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We know that the majority of ІТ employees are men, and women are still forming a minority. According to Zippia, only 34.4% of women make up the labor force in US tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google та Microsoft. This is due to gender stereotypes about ІТ as a male-dominated industry. However, these stereotypes are gradually fading away and changing in a positive direction.  Despite the obvious sexism, modern women successfully influence ІТ industry, including extended reality and other immersive technologies. To illustrate this influence, we’ll present 5 famous women, who are ruling in XR industry. Empowering Women in XR In the 19th century, famous mathematician Ada Lovelace worked on Charles Babbage’s first mechanical computer and wrote the first algorithm for the machine. And in the 20th century, Austrian-Ukrainian-born Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr, along with composer George Antheil, pioneered an Allies torpedoes radio system during World War 2. It became a prototype for modern wireless technologies, like Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi. Get ready for more information about outstanding women that became the next Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr in modern XR technologies.  Image: SXSW Nonny de la Pena, Godmother of VR Nonny de la Pena was awarded the title “The Godmother of virtual reality” by top online media like Forbes, The Guardian, and Engadget. She’s a journalist, VR documentaries director, and the founder and CEO of Emblematic Group, which develops VR/AR/MR content. The greatest merit of de la Pena is that she invented immersive journalism. Nonny de la Pena showcased her first VR documentary, The Hunger in Los Angeles, in the Sundance movie festival, back in 2012. You can read more about de la Pena’s most famous works in our previous article about VR in journalism. In March 2022, de la Pena was one of the 16 Legacy Peabody Awards recipients for her work and influence in modern journalism. In her acceptance speech, she reminded about the importance of immersive technologies and what advantages they offer to modern journalism, using her joint project with Frontline After Solitary as an example. The VR experience is based on the true story of Kenny Moore, who spent many years in a solitary confinement cell in the Maine State Prison. “When we did a piece in solitary confinement with Frontline, we did scanning of an actual solitary confinement cell. Well, now you’re in that cell. You’re in that room. And it has a real different effect on your entire body and your sense of, “Oh my God. Now I understand why solitary confinement is so cruel and unnecessary”. And you just can’t get that feeling reading about it or looking at pictures.” De la Pena’s accounts in social media:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nonny-de-la-pe%C3%B1a-phd-4363644/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonnydelapena/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImmersiveJourno Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonny.delapena/   Image: LinkedIn Dr. Helen Papagiannis, Experienced AR Expert Dr. Helen Papagiannis works in augmented reality field for 17 years. Papagiannis is a founder of XR Goes Pop, which produced immersive content for many top brands including Louis Vuitton, Adobe, Mugler, Amazon, and many more. Particularly, they designed VR showroom for Bailmain, where you can see virtual clothes and accessories from a cruise collection on digital models, plus behind the scene videos. Virtual try-on and shops are successfully applied by fashion brands, because they allow a customer to try on digital clothes before buying real one. You can read more about it here.  Doctor Papagiannis constantly gives her TED Talks and also publishes her researches for well-respected media like Harvard Business Review, The Mandarine, Fast Company, etc. In 2017, the scientist and developer published a book called Augmented Human. According to Book Authority, it is considered to be the best book about augmented reality ever released. Stefan Sagmeister, designer, and co-founder at Sagmeister & Walsh Inc, thinks Augmented Human is the most useful and complete augmented reality guide, that contains new information about the technology, methods, and practices, that can be used in work.  Dr. Papagiannis’s accounts in social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hpapagiannis/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arstories/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARstories  Image: Medium Christina Heller, Trailblazer of Extended Reality Christina Heller has 15 years of experience in XR. Huffington Post included her in the top 5 of the most influential women who are changing VR. Heller is a founder and CEO of Metastage, that develops XR content for various purposes: VR games, AR advertisements, MR astronaut training, etc. Since 2018, Metastage has collaborated with more than 200 companies including H&M, Coca-Cola, AT&T, NASA, and worked with famous pop artists like Ava Max and Charli XCX.  Speaking about Heller herself, before Metastage she had worked in VR Playhouse, which immersive content was showcased at Cannes Film Festival, Sundance, and South by Southwest.  