Virtual Reality Archives - NuTech Services LLC

Dec, 2021

Can Your Business Find VR Useful?

Virtual reality is pretty neat, and many of today’s applications include it as one of their headlining features. With major companies like Facebook, Sony, HTC, and HP buying into virtual reality, one has to question what VR can offer in a business setting.

Virtual Reality Explained

Some folks believe that VR is nothing more than a gimmick, but there are many applications in development that could provide value for businesses. VR can be used to simulate interactive, three-dimensional virtual worlds for a variety of purposes. In 2018, the VR market was valued at $829 million, but thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, VR in business is projected to exceed $4.2 billion by 2023. This growth comes about as a result of advances in hardware, software, and more exposure for the technology. This kind of growth is surprising and impressive, especially considering how difficult the software is to develop.

Two Functions VR Can Bring to Your Business

At first glance it doesn’t appear VR is practical for business, but since the price has dropped considerably, there are three specific reasons you might consider it.

Training

Virtual reality might be ideal for organizations that could use a revamp to their training procedures. If organizations can immerse their employees in a lifelike environment and train them on specific processes and procedures, they are more likely to walk away from the experience with the ability to recall them at a later time.

Retail

VR can also help in the retail sector by providing an online shopping experience customized to the consumers’ needs without having to set foot in a store. VR is currently being used to show heat map traffic in stores, too, just to determine where specific products should be placed. It’s just one way that organizations are trying to find a practical use for VR.

Engineering and Realty

Production costs are quite high these days, so one particular use for VR might be in manufacturing and realty industries. Product designers are building VR applications for board members and buyers to sample and demo products before viewing the real product. Architects and interior designers are using VR to create virtual environments of living spaces, offices, convention centers, and more, all to show off their big ideas to their clients.

While virtual reality is a far cry from solving all operational problems, it might show some promise as a resolution to specific issues that plague many organizations. What do you think? Do you have any ideas for how you might implement VR for your business? Let us know in the comments.

May, 2019

Virtual Reality has a Limitless Future

Virtual reality, or VR, is a technology that not many people understand how to make the most of. Most people’s experiences with VR is something that is achieved through a third-party application, be it a smartphone or a full-fledged headset. Most of those who experience VR do so without a first-person perspective, with only 16 percent of about 3,000 people polled by Statistica ever actually trying out a “real” VR headset. We’ll give you an idea of what modern VR technology looks like, as well as what the future holds for this technology.

Modern VR Systems

After nearly 30 years of development, VR has been adopted by a miniscule number of companies. It has, for the most part, made the biggest difference in the entertainment industry, where Samsung and Google have a lot of influence. Sony has also established itself as a major player in the VR gaming industry with its Playstation 4. In terms of business, however, these options aren’t necessarily feasible of beneficial.

Two of the most competitive options in the commercial virtual reality space are the HTC Vive (and Vive Pro) and the Oculus Rift. Oculus is owned by Facebook and has led in VR sales, while the HTC Vive and Vive Pro provides a platform for high-end computing systems that are capable of using VR. These two systems work together to provide high-end VR experiences, even if it’s mostly for gaming.

These VR options give users the ability to bring themselves into a virtual world, thus providing developers with great opportunities to build out software to capitalize on it. The applications built in VR give users the opportunity to explore the earth and space in a way that can immerse them in a simulated reality.

The Immediate Future of VR

The future of VR is leaning more in the direction of reality; unlike great journeys or expeditions to places like the moon or the bottom of the sea, VR will be used to create educational resources and training software.

Some manufacturers have already begun to anticipate this shift, using services like Microsoft’s Mixed Reality (MR) devices with hopes of business integration in 2020 a possibility. While not true virtual reality, this platform integrates virtual elements into reality, providing business professionals with great new options to achieve their goals. It’s safe to say that businesses will find some use for these virtual sandboxes to either improve performance or work out daring new ways to accomplish tasks.

What are your thoughts on VR? Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

Sep, 2016

How Virtual Reality Could Help Paraplegics Walk Again

Virtual reality is a major contender for the next big technology to hit the business industry, and it’s been able to accomplish what modern neuroscience could not. In the medical sector, virtual reality has been tested on paraplegic patients in attempts to help them walk again using brain-controlled robotic limbs. However, these innovations have yielded unexpected, astounding results.

The project, called the Walk Again Project, was first introduced in 2013. Scientists from all over the world have gathered to help paraplegics walk again through the power of technology. The study examined eight patients who had been diagnosed as being entirely paraplegic; as in, they can’t move or feel their legs at all. The project involved several simulations that featured the use of a haptic feedback device, which issued sensory feedback to the patient when their thoughts translated to movement.

