Immersive Technology: An Alternate Unseen World

A decade ago, the idea of experiencing something outside of the realm of possibilities seemed imaginary. Even today, the scepticism around teleporting into a parallel universe that is similar to ours seems far-fetched.
But if you are someone like me who felt delighted seeing all the three Spider-Man together and got fascinated by the idea of a multiverse. Then let me tell you, you aren’t the only one.

This got me thinking, How can a virtual world that doesn’t exist at all feel so real? And so began my quest of learning about the technologies that lets you experience all the endless possibilities in the comfort of our home.

How is it possible?

Well, over the years, there has been progress in technology that lets the user immerse themselves in a digital environment. The dual nature of getting the best of both worlds and the possibility of choosing your adventure are endless because of it. This amalgamation of the physical world and simulated reality is known as Immersive Technology.

These are some of the different types of Immersive Technologies:
• 360
• Virtual reality (VR)
• Augmented reality (AR)
• Mixed reality (MR)
• Extended reality (XR)

360

You might be familiar with 360 content on YouTube and Facebook as it is the simplest form of immersive technology that is readily available to us. The majority of modern smartphones nowadays also enable you to create a 360 image by using the “photo sphere” feature, so users have the ability to relatively quickly create 360-degree images.

The 360 content found on social platforms like YouTube and Facebook ranges from user-generated to brand-sponsored content. This new format gives content creators more space to work with and allows users to explore content in any direction.

Virtual reality (VR)

Virtual reality uses a headset to create a simulated environment and helps an individual to immerse in it to experience an entirely different reality. Upon first glance, gadgets like Nintendo Labo, oculus quest, and Sony PlayStation VR look like headsets straight from a sci-fi movie. But the real noteworthy point about them is their role in gaming. Where for the first time, players can defy physics and reality and can understand what it’s like to fight villains with a bunch of superpowers. Sounds cool right?!

Not just that, VR is also an innovative new concept in the educational industry which uses virtual reality tech for simplifying abstract concepts that are helpful for students of all ages.

Augmented reality (AR)

I think most of us have seen Tony Stark trying to improve his armour while talking to Jarvis. But did you know the technology that he is seen using there is augmented reality?

Furthermore, In Spider-Man: Far from Home, Mysterio couldn’t have fooled Spiderman without the help of his AR Technology. So, to make things more understandable, augmented reality is a technology that projects computer-generated augmentation on top of our surroundings, helping us perform tasks more efficiently. Some years back, you might have tried catching Pokémon in Pokémon Go. Well, that was made possible because of AR.

We can also see the footprint of augmented reality in the most popular applications, like Google maps, where we can visually track the direction with the help of arrows, Google lens, where you literally just have to aim at what you want to learn about and then it does the job of identifying the object and giving you all the essential details about it. And lastly, how can we forget about filters, most notably Snapchat and Instagram filters that let you work with your camera, adding a layer or imagery in the foreground or background of your image.

Mixed Reality (MR)

Mixed reality is all about blending the real world with virtual reality. Unlike augmented reality, users can interact with and manipulate both physical and virtual items and environments, using next-generation sensing and imaging technologies. What was nearly impossible a few years ago and was limited to our imagination, like interacting with our favourite Marvel superhero, is possible because of MR Technology. The best example of Mixed Reality is Microsoft HoloLens, which isn’t just a pair of smart glasses but has multiple sensors, advanced optics, and holographic processing that melds seamlessly with its environment. These holograms can be used to display information, blend with the real world, or even simulate a virtual world.

Extended Reality (XR)

If you have read so far and think all of them are pretty awesome, Well, the whole immersive technology gets even cooler with Extended Reality as it is an umbrella term that combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality and is considered to be the most transformative tech trend of the next five years. While XR is a work in progress, it is suspected to have super-fast networking that will let us experience VR as a cloud service just like we currently consume music and movies.

We will always be captivated about the creative depth and the flexibility of exploring the unknown world. With the ever so growing popularity of immersive technology, we can surely see our curious minds getting carried away with all the endless possibilities the future has to offer. With the current stage of development in this field, even the hypothetical multiverse can be recreated. And we might as well see the different patterns and make connections from past and present reality so that we can better predict the outcome of our future.