Under Christina Heller leadership, Metastage extended reality content was widely acclaimed and received many awards and nominations, including two Emmy nominations. Moreover, Metastage is the first US company, that officially started using Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture. This technology provides photorealistic graphics of digital models, using special cameras. And these cameras capture a human movement in a special room, where XR content is superimposed. “It takes human performances, and what I like about it most is that it captures the essence of that performance in all of its sort of fluid glory, including clothing as well, said Heller. And so every sort of crease in every fold of what people are wearing comes across. You get these human performances that retain their souls. There is no uncanny valley with volumetric capture.”  Christina Heller’s researches were published in “Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media” and “What is Augmented Reality? Everything You Wanted to Know Featuring Exclusive Interviews with Leaders of the AR Industry” (both 2019).  Heller accounts in social media:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaheller/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristinaHeller Image: Twitter Kavya Pearlman, Cyber Guardian  Kavya Pearlman is called “The Cyber Guardian” and she is a pioneer in private data security with the use of immersive technologies, like metaverse. For three years in a row, from 2018 to 2020, and also in 2022, Kavya Pearlman was included in the top…

A digital twin is a 3D model that recreates the main traits of a physical object. The main essence of digital twin technology is the data collected from trackers on the real object and transferred to cloud storage. The data updates in real-time. Digital twins of physical objects can be reproduced in virtual reality or be superimposed on a real environment like an AR object. Usually, digital twins can recreate buildings, people, constructions, and the whole interaction mechanism like chain supply. And one of the main purposes of implementing virtual twins is to model object potential behavior, as well as to fix construction mistakes in the early stages of development. Today, this technology is successfully implemented by various famous companies, including Renault, Karcher, Amazon, etc. In 2021, according to Allied Market Research, the digital twins market was estimated at 6,5 USD billion, and by 2030 this market value will have increased to more than 125 USD billion.  So, in this article, we will give more information about digital twins and in which business fields this technology is applied. How Digital Twins Are Created Digital twins are developed using ІоТ trackers, cameras, and business apps, that collect the necessary real object data to recreate its digital version. The cloud platform AWS IoT TwinMaker від Amazon is one of the programs to develop digital twins. This platform facilitates and accelerates the digital twin-building process for many industries like construction, logistics, manufacturing, and others. On the platform, you can develop 3D twins of buildings, manufacturing equipment, and chain supplies. Advantages of Digital Twins Some of  the main advantages of implementing digital twins in the business include Digital twins increase companies’ productivity and optimize their work. That means, by using this technology, companies accelerate the process of making products. According to Global Logic, digital twins reduce the labor force required for the design structure process by 85%. Digital twins help to make an important decision on creating real objects. James Taylor, Forbes Business Member and CEO of Decision Management Solutions, in his article Digital Twins: The Solution To Better Decision-Making describes how digital twins can facilitate making decisions and help to predict all possible risks.  Digital twins offer real-time tracking of the working process. And in some fields, like manufacturing, for example, digital twins tracking can be even life-saving. “With real-time replication of the physical status of assets — walk-in freezers, refrigerators, promotional coolers, shelving, carts, and other equipment — and automated corrective actions, it’s easier to avoid wasting electricity, time, and product when anomalies arise. Digital twins promote positive outcomes for asset protection programs through reduced waste and loss and, most importantly, saved lives,” wrote Guy Yehiav, President of SmartSense.  Digital twins offer an option to predict how the real object could work in different circumstances. According to Business Wire Report, 75% of Air Force executives are confident in applying digital twins. When using this technology, engineers can be assured of the safety of people on airplane boards. With the help of digital data, they can predict possible issues in aircraft and their engines, etc.  