Along with technological advancement, altered realities too arose.
Environments connecting the virtual and real world, with human and machine interaction using technology are known as Extended Reality.
Extended Reality lets you exhibit and experience that does not exist in this real world but in the virtual world, through technology. We taste new experiences that have never been encountered before by pairing the real world with the virtual world.
The three types of technologies are included to create the extended reality. They are:
1. Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual Reality takes you to experience entirely different places through the projection of images using a special goggle.
There are two types of VR. The first is where you look at the moving images and nothing you do makes changes in it. Examples: watching sports and movies. The other is where you participate and can touch and experience using a controller. Examples: playing video games and viewing real estate.
2. Augmented Reality (AR)
When the virtual world is fused with the real world, we can experience Augmented Reality. One can see the virtual image in the real world using smartphones or special goggles.
3. Mixed Reality (MR)
Mixed reality is the same as AR but more advanced. The virtual world that is superimposing on the real world is more precise, as it makes you feel as if the virtual world is really in front of you.
In MR, one can go near the projected image and view it in any direction: from top to bottom, and front to back. This projection can be viewed by many people at once and this feature helps people to conduct meetings to discuss the projected image.
When comparing MR with VR and AR, it has only a few examples as it is still in the development process. But when it hits popularity, it promises to give new and best experiences.
Many companies have adopted these altered realities in many works. Few ways these realities are in use:
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Gaming
Extended reality is much popular among gamers. Gives real experience to the people as if the gamers themselves are in the game world and fighting the monsters or battling the enemies.
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Designing and developing vehicles
It is a long process to design and develop a vehicle. It would take weeks to design and many months to develop it. Extended reality helps this process to complete in a short period of time.
Using VR technology, engineers would be able to create a 3D model of the vehicle and know what it looks like. They can make any changes if need to, whereas in a world working remotely, it would have taken weeks to design them and find errors later.
Using AR and MR, you can develop and analyze the design, and find errors much sooner. Whereas it would have taken months to develop a vehicle and afterward find errors and remodel it.
Extended reality helps automobile manufacturers reduce wastage and save time.
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Virtual try-on
Almost all of us have the experience of ordering online and getting what does not fit them– too big or too small. As a solution for this, many branded fashion designers are using AR technology to help their customers choose what fits them and look good on them. Now we can try on dresses virtually and order with satisfaction.
Many furniture and home appliances companies are adapting to this technology. This allows their customers to try the furniture and appliances virtually and choose what suits their home.
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Surgical plans and physiotherapy
The use of extended reality has also reached the medical field. Doctors try to educate their patients about their surgeries by showing VR operations and making them more confident about what is going to happen.
This technology is also of use for physiotherapy patients. Using AR technology, doctors encourage patients to play games where they have to move in order to progress in the game. This is more effective in younger patients.
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Real estate viewing
When moving, it is really tiring to go in search of houses and apartments from place to place until you finally fix a place. Modern real estate agents are using VR technology to show their clients and choose among them. It is time-saving and lets you have experience seeing all the available apartments by just sitting.
There are many other fields that are using XR to increase productivity in less time and more efficiently.
Uses of Extended Reality in the manufacturing industry
From the time of the revolution till now the manufacturing industry has developed a lot, from ordinary machines to complex machines, it has evolved. At the start of the revolution, using machines humans produced a high quantity of products in less time. With passing years, machines replaced more and more workers by providing quality products in less time.
In the modern era, where we use technology in almost every aspect of a person’s life, every industry is adapting to the technologies to find solutions for the problems that exist and does not exist.
Extended reality has many benefits that make the companies’ work easier and more efficient. We can use this technology in training, designing, finding errors, coaching, mentoring, etc. Many companies and industries are adapting to the extended reality.
The engineers in the manufacturing industry are getting full benefits from using XR for product development and enhancements. They use the virtual space to practice designs of the products, thus increasing safety, and reducing delivery cost, speed, and accuracy. The operation of the manufacturing industry has widely changed with the use of extended reality.
The use of VR in product designs improves productive analytics and helps to find design flaws in minutes. Whereas it took months to find the flaw in the designs, in the remote world.
To work on complex assembly projects, we can use AR technology. It helps save money by increasing the engineer’s speed and accuracy. Few of the benefits the manufacturing industry can gain through the XR:
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Product Designing and Development
By creating interactive virtual models manufacturers can save from developing physical models that would cost and take much more time to design from the scratch. It also helps to reduce the wastage of experimenting with new materials. The entire process of development would revolutionize if the VR design model is used to design the product, by reducing development time.
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Complex Assembly
By using AR glasses, developers can infuse 3D images or designs that they have designed onto the developing product. We can find any flaws or errors through this and carry out the product designing and development. Statistics show through this way, engineers could speed up their development process by 30% and their accuracy by 96%.
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Safety Training
Manufacturing companies have huge machines that are complex and the employees should follow the instructions and learn to operate them. By using extended reality technology to train the employees and instruct them about the parts of each type of machinery, and how to operate them, we can avoid accidents. It ensures the trainee’s safety and does not affect the production process. The machines can work and do their job while the trainees would be learning to operate them using the XR technology. This saves time and does not affect the production process while the instructors are giving instructions.
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Streamlined Logistics
After manufacturing the products, there will be products with few errors, and before packing and check it thoroughly. It takes time to find them and disregard them. With the use of VR, AR and MR, the errors would be located easily and it would save a lot of time.
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Better Collaboration
A product is made step by step, each step is done by different groups of people. It is a challenge in places where workers work remotely. But using XR technology connects all groups of people and ensures better collaboration.
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Real-time Guidance
When training the employees, AR makes it easier to guide them while saving time without bothering the superiors.
