Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are the future of leading industries and an important technological aspect that will allow significant progress for businesses and industries overall, taking their ability to maximize efficiency in different processes. Gaming industry and corporate businesses are already making huge progress with the integration of AR and VR in their processes but other industries that are on the verge of or already revolutionized their processes through the technology show positive results from such integration. This includes the Healthcare industry, Law enforcement, Engineering, Marketing and advertisement, and Space exploration. The mobilization of the technology within these industries not only provides greater agency to for individual actors within these industries but also allows for more innovative methods to better the current systems in place.
1. LAW ENFORCEMENT
Law enforcement requires decision making in high pressure situation, with the potential of causing devastating collateral. Officers go through high intensive training to prepare them for such situations, such as shootings, robberies and high speed chases. One of the challenges the training department faces is the recreating the real-world situations in training. With AR and VR, this can change with their integration in the training process. Using dedicated AR and VR applications and software, officers can be trained for pressure decision making, more immersive operations training to allow a close to real experience and test of their skills, decision making and special awareness to reduce collateral and increasing success. This has revolutionized police training with simulations playing an important role in the enhancement of the process. In testing, this has proven to be a successful integration, awaiting much wider application.
2. MARKETING & ADVERTISING
Marketing and advertising is about the creation of a visual spectacle. Catching attention and retaining and the provision of an experience that is hard to say no to. With AR/VR, marketing and advertisement has been changed from its conventional techniques of content heavy marketing. While content heavy marketing still works, businesses are already integrating AR/VR to enhance the consumer engagement in a more experiential way. This includes virtual tours of offices, virtual reality based ads, and AR integrated business cards and so on. This has proven to be a great success as the experience of AR/VR is a spectacle that’s more eye-catching than an online article or a video that tells consumers about businesses.
AR can complement a brand’s video marketing strategies and can be an effective way to promote itself on social media platforms. According to the leading Augmented Reality Agencies the main benefits of AR range from providing and mimicking real experiences to showcasing a brand’s fortitude in integrating technological advancements as part of their growth strategy. Consumers love new technology and there is definitely a certain novelty factor when it comes to augmented reality. This attracts customers and helps a brand stand apart from its competitors.
3. HEALTHCARE & MEDICINE
Healthcare and Medicine has always been one of the fields for which modern technology has become a cornerstone of maximum efficiency. With AR comes the ability of using health information to create visual representations through dedicated AR applications. This improves the ability of nurses and doctors to interpret data in a more visual sense, reducing chances of human error. Moreover, the use of Virtual reality has great use in both treatments and preparation/training. With VR powered immersion therapy, the ability to offer mental health treatment and behavioral issues treatment to patients, a step in the right direction from older practices. According to a research by AccuVein suggests that the use of their VR scanner that projects veins over a patient’s body allows for 3.5x more accurate vein location on first attempt. Such an advancement is essential to minimize risks in procedures, reduce pressure from doctors during operations and creates a safer environment for patients.
4. SPACE EXPLORATION
Space Exploration is seen as one of the measures that will ensure mankind’s survival in a post global warming and climate change world, where it will become impossible for humans to stay on Earth through terra forming and as a source of mineral extraction and research. One of the problems astronauts face in their plots is the lack of accuracy in measuring distances across Mars’ surface using conventional methods. VR provides the ability to measure distances across the surface more accurately. This is also applicable to training astronauts for zero-G walks, maintenance and repairs on the ISS and so on. The technology’s immersive nature has the ability to capture an environment that is inaccessible on Earth and has significantly improved the training process and the preparation of astronauts in tough situations that might potentially arise in space.
5. ENGINEERING
Accuracy and balance in design is perhaps one of the hardest skills to master as an engineer. It’s about the ability to visualize a concept or a design and take it from concept to real world. With AR/VR, engineers can visualize designs, understand how edits will impact the overall structure and design of a building and make adjustments based on a visual 3d design of a building. Engineers can not only understand the finished product pre-construction, giving them a concrete idea of the requirements. Multiple engineers can simultaneously work on a design to figure out best alternatives to solving a problem by rotating the display, looking at the product from different angles and make edits accordingly.
Author Bio
Asim Rais Siddiqui is living his passion for emerging technologies and software as the Co-Founder and CTO at TekRevol LLC. An expert in next-generation technology and software solutions, he has over a decade’s worth of experience in development and enterprise digitalization.