Limitations and Challenges of Digital Twinning With the development of digital twins, you should pay attention to such challenges as Difficulties with the search for necessary data to design certain digital twins. “Sometimes the data is owned by private companies. Occasionally the federal level holds the data. Often, there is no real-time data available or only from a limited amount of sensors, and at times there is no data at all,” said Marco van Bemmel, web developer and author of the article “Three Key Challenges Towards Digital Twin Adoption at Scale”. At the same time, you should consider proper digital data security from leaks. According to Gartner, in 2023, almost 75% of digital twins of original equipment manufacturers connected to ІоТ will use, at least, five different types of integration endpoints — network addresses in the Cloud with integration data. And, every type of address has its own insecurities to consider, so there is a need for constant security protocol updates.  Examples of Digital Twins In Action How Digital Twin Technology is Transforming the Automotive Industry Digital twins in the automotive industry are usually applied for designing 3D copies of cars. Particularly, with digital twins, you can calculate a car’s behavior on a road and eliminate construction mistakes. For example, French automotive company Renault is already implementing digital twins for new vehicle development, including design and construction.  “With their three-dimensional digital simulation tools, engineers can even place a virtual occupant inside the future vehicle early in the process, just as they would in a physical car. These tests help assess certain constraints, such as positioning (ergonomics) and HMI (human-machine interface),” wrote Nicola Le-Boucher, author of the article Vehicle Digital Twin: when physical and digital models unite для Renault Group.  Digital Twins Use Cases in Healthcare In healthcare, digital twins are applied for recreating patients’ bodies, based on their physical condition and medical history. The data changes in real-time and shows a patient’s current well-being and the progress of the disease.  A digital twin of human creation is a more difficult and sophisticated process. That’s because doctors use blood tests, X-ray pictures, and other analyses to create a patient’s digital copy, trying to preserve all their individual physical characteristics as realistically as possible. Doctors use digital twins of patients for different purposes: medicine testing and surgery simulations. By the way, doctors in Brazil used digital copies of conjoined twins to do a 28-hour-long surgery to separate patients. You can read more about it here.  Speaking about medicine testing, doctors from Linköping University in Sweden use digital twins for choosing the right treatment for patients. For example, scientists started building digital twins of mice, based on their RNA. “Our aim is to develop those models into ‘digital twins’ of individual patients’ diseases in order to tailor medication to each patient, said doctor Mikael Benson, a professor at the university who led the study. Ideally, each twin will be computationally matched with…

There are a lot of different opinions on what is metaverse and its further development. These opinions differ from skeptical to hopeful, but, anyway, some companies are already considering and building a metaverse strategy. Metaverse, for example, is gradually becoming used for remote work, entertainment, retail, etc.  According to Influencer Marketing Hub, in 2022 the general metaverse market was estimated at more than 47 USD billion. And in 2030, the metaverse market would be estimated at more than 670 USD billion.  In our new selection, we recommend reading articles by consulting centers and digital technology experts that explain metaverse meaning, share some interesting facts about the technology, and predict its development. Beyond the hype: what businesses can really expect from the metaverse in 2023 (PricewaterhouseCoopers) In this detailed article, the PricewaterhouseCoopers authors collected six main predictions about metaverse development.  According to experts, businesses will be one of the main metaverse users. 80% of company executives said they planned to integrate a metaverse strategy into their businesses. Moreover, with the technology implementation, there will be new metaverse-related duties. Companies will also hire new employees like 3D artists, designers, and 3D modelers. As PwC specialists predict, metaverse will gain or lose popularity, depending on how virtual network users will follow privacy rules and how many leaks and scams will be committed. Extended reality and artificial intelligence will also influence metaverse development.  In every article segment, you can read some useful recommendations for enterprises that already use metaverse and related technologies. Building a Responsible Metaverse (Paul Daugherty, Denise Zheng, Accenture) A research report by Accenture executives Paul Daugherty and Denise Zheng describes how you can develop your own responsible metaverse.  Daugherty and Zheng highlight three key factors that influence customers’ willingness to join the metaverse: safety, security, and privacy. 55% of respondents say the metaverse will secure personal data on the same level as social media.  The authors explain the metaverse should be responsible and built on experiences of making mistakes and overcoming existing challenges.  