Introduction

The release of the Apple Vision Pro has sparked new interest in the topic of immersive technologies. In this blog series, we will introduce the basics of the technology and explore efficient ways to utilize it.

What are Immersive Technologies?

Immersive technologies are technologies that are able to augment or replace the real world with a simulated one. They are also known as XR (Extended Reality) technologies, where X stands for any of the following:

• (VR) - Virtual Reality
• (AR) - Augmented Reality
• (MR) - Mixed Reality

In the following sections, we will explain each technology in more detail.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that uses head-mounted displays (HMDs) to display a virtual world to the user. When wearing the HMD, the user is unable to see the real world and instead, only the virtual world is visible. Depending on the system, the user can interact with the virtual world using controllers, hand tracking, voice commands, or other input methods.

Augmented Reality

Like the name suggests, Augmented Reality (AR) augments the real world with virtual objects. This is achieved by using one or more cameras to capture the real world and then overlaying virtual objects on top of it. Therefore, the user can see both the real world and the virtual objects simultaneously. Augmented Reality is often consumed using a smartphone or tablet. However, there are also AR headsets available which allow for a more immersive experience.

Mixed Reality

Mixed Reality (MR) represents a combination of VR and AR. Like AR, it enriches the real world by augmenting it with virtual objects. However, the distinction lies in the level of integration. In MR, the virtual objects are not barely overlaid on top of the real world; instead, they are aware of the real world, and they can interact with it. In essence, the boundary between virtual and physical objects becomes opaque to the user.

It is crucial to note, that the boundaries between VR, AR and MR are not always clear and there can be differences in the definitions.

Reality-Virtuality Continuum

The Reality-Virtuality Continuum was first introduced by Milgram et al. in 1994¹ and it describes the concept of a continuum between the real world and a virtual world. The following figure visualizes this continuum.

One side of the continuum represents the real environment. This is the complete absence of virtuality, meaning the user is only able to see the real world. The other side represents a completely virtual environment. The area between both describes the situation where both the virtual environment and the real environment are combined. As the names suggest, within augmented reality, reality is augmented with the virtual, and within augmented virtuality, the virtual is augmented with reality.

Immersion and Presence

The concepts of immersion and presence are important to understand, when working with immersive technologies.

Immersion describes the technical capability of a system to make the user feel like they are part of a virtual world. This can be achieved by visual, auditory, haptic, and other sensory stimuli.

Good immersive systems can make the user feel a sense of presence. While immersion describes the technical ability, presence is the actual subjective feeling of being in a virtual environment.

One essential element contributing to immersion is the quality of the body matching. For instance, if the user’s head rotation or translation is inaccurately mapped in the virtual environment, it can disrupt the experience. The subjective feeling of presence can be empirically measured using the Presence Questionaire².

Applications of Immersive Technologies

Immersive technologies can be utilized in a wide range of applications. In this article, we will explore three examples:

Education

Teachers are often facing the difficulty of explaining a concept to students in a way that feels real and engaging. Utilizing words or slides alone can create a sense of distance from the subject, hindering the process of learning. Immersive technologies can offer a solution to this problem, as students can directly step into learning scenarios, making the experience more natural. Another benefit of utilizing immersive technologies is the benefit of scaling. Educational applications only need to be developed once and can be used by many students without the need for individualized instructions.

Field services

Field service technicians often require complicated instructions or documentation for maintenance work on equipment. Augmented reality could allow the processes to be simplified and speed up by overlaying the instructions directly onto the equipment.

Additionally, the remote interaction with customers could be improved. Remote expert technicians could give instructions, which are then visible to the customer in AR. This can allow non-experts to carry out tasks while being guided by either experts remotely or by AI.

Virtual Workplaces

Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic situation, work from home models have become increasingly popular. While certain advantages, like reduced commuting time, are evident, some drawbacks exist, particularly of a social nature. Collaborating with people who are not at the same locality requires communication tools. These have usually evolved around asynchronous email/chat based and synchronous video/voice call systems.

Many of the interpersonal dynamics inherent in face-to-face meetings are lost in video calls. Critical cues such as genuine expressions, gestures, and body language are condensed from the real 3D environment encompassing the individual and their surroundings into a flattened 2D video stream, limited to highlighting solely the person’s head on a small screen.

In contrast, immersive technologies offer hope in bridging the social experiential gap with face-to-face interactions.

Conclusion

In this article we explored the fundamentals of immersive technologies, explaining the differences between virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, while also examining practical applications across various domains.

Rapid advancements in hardware are propelling immersive experiences towards a trajectory where the boundaries between the virtual and real world become increasingly blurred. At the same time, the widespread availability of more affordable hardware is democratizing access to immersive technologies, transitioning them from niche to mainstream consumer-grade products. This democratization has the potential for expanding their utilization across industries.

Just as the ubiquitous adoption of smartphones transformed society by placing computing power in the palms of our hands, immersive technologies have the potential to replace smartphones as our most important technological companions as they are inherently more natural and human centered in their usage. While touchscreens improved our digital interactions, immersive technologies can bridge the gap between natural human interaction and the digital realm, seamlessly integrating familiar interactions into our everyday experiences.

Credits

Title image by SFIO CRACHO on Shutterstock

References