From immersive gaming to productivity gains
Most AR and VR devices rely on one of two engines, which were originally developed by the gaming industry: Unity and Unreal. “Working with one of these established engines is beneficial because XR – which covers AR, VR and MR – is a volatile market. It’s important to invest in solutions that can be deployed across available hardware and platforms. That way, you only have to make these investments once while keeping future tech innovations in mind,” Andy explains.
In addition to providing thrill seekers with more immersive gaming experiences, Unity and Unreal-based devices can offer realistic simulation, training scenarios and collaboration opportunities. Plenty of industrial firms see big potential and are already jumping on the bandwagon.
“XR enables on-the-job training, support and guidance, for example. This means that training and travel costs can be reduced, and higher-profile personnel can assist more junior profiles remotely in providing maintenance services,” continues Andy. “XR is also popular for collaborative design and prototyping, making it more efficient and cost-effective, or for learning: medical students, for example, increasingly learn via XR instead of in operating rooms. In these operating rooms, by the way, XR is also gaining inroads, providing surgeons with contextual information during operations.”