This article is in continuation of my earlier blog
“Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are the Future
Realities”, published on 09 Nov 2019. It is well recognized that VR
and AR are well set to impact industry like Gaming, Entertainment, Travel,
Tourism, Health Care, Education, Social Media interaction and Online Shopping.
The future of VR, AR and MR will be in Adventure, Exploration, Research or
underwater studies. In a way, VR and AR will have an impact on every
industry. The rapid growth of VR can be judged from the survey
report published by Deloitte Global indicating that about 2.5
million VR headsets were sold globally in 2016. As per Super Data Research reports the sale of
various Headgears (HMD) and VR goggles during 2018 was around 700000 units. The annual VR revenues in 2018 reached $3.6
billion as against forecast of $3.3 billion. This is a very
good growth.
Areas Impacted. The areas which will be
impacted more are briefly indicated below:
a) VR and AR
for Education. In the last 5 years, there have been some leading VR / AR
companies working vigorously alongside enthusiastic educationists in
developing VR applications in the field of education. There are some
research scholars/professors in universities and school teachers who are
already integrating VR/AR into their lesson plans and providing new
classroom experience. Unlike in the past where a teacher was delivering a
face to face lecture of one hour and students were taking notes, now with
AR/VR, students can see even a planet and its satellites while the lecture in
the classroom is in progress. .Student can be virtually transported to the
Great canyons of the USA or to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy for
the study of any historical or archaeological aspect. Some of
the top companies working in the AR/VR along with education institutes are
shown below.
· Curiscope. They inspire kids to love
for science where T-shirt (the “virtual-tee”) allows one user to wear
the virtual tee while others can launch the app and learn about the human
body under the skin of the tee-shirt wearer, It provides unique AR
approach to anatomy lessons., where students get 3D learning experiences by
exploring the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems.
· Discovery VR. Discovery is well-known
for storytelling and visual experiences. They are bringing some of the popular content like Shark Week to VR and are attracting
more people to the VR space.
· Google Expeditions. It allows teachers to act
as guides, leading their students through expeditions all over the world.
· Merge VR Its products and
experiences are targeted for students of 10th standard and
higher. It helps students to become, innovators, creative, and more
collaborative.
· VR Education. They
provide ‘ENGAGE’ platform to simulate a lecture hall in VR—allowing
educators to create specialized lessons and enabling people from all over the
world to engage virtually in a multi-user environment from anywhere in the
world.
· zSpace It is the unique company
providing all-in-one AR/VR laptop with content that can be manipulated with a
stylus pen When used in classrooms, students can have access to the
zSpace glasses, which allow for an individual to have a collaborative learning
experience.
b) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
(MSME). VR and
AR technologies have revolutionized computing environment to replicate the
real-life environment by sensing, processing and displays. These technologies
are finding their way into other areas in industrial applications, healthcare,
skill development, retail, entertainment sectors. VR/AR technologies can aid
MSMEs in improving their productivity in manufacturing, innovations, design and
marketing.
C) New Jobs. The impact of VR on the gaming industry is well established and continues to grow at a very fast pace.
Therefore jobs in VR will grow, as the gaming industry grows. You
don’t have to be a game developer to find a new job in the VR/AR industry.
Infect, VR industry will need support from all those having
experience in computer software for simulation, story writers,
visualizers and theme writers, video photographers, legal experts, marketing
and business development personals, AI experts, and many more. VR jobs will
have a judicious mix of skills required for designers, developers, filmmakers, and
3D artists in more collaborative ways. There it is right time to get set and go
for mastering newer VR skills.
d) Immersive
Marketing. Most of the
leading marketing agencies are ready to experiment with new digital technology,
and VR techniques to attract their customers. They are
looking for experts who can write VR contents and provides new impetus their
marketing strategy. Today’s young generation is excited to experience thrilling
stories of the past and future. If you are in the marketing domain, add
VR skillset in your CV and grow faster.
e) Virtual Office. Although
people have been interacting through video conferences and even using a
low-cost facility like Skype or having video chat through Google or What -Sap
yet VR experience is becoming more exciting. The virtual office is a way of
having your physical office located anywhere as per business need and other
personal factors, but have the ability to interact with your customers,
suppliers and business partners located at any distant place. Facebook has been
exploring ways to integrate VR experience with social networking
experience since 2014 and have made good progress. It will be
possible to conduct your brain-storming sessions, interviews, and status
updates from a far off location. With a virtual office, and enhanced internet
capability, you can easily get connected with your team members or special
experts, legal experts as if located next to you but physically located
anywhere in the world.
Future of VR and AR. VR is the accepted
leader but continues to grow slower than anticipated. It is predicted that AR
will soon catch up with VR in its market share. In the meantime, AR equipment
/gears are becoming more compact and less cumbersome than those of VR. VR
doesn’t allow you to visualize a 3D image interacting with a real-life a product like AR can. With so many companies experimenting with VR/AR technology,
soon VR becomes a reality in most of the jobs. The latest
survey shows that nearly 60% of U.S. product developers are already working on
VR/ AR projects, with applications ranging from Gaming, Entertainment,
Education, Healthcare, Travel and even Military Applications.
Challenges Ahead. Like any other technology, there are
gains, hopes and challenges for VR/ AR to enter into the industrial world and
scale up its business Some basic concerns are briefly given below:
· Cost, VR /AR is a very young
industry and future customers are very computer savvy. They have high
expectations on efficiency, and low cost.
· Presentation. VR / AR companies are
facing the biggest challenge of how to present stories and make it look real.
· Health Hazards. There is a fear that
pronged wearing of HMD gear could cause fatigue to the participant.
Make a Start. It is the right time to stop procrastinating and
brush up your skills of story plotting, writing, drawing/sketching,
storyboarding and marketing skills,. It will be an added advantage to read
about brands/products which are already doing well. Once you figure out what
you want to showcase to give some new experience/ benefits to your customers
say, in hospitality, travel, adventure or sports, you will be able to determine
how VR could provide impetus to your plans. You could now be looking for a
business partner with technical resources to bring your brand story to life.
Action plan. If as a young professional, you are interested to
pursue your career in VR field you may quickly but deliberately decide and move
on into this most exciting and future technology. Rest assured, you will not
regret your decision. Some basic steps which you take are briefly given below:
· You must get familiar with
VR technology and for that, you may find a course that lets you learn new
skills that VR companies are looking for. These skills could be related to 3D
animation, Modelling, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), Software Development
Kits (SDKs). Some of such course is offered free by MOOC,
Coursera, Udacity and some leading universities. You could search more on
the internet.
· Subscribe to VR and AR
magazine/ journals or online forum on VR and study contents related to your
interest in the VR industry.
· If you want to get into VR
gaming field, start playing available video games. Simultaneously start
training in VR/AR skills and this could face to face.
· Actively participate in VR
conferences and symposium happening in and around your workplace.
· Find people who are already
in VR space to network with and stay up-to-date in the VR field.
· Join bloggers related to VR
AR
They say “Well begun is half done”, So take a
calculated risk and take off in the right direction with full determination and
world is there to support your VR initiative.
Good Luck.
Dr Sarbjit Singh. Former Executive Director, Apeejay College of
Engineering. Sohna- Palwal Road, Gurgaon, Haryana, 122105, India
For more information, you may refer to my
book --- “Career Challenges during Global Uncertainty”, available
on -- www.amazon.com
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