Everything you need to know about VR/AR technology
Why Mark Zuckerberg is investing in VR, why they create social networks with augmented reality and it is worth it. Do you pay attention to these incomprehensible and expensive technologies – Virtual reality is a world created by technical means, transmitted to a person through his sensations: vision, hearing, smell, touch, and others. Virtual reality simulates both the impact and the reaction to the impact. Augmented reality (AR - "augmented reality") - technologies that complement the real world, adding any sensory data. Despite the name, these technologies can both bring into the real world virtual data and eliminate objects from it. Ar capabilities are limited only by the capabilities of devices and programs. Just to clarify the difference between AR and VR: VR blocks the real world and immerses the user in the digital universe. If you put on a headset and instead of a living room suddenly find yourself in the thick of a fight with zombies, this is VR.AR adds elements of the digital world to the real one. If you are walking down the street and suddenly a Pokémon Dragonite appears on the sidewalk in front of you, then this is AR. An example of a complete reality: is the game Pokemon GO History of AR/VR It is believed that the development of virtual reality began in the 50s of the last century. In 1961, Philco Corporation developed the first Headlight virtual reality helmets for military purposes, and this was the first application of the technology in real life. But based on today's classification, the system would rather be attributed to AR technologies. Settled a lonely planet Send colonial ships and find new planets for your empire Advertising | 16 xcraft.ru The father of virtual reality is considered to be Morton Heilig. In 1962, he patented the world's first virtual simulator called Sensorama. The device was bulky, outwardly reminiscent of the slot machines of the 80s, and allowed the viewer to experience the experience of immersion in virtual reality, for example, riding a motorcycle on the streets of Brooklyn. But Heilig's invention caused distrust among investors and the scientist had to stop development.
A few years after Heilig, a similar device was presented by Professor Harvard Ivan Sutherland, who, together with student Bob Sproull, created the "Sword of Damocles" - the first virtual reality system based on the head display. Glasses were attached to the ceiling, and a picture was transmitted through a computer. Despite such a cumbersome invention, the CIA and NASA became interested in the technology. In the 80s, VPL Research developed more modern equipment for virtual reality - EyePhone glasses and DataGlove glove. The company was created by Jaron Lanier, a talented inventor who entered the university. Augmented reality went hand in hand with virtual reality until 1990, when scientist Tom Codell first proposed the term "augmented reality".In 1992, Lewis Rosenberg developed one of the earliest functioning augmented reality systems for the U.S. Air Force. Rozenberg's exoskeleton allowed the military to virtually control machines from a remote control center. And in 1994, Julie Martin created the first augmented reality in the theater called "Dancing in Cyberspace" – a production in which acrobats danced in virtual space. In the 90s, there were other interesting discoveries, for example, Australian Julie Martin combined virtual reality with television. At the same time, the development of gaming platforms using virtual reality technologies began. In 1993, Sega developed the Genesis console. At demonstrations and previews, however, everything ended. Games with Sega VR were accompanied by headaches and nausea and the device never went on sale. The high cost of devices, poor technical equipment, and side effects forced people to forget about VR and AR technologies for a while.
What is happening in the market of virtual and augmented reality in the world
Although virtual reality capabilities are not yet available to the mass consumer, well-known companies are busy developing these technologies.?Universal Studios owner Comcast invested $6.8 million in a small VR studio Felix & Paul in Montreal, which has worked with Funny or Die and the White House. The New York Times is also investing in the development of virtual reality. For many years now, the publication has been creating 360-degree videos that have won the Cannes Lions festival.
In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion, and this year it also launched a social network with 3D avatars and VR interaction capabilities. HTC is on-trend, too -- in 2016, the company committed $100 million to develop its Vive platform. HTC develops HTC RE product lines and their virtual reality helmet has long been a competitor to Oculus Rift. HTC not only develops its own products but also creates gas pedals for VR startups. On June 21, San Francisco hosted a demo day from their Vive X gas pedal, where 26 companies demonstrated their technology. Other major market players have also contributed - Sony in 2015 acquired SoftKinetic Systems, a developer of spatial gesture recognition systems, and Samsung announced a $6 million investment in American startup Baobab Studios, which specializes in animated virtual reality.
