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What is the Future of Work?

What do Experts Mean by the Future of Work?

For years, innovators, business leaders, vendors, and developers have all been discussing the same topic: the future of work.

As the world as we know it has evolved, our concept of the “workplace” has changed, leading to new predictions on what the future might hold for the staff of tomorrow. The “future of work” is essentially how innovators refer to their projection of how work, workers, and the workplace, in general, might evolve in the years ahead.

So, what does the “future of work” look like for companies today? Are the predictions made about the future of work in years passed already changing how teams operate and function?

Let’s look closer at the reality of the “future of work”.

What is the Future of Work? An Introduction

The “Future of Work” is simply a way to refer to what the workplace and working landscape might look like in the years to come. The term is a relatively broad one, as it can refer not just to technology innovations and digital transformation initiatives powering new workflows but also how, when, and where work will be completed. The core components of the future of work define as follows:

How work is done: How projects and tasks are completed in the future of work is one of the main talking points connected to this concept. In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of robotics, AI, automation, and similar tools to help streamline work processes. In the future of work, technology will make huge alterations to how work is done. The connection between man and machine will grow in order to improve productivity, creativity, and efficiency.
Who does the work: The future of work opens the door to a huge variety of employee personas, different from the team members we knew a few years ago. Not only are AI systems taking over certain repetitive tasks, but different kinds of employees are entering the workforce in a non-traditional capacity. Part-time, crowdsourced, and gig workers are growing more common alongside remote consultants and professionals.
Where work is done: The future of work calls into question where work should be completed. Standard office environments are rapidly disappearing in favour of more flexible spaces, which allow for common trends like remote and hybrid work. As team members become more distributed, there’s even the potential for the future workplace to be a “metaverse” style environment built entirely within the cloud.

The Trends Influencing the Future of Work Today

As mentioned above, the future of work is a complex concept influenced by a range of changing trends and patterns in the employment landscape. When technology enthusiasts discuss the future of work, they’re often drawn to concepts like the metaverse and extended reality. However, there are countless factors influencing what work might look like in the years to come.

Some of the major trends influencing the future of work today include:

Transparency and empathy: Employers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate empathy and transparency in a skills-short environment. As employees continue to unlock new opportunities to work for businesses all over the world through remote and hybrid contracts, their priorities have changed. Companies are increasingly investing in tools and technologies built to enhance collaboration, synchronise teams, and build a more inclusive “company culture” for everyone.
The power of data: The amount of data being generated by modern business is astronomical. Increasingly, business leaders are looking for ways to leverage this data for the creation of better processes, products, and service strategies. Data solutions are being used to create digital twins, which streamline production processes, empower better employee training, and even unlock valuable insights into the customer journey.
Evolving workforces: As mentioned above, one of the major factors discussed in conversations about the future of work is “who” will be involved in any team. There’s no one-size-fits-all in today’s workforce environment. Recently, teams have become more distributed, self-sufficient, and flexible. Contractors and remote workers are more common, hybrid working has become a mainstay of the way most companies operate, and even the roles available to team members are changing. One report found 85% of the jobs available in 2030 may not be invented yet.
Changing skillsets: As automated tools and robotic processes take over repetitive tasks, the skills companies require when hiring new employees are changing. As a result, business leaders are heavily investing in reskilling and upskilling opportunities to develop their teams. Training is being offered at a phenomenal scale, not just on-premises, but in a virtual environment too. Even XR solutions are being used for development today.
Transforming communication and collaboration: As employees become more distributed, the way teams communicate and collaborate is changing too. Companies are investing in AI tools to bridge the gaps between geographical teams with real-time translation. XR environments are emerging as a way to bring staff members together within a new digital “work hub”. Even the environments teams use for ideation and creation is evolving, with many brands accessing video, VR, AR, mixed reality, and more to bring teams together.
Ethical and compliance evolutions: As companies collect more data and interact with consumers and employees in new ways, workplace ethics are also beginning to change. We’re seeing changes in the way companies are required to protect their employees when they’re working in virtual and distributed environments. New compliance regulations and standards are emerging all the time for how data is collected and used. This will become particularly crucial in the age of the metaverse when personal data will evolve to match the demands of growing digital identities.

The Technology Influencing the Future of Work

There’s no one-size-fits-all definition of the future of work as it stands today. Part of the reason for this is that our perception of what the future might hold for employers and their employees is constantly changing. Only a few years ago, few companies would have imagined that the majority of their staff would one day be working in hybrid environments connected by collaboration tools.

While it’s difficult to define what the future of work might hold, we can see a number of technologies which are helping to influence the next generation of the workplace. Here are some of the most crucial technological innovations influencing the future of work:

Extended Reality:

Perhaps more than any other new technology, extended reality has already begun to make its mark on the future of work. Across every industry, companies are experimenting with augmented, virtual, and mixed reality to enable better collaboration and communication, deliver expansive training opportunities, and bring teams together.

Extended reality has the potential to change how employees are hired, onboarded, and introduced to teams, as well as how they’re developed and upskilled over the years. It can even influence how work is done by changing production and ideation processes.

The Metaverse:

The metaverse, while still in its early stages, could stand to become the new landscape for the future of work. Companies like Microsoft and Meta are already experimenting with metaverse technologies which would allow companies to build their own virtual environments for work productivity.

In the metaverse, the future of work would become a diverse, virtual landscape where everyone and anyone can collaborate in a shared space and access resources via the cloud. The metaverse will also change how companies complete tasks like evaluating new products, performing quality management checks, and even interacting with customers.

Networking Innovation

As the future of work becomes increasingly digital, innovation is occurring at a rapid pace within the networking landscape. Analysts believe around 70% of companies will be deploying multi-cloud and hybrid management tools, technologies, and processes in the years to come. 5G is likely to deliver better speed and reduced latency for those investing in new technologies too.

Concepts like cloud computing at the edge and quantum computing have become increasingly popular in recent years as our world becomes increasingly dependent on huge amounts of data. The future of networking will be defined by speed, flexibility, and scale.

AI, Machine Learning and Automation

Advances in AI, robotics, and machine learning have already begun to transform the workplace. By 2025, experts predict 50 billion devices will be connected to the internet of things, and 70% of manufacturers will be using digital twins to improve their processes. To manage an increasing number of processes, tools, and data-driven technologies, we’ll become increasingly dependent on AI.

