Читать книгу Business Trends in Practice - Бернард Марр, Bernard Marr - Страница 26

As you can probably guess, advances in AI have fueled new developments in other technologies, including extended reality (XR). XR is an umbrella term representing the spectrum of immersive technologies we have today – virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality – as well as those immersive technologies that are yet to be created. Currently, virtual reality (VR) offers the most immersive experience, by effectively blocking out the real world around the user and immersing them in a computer-simulated environment (usually with the aid of a VR headset). Augmented reality (AR), on the other hand, blends the digital and real worlds by overlaying digital objects or information onto the real world (often via a smartphone app or filter). Meanwhile, mixed reality (MR) sits somewhere between the two, creating an experience where the digital and real worlds can interact with each other – for example, letting a user manipulate virtual elements as if they were real.

XR is primarily known for immersive gaming, but it is finding very real, very practical uses across a wide range of industries – often being used to create more immersive, personalized experiences for customers. House buyers, for example, can go on immersive virtual house tours. Customers can try out products virtually (for example, by overlaying a new style of glasses over their face or digitally placing a new sofa in their living room). And sports fans can immerse themselves in the stadium experience from the comfort of their home. The list of exciting new XR applications goes on. But as well as giving organizations new ways to engage with customers and users, XR also brings exciting new opportunities to improve business processes, including training, education, and hiring. For example, trainees can learn in more immersive environments, with information being visualized in much more exciting ways.

The key takeaway here is that XR can help your business turn information into experiences. If you think about it, this has the potential to change pretty much everything, from the way we consume information to the way we interact with others. In the future, then, XR could extend to all aspects of life as we know it – to the point where we could potentially transform the world around us into something personalized, using special glasses, headsets, or even (looking further afield) contact lenses and implants. I believe our experience of the world will increasingly take place in this blurred space between the real world and the digital one. If you think of the time people spend on social media, crafting their online persona, it's clear the line between the digital world and the real one has already become pretty porous. I'm certain XR is going to accelerate this.

And that means we need to find innovative new ways to boost trust in the digital world.