Extended reality technology, encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and now mixed reality, might seem like it’s still in the early days of adoption. To be fair, it’s still only used by a minority of people, with the most popular use cases being gaming and entertainment. Yet many other viable, real-world applications for XR are already enjoying widespread use.
XR is, in many ways, just the latest evolution of the human-machine interface. It goes beyond traditional keyboards, mice and touchscreens, immersing the user in a virtual environment or augmenting their surroundings, enabling them to interact with the digital world in the same way as they would within the physical world.
These technologies have been around for a while, but the pandemic and the consequent global shutdowns became a powerful catalyst, paving the way for them to be used in multiple industries. They’re now getting some serious traction. From healthcare to education and training, and from manufacturing to tourism, the use of XR is growing rapidly, and it’s forecast to become an $865 billion market by 2030.
Healthcare
Doctors find themselves under intense pressure when they’re in the operating room, trying to perform surgery that could make or break someone’s life. Something like a heart transplant is an intense, hours-long procedure that requires extreme skill, dedication, and discipline, not to mention enormous resilience on the part of the surgeon.
Learning these kinds of skills on the job is certainly not ideal, especially when lives are at risk, but until recently there was no other option. But with the rise of XR, surgeons now have a way to simulate complex surgeries before they step into the operating room.
VR technology is a game-changer for medical training. Platforms like Surgical Theater provide VR-based rehearsal simulations for neurosurgical preoperative planning and other medical procedures. They allow surgeons to hone their skills and increase their confidence so they can perform almost any kind of life-threatening procedure without breaking a sweat.
AR can also transform patient care, overlaying vital digital data in the real world. For instance, AR headsets can highlight the veins in a patient’s arm, enabling a nurse to draw blood more accurately or enhance basic anatomy lessons for medical students.
Education and training
Extended reality lends itself well to training scenarios beyond healthcare. Teachers can use immersive environments to teleport their students to Mars or take them back in time to witness historic events, giving them an experience that’s vastly more memorable and exciting than any old textbook can provide.
VR headsets are a wonderful educational tool, and they have many uses, from practicing language skills with native speakers to exploring ecosystems, or even taking users into a microscope, so they can examine a blood plasma cell in intricate detail.
XR systems also eliminate geographical barriers, making it possible for learners to come together in a virtual world where they can participate in group sessions from all corners of the globe.
Mawari makes these applications possible through its decentralized physical infrastructure network, overcoming the latency barrier to ensure a seamless, scalable, and capital-efficient VR experience. When you step into a virtual world, education can only work if the environment is ultra-responsive, and that requires access to powerful yet low-cost computing resources.
Mawari’s network is made up of GPU-powered spatial computing nodes that are distributed globally, ensuring the required spatial computing power is on hand wherever the user needs it, enabling AI-powered avatars and environments to be scaled in any location.
Real estate and construction
Two related industries are also being revolutionized with XR tech. Virtual tours became a popular alternative to in-person house viewings during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing prospective homebuyers to tour properties they’re interested in while remaining safely ensconced indoors.
It’s an entirely practical solution that kept people safe and made searching for a home much more convenient. Don a VR headset and you may as well be walking in the physical home itself – but of course, you’re not. You can stay at home instead, giving you plenty of time to explore additional properties that might have caught your interest.
The same technology has also been widely embraced by architects and developers, and also by real estate agents for home staging. Architects can draw up their plans and feed them into a platform like Enscape and then conjure up a virtual representation of how that luxury home or penthouse apartment will look and feel, even before it has been built, even taking into account the breathtaking ocean views.
Manufacturing
In the manufacturing sector, XR has fundamentally changed the nature of design and maintenance by enabling the concept of digital twins, which are virtual replicas of real-world products. For instance, Siemens’ digital twin technology makes it possible to test products like sneakers in a virtual setting, in order to investigate how many miles someone could walk before the shoes start to fall apart.
BMW has gone even further, using Nvidia’s Omniverse platform to create an entire replica of its next-generation automotive factory. It’s using this virtual world to optimize the layout of machines and robots, test different mechanisms, boost the efficiency of its on-site logistics systems, and more.
Meanwhile, on the factory floor, AR technology is just as transformative, allowing for the integration of digital overlays and real-time instructions on complex machines. Platforms like Neuronimbus make it possible for maintenance teams to use AR instructions to guide them through complex repair work, reducing errors and speeding up the time it takes to bring a machine back online, boosting operational efficiency.
Tourism and hospitality
Another concept that first gained legs during the pandemic was VR tourism, paving the way for virtual tourists to explore destinations and view famous landmarks instead of going there in person. The same technology even allows travelers to check out their hotel rooms before checking in. With these immersive experiences, visitors have a much better sense of what they can expect once they arrive physically.
Once a traveler arrives at their destination, AR headsets can help to make the experience more interactive. For instance, it’s possible to explore museums or historical sites with digital information overlaid, using a smartphone or headset. A great example of this is the Smithsonian’s Skin & Bones exhibit, which enhances the Bone Hall anatomy exhibit at its oldest museum by overlaying the skin and muscles onto old skeletons, so visitors can see what the original animal would have looked like.
Then there are virtual tourist guides like Emma, which can help visitors to find their way around Germany’s most popular tourist attractions, answering any questions they may have and providing useful information about where to eat.
XR Is The New Reality
One of the major challenges for XR technology is the need to scale in step with growing adoption. XR requires an awful lot of computing power and it needs to be easily accessible. As such, the future of XR will almost certainly be in the cloud, where DePIN networks made up of distributed computing resources can eliminate the need for physical hardware on-site, ensuring universal access from any location.
With the infrastructure in place, XR technology can have a transformative impact on a diverse number of industries, making them more accessible, collaborative, and immersive, unlocking new opportunities for millions of people to explore their creativity in ways that weren’t possible before.
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