Analysts like Gartner believe concepts like “hyper-automation” will become increasingly crucial in the years ahead as companies look for new ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. While AI might not take over for all human employees, the average team member will likely spend a lot more time working in conjunction with AI.

Flexible, Accessible Innovation

Perhaps one of the most valuable components of the future of work for many companies will be the ability to access more flexible environments for innovation. We’ve already seen an increase in the number of as-a-service offerings available on the marketplace for growing companies in search of scale. What’s more, no-code and low-code development tools are unlocking new opportunities too.

The decentralised landscape introduced by the metaverse, alongside ever-evolving tools for digital growth, should ensure companies can continue to rapidly evolve their workplace according to the unique needs of every user.

What is the Future of Work?

So, what is the future of work? It’s difficult to know for certain. We can’t predict accurately what tomorrow’s workplace might look like. But we can see evidence of a rapidly evolving landscape shaped by innovation, flexibility, intelligence, and new dimensions.

The future of work is a constantly evolving and dynamic concept, but it’s one virtually every business should be working on.

Quelle:

What is the Future of Work?

23. März 2023 0 comment

Knowledge Research

THE FUTURE OF AUGMENTED REALITY (UPDATED FOR 2020-2021)

When we hear the term “Augmented Reality” the first thing that comes to mind is Pokemon Go. However, even though this gaming phenomenon was a watershed moment because it proved that there is a high demand for AR, in terms of the future of AR, it will be in our everyday lives and in the industries where we work or shop. In this article, we will take a look at where AR is headed and the future of augmented reality in our everyday life.

Augmented Reality Future Uses

With the development of augmented reality software in full swing, it will affect the devices we use most often, such as smartphones. In the future, smartphones will be converged into glasses and headsets and everything you currently do on your phone such as updating your Facebook status, calling someone on Skype, using turn-by-turn navigation will all be done thanks to AR glasses via motion and gesture detection.

Speaking of AR glasses, the devices that are currently available on the market today will certainly pale in comparison with future models. All of our senses such as touching, hearing, seeing will all be incorporated into next-generation AR devices, they will have a wider view and they will display information almost anywhere within the user’s peripheral vision. Motion gesture technology will improve as well. For example, in the future, instead of typing in an address into your GPS, you will be able to point to a location and the directions will pop up automatically or you will point at an object or building and receive information about it without even knowing its name.

So far we have discussed the future of augmented reality in our everyday life, now let’s take a look at how it will affect some of the industries we rely on every day.

The Future of Augmented Reality in Fashion and Retail

How many times have you walked by store window displays and seen an item that you instantly fall in love with? Most often than not, this item is an expensive purchase and deciding on whether to buy or not consists of several factors. First of all, it looks great on display, but how does it look on a real person? Many brands will include an AR functionality inside their mobile that will allow you to point your camera at any item and not only obtain all necessary information about it, but you will also see AR images of models wearing the clothes. This way, you will have all of the information necessary to make a smart decision without even going inside the store.

The retail industry is not lagging behind either. For example, Sephora has within its mobile app something called the Virtual Artist which allows customers to try on all kinds of lipstick via their front camera. If people like what they see, they can add it to their virtual shopping cart and buy it with their phone. Currently, Virtual Artist has been tried 45 million times.

The Realies & Future of AR in Retail for 2020-2021

Nowadays, because of the pandemic, consumers are hesitant to spend money during an economic downturn. In September 2020, total EU retail sales decreased by 2.0 % compared with August 2020, and the total sales volume is now equal to 100.7 % of the volume reached in February before the COVID-19 crisis. This means that retailers need to get creative. This starts with innovative AR advertising that catches peoples’ attention. We created such a solution for Finlandia when they launched a new coconut-flavored vodka. All the user has to do is scan the QR on the bottleneck with their smartphone camera, which launches a video with a bartender showing how to make Finlandia Coconut drink. This sort of interactive technology can help companies in virtually any industry attract new customers and stand out from the competition.

As far as e-commerce is concerned, we have seen a 129% year-over-year growth in the United States and Canada. This comes as no surprise since people are hesitant to make a trip to a physical store, and shopping online is just more convenient. However, retailers who have both a brick and mortar location and an online platform need to be able to offer the shopper the best of both experiences. For example, Cosmia offers consumers the opportunity to virtually try on makeup from the comfort of their own homes. Shoppers can try out individual products or ready-made looks, all thanks to AR. This is an innovative way retailers have been able to bridge the gap between in-store and online shopping while also alleviating the fear of buyer’s remorse.

The Future of Augmented Reality in Education

Back in the old days when we were in school, we had a lot of textbooks, looseleaf papers, posters, and many other physical print materials. Thanks to AR, all educational materials will be interactive, digital and available any time. This will give a lot more people access to education and offers a higher level of student interaction since lessons can be conducted in a game format.

Also, you can say goodbye to field trips to the museum or art gallery because thanks to AR, the museum and art gallery will come to you and it will be available any time. These are just some of the future uses of augmented reality in education and it is sure to revolutionize the educational process.

future of augmented reality in healthcare

AR in Education in 2020-21

Since we have seen a spike in new cases recently, a lot of state officials have decided to close down schools. This is something we see in places like New York City, Detroit, Baltimore, and many others as well. AR can help parents and teachers make learning fun and interesting by allowing the materials in the textbooks to come to life. For example, if a student is reading about Abraham Lincoln or any event in American history, they could point their smartphone camera at the textbook and see a lifelike representation of Abraham Lincoln on that particular event.

This type of technology can also be useful for college students who are also studying remotely, often thousands of miles away from the campus. If they are studying a subject that is difficult to learn on their own, AR can come to the rescue as well. For example, let’s say a medical student is studying a certain aspect of the human heart. Print and video material will not be as helpful because they don’t offer the same level of immersion and interactiveness that they could get with AR. They could use AR to get a lifelike depiction of whatever they are studying which something no textbook can offer.

The Future of Augmented Reality in Healthcare

There are three big roles AR will play in the future of healthcare.

