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Virtual reality was first introduced through science fiction and was perhaps popularized best through Star Trek: The Next Generation and its Holodeck, in which participants are able to interact with virtual environments for education, fun, and entertainment. While this environment often led to some mishaps, the virtual reality presently available to us and the future of VR does not have those risks.

Future of virtual reality — VR quotes

Regarding virtual reality in its current phase, whether we’re five minutes from its peak or still a long way from it depends on which source you refer to. Is the future of VR really the next big thing for your business? Or is this just the rhetoric of those connected to the gaming industry? We’ll try to find the answer in this article.

What is Virtual Reality? 

What is Virtual Reality? Virtual reality means a near-reality experience, a three-dimensional (3D) generated environment where objects and scenarios seem so real the user feels as if they are immersed in their surroundings based upon sensory information and processes the brain uses to categorize information. This can be auditory (sound), visual (sight), or a mixture of both. VR devices allow you to experience a different reality with the help of a device known as a headset or virtual reality helmet. If you are presented with a form of reality that is not the current reality, your brain will still recognize that environment as a type of existence. Who knows how this can be transformed in the near future of VR technology?

VR vs. other Immersive Technologies

Immersive technologies are ones that attempt to create physical environments through simulated digital worlds. Immersive technologies include augmented, mixed, extended, and virtual reality.

Augmented reality (AR) uses live video or a user’s current environment with the help of digital information to create semi-altered reality virtual objects overlayed onto the real-world environment. This is seen in some of the popular mobile games like Pokemon Go, where users can interact with characters on their smartphones in real-world environments. To experience AR you need either a mobile phone or AR headset.

Mixed reality (MR) combines virtual and real worlds to create new environments, visualizations and other digital objects where the user can co-exist and interact with objects in these worlds in real-time. In other words, unlike AR’s overlays, virtual objects are anchored in the real world.

Virtual reality (VR) is a seemingly real, digital environment that can be interacted with using special equipment, such as a virtual reality helmet or headset.

Virtual reality vs other immersive technologies — NIX United

Current VR Usage in Different Industries

Virtual reality technology is making inroads into every sector. Finances Online conducted a study to determine which industries use VR more. With the help of this technology, the way humans entertain, treat, travel, learn, communicate, purchase items, and work will never be the same in the future of virtual reality.

Virtual reality industries — the  most useful ones
  • The amount of VR users in the US is $57.4 million (eMarketer, 2020)
  • VR and AR investments were estimated to be $915 million in 2020 (Superdata, 2020)
  • 91% of businesses are already leveraging or planning to adopt VR or AR technology (TechRepublic, 2020)
Future of VR — market growth

VR in Education and Training

The main goal of virtual reality technology in education and training is to make it as effective as exciting and to change the way people learn. We’ve seen a large number of startups and established education companies offering packaged experiences and services geared toward schools.

Virtual education is already popular among K-12, higher education, vocational training and will be even more widespread in the future of virtual reality. Higher education, which is predicted to get a larger revenue share, has major VR applications such as student recruitment, immersive learning, and fundraising.

According to a Harward business study, medical students who have had the opportunity to be trained using VR can perform certain procedures faster and more accurately than their peers trained using traditional methods.

Virtual reality applications, for instance, simulating the driving process in heavy urban traffic, prepare people for real roads, providing base knowledge and experiences for safe driving. NIX engineers also have personal accomplishments—a car simulator that offers an immersive experience of the driving process.

NIX expertise — Carsim Use Case

Learn more about NIX use cases of VR technology in our special article.

VR in Real Estate

As you can imagine, in this pandemic era, the possibility of showing virtual real estate has increased markedly. By putting on a virtual reality headset you can both observe the existing location and see how your property will look in the future when it’s done. The property could be located in another country, but you are still able to get a tour without leaving your own apartment. What could be easier than putting on a VR headset and wandering around your apartment?

