Top 10 XR Tech in 2021 and How You Can Use It

It’s no secret that immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (XR) are on an upward trajectory as awareness and adoption increase with both consumers and brands. The appetite for these experiences, which invite longer dwell time and higher engagement than other forms of digital media, are expected to see growth of over 1.73B active AR devices by 2024 and reach a market size of $393B globally by 2025, according to Marketwatch. As the technology continues to adapt and evolve, there is no better time than now to explore the power of XR.

With over 10 years experience and over 200,000 hours of XR development, Trigger has helped hundreds of clients create some of the most innovative AR, VR and XR experiences that push the boundaries of what is possible. As such, I want to share what we’re seeing in the market and dive deeper into the emerging technology powering these experiences while showing brands how they can leverage them successfully. I’ve identified what I feel are the top ten technologies that are driving the next generation of mixed reality experiences, along with thought-starters for tactical use cases across entertainment, sports, e-commerce and enterprise. 

First it’s important to understand the current landscape for emerging XR technology and recognize the key drivers helping to accelerate its growth and adoption.

• Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a significant catalyst in changing consumer behavior and expediting adoption of AR due to prolonged periods of time in the home. These habits will likely remain even after socially distancing has lapsed.    
• The emergence of 5G brings high-speed network access to more people and more locations, reducing latency and enabling mass connectivity. This paves the way for bigger file sizes and faster connections to the cloud for complex data calculations needed to enable cutting-edge XR technology.
• The ROI of mixed reality is more understood, helping transition AR from a gimmick to a necessity. Consumers report higher satisfaction with immersive content and brands are able to measure the success of these campaigns in meaningful ways, including higher conversion rates and engagement compared to traditional forms of media. 

Now let’s explore my Top 10 Emergent AR Technologies and a few sample use cases: 

1 - Web AR 

Web AR, as it implies, is AR that is accessible through your mobile browser or from a web page. This is less friction than waiting to download an app to access an AR experience, so there are fewer barriers to entry. While Web AR has been on the scene for a while now, it is still in a state of early growth and quickly becoming a more robust solution as new AR features continue to be supported through a web browser.    

Web AR is also incredibly versatile and can be deployed over social and web via URL or from a physical activation. Retail and print advertising often use QR codes at point-of-sale, as you can see in this activation from LEGO, or off-product, shown in this experience from Miller Lite, both of which are leveraging 8th Wall’s Web AR platform solution. Web AR is also compelling for entertainment marketing thanks to its immersive and responsive storytelling capabilities. Sony Pictures has been an early adopter deploying web-based experiences for their blockbuster franchises such as Ghostbusters, Jumanji: The Next Level and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

2 - 3D Immersive AD Units

3D ad units are a type of immersive ad that use interactive 3D models, which allow the consumer to control, rotate or view animation in 3D and AR. This medium is growing as a means to target an audience looking for more engaging content and platforms like Google announced its 3D swirl display ad format, along with Unity, Verizon Immersive Media and Apple’s AR Quick Look. 

For brands, 3D ad units can help to amplify an existing XR experience, extending reach and potentially driving a call-to-action. Ad units can also drive efficiencies, as decimated 3D assets for XR content can be repurposed as ad units, scaling the value of the campaign investment overall. For example, a film studio that’s set to release a new movie can take the 3D character models they developed for their marketing Web AR campaign and repurpose them for an AR ad to drive traffic to both the Web AR experience and to promote ticket sales. 

3 - Volumetric Capture

 Volumetric capture (volcap) is technology that uses 360° still or video-capture of people, objects or places to create life-like 3D representations. Volcap can create AR, VR and XR content.

There are numerous applications for this technology from a business perspective. In the e-commerce space, the ability to visualize products without having to model them in 3D can create production efficiencies. For instance, consumers can view a life-sized athlete before the game and then purchase the merch they are sporting through the click of a button. For marketers, volcap could also help drive consumer engagement by giving fans access to their favorite athletes, celebrities, or musicians using interactive moments or social sharing from the comfort of their homes. One of the most recent and scaled examples of volcap is the AR Pro Interactive app that Trigger developed in partnership with Verizon. 

4 - LiDAR 

LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, are depth sensors on devices that allow users to scan their environment to centimeter-level accuracy. This gives the user a more accurate understanding of their surroundings in the placement of AR objects or characters as the tech dynamically determines occlusion or walkable planes. Trigger started working with LiDAR in 2016 when it was first available on a handful of exclusive Google Tango devices, and since then the access to this technology has broadened across other Android and Apple devices impacting industries from architecture to construction to e-commerce and more. Beyond business utility, there is also the opportunity to use LiDAR for entertainment; imagine transforming your room into a movie or game environment, bolstered by highly realistic and interactive experiences. Apple demonstrated this with the unveiling of their new iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner last year featuring a room-scale, lava-filled AR obstacle course.

