Introduction to AR and VR
The recent boom in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has overshadowed other technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). However, there are still compelling reasons to maintain AR and VR on the IT strategic roadmap. AR enhances the physical world with digital artifacts, while VR immerses participants in an alternate world of virtual experience.
What are AR and VR?
AR is called because it might probably embellish the physical world with digital artifacts. VR goes one step further by immersing participants in an alternate world of virtual experience. There are several AR/VR use cases which can be working in business, including retail and real estate industries using AR and VR technologies to offer customers a preview of how a household item would look of their home.
Current Use Cases of AR and VR
The retail and real estate industries use AR and VR technologies to offer customers a preview of how a household item would look of their home. It also can provide would-be buyers a virtual walkthrough of a vacation home that they’re considering purchasing that’s hundreds of miles away. Building engineers and inspectors use AR with the assistance of special glasses that display blueprints of electrical wiring that they’ll superimpose upon a finished wall in a structure; the military uses VR to simulate battlefield scenes for trainees; and baseball players use AR/VR to enhance the mechanics of their swings.
The CIO’s Position on AR/VR Today
For CIOs, AR/VR is taking a backseat to artificial intelligence, which is predicted to exceed $1.8 trillion in business investment by 2030. Consequently, there may be little left in most IT budgets for the rest. CIOs also know that almost all AR/VR investments can’t be done “on the low cost”. AR/VR implementations often require significant customization to attain the precise fit for specific business cases, and so they can require expensive investments in headgear, workstations, and other hardware.
Where AR and VR Could Play in a Business
Adecco, a company recruiter, reported in 2023 that 92% of executives think that American staff aren’t as expert as they have to be. And the World Economic Forum expects that 39% of skills might be outdated by 2030. At the identical time, younger employees entering the workforce are less more likely to learn by reading manuals, and more more likely to further their learning through AR, VR, and other visual technologies. This makes workforce education a major area for AR/VR utilization.
AR/VR in Education and Training
Schools are already integrating AR/VR into their curricula, and there isn’t a reason that corporations can’t do the identical to assist address their worker skills shortages. Another AR/VR use case that has been used successfully is in retail sales, where AR/VR can simulate product experiences in a virtual environment. With AR/VR, a prospect can “experience” what a visit to Belize could be like or do a visible walkthrough of a beach home in Miami.
AR/VR Trends
Looking forward, it is affordable to expect that AR/VR use will expand within the areas where it’s already gaining a footing: education/training, retail sales, and product development. There are three AR/VR trends that CIOs should note:
- Cloud-based AR/VR, where a user can placed on a wireless headset and use AR/VR from the cloud if the computing requirements for the app aren’t overly intensive.
- Better ergonomic experiences for users, where vendors are creating more wearable and “tetherless” headsets that deliver a greater ergonomic experience to users.
- A concentrate on security and governance, where AR/VR vendors pays more attention to security and governance in the longer term because enterprise customers will demand it.
Conclusion
While AR/VR technology isn’t front-and-center in technology discussions today, it could emerge in the longer term as a way for corporations to streamline education and training, improve recent product development and times to market, grow retail revenues, and even simulate scenarios. AR/VR usually are not today’s hot technologies, but they need to nonetheless be listed in IT strategic plans, because they’re logical extensions of more corporate virtualization. Plus, they’ll address several of the persistent pain points that corporations proceed to grapple with.