Secondly, the client gets a unique opportunity to see the area, to understand if it’s spacious and comfortable enough to invest in. It’s also much easier for realtors to turn a client into a buyer when there is a certain level of emotional connection. Thus, with 360° filming of home space in VR, customers in their living rooms can see what their future home, which might be 1,000 km away from them, looks like. Or the client can see what the apartment or house will eventually look like instead of existing bare walls with the help of prototyping.

A virtual room tour can encourage buyers to make a positive decision and invest. 

VR in Manufacturing

The use of virtual technology in manufacturing provides significant improvements in cost, time, and quality. Product designers and engineers are able to explore options that in the past would have been prohibitively expensive or time-consuming.

Since 2014, Ford has hired virtual reality specialists to lead engineers in designing and building entire vehicles, including autonomous vehicles, in a virtual environment. Today, Ford has a mandatory, multifunctional VR review for all vehicles that go into production.

Imagine machinery equipment training, conducted with the help of virtual reality technology. The main purpose of such training is to increase the skills of the machine operators. In many countries you can start working as an operator only after passing an official exam and obtaining the necessary license; however, a license is not always the best indicator of manual skills. With new technology, in an environment in which even the slightest mistake is very costly, companies can be provided with a safe, easy, and relatively inexpensive way to train personnel.

Find out more about NIX use cases of VR technology in our article.

VR in Healthcare

Similarly, medicine, and especially emergency medicine, is not an environment where there is room for mistakes. Once they are put into a lifelike VR scenario, medical personnel can master all the needed skills and train every procedure with a realistic simulation of every emergency event from CPR to lumbar punctures. In addition to realistic graphics, this training can be equipped with a program that will evaluate the success of the training, mark all mistakes, and give advice on how to avoid them in the future.

Medical training isn’t the only place where virtual reality technology is high. Mental treatment and disease awareness are also important aspects of VR in Healthcare.

The ability of VR to place a person in any environment using controlled simulation creates an excellent instrument for physical and psychological treatment and pain management. Therapists already use VR in their practice to treating PTSD, anxiety, and phobias. VR takes its part in rehabilitation for patients who survived strokes, brain injuries, or other traumas. Gamification of the process plays a role here, which allows the patient to stay focused and place them in a familiar environment with reproduction of routines, such as driving, cooking, or other activities, allowing them to restore motor functions quickly.

Alienware Case

VR in Gaming

There is no point in hiding the fact that gaming is probably the first thing the average person associates with the future of virtual reality. And it’s not surprising, because the market size of the VR gaming industry is growing at a fast pace.

On the other hand, the current position of virtual reality technology in gaming is influenced by COVID-19, which keeps potential consumers at home, and consequently, they are more willing to engage in games, which is a boon for the market.

At times, the ideas realized in the gaming sector with virtual reality are much more captivating with their fantasy and progress than those in other areas. It is because of this that experts see potential in the gaming industry for VR, perhaps in the first place.

Challenges with VR Uses in Business

Virtual reality barriers — top 7

Major barriers such as lack of quality available content and poor user experience arise when it is impossible to find a competent vendor. For now and in the future of virtual reality it can be torture to find a decent vendor who will deliver good material that will assure users will be satisfied with their VR experiences and become customers.

You should remember that VR, like any other software, requires data and privacy security. In addition, you must consider the type of solution, as it may require additional regulations, such as social networks in VR.

Future of vr — virtual reality technology quotes

What to Expect in Virtual Reality by 2025

The 2018 report by the Capgemini Research Institute said “82% of companies that are currently in the process of implementing AR and VR solutions say the benefits are either meeting or exceeding their expectations.”

Let’s explore what the future of VR technology holds!

Future of VR by 2025 — NIX United

Trend #1: Virtual Reality Empowered with Artificial Intelligence

The future of virtual reality in merging with AI, and the truth is, it has become completely inevitable. This fusion has already shown its effectiveness in the business sphere in lots of ways, including boosting productivity and streamlining workflows, but developers and researchers are looking for more beneficial opportunities.

First of all, it is worth mentioning the optimization of development tools to create, generate, and calculate elements quicker as well as process optimization so that VR technology runs better on less demanding hardware. Another benefit of AI for VR is that we can create systems that will automatically generate different objects required for the development of VR applications, so the whole process can become cheaper and less time-consuming. Experts predict that this will eventually lead to the development of highly interactive workspaces and advanced image recognition tools.

