AR and VR technology lights the fires of imagination the world over, as it becomes more interestingly embedded in everyday life changing the way we interact with technology – resulting in world-changing ride.
In 2018, we realise the huge opportunities but simultaneously it’s important to realise that this technology is still is in its initiation phase and there are challenges of bringing AR\VR to market — needing a new wave of technical innovation over the course of the next eight to ten years. On the human side, decision makers want to see the business value immediately which is not possible with a new technology, like AR.
Challenges and opportunities ahead
On the operational side of industry practice every aspect of future AR\VR experience is going to require big leaps in new hardware components, new types of interaction models, next-level applications, and connected services yet to be conceived by the companies involved.
Let’s start with the hardware. The companies involved will need to invest in new silicon designs to drive innovative AR\VR experiences. The right type of processing to handle the massive amounts of data input and visual output with a multitude of sensors, cameras, speakers and processors to help capture where a person is, the people and objects that surround them and, most importantly, what they are doing with their hands, their eyes and their voice.
An essential element of AR will be the successful capture of human input on a device without a keyboard, a mouse or even a touchable screen. Companies are working to resolve the complex mix of cameras and software to capture minute movements of the hands and fingers. Still others are trying to create voice-based interactions that work during mission-critical, hands-free tasks.
Another issue where the focus is are the screens with VR, you look at the screen, but with AR, you need to look through the screen, so you can still see your real-world surroundings. The cost, complexity and battery power needed to drive the screen are the manufacturing challenges of high-resolution screens, and this will no doubt put a throttle on fast implementation of AR. The size of the screen’s viewing area must be free, suggesting that its technology should be altogether different.
AR|VR hardware will not be sufficient without good software backup needing an application’s ability to collect and process potentially dozens of different inputs at a time, and changing the experience based on new information. This software will need to be tied to back-end services, through high-speed connections, effectively turning future AR devices.
Restraining factors
Today, limited financial resources are not the only restraining force but also the lack of people with the right expertise to develop AR/VR applications. Lack of knowledge about AR/VR making it difficult for people to assess the effort required to build AR/VR applications.
Another challenge is the low level of digitalization — namely its collection, preparation and maintenance which pertain to the required network to connect machines and devices but also the need for a large bandwidth are hurdles that need to be overcome.
Another issue is that organizational requirements needed to maintain updated data is a problem as maintaining AR work instructions requires certain skills that not all the workers have.
Besides organizational requirements, industry requirements vary as the sizes and the sheer amount of product variations make it impossible to create augmented assembly instructions. Cyber security issues with AR/VR applications is also another concern as some fear that hacker attacks could disrupt whole production once everything is connected.
Another challenge is that creating a polished VR experience needs skilled talented staff, developers skilled in a 3D engine like Unity or Unreal, designers with skill sets ranging from UX and UI, technical artists skilled in 3D modelling, animations, particles, and lighting, and also QA experts who understand how best to test the huge possibility space. Plus sound engineers to create a fully immersive experience.
The possibilities for VR are nearly infinite, we feel strongly that VR is that next big thing and with regular service trainings to the customer we will deliver high-quality experiences with our products. We have a core team of technical experts can solve the challenges and step ahead in technology and support.
Yuvraj K Sharma, co-founder and director of Kompanions
