Keep an eye on AR, VR, and MR technologies as tech firms turn them from fantasy to reality

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the cusp of introducing major efficiencies not only to enterprises’ digital environments but also to their physical environments and operations. Leading the trend are augmented, virtual, and mixed reality (AR, VR, and MR). These technologies used in conjunction with AI are proving particularly useful for enterprises in two ways: creating immersive experiences that bring enterprises closer to their customers and employees and creating buffer environments in which expensive physical equipment can be tested before being deployed in the real world. 

Business leaders must pay attention to the evolution of these immersive technologies to evaluate their potential for impacting business outcomes such as customer experience and worker safety. 

This POV explores the fundamentals of AR, VR, and MR, technological advances that are making these technologies potentially invaluable to enterprises, and which technology firms are leading the market as it formalizes. In our related POV we discuss key use cases and examples of the enterprise applications of these technologies. 

AR, VR, and MR are forming a crucial bridge between the digital and physical worlds  

AR, VR, and MR are related, but they are distinct enough to specialize in slightly different tasks and be “cross-pollinated.” What unites all three of the subsets listed below is their capacity to enrich viewers’ visual perception and remove the experiential limitations imposed by physical environments. 

• Augmented reality (AR): Augmented reality superimposes simulated elements onto a visual representation of a real physical environment in real-time.  
• Virtual reality (VR): Virtual reality entirely shuts out the viewer’s actual environment to project an entirely simulated, hyper-realistic, alternate, and immersive environment.  
• Mixed reality (MR): More nascent than AR and VR, MR technology superimposes simulated images onto a representation of the real-world like AR, but unlike AR and like VR, it allows the user to interact with the simulated object; for example, by moving it.   

It’s also important to note that AR, VR, and MR technologies, while superficially similar to digital twins, have the important distinction of representing dynamic environments and objects rather than static physical objects and components. As such, they’re more suited to immersive experiences, while digital twins are more useful for close examination and predictive maintenance of machinery. 

Technical developments are transforming AR and VR from a gimmick into an enterprise game-changer  

AR and VR have, for some time, been regarded as gimmicks, largely due to the rudimentary software the mostly consumer-focused and cosmetic use cases have been applied to, such as Snapchat filters and Pokémon Go. However, AR and VR are being transformed into highly sophisticated forms of digital interaction channels through significant technological advances in the past few years: 

• Advances in infrastructure support the high computing and data transfer needs of AR, VR, and MR applications. 
• Significant Silicon Valley R&D in the last few years has made hardware more compact, comfortable, and capable. In particular, research from Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple has given us the next generation of mixed reality hardware.  
• Platforms for application development are growing and starting to support new kinds of user interactions and digital content. 

These influencers are only trending upward (e.g., 5G could positively impact VR), meaning that mixed–reality applications are only going to get better as the ecosystem for digital applications grows robust. 

Startups and tech giants alike are investing in AR/VR technology  

• Microsoft (HoloLens). Microsoft’s focus on enterprise applicability and adoption of VR is leading the “market–making” effort for this technology. Microsoft released its MR headset HoloLens 2 in February 2019, differing from its predecessor Microsoft HoloLens with a heavier enterprise focus. New iOS and Android apps available on HoloLens 2 include Remote Assist for service engineers in the field to obtain guidance from remote advisors and Product Visualize, which allows salespeople to show customers products they’re interested in more dynamically. Both apps can be integrated with Dynamics 365, Microsoft’s suite of customer relationship and resource management software for enterprises. A notable user is the US Army.  
• Varjo. Varjo may be a startup, but its reputation belies the fact. The Finnish startup had raised about $46 million as of February 2019. It released its core product, the VR-1 headset, in February 2019, and it is widely hailed as having the best visual fidelity of any such hardware. Its key differentiators include a modular software system designed to adjust to VR technology as it matures and an eye-tracking algorithm with sub-degree accuracy. The headset is available exclusively to enterprises and academic institutions, and it targets users engaged in engineering, construction, industrial design, healthcare, and training and simulation.  
• ARkit. Apple’s ARkit is undeniably the biggest push recently toward AR development, given its global accessibility. ARkit lets developers make the best use of Apple’s hardware (such as using the camera for object recognition) to build AR applications. GE is a major enterprise client. 
• Oculus. Facebook bought virtual reality platform Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion as it is betting on VR as a future tech. The company just refreshed its “Oculus for Business” enterprise play, with an emphasis on supporting different enterprise hand-offs and stakeholders for VR applications. Expect improved enterprise-level support and integration of Oculus technology into pre-existing business applications and workstreams.  

• Unity. Unity is a development heavyweight, leading this market through the software side. With a background as a gaming engine, Unity has quickly become the world’s most widely used real-time 3D (RT3D) development platform, which includes AR and VR. The majority of VR companies use Unity to develop applications using different kinds of hardware devices. 

This is, of course, a short list, and it’s important to note the volume of activity in AR, VR, and MR R&D by multiple other players including Google, PTC, AWS, ThreeSixty, ThirdEye Gen, and Neumatic, among others. 

The Bottom Line: As our worlds become more and more digital, AR, VR, and MR are the constantly evolving technologies that will make various other technologies more effective in the next few years. Use them in combination to unlock the value of digital overlays. 

AR and VR technologies can be used to create engaging visual overlays to support many digital initiatives, including virtual assistants, AI and ML models, computer vision, and collaboration platforms. The end experience will be wildly useful for enterprise employees and customers that are out and cannot (or don’t want to) be stuck behind desks or use phones and tablets. The applicability is broad whether AR and VR are used to amplify field services in oil rigs, aircraft maintenance engineers, retail customers, or financial advisors.