The first experiment they performed consisted of using a brain-machine interface therapy combined with virtual reality. The patient wore a device that sent brain signals directly to an Oculus Rift (a commercial VR headset). On the device, the patient would see themselves walking. The other type of therapy used involved a robotic walker to assist with walking therapy. The patient was suspended over a treadmill while their legs were controlled by the robot. This activity was sent to a computer where the data could be analyzed.

The most interesting method of therapy involved the use of robotic legs to send brain signals directly back to the patient. The legs utilized electronic sensors that were placed at key locations along the leg. These sensors sent signals to the patient and offered stimulation to the user whenever their legs were supposed to be moving.

Thanks to the ongoing brain machine interface therapy, the patients found that they could sometimes feel–or even move–their paralyzed limbs. In particular, the treatment improved bladder and bowel function, which is a significant first step toward providing some semblance of autonomy back to those who suffer from paraplegia. The treatments were so successful that in many cases the doctors changed their diagnoses to only partial paralysis.

Though scientists still aren’t sure what has caused this development, it’s thought that it could be the first step toward discovering a way to completely restore mobility to those who suffer from paraplegia. Technology has given these victims a second chance, and it’s one that can (hopefully) improve their lives.

What do you think about this development? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

Jul, 2015

4 Game-Changing Virtual Reality Technologies

Entertainment has become such a huge part of technology consumption that nobody can think of a smartphone or the Internet without immediately thinking about it. In fact, entertainment has grown so important that some are trying to create machines that integrate virtual realities into the lives of everyday consumers. What is virtual reality, and is it limited to the entertainment industry; or can it be used in the business sector, as well?

What Defines Virtual Reality?
Everyone has a different opinion on virtual reality. Some might think it’s as complicated as we’ve seen it in various films, but in all actuality, it’s not quite as immersive as moving your entire body into a virtual space. You don’t shift through dimensions. Your consciousness doesn’t detach from your body.

As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, virtual reality is:

[…] an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment.

So, a virtual reality isn’t necessarily a reality at all; in essence, virtual reality is tricking your mind through sensory shenanigans into believing that what you see and hear is really there.

Oculus Rift
The Oculus Rift is the virtual reality technology that consumers are most likely to be familiar with. It’s manufactured by Oculus VR, which was acquired by Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook for two billion dollars earlier this year. The device in question, the Oculus Rift, is a headset that allows for sight and hearing stimulation via a heads-up display and headphones. Though a consumer version of the Oculus Rift isn’t slated until later in 2015, it’s sure to primarily be used by gamers; making it somewhat obsolete in the business world.

Google Cardboard
Not to be bested by Facebook’s acquisition of the Oculus Rift, Google created Google Cardboard. Cardboard allows you to turn your smartphone into a virtual reality headset. With Google’s cardboard blueprints, you can cut and fold cardboard into the base. While Cardboard is a neat, thrifty way to get a feel for what’s to come, the material available for download is limited to a handful of games and short movies.

Google Glass
Google’s take on a reality augmentation technology was mostly a bust, but in theory, it was a good idea. Google Glass was a pair of glasses that could act similarly to a smartphone, but hands-free. Some of its features included connecting the Internet, simple voice commands, a camera for both photos and videos, and a touchpad on the side which is used to control the device. It was even capable of using other Google applications, like Gmail, Google+, Google Maps, and more.

Unfortunately, Google Glass failed to take off because of its outrageous consumer price, and its stigmatized reputation due to privacy concerns. For the average consumer, Google Glass boasted a whopping $1,500 price tag. According to Forbes magazine, its parts and assembly should have cost less than $80. Furthermore, with a camera disguised as a spiffy pair of specs, Google Glass was at odds with privacy in general. In a world where organizations are increasingly sensitive to the preservation of their business secrets, it’s no wonder that Google Glass wouldn’t fit in with the business world.

Microsoft HoloLens
The development of Microsoft’s HoloLens was largely kept under wraps until earlier this year, when it was announced that it would follow shortly after the arrival of Windows 10 this July. Designed as a reality augmentation device, it takes elements of the real world and integrates virtual elements into them. It’s designed to work around your surroundings, and unlike the Oculus Rift, you still see your surroundings through the heads-up display.

Unlike the other two examples, Microsoft Hololens presents a unique business advantage. The possibilities are expansive. According to Microsoft’s official HoloLens site page, it’s expected to make leaps and bounds in the construction industry, space exploration, education, and more. However, whether or not the HoloLens will prove to be an efficient use of augmented reality is yet to be seen. It has big shoes to fill, and after the failure of Google Glass, consumers might be more skeptical of it.

What are your thoughts on virtual reality and augmentation in the workplace? Do you foresee a world where it can be efficient enough to accept its drawbacks? Let us know in the comments.