Why It’s Time to Take Augmented and Virtual Reality Seriously

Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented reality; the headset competition is heating up, and there are more options than ever before. Why now may be the time you take the immersive headsets seriously.

In a short few years, Meta’s Oculus Quest platform has sold over 20 million units, and its market share seems to continue to grow. Even Sony has recognized some success with the launch of Playstation VR2 earlier this year, with 600k units shipping in the first six weeks alone. Even Apple entered the fray; the company announced the long-awaited Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset this past June. The Vision Pro boasts a multitude of class-leading offerings such as 4k resolution per eye displays, blazing speed, and direct interface into Apple’s entire ecosystem of current products but for an eye-watering $3499.

"Headset capabilities are evolving rapidly, allowing organizations like NASA and the Department of Defense to train operators in environments prior to entering the environment, but adoption by consumers is lagging.” Vincent Peters, former SpaceX alum and founder of  Inheritance AI, told Lifewire.

VR and AR: Not Just for Gaming

Six years ago, I co-founded the medical tech company eXpanded eXistence, which aimed to improve the modern operating room by utilizing artificial intelligence and mixed reality software. The big challenge we faced early on was developing software that surgical teams could use but did not disrupt the sterile spaces in the operating room and was easy for literally anyone to use. We opted to use Microsoft’s Hololens augmented reality (AR) headset platform (starting with the first gen unit and ultimately moving up to their second-generation headset), which, much like the Apple Vision Pro, lists for $3500. The Hololens works like a lightweight laptop on your head, but instead of a monitor, it utilizes holographic screens projected in your space, and instead of a keyboard, you use simple hand gestures or voice commands.

In our case, any surgical assistant can throw on a standard Hololens 2 loaded with our eXeX software and easily access all procedural information during surgery. They can wear the headset, track consumables, and follow every step of the procedure, even if it's their first time working with a surgeon. In the past couple of months alone, we’ve assisted in hundreds of surgeries across the United States and Europe thanks to essentially off-the-shelf augmented reality headsets armed with our software. Yet, this case study only scratches the surface of what mixed reality headsets are doing for the industry.

In fact, mixed reality and virtual reality (VR) technology are finding impactful places all over the medical industry. As Mina Fahim, president and CEO of MediView, told Lifewire his feelings on immersive tech in the space, “While healthcare XR ideas and concepts have been explored for the past 20+ years, recent technology advances are now allowing innovation to be brought to life and capabilities realized in real-world applications.”

“MediView is reframing how to visualize, consume, and integrate standard-of-care imaging in [mixed] reality to unlock the full potential of familiar tools clinicians use today to understand, trust, and adopt these novel immersive solutions,” he added. “This is an exciting time to leverage game-changing technologies to accelerate and usher in the new era of clinical solutions.”

Baltu Technologies, a company in the realm of workforce development, has been quietly working on AR/VR tools to support the future of the workplace. Led by a trio of leaders with backgrounds including NASA, music composition, robotics, and law, Baltu Technologies has combined its unique skill sets to drive innovation in the AR and VR space.

AR and VR in Education

In a recent initiative, Baltu Technologies began integrating AR/VR head-mounted displays to expose high school students and transitioning workers to advanced manufacturing jobs. Collaborating with organizations such as Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC) and Arizona’s Maricopa County Community College District, Baltu Technologies is spearheading efforts to use digital twin technology to bring billion-dollar factories into the classroom. This type of exposure is already dramatically affecting participants who can now experience what it’s like to build a helicopter or support microchip development from a safe and risk-free environment. With this type of effort, Baltu’s goal is to support funneling new workers to partners nationwide.

Baltu has reported staggering reductions in training and content development time, with some cases experiencing a remarkable 90% decrease. This allows for ideation, knowledge sharing, and learning to occur in hours rather than the weeks or days expected from these types of initiatives. Combined with machine learning technologies and the advancement of AR/VR head-mounted display technology.

“This technology allows for ideation and knowledge sharing to occur rapidly wherever we are and in a way that aligns with how we already experience the world, in real-time and in 3D,” said Baltu CTO Dennis Bonilla in an email.

Speaking of education, there are many other great examples of how schools are utilizing mixed reality to empower students and workers of the future. 

“Within the technology sector, we have been working with mixed reality since 2017,” secondary school teacher Ewout Warringa told Lifewire in an email, “and in particular within the construction training courses for visualizing 2D working drawings." 

Powerful Technology for All

In 2020, Microsoft debuted its Dynamics 365 Guides for its augmented reality Hololens headset, which offered powerful tools for developers and manufacturers alike to create powerful holographic guides to allow untrained workers to accomplish complicated tasks without requiring outside observation. This has been a HUGE tool for a variety of manufacturers. For example, PACCAR trains new employees to build entire tractor-trailers by putting a headset on them and having them watch step-by-step holograms show them precisely what to do. The software can literally recognize physical objects from their manufacturing process, a door, for example, and will overlay precise holographic guides and videos to show them everything they need to know to complete a given task.

We may be on the precipice of powerful and affordable mixed reality options for the general consumer market. AR and VR headsets have been positively disrupting important industrial markets for years. As I alluded to before, I am excited about the Apple Vision Pro for its breakthrough in display technology, improved class-leading hand gesture recognition tools, and groundbreaking processor performance. I truly feel like it's something that can be effective for our med-tech applications, and the $3499 price is no surprise to us since its high-end competitors like the Magic Leap 2 and the Hololens 2 sit around that same price point. That said, I hope consumers start seeing the light of how powerful mixed reality headsets can truly be so that companies like Meta, HTC, Microsoft, Apple, and Magic Leap can continue to evolve the technology and make it more accessible for everyone.