The Crazy and Interesting Future with Virtual Reality / AR Technology
Recently, Apple unveiled their own AR and VR headset.
Facebook rebranded themselves for this technology.
What is the hype all about? How will this technology change our lives?
Through this article, I will explain the upcoming VR and AR market, how it will change your life, and how you can profit.
On June 5th, 2023, at the WWDC23 conference, Apple announced the release of their own AR / VR the Apple Vision Pro. However, it had been in development for much longer.
Apple has entered the chat 😆
On 5th June, Apple also acquired an Augmented Reality company.
But Apple is not the first.
In 2021, Facebook became Meta, and something called a Metaverse was announced.
Microsoft with Xbox and similar technologies has long been trying to create their own virtual universe as well.
It won’t be long before other players come into this field. Seeing all the hype and excitement, it certainly seems like this is a world-changing technology, which will affect every aspect of our lives, including work, education, programming, and leisure activities (like movies and shows).
So, let’s get to the bottom of this, and find out what the technology is all about. Is it overhyped? Or is it really going to be world changing as said by many tech leaders?
AR vs VR
Most people often confuse these two terms. And it’s because they are quite similar, but at the same time, quite different (amazing explanation).
AR or Augmented Reality is a technology that combines both the real world and computer graphics onto a display. Something like what we see in Iron Man or Spider Man movies. With AR, you can see your surroundings as they are, but on top of that, you can see things like icons, text, buttons and more that the computer has shown on the display.
AR is more suited for tasks like work, education and such. It can be used for planning, or designing.
Imagine a future where instead of hiring an interior designer, you could simply wear AR headsets, walk around your home, and place furniture around (virtually, of course) and make your ideal design, before actually buying anything. Or a grocery store where the prices of items will be displayed as you walk next to them.
VR or Virtual Reality is a little different, as it places us in a different world. You could be sitting on a chair at your home, but using a VR headset, your eyes and mind would be seeing a completely different scenery. Like at the top of a building or a helicopter.
VR is particularly useful for gaming. Instead of seeing your player on screen, and pressing buttons on our controller, we could actually be in the game using joysticks on our hands (I’ve seen movies where people get sucked into games). You could even run simulations of scenarios.
With VR, you can make many impossible dreams come true, like flying in the air, walking at the speed of sound or drive airplanes and ships.
AR vs VR is like wearing a headset seeing our real world vs wearing a headset seeing another fake (or virtually real) world.
How 3D?
In both these technologies, we are able to see a 3D view. Not like our phones, which try to work like 3D, but are still 2D.
Usually, when looking at phones or laptop screens, everything is two dimensional. Even when we make 3D graphics on our computer, when we shift our head a little to the side, the illusion is gone, and we know that it is just a trick being played on our mind.
When we move our head to the side, we expect to see things from a different angle. But not on a computer or phone
3D games are not really 3D. They just appear like that.
The solution is perspective. Let me explain.
Each of our eyes is spaced a little far apart. Put your finger in front of your face and close one eye. Then, open the closed eye, and close the other. The finger appears to have changed position a bit.
When we keep both eyes open, our brain makes one image of what we see, taking input from both eyes. That is how we are able to see things in 3D.
That is why if we close one eye, we cannot really understand depth, or how far away an object is.
So that is the solution.
There is a different display for each of the eyes in a VR / AR headset. When we put the headset on, we see a different image with the left eye and a different image with the right eye. When jumbled together (by the brain) it appears 3-D.
That is exactly how the illusion of 3D is created. Each eye sees the same scene, but from different angles (perspectives).
How will the future change? How can you profit?
The gold rush has started again. This time, the gold is in VR and AR. Just like the gold rush of computers, now companies are developing headsets.
But it’s not just them who will profit. Even you can profit from this gold rush (I should stop saying gold rush so much, this is the 3rd time).
Just like the creators of the computers, the operating system and the apps all profited, similarly, you can find a market in making VR games and AR apps.
Perhaps Apple’s decision to release the headset next year is to give time for developers to make apps for the headset.
Maybe, we will see a future where one can work from home, setting up an environment that seems like an office, just by wearing an AR headset.
You can write a whole article on profiting from AR / VR. There are many ways of earning money.
Programmers will be able to make the most out of this trend.
Also, using AI, you can remove sounds and sights you don’t like. If you don’t like that sofa, remove it from your sight using your headsets. If your cat is annoying you, just edit out it’s voice using noise suppression. And as for that annoying person-who-you-can-edit-out-of-your-eyes-and-ears-using-headsets…let’s not get carried away 😆.
My Experience with VR
I had once used a VR headset, to play a game and experience VR for myself. How did it feel?
I felt like I was in a real world, though I was not. It made me wonder a million things. At the beginning, I forgot about my actual surroundings.
While moving around, I initially used to lose my balance a bit, but I soon got the hang of it.
As for the danger of hitting objects, you can leave that worry behind you. Before you can fully use the headset, you have to draw a boundary. If you cross it, the headset will stop the game and warn you.
And when I took the headset off, I was still thinking and wondering about it. It was really a great experience.
Ever since, I have a strong feeling that this technology that you can simply put on your head, can change the world.
The future is crazy and interesting. I simply can’t wait for it!
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