REMEMBER THESE LETTERS: VR and AR
I spent today (4 hours) in a client’s office listening to a presentation that would help grow his business. I did not know what to expect and neither did my client. The presenters were part of a relatively new company (formed six months ago), by a group of young “techies”, all college graduates and some with a masters and one even had PHD. All of them had experience in this field and joined together to form this new entity.
I won’t bore you with the business details but will share my experience: In our very large conference room they set up a few pieces of equipment, cleared an area approximately 20 by 20 feet and then had each of us (the owner of the firm and two of us from Strategic Duck) individually put on a headset, similar to the one kids are now using when playing their home video games.
The results were amazing; I found myself standing on a platform looking at our planet and watching asteroids zoom by. At one end of the platform were several pedestals with meteorites on them. I was truly in a new, 3-dimentional world; the asteroids on the pedestals were available for me to pick up, look at them and even to throw them. The full 360 degree view was so clear, better than any television picture I had ever seen. After this spectacular introduction, the rest of the time was spent in learning about the business application for my client’s firm. (Because of a confidentiality agreement, I cannot disclose the many business uses that we were introduced to)
Back to the four letters: Virtual Reality is a term used to describe three dimensional, computer generated environment which can be explored and interacted with by a person. Augmented Reality is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time. Unlike Virtual Reality which created a totally artificial environment, Augmented Reality used the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it. The technology advancement in this area, in the last 18 months, has exceeded what has been accomplished in the last 18 years.
For most of us, the limited exposure we have seen has been related to games. Today I experienced a multitude of potential business uses which will revolutionize the way products and services are presented. There are some very high profile companies that are investing billions of dollars in this technology, and many believe that it will become our next computing platform.
As BizQuack members l am asking you stay on top of what is happening in this arena and be prepared to adapt it to your business. As we get more information on this we will share it with you. For now, google these two terms and you will find a lot of great reading material.
It’s not about ideas. It’s about making your ideas happen!
Comments are closed