Large companies produce their own virtual reality headsets (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR) while developing exclusive games and software only for them. But everything can change if manufacturers begin to interact with each other, share experience, and popularize virtual reality technologies. To this end, at the end of 2016, major companies in the industry formed the Global Virtual Reality Association (GVRA), which will develop and promote VR. The association includes Acer (Starbreeze), Google (Cardboard, Daydream), HTC (Vive), Facebook (Oculus Rift), Samsung (Gear VR) and Sony (PlayStation VR), among others.
Investors in the VR and AR Market
What is the easiest way for a startup to find funds to develop a project? Of course, by attracting an investor. CB INSIGHTS has compiled in one infographic the funds that most actively invest in VR and AR technology. The top three, of course, are foreign companies: Rothenberg Ventures, the most active investor in the industry, with a focus on so-called "frontier technologies." River Accelerator invests in entry-level VR and AR startups. One of their most recent deals was an agreement with VR Medtech, which is developing Vicarious Surgical robotics. BoostVC is a gas pedal focused on blockchain technology and virtual reality. The last company Boost invested in is Vizor, a Finland-based VR content creation platform. Vive X is a gas pedal from VR headset maker HTC. Their last gas pedal involved startups in all industries, from corporate tools (Snobal) to soccer athletic training (Soccerdream).
In Russia, investment in AR/VR grew 3.5 times last year, from $200 million in 2015 to more than $700 million in 2016. A map of the market with the main players, prepared by AVRA, is also available here. If you have created (or just want to create) a VR startup and are looking for investors specifically in Russia, it is worth paying attention to the VTech fund, which was founded in 2016 and is focused on early-stage VR projects from Russia, America, Europe, and Asia.
Using virtual and augmented reality
Virtual reality is an industry in which the infrastructure and technology are developing in parallel with the development of content. After all, if there is a helmet or virtual reality glasses, there has to be something to look at and do through them.
Therefore, it is possible to identify several main areas of industry development, depending on the content and application:
Here is a detailed overview of the market for each of these items. And below is an overview of how VR and AR technologies are specifically used in different industries. If you've carefully read the part about the history of virtual reality, you already know that development began first for military applications. Since then, the development of VR has become better and is now beginning to be used not only in the military but also in other fields. For example, for the treatment of mental disorders. Experts from Harvard University have published a review article, which examines the effectiveness of modern VR methods for the treatment of mental disorders, especially anxiety neuroses and phobias. And last February, a group of scientists from Britain and Spain developed a method for treating depression using virtual reality and demonstrated its effectiveness.
Perhaps the most useful VR developments are made in medicine. Medical students no longer need to hone their skills on cadavers; instead, virtual simulators with haptic feedback have emerged. This is what a virtual reality-based surgical simulator looks like:
There are interesting virtual and augmented reality solutions in marketing as well. And if you think marketing and advertising are just a waste of time and money, check out the Inside Impact project by the Bill Clinton Foundation Against Poverty. To raise money for development in East Africa, the foundation created a film shot on a 360-degree camera. When viewed, viewers are transported to Kenya with Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea. Raising the themes of HIV/AIDS, malaria, a shortage of maternity hospitals, and the prospect of solar energy, the viewer is practically guided by hand through streets, schools, and other institutions, engaging and promoting empathy.
While VR technology is quite specific and won't suit every business, AR technology can be implemented in almost every industry. Nina Kolykhan, a business analyst at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Russia, told Rusbase in a column, for example, how to do this.
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Virtual Reality Items
We refer to VR items as all devices that we use to immerse ourselves in the virtual world. These may include:
A virtual reality suit is a device that allows a person to be immersed in a virtual reality world. It is a suit, completely isolating from the outside world, inside of which are the video screen, multichannel sound system and electronic devices, affecting the nerve endings of the skin, causing the illusion of touch or wind blowing, for example.
