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THE FUTURE
   OF AR/VR

Written by | Julia Ahmad

With the advancements of software, computers evolving, and the rise of innovative devices to enlighten our senses expected to come rapidly onto the scene, new VR/AR content and applications will quickly emerge in the years ahead. These devices will eventually become increasingly important for individuals, industries, and our society as a whole. Currently, AR/VR technologies are capable of creating a wide range of accessible and well-designed experiences. Considering their increasing impacts on the world today, how will these immersive technologies impact our lives and future, change the way we interact, and navigate the space we already inhabit? This section will explore the pros and cons of virtual reality and augmented reality in the future.

POSITIVE IMPACTS
OF AR

One of the many positive impacts AR will have in the future would be its ability to always keep one foot in the real world. It will be easier to access and new contents will undoubtedly be developed. On another hand, one major future influence of AR is that we’ll most likely see its integration into more services. For example, museums will be able to turn their traditional audio tours into something more interactive where a user can navigate and explore art pieces from any location they desire. Finally, the public has already been given a taste of mobile AR with Pokémon Go, imagine a future with a more improved immersive tech where one will start seeing new AR glasses (Apple) merge with more capabilities and that will become an alternative to the smartphone.

All of our senses such as touching, hearing, seeing will all be incorporated into next-generation AR devices, they will have a wider view and will display information almost anywhere within the user’s vision. Imagine a future, where instead of typing in an address into your GPS, you will be able to point to a location and the directions will pop up automatically or you will point at an object or building and receive info about it without even knowing its name. AR lenses will be used to augment the world around us.

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future
challenges
of AR

As benefits grow, there are also lots of challenges the AR industry would be facing in the future, and that is “user fatigue”. There is already an app for everything, but as more institutions create their own augmented reality apps, users may feel overwhelmed at the commitment of adding more applications to their device.

Users also may not want to take the extra step to download an application that they may end up using only once, such as with an AR museum app. There may also be a question of cost. If users are constantly bombarded with applications and many have cost associated with them, there will be a fatigue around AR.

Finally, the potentially biggest challenge to augmented reality will be accessibility. As more individuals become more aware of the different types of disabilities, it brings up the question of how augmented reality can accommodate users with disabilities. Many of the devices that currently use AR are based in visuals, which limits the functionality for those who are blind. Also, while applications can add sound, people with disabilities will still find issues in being able to live the full experience.

POSITIVE IMPACTS
OF vr

Over the past few years, existing VR headsets have become more advanced, and their development is expected to grow even more, rendering a user’s experience with the device even better.

Google Cardboard is one example that has already seen evidence of this advancement, and with other industries like the Oculus adding new features and evolving their devices, so advancements will continue to be made, only at a lower price point, increasing the production and lowering the prices of headsets in the market.

Google improved on its own design by releasing the Daydream, which is essentially a more advanced version of the Cardboard that comes with a clicker and requires a certain type of smart device with better optics. 

In addition to the improvements in headsets, the quality and graphics of the applications and the devices themselves will get better. As more devices hit the market, VR equipment will be more widespread and easily accessible due to the mentioned price drop.

On another hand, soon, nearly all video arcades will be VR centers; all games will be 3-D, interactive, and immersive. Advanced virtual reality is set to invade the home entertainment scene in the years ahead.

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future
challenges
of VR

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There are a number of challenges that the future of VR technologies are going to face. To begin, one challenge associated with the future of VR would be safety concerns which comes from a user being fully immersed in a virtual environment that they lose focus on what’s around them in the physical world.

Obscured senses often lead to instability which will cause an increase in balance issues, loss of orientation to nausea. Besides those issues, when using devices like the Oculus Rift, there is also the possibility of tripping over the wires that connect the device to the computer. So, while there are improvements being made, the issue of safety will consistently affect all virtual reality devices.

Accessibility may also be an issue VR may face in the future if industries disregard new solutions for these devices. For example, users who experience physical disabilities involving motion will also have difficulty fully experiencing virtual reality. 

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