Virtual and augmented realities are areas that are slowly becoming established in the context of businesses and companies. So far, 20% of companies say they are already using these technologies, with 36% (VR) and 29% (AR) planning to do so in the future. Reason enough to take a closer look at the matter.
VR (short for virtual reality: Virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality: Augmenting reality) are technologies that relate to what we see and either expand it with various elements or options (AR) or completely replace it (VR). This is made possible with the help of tools such as glasses, tablets or simply smartphones. These methods quickly found application, especially in the gaming world, for example by using VR to simulate entire game worlds through which players can wander, or using AR smartphone games such as Pokemon Goin which players can point their cell phones at different places and find little monsters there.
This already impressively demonstrated what is possible with it. Because if fictional worlds can be created or digital functions can be added to the real world, this creates an almost unlimited number of possibilities from which industry can also benefit! Similar to the early one Microsoft Wordmascot Karl Staple, AR can also create the opportunity to provide helpful assistance when you don’t know what to do, for example by pointing the smartphone camera at a defective device to open a menu window that directly offers suggested solutions or supports the user in finding the source of the problem and ultimately resolving it themselves (or with the help of external telephone support). It can also be useful in the area of logistics by being able to show where which item is located with the camera pointed at the warehouse.
In comparison, VR creates a completely artificial world that is either completely self-constructed or recreates real places. Since you can move around as usual or simulate movements such as hand attacks or advancing, it is even used in the training of hotel staff, where it offers trainees the opportunity to to become familiar with making the bed. In industry and companies, the advantages are even more diverse: among other things, entire products such as cars can be assembled in virtual realities and their design and in some cases even functionality can be checked. Not only does this help to identify and correct errors before production actually begins, but it also saves resources by eliminating the need to create costly physical prototypes. And even away from production, VR can help to structure the company better, for example by enabling virtual meetings in which employees no longer have to all find themselves in a free room, but can be present from the comfort of their office or home office.
The options presented here only represent a part of the functions that VR and AR already offer today, since, as mentioned at the beginning, they are almost unlimited and new areas of application are constantly being found. So it’s worth pursuing this area further if you plan to make the company more efficient!
A short video from the Digitalzentrum Berlin clearly shows what exactly is meant by AR and VR and what areas of application there are for such technologies:
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