Then, Daugherty and Zheng give companies recommendations on how to build their own metaverse:  designate a leader responsible for metaverse development create a handbook that will contain the main rules and principles of responsible metaverse use  define challenges and issues related to the technology How the Metaverse Could Change Work (Mark Purdy, Harvard Business Review) In the Harvard Business Review article, Mark Purdy, independent economics and technology advisor, describes how the metaverse can change the working process. Primarily, the metaverse influences remote work. Instead of videoconferences, you can put your employees in an immersive virtual space, where they will communicate with each other, using digital avatars. The article’s author interviewed Founder-Director NextMeet Rushpak Kypuram about the company’s virtual office and the main characteristics and advantages of remote work in the metaverse. How the Metaverse Could Change Work (Mark Purdy, Harvard Business Review) In the Harvard Business Review article, Mark Purdy, independent economics and technology advisor, describes how the metaverse can change the working process. Primarily, the metaverse influences remote work. Instead of videoconferences, you can put your employees in an immersive virtual space, where they will communicate with each other, using digital avatars. The article’s author interviewed Founder-Director NextMeet Rushpak Kypuram about the company’s virtual office and the main characteristics and advantages of remote work in the metaverse. Value creation in the metaverse (McKinsey Digital) A research report by McKinsey Digital describes the metaverse in detail, its importance, and the future and the profit the technology already brings to companies.  On the web page, you can download the full version of the report in PDF. The page also contains statistics, videos, and information segments from the PDF file.  The full report has a detailed definition of the metaverse, the directions of the metaverse investment, and how customers change their behavior and acknowledge modern technologies in their modern life.  As experts predict, the metaverse market will be estimated at 5 USD trillion by 2030. It could be the biggest market growth in a few business fields, including retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and package goods delivery. In addition, 95% of company executives are sure the metaverse will positively influence their business in 10 years. Today, 60% of internet users are aware of the metaverse and its main activities. The Metaverse in 2040 (Pew Research Centre) The Pew Research Centre article by Janna Anderson highlights the key predictions of the metaverse development up to 2040.  According to the statistics in the article, 54% of experts think the metaverse will be fully immersive, more detailed, and will become a part of life, for at least, half-billion people or more worldwide in about twenty years.  But the other 40% of specialists claim the metaverse will have failed to become a key part of people’s life by 2040. There are opinions that, in almost twenty years, people will use augmented and mixed reality more often than the metaverse.  What Is a Metaverse? And Should You Be Buying In? (Jackie Wiles, Gartner) The article by Jackie Wiles, Gartner’s content marketing director, explains what a metaverse is and whether you should invest in the technology at all. In the beginning, the author clarifies the general metaverse concept — a virtual space, where people interact with each other with digital avatars. Wiles also presents Gartner’s statistics, claiming that, in 2026, a quarter of humankind will spend, at least, an hour in the metaverse. Then, the author highlights the key innovations, that will make the metaverse trend: Web3;  spatial computing, which provides transferring experience between virtual and physical worlds;  digital twin of a user; digital twins of customers, that can represent a single person, a group of people, or even machines. The metaverse is inevitable, regardless of what happens to Meta (Louis Rosenberg, Big Think) Another article about metaverse by Louis Rosenberg, CEO and Chief scientist of Unanonimous AI, was published on Big Think. The article highlights the fact the metaverse still has potential and chance for development, not depending on whether Meta will succeed in the development…

Companies can increase their income and the number of new customers and sales. And they can do it with established proper communication with customers, and customers trust the company.  Modern technologies play a crucial role in strategy formation. If online sales entered our lives a long time ago and become a common thing, XR technologies are just slowly integrating into routine. But extended reality already sparkles interest in both customers and companies. WebXR is one of them. It allows using all the benefits of virtual and augmented reality through web browsers.  “When I was starting out, there weren’t a lot of people in the field. All of the cool kids in XR were telling me that the browser was dead,” event host Samantha Mathews said in her opening remarks. “But the web has a magical way of closing the gap between physical and virtual experiences … to me, the 3D web solves the problem of how flat the internet is”, said Samantha Mathews, CEO and CTO of LOCI. In our new article, you will discover how WebXR is capable of improving your business and encouraging your customers to use your services. Successful use cases added. What is WebXR WebXR is a Web application programming interface that allows browsers to support virtual and augmented reality on a web page, with no requirement to download a native app. WebXR provides customers with access to immersive content regardless of devices they use: a smartphone, VR headset, PC, tablet, etc. Virtual reality VR in browsers is most often used for online games and virtual excursions. The web game Vivid, where VR headset user lights fireworks with sight is one of the WebXR VR examples.  Augmented reality Augmented reality in WebXR uses images, QR codes, and physical objects as markers that activate AR and superimpose digital objects in the real world. WebAR also has the possibility to track face mimics and body movement which makes AR content more realistic. WebAR is constantly used for designing virtual try-on and makeup.  Here, you can read more about WebXR.  WebXR Advantages For Business First of all, WebXR offers customers a new interesting, and immersive solution to see items in the way they would look in reality. Thus, digital technologies can make shopping more convenient and personalized.  According to RetailDive, 71% of zoomers want their shopping experience to be better personalized, plus 83% of them want their shopping to be more entertaining.  Read more about other WebXR advantages here.  WebXR Examples In Business WebXR is a convenient format to design interactive advertisements and virtual try-on for digital versions of items before purchasing. Useful WebAR Item Packages WebAR packages is one of the digital solutions to facilitate product choice. These item packages offer customers some additional useful functions, including visualization of the food product ingredients, for example. WebAR packages can contain visuals of step-by-step recipes, some interesting facts about the product, entertaining elements, etc.  Using item packages like this, you can demonstrate a brand’s positive side, because a company with WebAR packaging creates additional value for customers, both useful and entertaining. According to Salsify, 46% of customers said they would pay more to trusted brands.  For example, Asda Wagyu Steaks developed WebAR packages for ready-made steaks. Every package contains a QR code that activates AR demonstration of how and on what recipe a steak was cooked.  WebXR Content For Stores Gamified immersive experiences can draw customers’ attention to your products and form positive associations. Web advertisements like this are effective if you demonstrate them right before your product was purchased. According to statistics, brand recognition is increased by 70% when they use augmented reality to encourage their customers.  For example, Kinder developed a WebAR experience for children in supermarkets. To activate the experience, you can find a QR code flyer on store shelves. After you scan the code on a smartphone, the virtual portal to Africa with animals opens. This experience has entertaining and educating functions because a child learns new facts about every African animal. Virtual Try-On For Fashions Virtual try-on is another technology that is already used in retail. It gives a customer the possibility to try on an item’s digital version before buying, thus increasing the number of purchases and reducing the number of returns. According to Shopify, the number of returns was reduced by 40% after the AR try-on implementation.  Moreover, virtual try-on gives clients the possibility to customize an item and show how it would look in the physical world. According to ThreeKit, 40% of customers said they were ready to pay more for an item with the possibility to customize it in AR.  Qualium Systems has its own AR Glasses Fitting App, which we also transferred to WebXR. More information about the app is available here. Virtual Makeup in WebXR Cosmetics testing with modern technologies provides a better understanding of what lipstick or eyeshadow color fits customers most during online shopping. So, more than 44% of beauty and health purchases in America were made through the web. Cosmetics brand Perfect Corp. developed its own virtual makeup,  where you can try on digital lipstick, foundations, eyeshadow, and other decorative cosmetics items, using a web camera.  A year ago, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company developed virtual makeup try-on right in their stores, where clients could test cosmetics with no need to take their masks off. That’s a bright example of how brands can adapt to the surrounding restrictions. In one of our previous articles about extended reality in retail, we wrote about virtual try-on and makeup.   WebXR Furniture Testing Choosing furniture and home decor for a real interior with digital immersive technologies prevents the purchase of physical items that didn’t suit a customer because of the wrong size or color.  According to David Sobie, Happy Returns co-founder and CEO, 15% to 40% of purchases came from customers who bought items online.  Mazing XR developed a WebAR app that allows placing digital furniture and home decor right into the physical interior. How WebXR…

