Augmented and Virtual Reality for Professional Use

Session Description

Virtual Reality (VR) is a hot topic in the entertainment, consumer electronics and some professional vertical markets. Augmented Reality (AR) excitement is not far behind. With big investments by Facebook (Oculus), Google (Magic Leap), Samsung (GearVR), and Microsoft (Hololens), plus many others, there is a strong conviction that the markets for these technologies is about to explode. This session is designed to explore the drivers, impediments, applications and timing for adoption of AR and VR technology in consumer and professional markets.

In VR, it seems that gaming may not be the engine once thought to power the market. Instead, other types of entertainment seem stronger now. VR has also been used in professional simulation, R&D and high-end design work for many years using expensive solutions. How will these new headsets and solutions impact the market? Not only has the smartphone revolution empowered these new VRY headset designs, but a new 360-degree video capture and processing technology is empowering the creation potential for VR content in a big way. Will this ignite both consumer and professional use to drive adoption? What applications can benefit the most? What technologies are driving adoption? What impediments does the market face?

On the AR side, the idea is to overlay information onto see-through optics mostly implanted are monocular or binocular eyeglass style headsets. Some applications can take advantage of the ability to display lists or do video conferencing with remote experts, while more advanced ones will map the local 3D environment and present contextually appropriate information to the user. A host of vertical markets are now exploring the use of this technology in addition to consumer applications. The questions we want to explore here include drivers for adoption, technology advancements and needs, plus promising use cases in professional markets.

Demo

Demos are designed to illustrate some of the leading technologies and devices serving this emerging segment.

  • Digilens will showcase waveguide based optics that can perform advanced optics function like focusing and image extraction for use in AR headsets, HUDs and more
  • Immersion-VRelia will show VR headsets based upon a smartphone platform along with their Alterspace development platform
  • Kverve Optics will showcase the world’s first collimated head-mounted display solution