EXTENDED REALITY

Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term of a range of immersive technologies comprising virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and other immersive technologies in the future. Extended reality enhances and extends the reality experience by creating a fully immersive experience that feels as authentic as the real world.

Extended reality is a spectrum of the following types of visual and sensory realities and they are as follows; virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and augmented virtuality.

The virtual reality world is a complete digital world with virtual digital objects and environment that simulates reality.

The augmented reality world overlays digital information onto the real world.

The mixed reality world blends physical and digital world together allowing interaction between real and virtual objects as well as the environment.

Augmented virtuality world combines real world elements with virtual environment and objects.

Extended reality system consists of hardware and software components that work together to create an immersive experience.

The hardware components of an extended reality system are as follows; display devices, tracking systems, controllers, sensors and processors.

The display device of an extended reality system are head mounted display (HMD), smart glasses and other devices that provide a visual interface for extended reality experience.

The tracking system of an extended reality system are; optical, inertia and other tracking based technologies that tracks the users head and body movements.

The controller of an extended reality system are; hand held controllers, gesture recognition system and other input devices that allows user to interact with the extended reality environment and objects.

The sensors of an extended reality system are; cameras, depth sensors and other sensors that capture data about the users environment and objects.

The processor of an extended reality system are; central processing unit (CPU), graphic processing unit (GPU) and other processors that can render and process extreme reality  content as fast as possible.

The software components of an extended reality system are as follows; extreme reality engine, content creation tools, tracking and rendering software, input/output systems and cloud services.

Extended reality engines are software frame works such as; unity, unreal engine and A-Frame that provide tools and libraries for building extended reality experience.

The content creation tools of an extended reality system are 3D modeling, animation and other software tools that allows developers to create extended reality content.

The rendering and tracking software processes data from tracking systems and renders extended reality content in real time.

The input/output system of an extended reality system manages input from the controllers and other devices and output to display devices.

The cloud services of an extended reality system are cloud based services that provide storage, processing and other resources for extended reality applications.

The advantages of extended reality sytems are as follows; extended reality systems provide a rich immersive experience that engages users. Extended reality systems can increase productivity in industries such as education and training, medicine and healthcare, manufacturing and so on. Extended reality system can enhance learning experiences by providing interactive and engaging content. Extended reality systems can provide realistic training simulations that improve skills, reduce errors and allow for failure without the risk of safety to the user.

The disadvantages of extended reality system are as follows; extended reality system both hardware and software can be very expensive and out of reach of many. Extended reality system requires advanced technical capabilities such as modeling, tracking and rendering. Prolong use of extended reality systems may result to health issues such as eye strain, headaches and son on. Extended reality content is limited and more development is needed to create engaging extended reality experiences.

The applications of extended reality systems are widespread across all areas of human endeavor such as education and training, entertainment and gaming, medicine and healthcare, design, production and manufacturing, research and development, marketing and advertising etc.

The future of extended reality systems depends on the trends and development of various technologies such as; improved hardware and software. Increased adoption by a majority will lead to lower cost of extended reality systems. Creating more extended reality content will increase use of extended reality systems. Convergence with other new emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things and so on to create richer extended reality experiences.

SOURCES:

• Immersive realm of extended reality by Suman Dutta.
• Extended reality blueprint: Demystifying the AR/VR production process by Annie Eaton.
• Extended reality in business by Bernard Marr.
• The holographic universe by Michael Talbot.
• The fabric of reality by David Deutsch.