Extended reality is an umbrella term, that unites virtual, augmented, and mixed realities. You can read more about the technologies and the difference between VR, AR, and MR in the previous article.  Companies like BMW, British Telecom, and Jaguar Land Rover apply XR to implement VR excursions for applicants, virtual reality training for workers, virtual offices, etc.  HR departments use extended reality to simplify hiring employees, accelerate their integration in their workplaces, and increase their work efficiency. For example, General Electric has increased its workers’ productivity with extended reality by 34%.  How To Apply XR In Recruitment Innovative technologies are more often used for hiring staff. According to PwC data, 65% of respondents said, they would like to accept a job offer if they would have tried their workplace in virtual reality. In this case, there are few directions for using XR in recruitment.  Extended reality is used by applicants to get aquatinted with their future workplace. British IT company Workforce WindsorEssex developed for Canadian company Brave Control Solutions 360o a video guide for those who want to get employed as an engineer, technician, or designer. Candidates can see the Brave Control Solutions office building, get acquainted with different department heads, and learn more about their duties in the video.  After the first interview and excursions, recruiters test the working and soft skills of applicants. For example, Jaguar Land Rover, in collaboration with the popular rock group Gorillaz, used extended reality to design spectacular test tasks. The famous automotive company released an MR app, designed for testing talents in software engineering, app development, cyber system development, and graphics performance. Using smartphones, the candidates could break the code in the group’s virtual garage.  In the first part of the mission, participants are involved in the assembly of a virtual model of the company’s first five-seated all-electric sports car Jaguar I-PACE and explore more detailed characteristics of the model. In part two, the candidates solve a number of puzzles, where they should break the code to pass the test. This app is designed to test traits of future Jaguar employees, like curiosity, persistence, problem-solving skills, and non-standard thinking. Improve Your Remote Workplace with XR A virtual office is a digital place, where people work and interact with each other, using digital avatars. Now, according to OSlash, 10% of respondents are already working full-time in a metaverse, and 75% of respondents said they’re interested in getting this job.  VR offices are used by freelancers, remote workers, and those who work in early startups and companies that have plans to extend their network.  Employees can customize their virtual workplace according to their duties and personal preferences: providing additional screens, isolating from different distracting factors, and choosing the most comfortable location for a VR headset user. VR office can recreate, for example, a real office building and an unusual, fantasy location. You can read more information about virtual reality offices here.  Our company has experience in developing a virtual office at a company’s request. Oleksii Volkov, Qualium Systems XR department head, told about the experience of designing the VR office. According to him, our company developers aspired to create a photorealistic office with the possibility to download employees’ own photos as their digital avatars. The virtual office conference hall, workrooms, cantina, corridors, and other rooms, VR headset users can walk through. “Our main targets are to provide  users with a number of tools, that allow them to participate in meetings and discussions  in a virtual office. And this process should be the most similar to real meetings and discussions. But how can we achieve that effect? We need to expand the range of instruments as much as possible. For example, employees should see each others’ gestures, in addition to  video and audio communication. There should be a possibility for them to draw something on a board and show the documents. It all must  be within one space, and that’s why it’s called a virtual office” – said Oleksii.  You need a virtual reality headset to work in a virtual office, and  devices designed  for enterprises are the best solutions. Depending on company needs and budget, there are headset models that you can connect to a computer, smartphone, or other devices that work autonomously. But some specialists pay attention to the new VR headset for metaverse Meta Quest Pro, presented at Meta Connect 2022. The new headset has additional eye-tracking cameras inside, and its new design allows users to see both virtual and physical worlds. “We’re building a better way, using everything Quest Pro brings to the table. And we call it “magic room”. It lets you meet in mixed reality and share the same space. You can use a whiteboard, and bring in 3D objects. Everyone is present and has the same tools, whether they’re in full VR or in mixed reality. We think that this will help hybrid teams collaborate and we’re hoping to ship this next year,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder, in his video presentation. Upgrade Your Worker’s Skills With VR Training Courses To improve the workers’ efficiency and safety, every enterprise provides instructions and training. And some companies successfully apply AR/VR, which is already proven to be efficient for these means. So, after the XR training, learners are capable to acquire 70% of the necessary skills.  