Now it is impractical to make such a suit because of its high cost, so for partial immersion in a virtual space usually use a helmet and virtual reality gloves.
However, it is quite worthy of the title of a virtual reality suit haptic suit from the American startup NullSpace VR. The device, called Hardlight, weighs only 1.5 kilograms and is designed for the upper half of the body. The suit has sensors and vibration motors attached to it that are responsible for different muscle groups. With Hardlight, the user can experience the sensation of touching objects in virtual reality. Pre-orders for the device are now available on the company's website.
A simpler and cheaper way to experience the beauty of new technology is through virtual reality glasses and helmets. Once a person puts on such a device, all he sees is a virtual world. This, for example, is the main difference between virtual reality glasses and augmented reality glasses. Virtual reality glasses are like headphones, but only for the eyes.
VR Glasses
In 2016, about 6.3 million such VR headsets were purchased, according to Super Data. Among them, the leaders in sales are:
The price of such devices ranges from $100 to $900.
Virtual reality gloves are most popular among fans of virtual games. Often they look like ordinary gloves from Ashan, but can read the movements of the hands and imitate them on the screen with a game engine. The cost of a pair of gloves is $ 200-500. Among the most interesting devices is the development of the Chinese company Dextra Robotics.
Dexmo gloves are capable of transmitting physical sensations from human interaction with virtual objects. They monitor 11 degrees of freedom of movement of the user's hands and act on each individual finger at the moment of touching the hand to the virtual object. Amazingly, if you hold a virtual rock in your hand, the finger actuators will not allow you to squeeze your hand any harder than if you actually held the rock in your hand:
Dexmo F2 gloves.
In addition to Dextra Robotics, the gloves are created by Oculus,Contact Ci, Manus VR, HTC and other companies.
The VR room (or CAVE system, cave) gives the most complete immersive experience in the virtual world. The main advantages of rooms over helmets are high image resolution, low latency tracking, a wide field of view, head and spatial "mouse" tracking throughout the room, and if necessary, the whole body, including the fingers (if you additionally use a virtual reality suit and gloves).
The Future of Virtual Reality
At first, virtual and augmented reality were developed for military and medical needs, with time these technologies began to progress in the game industry... Experts make different predictions about what will happen next. For example, Michael Abrash, chief scientist at Oculus, made several predictions about the state of the industry in the next five years at the Connect conference in November 2016. Abrash believes that it is important to improve the visual qualities of virtual reality. Humans by nature have a field of vision of about 220 degrees - about 120 pixels per degree. Today's helmets, such as the Rift and Vive, offer 100 degrees of field of view and 1080×1200 resolution, the equivalent of about 15 pixels per degree. In five years, he says, we can hope to double the number of pixels per degree - to 30 - with a field of view expanding to 140 degrees at a resolution of about 4,000×4,000 per eye.
Azrash touched on the topic of adding elements of the real world to the virtual world, which he calls "augmented virtual reality." The helmets of the future will be able to scan space and transfer things from the user's physical environment to VR applications. Also relevant could be "teleporting" the user to real-time filmed locations. In essence, this is similar to mixed reality. Abrasch elaborates: augmented virtual reality helmets will be very different from augmented reality helmets because they allow not only overlay graphics, but also control over every pixel in a mixed scene.
In June 2017, at the Augmented World Expo conference, Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games and professor at Carnegie Mellon University, also speculated about the future of VR and AR. And he was less optimistic.
For VR to evolve, Schell said, we need to improve technology that promotes a haptic experience. Schell predicts the particular popularity of virtual reality controllers like the Oculus Touch or those used for the HTC Vive helmet. According to him, such controllers evoke a sense of tactile interaction in users and therefore show themselves much better than systems that track hand movements. For AR, however, new technology is needed, and the faster the better. According to Schell, current augmented reality devices are too heavy and uncomfortable, and it will be many years before the technology advances enough for us to create glasses that are no different from conventional ones. But no one wants to put on glasses and look stupid in them.
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2 年Great job kristina! Thanks for sharing professional informative information.