Web4, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality (Categories of XR)
by Timothy Coleman - 29/Nov/2022
Special thanks to Matthew Jura for the suggestions on the tech challenges section.
Augmented Reality (AR)
Possibly the most famous example of an Augmented Reality (AR) application to date, is Pokemon Go. If you haven’t played it, you use your phone and its camera to see and catch fantasy creatures, which appear as if they are walking around, right there, present in the space you are in.
Have you ever tried finding your way around using Google Maps, and had to twist and turn your phone until you were finally aware of the directions, and where you needed to go? Imagine just being able to hold your phone up, and see arrows appearing on the street in front of you. This is Augmented Reality.
Mixed Reality (MR)
AR and Mixed Reality (MR) are something I am personally more excited about than Virtual Reality (VR). Virtual Reality, describes a scenario whereby a user puts on a headset, and finds themselves in a different world (think 1st person video game, but where you move the character by moving your head).
MR is pretty much the same as AR, except that you put on a similar headset to one you would use for VR (or maybe a pair of smart glasses) and then you continue to see the world you are used to, albeit with new visuals overlayed on top of it: imagine immersive Snapchat filters, (or Pokemon Go via virtual glasses).
Why AR/MR?
One of the biggest marketing barriers to overcome, is the question of “Why is AR/MR useful? Why do I need it?” One solid answer to this would be: shopping. Want to see (or walk around with) that new sofa in your living room before you buy it? Want to see if that wallpaper matches? You can now.
Other use cases, of course, are simply fun. Want to play table tennis with a friend but don’t have a table or paddles..? Want to see how tall Ronaldo is..? Want to see Saturn rising on the horizon at sunrise..? You can now. The list and ideas are only as long as our imaginations.
Goldrush for Hardware
Back in 2018, I went to a Microsoft Conference and tried a very early MR headset. It showed a giant body towering above me in the room. I realised then that it would be incredibly useful for medical students needing to learn about the body, without having to have one there. The tech had a long way to go though.
More recently, Facebook/Meta have focussed on ‘The Metaverse’ (VR) and creating VR hardware (for transporting you to different realities), although, now, with their new Quest Pro device, they have shown that they are taking part in the MR race too (tap on the side to see through to the ‘real world’). Apple releasing soon.
Tech Challenges
The challenges with making good equipment are many, including having to support a bulky battery, and be capable of intensive graphics processing. Some think that Cloud Computing may help, as this relies more on the speed of Internet connections, which has been helped by 5G (check out NVIDEA GeForce Now).
Other challenges exist regarding the lenses within these devices. If you are interested, read more around Fresnel Lenses vs Pancake Lenses, and around making these adjustable. Other interesting reading would also be around OLED, HDRI and PSVR, and challenges around increasing brightness.
Conclusion
The race is on for these new emerging tech spaces (which is not just a hardware race), but, as mentioned in a previous article, AR, MR and VR (all categories of XR) all fit under the category of Web4, as they are all contributing to a new iteration of the internet: Web4: ‘The 3D Web’/’The Symbiotic Web’.
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