Extended Reality is the umbrella term used to identify all “immersive” reality experiences, from AR and VR to Mixed Reality (MR). Currently, XR is growing at an impressive rate, with a projected value of over $463.7 billion by 2026 and a CAGR of more than 62%.
Various factors have accelerated the growth of XR lately, including the increasing accessibility of smartphones, applications, headsets, and wearables. What’s more, the rise of the pandemic in 2020 pushed many companies to reconsider their interactions with extended reality. Many brands have turned to the virtual world to enhance relationships with customers or strengthen collaboration.
Let’s look at some of the biggest things affecting XR today.
1. Better Headsets All-Around
The hardware segment of the XR environment is growing increasingly more impressive. In Virtual Reality, clunky headsets with limited displays are being replaced by more advanced tools with greater field of movement, and fewer risks of VR sickness.
Headsets are becoming increasingly lightweight, and more immersive, with better spatial audio implementation, a wider field of view, and more pixels per inch in each display. This extends not just to the VR market but to Mixed Reality headsets and AR smart glasses too. Increasingly, we’re even seeing companies invest in more stylish, sleeker smart glasses.
2. Mass Adoption of XR
As mentioned above, while XR has been present in the digital environment for some time, it’s only recently that interest has begun to accelerate. The pandemic pushed more people to consider extended reality as ways of interacting with clients and colleagues. People are now frequently stepping into virtual reality collaboration conference rooms or delivering AR apps to their customers.
Extended Reality is changing the way that we plan for travel and trips, and it’s even paving the way to a new form of events, where people can be present in any location around the world without having to leave their living room.
3. Mobility and Connectivity
It’s difficult to feel fully immersed in an experience when you’re constantly dealing with wires and cables. People want the freedom to move around when they’re wearing smart glasses, or checking out an AR application. With that in mind, companies are looking into new ways of making technology as mobile as possible.
The evolution of 5G as a lag-free form of connectivity will strengthen all kinds of extended reality experience, from mixed reality to VR. With stronger connections, users will be able to stream content faster and unlock new levels of immersion.
4. XR Training without Risk
Training is one of the most exciting areas for extended reality. VR headsets promise companies the opportunity to bring team members into simulated versions of otherwise dangerous scenarios without putting them at risk. For instance, you could train a construction worker on how to work on a building site or give guidance to military professionals.
AR and MR have potential in the training landscape too. These tools will allow people to practice interacting with certain tools and systems in a safer space. When it comes to actually working on products, AR and MR can overlay extra information into the experience to make the learning feel more immersive.
5. XR for Customer Experience
Customer Experience has been the most important differentiating factor for companies for some time now. Especially after the pandemic of 2020, there’s been a growing need for XR as a way of reaching clients in more effective ways. AR can allow customers to try products on before they buy anything. VR invites customers to join teams or professionals in a virtual environment for demos
We’re already seeing various examples of XR in the consumer experience environment today. Going forward, everything from user manuals to customer service could be enhanced by extended reality. You could go through the process of setting up a new piece of technology one step at a time with AR, seeing information overlaid on top of the item itself.
6. Online Collaboration in XR
Aside from offering excellent opportunities for training and on-the-job guidance, extended reality has the potential to change how team members interact in the modern landscape. The potential of XR for creative collaboration became increasingly evident during the pandemic, when people no longer had the opportunity to work together in office spaces as they used to.
Online collaboration and cooperation can continue to be enhanced by extended reality going forward. With VR and MR, companies can create prototypes of products and put them to the test without wasting any valuable resources. The right XR solutions can help to strengthen team member connections too, by making them feel as though they’re sharing a space.
7. AI in Extended Reality
Increasingly, other aspects of disruptive technology are finding their way into the extended reality environment. We’ve already mentioned 5G above, but AI is likely to be one of the most significant tools for the future of any XR company. Artificial Intelligence paves the way for better movement recognition and interactions between users and technology.
AI vision can examine the position of a person in a VR environment with speed and make it easier to track their interactions with digital content. AI assistants in the AR environment could allow users to pull up information on a set of smart glasses with incredible speed. The more intelligent the application can be, the better.
8. Better Accessibility
Finally, the extended reality environment is growing increasingly accessible to people who want to create their own spaces and experiences. In the AR space, we have plenty of tools available to developers looking to create apps, like AR Core and AR Kit. In the virtual reality landscape, there’s no shortage of development opportunities either. Companies can even build their own VR environment from scratch for better training.
Microsoft has even recently introduced a new landscape for mixed reality development. The Mesh space will allow more companies and developers to interact with mixed reality in an exciting way. The MR space will be a new frontier for developers and device creators who want to get involved extended reality.