Consumer Education – AR can help patients understand the benefits and risks of certain medications and procedures by providing visual demonstrations or consumer scanning functionalities. Some companies such as Pfizer are already taking advantage of AR by offering a service called Blippar, which serves a relief finder tool patients can use with their line of ThermaCare products.
Assisting Doctors – AR can help doctors by creating serious gaming simulationsof how a certain procedure should be done and it can help medical students by offering a very intuitive representation of the human body.
Medication Sales – The competition among drug makers is severe and even the slightest advantage can lead to huge sales. If a salesman is trying to gain the attention of doctors towards a new medication, they can use AR to demonstrate the positive effects of the drug.

COVID-19 Influence on AR in Healthcare

Benefits of AR in healthcare we mentioned above are certainly still relevant today, except that they are more oriented towards COVID-19. For example, AR is still used for patient education but now it is geared towards increasing patients’ adherence to treatment and prevention of COVID-19, improving the quality of care of patients with the virus, and eases the overall burden on the healthcare system. Also, since researchers are close to creating a vaccine for COVID-19, AR could be of even greater value by educating patients on how the vaccine works.

Augmented Reality Future Predictions

As you have probably guessed from the information above, AR is now deeply rooted in our everyday life and many industries are rushing to harness all of the benefits. In the future, all of our mundane tasks will become obsolete thanks to AR. For example, if you are tired of your commute to work, there will be all kinds of immersive entertainment. In fact, the office as you know will not exist in the future. Your workspace, meetings, computer etc. will be accessible from anywhere in the world, thus eliminating the need to commute.

So keep an eye out for the latest trends and developments in AR everything is designed to make your life more convenient and enjoyable.

Quelle:

The Future of Augmented Reality (updated for 2020-2021)

12. Juli 2021 0 comment

Examples

The Future of Learning: Bringing Worlds Together With Experiential Learning Technologies

Technology-based learning experiences are not new. Some of the earliest learning experiences began as flight simulators, like the Link Trainer of the early to mid-1900s, to help train pilots in a low-risk environment. Yet, learning experiences have come a long way since the days of mechanical simulators. The creation of complex digital learning experiences necessitated serious programming skills and took a long time to build.

Now, we have accessible tools and technologies that enable learning and development (L&D) professionals to rapidly create immersive learning experiences such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and games. And, the availability of consumer devices that use these technologies means we can implement them on a larger scale than we previously thought possible.

Experiential Learning

Some might argue that all experiences are learning experiences, because we interact and respond to whatever is happening around us. We might receive positive or negative feedback in the environment and change our behavior accordingly. However, we can experience and react to the world without learning something useful.

Experiential learning through technology gives L&D professionals the ability to develop environments or environmental enhancements that are specifically designed for learning. Experiential learning uses available technology and thoughtful instructional design to support real-world changes in attitude, knowledge or behavior.

Common Types of Experiential Learning Technology

Most people are now familiar with VR and AR. While these technologies are often grouped together because of their use in experiential learning, they apply different principles and offer different experiences. Your learning strategy will guide you in selecting the right experience for your program. One common theme, however, is that these technologies enhance the learner’s experience.

VR places learners into a digital world and doesn’t require them to be in one location. It’s also great for training learners on high-risk tasks or when the cost of failure is high, as with flight simulation. Examples of other high-risk training include operating dangerous equipment and medical training.

Augmented reality adds digital enhancements to the “real world.” It gives learners information in context and is great for performance support in real time, in the work environment. For example, a smartphone app can use information about the learner’s location and data logged from other apps, such as inventory, to offer just-in-time support. QR codes can open learning experiences that overlay virtual directions onto real objects, such as complex or dangerous equipment. Those instructions can then guide the learner through steps and possible corrections in real time. AR can also provide the L&D team with useful feedback.

Immersive games often use immersive VR or AR, with the addition of game mechanics. Because games present problems to solve, challenges to overcome, and patterns to learn and apply, well-designed games can provide an excellent experiential learning context for the application of VR and AR technology. In addition, games use learner metrics to provide feedback on performance for both the learner and the L&D team.

Experiential learning uses available technology and thoughtful instructional design to support real-world changes in attitude.

Where We Are Now

Two major drivers of the current use of experiential learning technologies are the shift toward remote work and the increased accessibility of technology that makes remote work more possible. For instance, when everyone was in an office or worksite together, live training and feedback on day-to-day activities was simple. While VR simulations may have been possible, they weren’t always cost–effective, because enough live support existed. Now that we have forced separation, including fewer employees at a single location, VR makes more sense.

In addition, AR technologies are easier to access now that fast cellular networks and smartphones with high–resolution screens, cameras and fast processing are widely available. The prolific use of smartphones supports the development of eLearning and job support apps that bring training to learners in a neat package — where they are and when they need it.

A third driver of innovation in experiential learning is the improvement of learning experience platforms (LXPs) and data management through technology such as experience API (xAPI) — a way to collect, encode and standardize data both online and offline and among multiple systems. The WebXR device application programming interface (API) supports enables the development and hosting of online learning experiences for VR and AR devices, making it easier to integrate and experience immersive technologies and interactive environments.

Where We Are Going

Given all we can do now, where might we be going in the next one or two years? We will need to continue to reinvent learning to keep up with new challenges. And, we will be able to meet those challenges with affordable and better wearable technology, data management and even, maybe, the emergence of powerful quantum computing technologies.

What does the future look like?

Wearables at Work

Work wardrobes have changed for many remote employees over the last year (perhaps a lovely button-down shirt with sweatpants?). Soon, there may be a work accessory that connects employees to learning and development in a new way. Headsets are becoming easier to wear and less expensive to make. VR and AR glasses aren’t new, but their ease of use, affordability and integration may make them as common as smartphones.

With this advancement, learning experiences and job support will integrate seamlessly into day-to–day activities. QR codes on employees’ computers will instantly provide just-in-time training. And, real-time data analysis of what an employee is experiencing and doing in a remote location can provide feedback to enable better support.

More Mixed Reality

Mixed reality enables simultaneous interaction with the digital and the real world and can take advantage of mobile device metrics. Experiential learning in mixed realities will be more accessible with better processors, cameras, batteries and 5G accessibility. Imagine intertwining the real and the virtual so that that learners can 3D print their solution to a challenge from within the digital experience!

