Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality Development
What is VR
VR uses cutting-edge graphics, best-in-class hardware, and artistically rendered experiences to create a computer-simulated environment where you aren’t just a passive participant, but a co-conspirator. With a VR headset, you’re fully absorbed in realistic 3D worlds, creating a major shift in how we experience the digital realm.
A VR headset usually features a display split between the eyes to show each eye a different feed. This creates a stereoscopic 3D effect with stereo sound. It also tracks your position in space to orient your point of view in the system.
When you combine the VR headset and input tracking, you get a completely immersive and realistic experience. Since the world around you turns every time you move your head, you feel like you’re “in the game” mentally and physically. In other words, you feel like you’re part of another universe.
Uses of VR
VR use cases are only limited to your imagination, there are many uses of VR technology
The pandemic forced students to learn online. While platforms like Zoom help to facilitate collaboration, they often fall short. Virtual reality can help. It can boost student engagement and help them stay focused.
But it’s not just academia using VR for education. Retailers, tech companies, and even the military are using tools to help train their workers.
The healthcare industry has been a big adopter of virtual reality technology. It helps their professionals train and prepare for real-world scenarios, including surgery. Teams can plan out complicated procedures. They can even diagnose and treat computer-generated patients.
VR is also being used to explore mental health treatment. It has been used to treat issues including alcohol addiction, claustrophobia, depression, and more. Because people can use headsets in their own homes, it can provide a safe and more cost effective option for many clients.
VR allows engineers and designers to experiment easily with the look and build of a vehicle before commissioning expensive prototypes. Companies such as BMW and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) been using VR for years to hold early design and engineering reviews to check the visual design and object obscuration of the vehicle – all before any money has been spent on physically manufacturing the parts.
VR is saving the automotive industry millions by reducing the number of prototypes built per vehicle line.
There’s nothing like a global pandemic and lockdowns to make you miss the freedom to travel to different countries, visit world-famous landmarks, and experience a glimpse into another culture.
Imagine being able to experience a guided tour of Barcelona or Budapest from your home in California or Singapore. With VR, you can do just that. You can even take a Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh from anywhere in the world!
In the post-Covid era, the developments in VR for tourism enable you to try a holiday before you buy it. Thomas Cook launched their ‘Try Before You Fly‘ VR experience back in 2015, where potential holidaymakers could visit stores in various countries to experience the holiday in VR before booking it. As a result, there was a 190% uplift in New York excursions bookings after people tried the 5-minute version of the holiday in VR.
Many real-life hobbies are now available in VR, and the immersive, social experience makes them all the more enjoyable and accessible. If you’re a fan of cultural activities, you can visit museums such as the Natural History Museum in London or if you’re into sports, you can play golf or football in VR.
If you’re more of a thrill-seeker, you can head to Guizhou in China to VR Star Theme Park, where there are over 40 VR rides.
As with the military, police forces are using AR and VR tools from companies like VirTra to train personnel in simulated scenarios complete with visual, auditory, and physical stimuli (ranging from barking dogs and street noise to the recoil of discharging a weapon).
The technologies even enable police forces to escalate or de-escalate trainees’ simulated interactions with individuals inside the virtual training environments, helping learners practice making judgment calls and critical decisions under stress.
A group of University of Alabama researchers had collaborated with law enforcement officials to measure brain waves during VR police training. One of the lead researchers said the work may “improve training of officers and positively affect the hiring process.”
