2016 is an extraordinary year. In the consumer technology market, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, and even the mixed reality market, have continued to grow, and by 2020 will develop into a large industry of US$165 billion. Now, there are still many new members constantly joining this market. Behind the rapid development, how should we view the development trend of AR and VR technology and its impact on the entire digital product field?
Before we discuss the two technologies that are ushering in further growth in 2017, let's take a look at the differences between virtual reality and augmented reality. Although they are somewhat similar, there are still big differences.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is a completely virtual digital world that isolates us from the real world. Virtual reality can completely "transfer" users. In other words, it can take us to a completely different world. Through fully-enclosed virtual reality headsets or glasses, we can feel the charm of virtual reality in our own rooms.
We can see that the effects of virtual reality are quite amazing. We can feel immersive in the Cirque du Soleil's 3D big show, participate in a concert or sports competition, or ride a roller coaster, play games, or even It is an artistic creation. In some cases, you can even play with a partner in the virtual world. Recently, virtual reality technology has begun to be used to help children who are sick and hospitalized to simulate leaving the hospital environment and make the children feel more happy. If you ask about the relationship between virtual reality and mixed reality, the former actually uses more advanced technologies than the latter.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality technology is to simulate digital content in the environment around us. This technology based on “enhanced reality†is able to provide users with additional relevant information experiences by adding 2D or 3D elements to the real environment and goals. And turn the world around it into a technology for digital media and interface content.
At present, there are many things that augmented reality can do, including playing games, watching videos, surfing the Internet, listening to music, and even betting on horses.
At present, most augmented reality technologies are based on mobile devices, including apps on smartphones and tablets, but this situation is changing rapidly. As a form of augmented reality, mixed reality looks more complicated and more realistic to use.
For example, the following Mercedes-Benz sales manual using augmented reality technology is a good example.
Mixed Reality: The Next Big Change
Mixed reality is a more advanced technology based on augmented reality and virtual reality. It combines several different types of technologies, including the use of sensors, more advanced optical devices, and the most advanced computers. All these technologies will be integrated into a single device, providing users with enhanced holographic real-time digital content, and adding to the virtual space, bringing an incredible reality and virtual scene.
how to work
The mixed reality will first scan the physical environment around you, then create a surrounding 3D model and start adding digital content to this space. It also allows us to interact with gesture control. Different from virtual reality, users are immersed in a completely different world, and digital content is added to real environments that have been re-created through 3D modeling through mixed reality to achieve deeper interactions.
Through the use of head-mounted devices, space, sound, and physical environments allow us to integrate the surrounding real world into the virtual world and make changes and interactions. For example, a robot like this can break through the walls and even launch weapons to us. This kind of game experience is definitely more magical.
What can mixed reality do?
Mixed reality can not only be used to play more interesting games, but also brings a new form of interaction, whether it is applications or games, can provide an imagination we never had before. The world around us will help us learn, work, communicate or interact in a whole new form.
Here are a few examples:
Communication: Holoportation will allow users to communicate in different cities or countries in the same space, no matter how far away they are;
Education: In the field of medicine, more realistic anatomical effects can be achieved and a full understanding of the body's structure can be achieved;
Entertainment: Microsoft HoloLens has teamed up with the NFL Alliance to allow players to interact with players in real time, including advertisers and sponsors;
And this technology has unlimited application prospects in many fields. Sports, music, television, art, fashion, business, education, medicine, interior design, retail, architecture, real estate, etc. Almost everything around us can be mixed. The impact of reality. Mixed reality will gradually replace your mobile device and slowly replace TVs, laptops, and tablets in your life. All other device content will soon be replaced by a pair of mixed reality glasses.
When will it come to the average consumer
The key to how mixed reality platforms will come to ordinary consumers is the price and portability of the devices. For example, the current Microsoft HoloLens is the only high-end product on the market, priced at 3,000 US dollars. However, it was only created for companies and design engineers and was not accepted by ordinary users. Meta 2 is priced at $ 949 and will ship soon. In addition, Magic Leap still has no movement.
Not only is the mixed reality device more compact and portable, but it also requires the network to ensure that no restrictions are received during the massive data transmission process. Therefore, 5G networks will play a very important role here. In addition, cloud computing capabilities will also release a lot of requirements for the device itself. The final mixed reality device will become a device that can be used seamlessly and affordable, and in 2017 we will see great strides.
What kind of "people-friendly" products are currently available in the market?