Here are some types of extended reality training: Real workplace simulations, where people can train their safety skills. For example, Roundtable Learning developed a virtual training for café staff. A user in a VR headset learns how to handle a client, who turned out to be a robber. Using a CGI character, this program recreates a more realistic robbery experience.          According to Roundtable Learning director Patrick Manglano, there are five biggest advantages virtual reality can offer to soft skill training:  VR emotionally triggers learners during training. In virtual reality, learners get their new skills four times faster. VR training can be applied in combination with other types of training. VR…

In 2021, the level of the use of extended reality grew up to 76% in gaming, 60% in movies and TV, 34% in retail, and 30% in tourism. Also, according to Markets and Markets, in the same year, the augmented reality market was estimated at 22,5 USD billion, and in 2026, the AR market will increase to 88,4 USD billion. Meanwhile, the virtual reality market was estimated at 6,1 USD billion in 2020 and is predicted to hit 20,9 USD billion in 2025.  The main trends that stimulate the development of the extended reality market are AR/VR startups’ financing by investors, and the growing number of fields where XR can be applied (healthcare, retail, education, architecture, design, etc). The obstacles caused by COVID-19 pandemic and companies’ need to save money for providing their services are also considered the drivers of the rapid development of XR technologies.  More detailed information about extended reality in different business fields can be found here.  COVID-19 As An Engine To Push XR Forward Since COVID-19 started, many people were locked at their homes, away from workplaces. And business trips to other cities and countries became impossible during the lockdowns. However, people’s isolation from the outer world gave companies a possibility to implement innovative technologies, like augmented, mixed, and virtual reality, to provide remote work, online purchasing, VR conferences, etc.  In 2020, according to McKinsey & Company, the number of companies that adapted digital technologies increased to 58%, compared to 20% in 2017. Coronavirus pandemic made company executives implement digital technologies faster, because the digitalization of companies had not been their top priority before the pandemic. During COVID-19, 93% of respondents implemented remote work. Other 62% of executives said they felt the increasing of customers’ demand for online purchasing. And other 21% of respondents said they started using more innovative technologies when taking important business decisions.  Vive Sync by HTC, a virtual network for business, is the bright example of transferring workers from the physical office to VR. This network was presented in April  2020 and was free for enterprises during the same year.  “As a social productivity device, Vive Sync is said to include support for OneDrive, which includes the ability to show PowerPoints, PDFs, marketing videos, or 3D models. In place of traditional note-taking, users will be able to use voice recognition to record notes, annotate with a 3D pen, and take screenshots. As for 3D assets, Vive Sync currently supports FBX and OBJ files, as well as Unity Asset Bundles,” says the official message.  Increasing Investment On IT Startups Another driver of extended reality development is the Increasing financing of ІТ startups and companies that specialize on XR. According to Crunchbase News, in 2021, the global number of investment in virtual and augmented reality startups was estimated at 3,9 USD billions, and 320 deals were concluded in the field. And, as Statista predicts, in 2024, 28,5 USD billion will be invested in the XR development.  XR Equipment And Software Become More Available One more reason why XR is getting popular in business is the accessibility of devices and software. In 2021, the number of sold extended reality devices exceeded 10 million pieces for the first time. It’s 60% more than in 2020. And, in 2025, the volume of sales is predicted to reach 48 million pieces.  Speaking about software, the Unity engine, that provides 60% of VR experiences, is another factor of the growing popularity of XR in business. This engine can be applied for designing different platforms and apps with high-quality 3D graphics that are good both for newcomers and professional users.  In its turn, Unreal Engine helps to recreate high-detailed and photorealistic graphics. This year, Epic Games presented the most up-to-date version of the engine 5.1, that allows creating 3D content of the next gen in real time easier and more effective.  Besides the instant creation of high-quality 3D models, there’s a significant improvement in video recording and recreating. In 2014, 4К resolution was presented for modern TVs and cinemas. And now there is an experimental 16K in the testing stage, and this resolution is supposed to be used for virtual reality.  