Next-level Social Experiences

The request to “please enter a meeting” may develop a new level of interactivity. Social interactions that enable people to work together and communicate can add a new level of live support to virtual training. Now, soft skills practice with avatars can be difficult, because it requires detailed programing and graphics that otherwise lack the nuances of real interaction. But imagine a holographic role-playing experience! While VR can simulate many experiences, what if a live mentor could appear and interact with the learner within the experience to provide guidance or observation?

The future of experiential learning begins now. VR and AR technologies are becoming more accessible, affordable and necessary in the diverse and dispersed workplace. These new technologies are bringing real and digital worlds together like never before. Are you ready?

Now that we have forced separation, including fewer employees at a single location, VR makes more sense.

Quelle:

The Future of Learning: Bringing Worlds Together With Experiential Learning Technologies

2. Juni 2021 0 comment

Knowledge Research

The Future of Virtual Reality in Product Design

Virtual reality is beginning to prove itself as a useful, innovative, and collaborative design tool.

The pandemic has been a surprising innovation force in all areas of design engineering, from advanced manufacturing developments through product design. Oddly, many remote design teams have become more efficient and more creative than their office-based counterparts. Cormac O’Conaire, creative director at Design Partners, spent time with Design News to explain how virtual reality (VR) has come of age as a design tool during 2020.

Part of the advancement in VR as a design tool comes from ongoing advances in the software and hardware delivered by VR vendors. Yet another part of it comes from the necessities of remote teamwork. “Over the years, our team at Design Partners has designed experiences for AR and VR for various applications from healthcare to gaming, but over the past nine months, we’ve been experimenting with VR in its capability in the design process,” O’Conaire told Design News. “We’re seeing the potential of VR to change the design industry, and more fundamentally, the way we create new ideas.”

A Mix of Surgeons and Gamers

VR technology has advanced in its ability to serve the oddly similar needs of surgeons and gamers. That technology can also be put to use in product design. “Surgeons and gamers share some important qualities – an appreciation of precision and accuracy, visual-spatial skills, depth perception ability, total immersion in a task,” said O’Conaire. “Using a simulation of the human body, VR was used to study the human factors and ergonomic issues of existing solutions in a three-dimensional environment. The body’s posture was then optimized using Gravity Sketch’s mannequin and the ideal future controller was built around that human form.”

The virtual world is ripe for simulation, which helps make the technology appropriate for design. “Whether it’s an operating room, an outdoor environment, or the view from a crane, we can simulate the context and experience the customer journey in the virtual world for which we are designing,” said O’Conaire.

Developing VR Remotely

In so many instances during 2020, the remote-teams aspect of the pandemic has prompted unlikely innovations that will last beyond the lockdown. “Design teams will always adopt tools that maximize both creativity and efficiency, accelerating the ability to innovate at speed. VR as a creative tool has been a novelty until recently,” said O’Conaire. “Instigators of this shift are programs like Flyingshapes and Gravity Sketch, as well as hardware firms like Oculus and Logitech, who are innovating in the space. Then the global pandemic forced creative teams to work remotely.”

Like CAD before it, VR technology can be a shared environment, and it doesn’t matter where on earth the team members work. And the VR environment beats Zoom. “Virtual Reality allows creative teams to connect remotely in a more natural way than staring at Zoom’s rectangles. An unexpected benefit of VR is the relaxed meeting room vibe it creates,” said O’Conaire. “You can look over someone’s shoulder on their creations and thought process, or work in your own space within the virtual environment. In these COVID times, this feels both refreshing and liberating. It makes for an immersive, warm, and collaborative experience.”

Like advanced CAD, the VR designs can be tested and validated before they enter the physical realm. “Instead of prototyping large-scale concepts, objects, or environments – costly and time-consuming – you can simply mock them up in VR,” said O’Conaire. “You can simultaneously design and validate workflows and ergonomics in real-time.”

The Ups and Downs of VR Hardware

O’Conaire noted that VR hardware lags in development. While recent advances have been impressive, the hardware still needs to grow. “Despite its incredible promise, VR hardware is still letting us down. The latest Oculus Quest 2 is heading in the right direction, but in general, the headsets are still too bulky and cumbersome, adding friction to the creative process,” said O’Conaire. “Also, the standard VR controllers are not quite intuitive enough to dive right in and start creating. There is a learning curve required that is not natural.”

While the lag in hardware advances stifle the design process to some extent, advances that did come along have helped. “There are some advances in hardware that have made the design processes easier. We have used Logitech’s VR Ink Pilot Edition since lockdown began and found that it turns strange and alien interactions into a more natural experience,” said O’Conaire. “The pen uses familiar paradigms of design – pen, and paper – and translates them into the virtual world. This speeds-up the learning curve in the VR software and helps get into the flow of design quicker.”

Logitech’s system provides a smooth transition from 2D sketches into 3D development. “Part of its magic in Logitech’s Flyingshapes is the VR Ink pen lets you use a flat surface for 2D sketching. This is second nature for designers, but it’s something standard controllers can’t do,” said O’Conaire. You can create in 2D on a physical surface and then pull the design into 3D and design in the air. This new way of creating will accelerate the design process making it more efficient in bringing a product to market.”

From a design perspective, VR technology has become an effective way to turn doodles into sketches into 3D designs into validation and prototyping. “Designing and creating in virtual realities has become much more appealing for creativity, prototyping experiences, and collaboration,” said O’Conaire. “In the early stages of the design process, VR is like a turbocharged sketchbook, giving the capability to doodle ideas and explore them in three dimensions. We can create sketches, surfaces, and forms in a kind of infinite three-dimensional space. You can weave forms together like clouds, without worrying about precision and accuracy, almost as freeform as your thought process.”

The Future Waits for Software and Hardware Developments

O’Conaire points to advances that are still needed for VR to become a full-fledged effective design tool:

More intuitive and familiar interactions – new hardware controls and interactions to support sketching, sculpting, prototyping, animating ideas (e.g. ARI).
Less bulky – slim & lightweight. Considerate of human factors and ergonomics for creative use over extended periods. (HTC Vive is excellent but extremely heavy, tethered, and cumbersome over long creative sessions.)
Instant – remove the barriers to jump in. This is the link between hardware and software user experience.
Involve the creative community in the product development process to inspire community-driven solutions (just like Flyingshapes and Gravity Sketch are).
VR connecting with future prototyping. Perhaps the biggest future advantage of VR will be the way it can enable designers and engineers to be less constrained by what is possible. Product design usually centers on the question, “How do we manufacture this?” Yet the very fluid nature of VR creativity, coupled with 3D printing, means that we may no longer need to jump through the conventional hoops or navigate around the same constraints.