ZapBox: $30 Mixed Reality Cardboard
An augmented reality company named Zappar recently announced the launch of the world's first mixed reality headset for cardboard, equipped with a complete controller and a special wide-angle lens. Now it has started crowdfunding on Kickstarter. The early bird price is 30 US dollars (about 207 yuan).
Zappar's mission is to dramatically reduce the price of mixed reality devices in the form of Google Cardboard and to abandon Zappar's use of external-inside methods that allow us to perform cool interactive entertainment in the existing physical space.
Bridge MR/VR: Price $399 (about RMB 2760)
Occipital also introduced a cool-looking hybrid reality headset, Bridge, which currently only supports the iOS platform. The helmet is equipped with a 120-degree wide-angle lens and a more sophisticated "structural depth sensor". Currently, Bridge has been researching and developing for several years, and it uses an internal-to-outer tracking method. Therefore, Wuxi relies on external sensors and can quickly and accurately make augmented reality objects appear in the surrounding environment and it looks quite real.
2017 Microsoft's Mixed Reality Plan
Microsoft's HoloLens head-mounted device has already established a leading position in the market, and can be seen as the best product on the market, not one. However, the price of 3,000 US dollars also blocked HoloLens at the door of most ordinary users.
Microsoft also seems to recognize this problem, and at the WinHEC conference in December last year also made some expansion, and announced the official support for the Windows VR platform hardware standards, and released the same can be used for some virtual reality data processing Wearing a prototype device.
In addition, Microsoft confirmed that including HP, Acer, Lenovo and Asustek will all launch their own Windows 10 VR platform devices in 2017, starting at US$299 (about RMB2070). Unlike HoloLens, the new Windows VR device is less expensive and is aimed at the mass consumer market, but it needs to work with a PC and cannot perform independent data calculations.
How do you see apple?
Obviously, with Apple's status, if it really enters the mixed reality device market, it will undoubtedly play the role of changing industry rules, and it can even make the industry develop rapidly overnight. Before the whole world saw CEO Cook's position, he thought that the prospect of augmented reality technology was far more than that of virtual reality. At the same time, there is news that the iPhone 8 released by Apple in September 2017 may be a product that supports augmented reality platforms.
Robert Scoble reported for the first time that Apple will create a completely transparent OLED mobile display device, and supports wireless charging and built-in 3D sensors. At the same time, the report also stated that Apple has invested 600 engineers in the development of sensor work in Israel, and all computing devices will be hidden on the edge of this device, and can also connect headphones. Setting Apple will use an implementation tracking sensor from Eyefluence on the iPhone 8.
In fact, for a lot of people, a completely transparent electronic device seems to be a "freakout" imagination, but the Taiwanese company Polytron had developed such a prototype product in 2013.
Recently, as an OEM partner of Apple, Foxconn also confirmed that it started to produce wireless charging and OLED display components, and Apple’s related patents have also surfaced. In addition, Apple will build a 10th anniversary version of the iPhone 8 in 2017, so if Apple is equipped with the augmented reality or mixed reality features of the iPhone 8, it will not surprise us.
Application of Mixed Reality in Advertising
Mixed reality will be presented to consumers in brand-new and interactive advertising. This will undoubtedly further enhance the product's brand loyalty.
For example, Coca-Cola now offers a 3D game to help users with virtual interactions, and many companies have made similar attempts.
Such technology will be further welcomed by consumers and increase the value of the brand in the eyes of users. However, if more advertisements take the form of mixed reality in the future, the competition between products will become increasingly fierce and will have a greater impact on consumers.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Due to the emergence of new technologies and new equipment, not only the average consumer's life will change dramatically, but for the brand, it not only represents more opportunities for advertising, he can also learn and acquire user preferences and consumption. habit.
In the end, this means that more physical targets that appear around us will appear in some type of mixed reality environment, and they will play a guiding role in consumer spending. Using advanced visual systems, augmented reality company Blippar can directly use deep learning engines to include learning and recognition of everyday objects, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants and animals, and then establish digital objects and databases for these objects.
And this kind of technology will be very likely to be used in mixed reality devices in the future, and the signals of the objects we see in the eyes will be quickly sent to the sensors, and without the help of input or voice command engine, it will directly help us solve the problems that appear in daily life. Various problems.
2017 will be a new beginning of this fun-filled technology and will allow us to see some scenes that have never been experienced before. By mixing reality technology, we can share and experience a whole new world, and there will be more magical effects constantly impacting our eyes.
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