|
Creating an Open Standard
We are in very early days in the evolution of this landscape but right now interest is high in the technology and many hardware and software companies are jumping on board. This has lead to a fragmentation of the industry akin to the browser wars between Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer in the late 1990s. Seeking to unite the VR/AR/MR industries is the umbrella term XR where ‘X’ is eXtended Reality. Learning from the World Wide Web Consortium, OpenXR is a working group that is creating an open and royalty-free standard for VR and AR applications and devices. This group includes, among others, ground-breakers at Oculus, Unity, Google. They see the main problem facing the industry is that each XR development platform must be able to export for all devices and platforms. This creates confusion for creators and consumers. OpenXR is working to create a standard that eliminates fragmentation by creating a standard. Developers only have to code a project once and it will work on all platforms and devices. Creation of this standard will help focus innovation and bring together companies instead of working on competing technologies in their own silos. |
Hardware Developments
XR Hardware technology continues to be developed at an incredibly rapidly pace, with new capacities being unveiled on a regular basis, while existing applications are being expanded to meet newly identified needs. However, certain hardware trends do particularly stand out: |
|
|
|
There are still a great many opportunities for start-up companies. While Microsoft’s Hololens offers the potential for as yet unmatched AR/MR experience, one is clearly wearing an AR HMD when using it. Lower profile AR glasses, or those that offer a more entry level AR experience at a reduced price, such as the overlaying of basic textual data or images to what they viewer already sees, provide a different avenue for entrepreneurs and innovators. What has become of particular interest is the capacity for moderately immersive AR glasses to become as useful and ubiquitous as smart phones currently are now, offering a broader market than either VR or more highly-immersive, specialized MR. However, the potential of AR HMD’s that are indistinguishable from standard glasses shows such potential that Intel has revealed it is designing its own line, called Vaunt, although its scheduled release date has not yet been revealed.
|
|
|
Learning Applications
|
|
|
Activity: AR/VR Developments - Gauging the Future
Developments in AR/VR/XR can be both exhilarating but also worrying as new technologies become available and more ubiquitous. For example, earlier concerns that were raised with the initial release of Google Glass have yet to be fully explored or resolved, yet new AR HMD's/Glasses are one of the hottest areas of development. Further, these concerns do not negate the new capacities that these technologies create nor the positive opportunities they represent. With this in mind, please consider and respond to the questions below.
Developments in AR/VR/XR can be both exhilarating but also worrying as new technologies become available and more ubiquitous. For example, earlier concerns that were raised with the initial release of Google Glass have yet to be fully explored or resolved, yet new AR HMD's/Glasses are one of the hottest areas of development. Further, these concerns do not negate the new capacities that these technologies create nor the positive opportunities they represent. With this in mind, please consider and respond to the questions below.