Even with the need for further developments in VR technology, O’Conaire is bullish on the future of VR for design purposes. “Why are the digital tools designers use to create future experiences the same tools project managers use to fill in planning templates, or accountants use to populate spreadsheets?” asked O’Conaire. “The VR creativity space is ripe for innovation. Certainly, having seen and experienced the power of VR, we’re going to continue to experiment and develop fluency in this space.”

Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cybersecurity. For 10 years, he was the owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.

Quelle:

https://www.designnews.com/design-software/future-virtual-reality-product-design

13. Januar 2021 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Foresight 2021: Top 5 XR Opportunities in Immersive Marketing and Advertising

by Ben Erwin

There is an ‘A-HA!’ moment you experience when you ‘get’ what the big deal is with XR. You see it in that “XR Smile” when a person who was previously uninitiated to Virtual or Augmented Reality is having their first immersive experience, or just experiencing mind-blowing new XR content for the first time. In 2020, we turned a corner in the adoption of immersive technologies on the road to a mass market where content will not only be in 3D, but fully surround you with Six Degrees of Freedom. The “WOW’ factor is high for first-timers and there are more and more every day.

For now, higher-end VR experiences remain the province of “PCVR” or Virtual Reality headsets that are tethered to a desktop computer with a high-end graphics card. Augmented Reality headsets exist but are still a few years away from mass-market when Apple, Facebook and others will bring their long-awaited products to market. In 2019, the Oculus Quest lowered the cost barrier-to-entry and removed the setup friction. It remained sold out for much of its run until the Quest 2 was announced in October 2020, and by the holidays, it too was sold out. It massively improved on the specs of the first edition, and further lowered the cost. This has driven a new wave of adoption and all these new users that have been onboarding into the metaverse are looking for something to do.

Content is the egg that represents creativity and something new. Hardware represents the Chicken, and it doesn’t matter which came first because it is cyclical, evolving and multiplying. The install-base for VR has grown, and it’s going to keep growing. This has created a demand for innovative content that will only continue to grow. By the time consumer adoption reaches critical mass a few years from now with high-quality, affordable, wearable AR and VR gear, a critical transformation will have already taken place that is still in front of us now. The question of how to pay for all of this 3D content will be answered when advertisers set their sights on immersive content, which they have largely been ignoring. This will proliferate the quantity and quality of experiences. It will create new jobs and replace old ones.

The journey from the 2D in 2D web of text and images, through the 3D in 2D web of model viewers and AR filters. The 2D in 3D web has limited uses, except perhaps allowing someone to watch a 2D movie on a virtual big screen TV. That and some content, like text you read doesn’t need to be in 3D, but it does need treatment. This will culminate in the “3D in 3D” web. This next evolution in content is more sophisticated than just stereoscopic 3D, it is immersive with Six Degrees of Freedom, and there is a big difference between 3D content you observe and spatial content you can move around in. Websites are no longer a place you look at and scroll infinitely, immersive websites and virtual worlds on social VR platforms are places you can go, and even interact with other people.

Advertising has been a constant in publishing since the dawn of print, to the advent of radio and television, through the digital revolution which brought us the internet, social media and mobile apps. Immersive content is the next frontier. Agencies which produce content for advertisers that have been visibly slow to go XR because of lack of hardware which is why their advertising clients have been slow to spend on a small market, but in 2021, you can expect that to change dramatically.

Here are the Top 5 opportunities to get in front of in 2021 if you work for an advertiser or an agency, and your goal is to seize upon this burgeoning new market and build content for a new medium:

1) 3D Brand Makeovers

It starts with recreating an existing 2D logo as a 3D model and placing it in 3D space, but that is only the beginning. The thought process with which most brand identities were conceived was 2D thinking for 2D mediums. Applying design-thinking to the immersive content revolution is more than adding a z-axis or extruding something flat. It is more than determining the position, rotation and scale of an object in 3D space. It is all of this and much more, plus it still needs to look good in 2D. This will evolve and reinvigorate the process of creating brand identity guidelines. Fonts, colors and positioning of logos, taglines, emblems and identity assets are as important and ever, but need to be completely rethought in the context of 3D, It is more than applying textures and lighting, of Six Degrees of Freedom, and immersion. This will require designers and project managers and developers to upskill and learn the new lingo to accommodate the demand for immersive brand evolution.

2) World Building and Social VR

It seems like a no-brainer, but we still don’t see a lot of 3D worlds sponsored by advertisers, yet… What is a 3D world? It is a place that you can go in an immersive experience, it surrounds you, you can move around it, even fly, yes fly in it if it lets you. Mature Social VR platforms like AltSpace, VR Chat and Engage allow the creation of bespoke worlds that people can gather in. Events such as Burning Man in VR proved that even in our isolation, we can gather and be together virtually, sharing experiences that create memories that are as cogent as in real life. Moreover, they can be more fantastic, defy physics, and allow you to do dangerous or impossible things from the comfort of your living room with no time or travel expense. Where single user experiences like informational content and some games are no longer novel the second time, multi-user experiences in virtual worlds with people you know or strangers you just met can be compelling. A common complaint about public virtual worlds is that they are overrun by children. But consider that they are attracted to them because they know something you didn’t, that this is the future of gatherings. Advertisers with the vision to invest in virtual worlds for their target demographics will be creating places that can be expanded and morph and be redecorated for every occasion. They can place Easter Eggs and make experiences fun. Virtual Worlds are a broad new creative medium for shared experiences that few have even begun to make use of.

