AR, VR and IoT technologies popularity

IoT, augmented reality, and virtual reality, are currently the three most popular and rapidly evolving technologies. Each of the three technologies provide impressive benefits, as:

• Augmented Reality (AR) overlays and positions virtual things in the real world
• Virtual Reality (VR) immerses the user into a surrounding and stimulates his senses to feel as if he is within the virtual experience
• Internet of Things (IoT) is about interconnected physical devices that exchange info and provide real time data.

Aims and Benefits of AR, VR and IoT

The underlying aim of AR and VR is the same – altering a user’s perspective for an enhanced experience.The world is changing in an amazing pace, mainly due to technology advances that seemed pure fantasy some years ago, and this is affecting people behavior and expectations.

People are more and more embracing new interfaces that are bypassing the intermediary screens, providing an experience that allows engaging with the world more authentically and intuitively.Interestingly, the more advanced interface (Virtual Reality) is more appealing according to a latest survey by Facebook across Nigeria, South Korea, U.K. and U.S., that found an impressive 68 percent of surveyed people expecting Virtual Reality to become a part of everyday life.

On the other hand, IoT provides us with real-time information from “Things”. This info can be analyzed and then used to improve efficiency in many areas including agriculture, retail, energy management, logistics and healthcare. At the same time, IoT will possibly affect our living, introducing more and more smart and correlated behavior from our surrounding “Things”.

So, how can these three technologies be used in tandem and what is the aim of this confluence?

Merging the Physical with the Virtual World

The mix of IoT with augmented and virtual reality aims at merging the physical and digital world, not in a way where we can just see things, but one where we can give digital objects physical characteristics. The aim is to ground the digital objects into physical environments and interact with them in the same way we interact with physical objects.

The confluence of these 3 technologies lays down the framework for mixed reality that will allow manufacturing for example, to simulate important scenarios and tests regarding key assets in factories, where values and risks are equally high. By putting a virtual layer, based on the right data and information, on top of the ‘reality’ in all sorts of factory and industry environments will bring impressive benefits that can speed up the entire production chain.