Augmented reality: a good technological investment
One of the most innovative products on the market are virtual glasses, which are generating more and more expectations due to their multiple functions when it comes to using them.
Currently, its users are excited about the rumors that Apple is already thinking of launching a new version very soon together with Microsoft and Google. According to specialists in the field, it is expected that by 2021 the combined market for augmented reality will be $ 108 billion, thus obtaining massive purchases by companies and consumers. They also state that 2016 was a very tough time for investors, despite the new proposals.
3D World
To have a more complete visualization of the real world, there are virtual alternatives that can recognize and capture the world in a 3D version. This consists of tracking some places, people or objects in such a way that we can make sense of everything that surrounds us. There are companies that have seen in this new technological system a good opportunity to invest, since they have become a way to show new tools that can provide solutions in an interactive way to their customers through augmented reality (AR), which basically consists of a set of equipment that add virtual information to the existing physical information, that is, they increase a virtual synthetic part to the real one. However, the AR system is very different from the virtual reality (VR) that has been known for quite some time. The former assembles a visual reality in which the person observes a mixture of the two realities, very similar to what is reflected with the Pokemon Go video game or the 3D application promoted by Google Maps. In contrast, with VR, the user is isolated from the material reality of the physical world, that palpable world that gives us a projection of life. It could be said that the subject enters a purely virtual plane.
Investment
On the other hand, Tom Emrich, founding partner of Super Ventures, is one of the examples of entrepreneurs who believe in AR and want to be part of the whole new experience that this augmented reality will generate. In a recently published article, Emrich said that his firm has met with more than 600 AR companies in the last year, as the AR ecosystem is complex with multiple categories of devices, inputs and outputs, and interaction tools. Although currently for AR to be felt by the masses globally, it requires hardware to be in the hands or on the faces of users, Emrich said. The entrepreneur points out that the focal point of augmented reality is to enable graphical information to be nearly identical to natural vision. And to achieve this, “advances in light field, retinal projection, photorealistic rendering, adjustable focus and natural vergence and accommodation” are needed. But this perspective, according to specialists in the field, presents challenges beyond the visual, such as connectivity, multi-sensor fusion, haptics and audio, and even battery life for the devices that create augmented reality.
Real communication vs. telepresence
Likewise, the founding partner of Super Ventures, claims that another aspect that could subtract points to AR is communication. Although each wave of computing follows a similar pattern to the previous one, the social sphere has been difficult to break, since it is easier for human beings to express their feelings when they perceive others close to them and not through a virtual screen. But Emrich said that in the future, large-scale social experiences will be areas that AR embraces with the inclusion it is making unique in offering true telepresence along with empathy. Where distance is not an impediment to being in the same room with that loved one and having a friendly chat or collaborating on an important project or even solving a critical problem on site.