Trend #2: VR in Online Conferences and Sport Events

A growing trend in the world of VR and AR the use of technology to create more immersive events and sporting matches. As the COVID-19 pandemic has forced authorities to postpone online conferences and sporting events, the use of these technologies is coming to the forefront as major sports companies and events are already investing in virtual and augmented reality to promote sports and events.

Technology allows sports fans to be in the game even if they are physically on the other side of the planet. This means hosting virtual but immersive meetings and events that go beyond the usual video meetings. Examples include NFL teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.

The best virtual reality technology will make fans feel immersed in the games and employees and partners feel immersed and engaged in meetings and events on the path to 2025. Moreover, remember you will always have the best seats!

Trend #3: Increasing Adoption in Remote Education and Training

To provide deep, immersive haptic feedback, Teslasuit, for example, already uses a full-body suit, enhancing immersion through the sensation of touch. It also offers a number of biometric sensors to measure heartbeat, sweat, and other stress indicators. This suit is designed to simulate experience and accelerate VR training with performance monitoring and sensation.

Teslasuit is a powerful tool in XR training and already being used in training for NASA astronauts, but its potential is limitless. Of course, for now, such equipment is pretty high cost, but as the technology evolves, it should become more and more affordable.

Because of COVID-19, distance learning systems are increasingly using virtual reality technology in education and training. The Engage platform is being used by companies such as Facebook, HTC, and the European Commission for distance learning. 

Key players in VR — NIX United

Trend #4: Entertainment Empowered with VR

We have already mentioned some of those non-gaming-related spheres of VR technology, but analysts predict that gaming will be the biggest driver of revenue growth. At last count, global gaming revenue is expected to be nearly $50 billion by 2026 or 2027. Games in turn do not lag behind and developers create more and more constantly evolving entertainment technology to satisfy gamers and attract them to buy new products.

Virtual reality technology is about to launch a wider world of entertainment to reach new audiences and take the entertainment industry to newer heights. You can enjoy concerts of world stars, watch Oscar-nominated movies, or sit next to late-night talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon simply by putting on a headset that broadcasts live. Even the popular TV show Game of Thrones has used VR experiences.

Google Expeditions is one more example of VR entertainment. These expeditions include exploratory content on history, science, and art. This technology allows you to build up a wide range of subjects, from observing dinosaurs in their natural habitat to studying the details of Renaissance art.

Trend #5: VR in Marketing and Advertising

The future adoption of virtual reality technology and its further integration into everyday life provides increased advertising opportunities for businesses. With consumers spending more and more time on their smartphones or computers, and this technology is increasingly used, businesses have a better chance of reaching potential customers on their way to the future of VR technology, and the ability to target their advertising to the right niche and the right clientele.

Virtual reality technology allows you to create a completely unique experience for your audience. You can both seamlessly and interactively integrate content into the usual VR content (e.g. product placement), measure people’s reactions to your product, and make better data-driven decisions for improvement.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recently built virtual reality technology into the core of its campaign “The Migraine Experience.” In the campaign, people with migraine experiences chose symptoms, then handed the headset to their partners who don’t suffer from migraines so they could experience the symptoms firsthand, such as blind spots, sensitivity to light, pounding headaches, and disorientation, without feeling physical pain through the headset. GSK also released a version of the app for anyone to download at home and try out on their smartphone.

Isn’t this a super experience of the future of VR technology in marketing and advertising?

Conclusion

Being a part of this technology is beneficial for businesses and customers. Now, everyone has the opportunity to experience innovative technology at its best and there will be even more opportunities in the future of VR. If you want to keep up with the times and let your business grow, you need a reliable team of tech specialists who will support you on this path. Here at NIX, we know that the doors of possibility virtual reality opens are unlimited. We have massive expertise in adjusting solutions to the most modern trends and understanding for sure how virtual reality technology can change the way things are done forever.

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