3) Virtual Meetings and Events

Even when Covid has passed, the world has been vaccinated, and it’s safe to go out again, things will never quite go back to the way we did things before and some of that is for the better. When real world events were forced to go virtual and that created efficiencies that are supplanting the parts we didn’t like about virtual events before. The monetary, time, physical toll and productivity cost factor of flying somewhere, staying in a hotel, eating out, being on your feet all day isn’t something people will miss. Where IRL human interactions will never be replaced by XR, it goes a long way to bridge the gap. There remain a number of friction points to interacting in VR that are rapidly such as awkward avatars and poor text input. There are also technical limitations on how many people can be in virtual space because of the load it puts on both the platform and the devices. Most importantly, XR makes events more accessible to more people who join events who could not afford to or get their company to pay for travel. The sponsorship model for Virtual Events isn’t much different that real world events but the cost structures are. For advertisers looking to innovate on how to activate event attendees, experiential content opens the potential for creativity that did not exist before, and at a cost often lower for an experience longer lasting than real world events. Best of all, the venues are reusable and reconfigurable.

4) Immersive Websites

How we got here

In the 90s, when the web was young CD-ROMs were the distribution method for quality digital content because the connections were too slow and web browsers were not evolved enough to do little more than display formatted text, show still images, and sometimes animated gifs. As we entered the 2000s, plugins like Shockwave and Flash facilitated what was called “Rich Media” back-in-the-day which was the introduction of video and animation. With the introduction of smartphones and the ubiquity of broadband, downloadable Apps came into vogue, and the App Store model became the way to distribute content that relied on more compute resources than the browser or plugins could handle. In a watershed moment in April 2010, when Steve Jobs in an open letter decreed that Flash would never run in iOS. This death-knell for browser plugins accelerated adoption of open browser standards such the mp4 and mp3 format for video and audio; and using JavaScript for animations. Around the same time, the WebGL standard was introduced by The Khronos Group and from WebGL grew the JavaScript Library Three JS, which enabled web developers to create in 3D. Ten years later, the WebXR Device API became part of the standards compliant and open-source Chromium browser core which powers desktop and mobile 2D browsers such as Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera and Samsung Internet. Most significantly, WebXR runs in stereoscopic browsers including the Oculus Quest Browser and MetaChromium as well as Mozilla’s Firefox Reality.

Where we’re going.

There are over 12 million JavaScript developers in the world and WebXR democratized the creation of Immersive experiences in both 2D and 3D web browsers. The ThreeJS library is foundational to other JavaScript framework like A-Frame, BablyonJS and Troika. Developing for WebXR satisfies the majority of the world’s browsers which will be in 2D for the foreseeable future, but it also allows those experiences to be in Stereoscopic 3D with Six Degrees of Freedom. The websites of the future change the meaning of the word “visit” to virtual places where you can spend time, not monolithic, flat presentations of information. The websites of the future will also change the meaning of ‘interactive’ from things we do ourselves on a site to things we do with others. Comment threads will become actual live conversations complete with emojis. In addition to the WebXR Device API standard, there are other standards which will increase the quality of experiences including the Web Assembly language which allows browsers to leverage the CPU, WebGPU which does the same for the Graphics Processor and WebRTC which is the standard for Real-Time Communication that facilitates voice, video and text interactions, turning lonely single-user websites into live places you can visit with other people. Another key standard for WebXR is the GTLF format which creates .glb files which you could think of as the JPEG of 3D Models. A key skill in the Immersive web is the creation of 3D models that are rendered to be high enough quality to look good but still be performant over the web.

Apple profoundly impacted the web by killing Flash in favor of open standards but has not yet formally announced support for the WebXR standards in future editions of Safari for Apple Glass. However, Apple has been actively recruiting WebXR talent and can only benefit by supporting Immersive Websites to give their customers content to consume on their devices. Standards compliant or not, the train has left the station on Immersive Content and by the time Apple gets its long-awaited XR hardware to market the space will be highly evolved. Therefore, the time for advertisers to start investing in Immersive Web Content is here, now.

5) The AR Cloud

It goes by many names “Digital Twin of the world”, Microsoft calls them “Spatial Anchors”, Apple calls them “ARAnchors”, but it’s a new spin on an old concept. The <A> anchor tag in html, that is better known as a “link”which lets us navigate the web. The concept of the AR Cloud is the placement of Anchors tied to physical places in the real world that allow us to access. AR content. A good example would be a historical marker. You could visit a place, let’s say Gettysburg and watch a hologram reenactment of Abraham Lincoln making his address in the very spot he originally delivered it. It could be used to create time and place anchors that allow you to see what a place looked like in the past or imagine it in the future. Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) in AR allows you to move around a holographic projection onto the physical world. When AR Cloud experiences are activated, they will change the way we perceive our surroundings. Pokémon Go gave us a taste of this as a popular game, but mapping virtual information into real spaces will help us inform our journeys. Some call this “Annotated Reality”. A group called the Open AR Cloud is working to standardize and make the AR Cloud interoperable.

Ethics in XR Advertising

An important aspect that advertisers need to consider and educate themselves on as they leverage the immersive market are what the emerging ethical standards and best practices are. Events such as Facebook forcing the merge of Oculus Logins with Facebook accounts has stirred controversy and created pushback from consumers. This piece isn’t intended as a polemic on privacy dos or don’ts but would be remiss not to mention the “with great power comes great responsibility” factor that comes with the new metrics possible in XR. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Invasive data collection practices still prevalent on the 2D web could easily expand into abuses such how biometric data, which is collected for the operation of a device, could be used to report sensitive information to third parties without the consent of the users. XRSI – the XR Safety Initiative has laid down a scientific framework to provide guidance. Kent Bye published the XR Ethics Manifesto in 2019 and routinely discusses privacy and ethics in his podcast Voices of VR . These and other works on the subject are recommended for advertising decision makers who wish to provide the best experiences for their audience, while satisfying the data collection requests made by their clients. Clients who may be asking for sensitive data that push those boundaries.

Conclusion

Meet the new business model, same as the old business model. Advertising dollars are about to start pouring into development of immersive content which will pay for free content for the public to consume on their XR devices. This is going to force a re-think of how brands present themselves to leverage 3D while still serving 2D. That tipping point happening is right now. Advertisers coming from a 2D mentality are up against a more formidable paradigm shift as the previous generation had with the conversion of print to digital. It’s time to start your personal onboarding into immersive if you haven’t already. Simply spending time inside of VR teaches you things by experience that you can’t learn academically, therefore the cost of a device pays for itself in the education you get simply by using it.