5 - Cloud Processing 

Enabled by the high-speed of 5G, cloud processing allows calculations from consumer devices to occur in the cloud where AI can quickly compute and disseminate those results. This advancement reduces the limitations of processing speed for AR experiences that are exclusively stored on the users device, an example of this being remote 3D rendering. This ability gives AR experiences the appearance of a more photorealistic scene that processes textures and calculates lighting with more realism. 

Trigger recently worked with the NHL on a pilot using live telemetry data to create the ultimate hockey fan experience. It was the first of its kind for the sport, where positional tracking chips placed on players’ uniforms and the hockey puck provided up to 2,000 data points per second, processed by MEC (Mobile Edge Compute) servers that enabled fans to see realtime playback of the game in AR on their tabletop.

6 - Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning

AI and Machine Learning has many applications, but one of the key components is its ability to understand camera and sensor data to recognize what’s happening in a scene so that AR can react in real time. This means that AI can be taught to identify specific items or objects; imagine a marketing campaign where an AR honeybee appears when the camera sees a flower, or a discount code appears upon recognizing a specific cereal brand label. Similarly, Trigger worked with Google Lens and Purina to use this technology to identify pet food packaging and present consumers with relevant product information and results. 

AI can also be taught to understand what the subject is doing in the scene. In the sports or fitness industry, an app could record a basketball practice or a tennis match and then count baskets or aces, or even determine accuracy from different parts of the court. This feedback loop is critical to AR’s future utility, and elevates it from being a one-way medium.

7 - Skeletal Tracking 

Skeletal Tracking is the ability of cameras and sensors to recognize a subject’s body and limb positions in order for AR content to react intelligently. This technology has a deep history in the gaming industry with consoles like Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox and has now evolved beyond the console to users phones. Skeletal Tracking also has great potential when you consider its applications within immersive learning. As an example, a user trying to perfect a new sports move or yoga position can practice in front of a camera and AI will provide feedback based on their body’s movements. A smart phone essentially becomes your expert tutor or personal trainer!

8 - Semantic Understanding and Segmentation 

Semantic understanding and segmentation is the process where the environment is understood by the camera sensors enabling AR content to respond dynamically, such as identifying obstacles to avoid like chairs, tables, walls, etc. or how to respond to certain objects. This understanding helps to increase character and storytelling believability when an AR character knows where to walk, what to avoid or how to effectively hide. This is a significant enhancement from basic AR solutions that can currently only see ground planes and walls. For instance, social AR can separate a subject from the background, as seen in campaigns from Nissan, Royal Enfield and Transitions, and with enhanced semantic learning and segmentation, the fidelity and possibilities for these experiences will only continue to expand.

9 - VPS and Anchors 

VPS or “Visual Positioning System” uses a phone’s camera and sensors to scan and analyze the surrounding space to pinpoint a user’s location with greater accuracy. Currently, GPS can only provide a user’s position outdoors (plus or minus 3 meters); however, with VPS we can achieve a more accurate positioning both indoors and outdoors by recognizing features visible to the device. Combined with Cloud Anchors, which let a user place AR content in virtual space and leave (or “anchor”) it there for the user’s return, allow for more accurate placement of content while giving the AR experience more permanence and shareability. 

VPS and Cloud Anchors are critical in creating more intelligent AR experiences, whether for the interior of a big-box retailer with anchored AR content that guides customers to different sections of the store; for a museum that provides visitors with indoor navigation along with bonus AR content locked to specific exhibits; or for an outdoor landmark with AR content placed directly on it with a high-degree of accuracy. The possibilities are endless! 

10 - Multiplayer AR 

Multiplayer AR allows players to see and interact with an AR scene simultaneously from their devices and position. Of course this is ideal for gaming where multiple players can compete in a real-time AR game in their environment, such as a group of friends fighting off a horde of zombies in the backyard. This can also extend to physical toys, such as the Hot Wheels Augmoto multiplayer XR toy by Mattel, which allows two racers to engage in digital-to-physical battle at the same time. As you can imagine, the fun and believability of AR increases significantly when it is a shared experience. 

This same technology can be used to power business workflow experiences, such as collaboration at work. Take for instance, the XR Event Planner pilot solution that Accenture and Qualcomm developed in partnership with the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG). This cross-platform solution allows event planners and buyers to simultaneously collaborate from anywhere to configure the layout of a ballroom or meeting space in real-time using mixed reality visuals, text and voice annotations.

As you can see, there is no shortage of platforms, solutions or real-world applications for this next generation of XR technology. While COVID-19 and 5G have certainly accelerated adoption by consumers, the industry is seeing both a maturity of existing solutions as well as an eagerness for innovation of more immersive technologies. Coupled with measurable benchmarks and ROI, it’s now clear that XR is here to stay and will continue to have a huge impact on the future of both work and play. 

Please comment below or send me a message with your feedback or additional insights. And be sure to check out our website if you’re interested in learning more about Trigger or exploring your own XR solution.