Page 8 - AeM_August_2022

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

In terms of market size, not even the film or sports in- standardized in MPEG and aim to create virtual ele-
dustries can beat the gaming industry. Numerous virtu- ments in photorealistic quality; and the new 5G genera-
al goods, brand deals and jobs beckon and attract new tion of mobile communications also ensures that the
developers and creators to the industry. The potential vision can become reality to some extent.
seems endless!
On the one hand, 5G (or 6G in the future) makes it pos-
In fact, many consumers already use such quasi- sible to transmit very large amounts of data very quick-
metaverses offers on a daily basis as I already men- ly, as required for many AR and VR applications. On
tioned in last week’s article. With Web 3.0, new attrac- the other hand, the necessary processing is shifted
tive retail options are now emerging, as the Nike x from the end devices to powerful processing units that
RTFKT example clearly shows. are provided at the edges of the mobile phone net-
works. As a result, the end devices can become small-
We can assume that in the future reality and computer- er, their battery capacity can be reduced, and their
generated illusion will be mixed up and be probably runtime can still be significantly extended.
almost indistinguishable from each other. We will make
things happen through eye movements or through brain Clearly, virtual reality is more than gaming, with which it
waves. If we talk to someone on the phone or play an is often exclusively associated and augmented reality
online game, we will see that person in the same room goes far beyond the funny ears in camera filters or the
with us. We will be able to touch and feel them through tape measure app that many people use without even
haptic technology. knowing it's AR. Be it in construction or planning,
maintenance or repairs, training or further education,
Robert Scoble and Shel Israel described all of these product presentations or in retail, orientation in unfamil-
scenarios already back in 2016 in their book The iar places or in tourism: AR and VR are already proving
Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality & Arti- themselves everywhere today by making many things
ficial Intelligence Will Change Everything, and since faster, easier, more collaborative. Both are already ma-
then we have come much closer to their vision: hard- ture technologies that can do great things in the here
ware and software for augmented and virtual reality and now. ◊
have developed enormously in recent years; headsets
for AR and VR have become more powerful and self- By Daniela La Marca
sufficient; current smartphones and tablets support AR
applications now; volumetric videos are currently being

8 August 2022: Immersive Technologies in Marketing