The biggest failure at the dawn of the Spatial Computing revolution has been applying 2D thinking and trying to recreate 2D experiences in a spatial context. Virtual and Augmented Reality content has different boundaries and is unbound by the laws of real-world physics. This is a clean slate for creatives and a vast opportunity to innovate with a new set of tools for those with the bold ambition to seize this new medium for a new time. The mass-market success of XR hardware depends on the availability of easily accessible content, and just as newspapers and magazines, radio and television, web and social media all had their growth paid for by advertising dollars, so it will be the same with immersive content. Even subscriber-based streaming services will eventually evolve to support immersive. The day to start planning for that day is today.

Quelle:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/foresight-2021-top-5-xr-opportunities-immersive-marketing-ben-erwin/

12. Januar 2021 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Extended reality – the technology of the future

The adoption of AR and VR technologies is surging rapidly thus driving the extended reality market.
The XR market is projected to witness an explosive 48.3% CAGR between 2020 and 2030.
Asia Pacific would witness the fastest extended reality market growth in the future.

We have all heard about virtual reality (VR) before, given it is one of the most significant technological innovations of the past years. Perhaps most of us are already familiar with the immersive experience VR has to offer since these technologies, like VR headsets used in the gaming and entertainment industry, are already widely available for the mass-market consumer.

Then there’s augmented reality (AR) – whereby virtual information and objects are overlaid on the real world – like Pokémon GO or some of Snapchat’s and Instagram’s filters. Another one, though still at a nascent stage, is mixed reality (MR). In MR, digital and real-world objects co-exist and can interact with one another in real-time — sometimes referred to as hybrid reality. It requires an MR headset and a lot more processing power than VR or AR.

Bring these three immersive technologies together and you would get extended reality (XR) — an up and coming trend that highlights the move towards creating more enveloping digital experiences. It is undeniable that currently, around the world, the adoption of AR and VR technologies by individuals and enterprises is surging rapidly.

The adoption of these two technologies drives the XR market, as AR and VR are included under the wider concept of XR As a result, the revenue generated in the global extended reality (XR) market is projected to witness an explosive 48.3% CAGR between 2020 and 2030. This way, the industry value will rise massively from merely US$18.5 billion in 2019 to more than US$1 trillion by 2030, according to P&S Intelligence.

Extended reality applications for business

Generally, businesses are seen deploying VR and AR to increase awareness about their products and build brand trust, by engaging with customers in a more fun and interactive way. Similarly, individuals are adopting these technologies for entertainment and knowledge purposes.

Certainly, how we work, interact, and play with one another is going to fundamentally change because of XR, and with it, we can be physically local while at the same time digitally global. As these concepts mature, our experiences and how we interact with computers will shift towards fully immersive environments.

In terms of retail usage, XR gives customers the ability to try before they buy. For an instance, watch manufacturer Rolex has an AR app that allows you to try on watches on your actual wrist, and furniture company IKEA gives customers the ability to place furniture items into their home via their smartphone.

On a broader scope, XR can be utilized for various types of training across industries. Especially in life-and-death circumstances, XR can provide training tools that are hyper-realistic that will help soldiers, healthcare professionals, pilots/astronauts, chemists, and more figure out solutions to problems or learn how to respond to dangerous circumstances without putting their lives or anyone else’s at risk.

Even with the rise of remote working this year, people began to experiment with VR meetings, virtual conferences, and more as companies chose between shutting down and trusting employees to work from home. Now, these technologies are starting to converge with artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to create XR technology.

In fact, XR technologies give us a new way to experience meetings and conduct business that feels more like an in-person meeting, thanks to the ability to appear in different scenes. The enhanced technology is also proving useful for virtual conferences and continuing education applications.

A report by P&S Intelligence also indicated that in the immediate future, the highest revenue in the XR market would be generated by the industrial and manufacturing industry. In industries such as mining, oil & gas, and manufacturing, immersive technologies are being adopted for training purposes. Moreover, companies that have incorporated XR into their operations have reported higher productivity, which is further making AR, VR, and MR popular in the industrial & manufacturing niche.

Additionally, Asia Pacific would witness the fastest extended reality market growth in the future, on account of the rapid incorporation of upcoming technologies and a strong focus in China, India, Indonesia, and other developing countries on XR. For instance, a report by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) says that from US$600 million in 2017, the Chinese AR market would experience a CAGR of over 90%, to grow to US$15.6 billion by 2022.

Quelle:

Foto:

Extended Reality – visualizing the future workplace

Extended reality – the technology of the future

11. Januar 2021 0 comment

Knowledge Research

What ‚The 100%‘ Tells Us About The Future Of VR

THE 100%” was one of the most compelling and watched documentaries at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The film told the story of Maggie Kudirka, an enormously talented 23-year-old ballerina with the Joffrey Concert Group, whose career was derailed due to metastatic breast cancer. Maggie’s story was told through an immersive virtual reality documentary. In this first-of-its-kind approach to storytelling, Springbok Entertainment broke new ground in immersive storytelling. The documentary earned a TribecaX Award for Best VR Experience, an Emmy nomination, a VR Social Impact Award, and many more accolades.

Setting the Stage with Reality Capture

The setting for the documentary was the historical Orpheum Theater in Vancouver with reality capture technology cast in the best supporting role. The technology helped create an immersive viewer experience, and, arguably was a key factor driving the recognition that the documentary earned.

To set expectations, or more accurately, to set no expectations, we didn’t tell our early test viewers how the documentary was made. Instead, they put on a VR headset and were virtually transported to the stage, where they felt as if they were watching a private ballet performance by Maggie.

This type of viewer immersion helped to invoke a greater sense of empathy for the ballerina, as evidenced by the many people that were moved to tears after seeing the documentary.

Since “The 100%” was the first immersive documentary of its kind, many aspects of the production were theoretical or instinctual. When it came to selecting technology to create the film, here’s what we learned.

First we needed to capture all the details of the stage prior to filming. To do this, we thoroughly researched available products. We selected the Microsoft volumetric capture technology for production work. We also chose two Leica BLK360 imaging laser scanners enabled us to easily capture every millimeter of the theater in 3D. We filled the BLK360s with more than 60 high-quality scans, which provided an absolutely incredible amount of detail inside the auditorium and the lobby. In fact, we captured far more data than we needed, simply to have a massive data set to fine-tune our processing pipeline during the production process.

