.

AR in healthcare

AR has found enormous
applications in the healthcare sector in the form of telemedicine. The
technology allows doctors to administer the patients remotely. Moreover, with
the help of AR, doctors could literally map and suggest the motions required
for physical therapy to the patient’s body.  Additionally, AR-based software could provide
the necessary training regarding the type of physical therapies to succeed in
their profession.

VR adoption in various industries

VR has the most appealing feature
that offers the user an immersive experience within the content. However,
compared to AR, VR market has not quite gained the expected momentum yet and high-quality
VR content is still not in the hands of masses. However, it does not mean that
the market will remain in a stealth mode. With the help of VR, users can now
track their belongings or product in a marketplace, building, or a shelf. In a
project carried out for Kellogg, Accenture and Qualcomm demonstrated a novel
application of a combination of VR and AR. The companies launched eye-tracking
technology that could recognize what gains a customer’s attention and helps
them to make their own decisions. Kellogg’s wanted to launch its new product
and find out an optimum position for it in shelf to boost its sale. For this, the
team created virtual shelves and allowed customers to shop as they usually do
and observed where they look, what kind of products they pick, and which
products they put back on the shelf.

The recent developments in the AR
and VR technology are slowly entering into various industries to help better
visualize the surrounding to improve the performance of daily tasks. If you
look at the recent surge in the development of a mobile-based application that
uses AR and VR technology, it is clear that the technology is here to stay, and
we better be ready for it.