How Much is a Virtual World Worth?
March 24th 2022, Written by David Good
Is the increasing conversation around the Metaverse just hype or are we moving towards a future state of the internet where we interact with people and information in some set of virtual worlds? And if so what does that mean and why is it worth it?
Do we need VR/AR/MR or whatever Reality-based-acronym is being thrown around? How does this actually improve a user’s experience and why should anyone bother to invest in a clunky headset?
First let's define some terminology:
Virtual Reality (VR):
A virtual reality device, Meta/Oculus Quest
A fully immersive experience usually delivered via a pair of VR goggles where everything that you see (and often hear) within the experience is fully virtual, and you are shut off from the real world.
AR based game, Pokemon Go.
Augmented Reality (AR):
Often delivered via a smartphone this is where virtual items are superimposed upon the real world around you, think Pokémon Go.
A Mixed Reality Device in use.
Mixed Reality (MR):
A merging of VR and AR where a set of transparent glasses are used which allows you to see both the real world with a virtual overlay as a mixture.
So why would you want to use an immersive medium to communicate rather than videos and images on a 2D screen? And is all this talk of fully immersive technology just hype?
Here at TEKTowr, we don’t think so. Immersive technologies offer real world benefits and a very real step change in how we can interact with technology. Human experience at its core is based in a 3D world, and much of what we understand is best understood through that lens. By limiting our interaction with information to a 2D medium we immediately hinder our ability to understand. This is why engineering and design increasingly relies on 3D Design programs (CAD) to both design and to communicate concepts. These tasks are still limited to complex programs which are not intuitive to move around and inspect without specialist knowledge.
Immersive technologies merge the virtual 3D world with the real world enabling you to interact with virtual objects in the same way you would in real life. This gives a much clearer understanding of what is trying to be communicated with little to no expertise needed. A simple example can be seen in how AR is starting to be used in online retail. Imagine you need a new coffee table. You find one online that you like but you are not sure it works in your room. At the click of a button you can launch an app on your phone that places the virtual table into your room enabling you to realise that it is too big for the space you had in mind. This is a reality now, with an increasing number of retailers using simple AR to give improved information to the consumer.
A stand TEKTowr made using blender.
Here at TEKTower we have used 3D modelling to collaboratively design exhibition stands and to test out desk layouts without having to constantly move things around. In both cases I built a quick mock up of the design in Blender and then as a team we walked around the space and could quickly discuss pros and cons of a given design. This approach meant we were making decisions based on what things actually looked like, speeding up and simplifying the conversation.
Let’s take this a step further and imagine in the near future plans are released by a delivery company to start last mile delivery from a warehouse at the end of your street. Naturally you are worried that your previously quiet, restful garden is going to be invaded by the irritating buzz of hundreds of small delivery drones and your privacy invaded by camera carrying drones flying over your home. The delivery company claims that they have ensured all residents in the area will not notice. Unfortunately, you are not convinced that the proposed routes will prevent drones seeing directly into your house or maintain your garden’s peace and quiet. Fortunately, the delivery company has used a 3D simulation tool (such as SIMTwin, the digital twin of the future airspace that we are building), enabling you to put on a MR headset and sit in your garden listening to the new noise and trying to spot the drones flying way overhead. Once viewed you can clearly see that the drones are barely noticeable; communicating what the proposed plans will be like to live with in a way that paper plans can not.
This is the type of understanding that immersive technology can give; communicating a future state by building it, and not by trying to explain it in technical detail. This is why we are building SIMTwin as a multiplayer online simulation to allow the highly detailed plans necessary for future air mobility to be understood by everyone, engineers and the public alike.
An air taxi in Canary Wharf, taken from within SIMTwin.
It is this power to communicate directly to the human experience that gives immersive technology a true leap forward in human-machine interfaces. This goes beyond gimmicks such as 3D TV and is a fundamental change in how we can communicate and design. Not sure? Leave a comment below or better yet come and meet us in person and try out our immersive visualisation of the future airspace at one of the events we will be attending such as Fully Charged.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a virtual world worth?