Complementing the BLK360’s scans, we used thousands of panoramic HDRI photos of the theater, photogrammetry, and volumetric video – a new category of immersive technology that helps create personal, beautiful and engaging viewing experiences. The high quality panoramas of the HDRI photos were used to texture the 3D mesh that we created from the BLK360 point cloud data.

Then we added volumetric video captures to the LiDAR and HDRI images to create a whole new level of immersion.

Creating a Reality Capture Workflow

In the early days of VFX, we used survey equipment, blueprints, reference photography, and guesswork to create a 3D model matching a real location. We always knew LiDAR was a better option, but for a long time it was considered a luxury. In recent years, however, it’s become more accessible as we realized using the BLK360.

The imaging laser scanner allows us to quickly and affordably capture billions of 3D points at a location like the Orpheum Theater. For example, we no longer have to shut down a location site to scan it because the product is lightweight and portable.

Using photogrammetry, we were able to capture more details in less time, but the amount of effort it takes to capture thousands of well-exposed, sharp photographs in varying lighting has always been a challenge. The error inherent to photogrammetry has also been a challenge for every 3D department because it used to require a lot of manual intervention.

LiDAR has become the cornerstone of our reality capture workflow, with photogrammetry and HDRI images contributing texture detail but not the underlying geometry. We’ve worked hard to bring these disparate technologies together into a single, coherent flow that uses the accuracy of LiDAR and the detail of photography to create “THE 100%.”

The Future of Reality Capture for VR in Documentaries

Producers and viewers are finding the use of reality capture in filmmaking more impactful due to what’s known as the “transportation effect.” It’s been likened to the difference between thinking about something you watched and remembering something you experienced. The impact on the viewer is more powerful because the film is able to create what feels like the viewer’s own memories, making the viewer feel as if they are actually in the film.

Today, more realistic VR experiences are being created using reality capture and LiDAR. The sense of being in a real location is effective at helping a viewer feel like they are truly immersed in another perspective and place. In turn, this leads to higher engagement and a more memorable experience.

True-to-scale experiences help generate and establish empathy with an audience. This is becoming increasingly more important in storytelling and for documentaries in particular.

Without the ability to capture the real world in detail and quality, the viewer would have had an experience that fell flat and seemed more like a video game than a cinematic reality.

In the entertainment business, we often strive to distract and amuse an audience. Yet with “THE 100%,” we knew we had a rare opportunity to create art that will have a measurable impact on those dealing with cancer. By creating this immersive experience, we were able to inspire viewers to donate to SU2Cancer (Stand Up to Cancer), a partner in this project.

Quelle:

https://www.vrroom.buzz/vr-news/documentary/what-100-tells-us-about-future-vr

1. Juli 2020 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Future Scope Of Virtual Reality In eLearning

In a rapidly evolving technological world, Virtual Reality (VR) is no longer a new name. Thanks to the latest smartphones, VR has become more of a household name. How can the industry of eLearning be behind when it comes to using technology?

The Future Of Virtual Reality In eLearning

eLearning companies in India are embracing the new horizon of VR as a learning experience. There is considerable growth in this field of VR learning in the last few years. If current trends are to be believed, VR is expected to be the next big thing in the industry of eLearning.

What Is VR?

VR refers to a 3D-computerized environment that a person can interact with. The user feels as if he/she is a part of a 3D world. This becomes an immersive experience that engrosses the user in the virtual world.

One needs specially designed gear, popularly known as the VR headset, to access VR content. Google Cardboard is perhaps the simplest and most commonly used device that offers a visual, and auditory, immersive VR experience.

VR And eLearning

In a usual eLearning environment, learners look at images/text, interact via clicks, drag-and-drop or input text. VR, on the other hand, gives a far more immersive experience of the content. VR allows learners to interact with the learning material in a virtual environment. This intensifies the engagement and, hence, the motivation to learn.

For example, imagine looking at a world map for a Geography class. Not very interesting, right? Now, imagine the same class in a VR environment where you can play with a virtual globe and explore the geographical regions. Much more engaging, isn’t it?

VR has opened up new learning environments that were otherwise not possible. For example, one can create courses on how to work in dangerous or high-risk environments, explore with hazardous materials, or perform other complex activities without actually being exposed to such an environment. This gives hands-on experience with minimal exposure to fatality. Apart from the fun and engagement element, this safety feature makes VR a special innovation in the eLearning industry. It allows learners to learn from their mistakes, arrive at the right skill set, with the freedom to make mistakes, and try again. For example, a VR-based learning module on hazardous material will allow the learner to practice handling the material virtually without facing the actual risks of wrong handling.

Future Of VR

With the recent surge in VR compatible smartphones, VR is quickly becoming a familiar name. Several applications of VR technology are already on the market. With so much perspective, the possibility of training by means of VR is stimulating. Let’s look at some industries where VR-based eLearning is going to have the greatest impact.

The medical and healthcare training industry can use VR technology very effectively to train in processes and procedures. The VR environment will allow the learner to try and practice procedures without fearing the negative impact on real patients.

A key area where VR technology can revolutionize training is with technician and machine operators. VR will allow learners to operate machines in a virtual environment and thus, become experts before putting them on live systems.

Another area that is being explored, and is already on the market, is compliance training. VR is being extensively used in “safe” safety training. It allows trainees to experience the consequences of unsafe practices and violations of safety norms. It also helps them get a real-time feel of the actual environment they are going to be in and learn safety procedures precisely.

VR is also beneficial in highly skilled trades that need precision and practice. VR provides long-term financial benefits, in such cases, by eliminating the need to invest in materials for practice; allowing trainees to practice the task any number of times till they get it right.

VR is an exciting technology that is already revolutionizing the industry of eLearning. eLearning companies in India have rightly appreciated its immense potential and are embracing the technology to its fullest scale. More and more research is being done and certainly, in the near future, VR is going to drive the eLearning domain.

Quelle:

https://elearningindustry.com/vr-in-elearning-virtual-reality-future

Foto: SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock.com

Originally published at blog.hexalearn.com.

2. Juli 2019 0 comment