One of the most recent examples of high-resolution video content in virtual reality is sir David Attenborough’s VR series Conquest of the Skies for Meta Quest. All the three episodes of popular science series tell the story about the evolution of flying creatures, starting from the period that took place 300 million years ago. The series creators said they applied the most recent 3D technologies to provide high-quality picture and enhance the immersion effect. “The story of flight spans millions of years. And, so, this was an opportunity to combine extremely high quality 3D footage of animals, that we can shoot today, with a CG pipeline that would let us imagine what it might have been like for dinosaurs of million years ago,” said Eric Chang, executive producer from Meta Quest.  Save Your Business Money With XR Here is one more driver of extended reality progress, and it’s the necessity to reduce company’s expenses. The first way to save money is cutting down the number of production accidents that cause serious financial damage to company. Various complaints and mistakes cost businesses more than 200 USD million per year.  Extended reality training is one of the solutions to the problem. According to Holopundits, manufacture workers finish their training in VR 75% faster than those using traditional ways of training. And, respectively, companies with virtual reality training save 30 dollars per one working hour.           We hope you understood why popularity of XR is constantly growing. COVID-19 pandemic, that made usual office work more difficult, became an engine that helped XR get implemented in different businesses. Particularly, companies started applying  VR offices for remote workers, virtual shops, etc. The rapid development of extended reality equipment and software also became the driver that moves XR forward. And, using virtual and augmented reality in work helps companies save money and increase their…

Consulting companies, famous online medias, and business schools, like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan School of Management, have a considerable knowledge base that allows them to understand and predict some important business trends.  Explore these knowledge sources with our brief review of some recommendations on the use of extended reality in business. X For XR: A-Z of tech podcast by PricewaterhouseCoopers In the latest A-Z of tech podcast series issue by PwC, its host Louise Taggart had a conversation with specialists about the possibilities of extended reality and metaverse. Yanna Zhu, PwC XR/metaverse team worker, Dr. Alex Young, Virti founder and CEO, and Chris Fleischmann, CEO, and founder of Arthur, also took part in the podcast. The discussion members share their experiences from previous workplaces. Particularly, Dr Alex Young mentions his previous work as a doctor in Bristol, medical training for specialists, and expresses his opinion on how VR/AR can positively affect hospital work efficiency. Also, the podcast participants predict how extended reality will evolve. According to the specialists, 82% of executives think that metaverse will become a crucial part of their work in the next few years.  The full podcast transcript can be found here: https://www.pwc.co.uk/issues/intelligent-digital/transcript-x-for-xr.html  Why Every Organization Needs Augmented Reality Strategy by HBR In this article by Harvard Business Review, written by American academic Michael E. Porter and the president and CEO of PTC James E. Heppelman, you can learn why companies should apply augmented reality in their workflow. The authors of the article describe the key AR advantages and business fields where this technology can be applied.  One of the bright examples of the AR use mentioned in the article is the AR training of Boeing workers. During the training, they passed through 50 steps to assemble an aircraft wing section, that consisted of 30 parts. After the drill, the company employees completed the work 35% faster than those who trained with traditional 2D drawings and documentation. Also, 90% of those having little or no work experience at all managed to cope with the work correctly on the first try after the AR trainings.  Read the full article here: https://hbr.org/2017/11/why-every-organization-needs-an-augmented-reality-strategy  How Companies Found Amazing Ways To Use VR by Bernard Marr In this article, famous entrepreneur and Business Advisor Bernard Marr describes how modern companies use virtual reality. The article’s author mentions such business fields as design and prototype making, interaction with customers, and trainings.  One of the examples of the use of virtual reality in business presents VR solutions that allow a customer in a headset to test a digital version of a car, furniture, or kitchen utensil. In his article, Marr refers to Audi’s VR Car Showroom Experience, where a customer can try a virtual car before buying a real one. The whole article is available at the link: https://bernardmarr.com/the-amazing-ways-companies-use-virtual-reality-for-business-success/  Business Implications of XR: Webinar by Paul McDonagh-Smith During almost an hour-long webinar, Paul McDonagh-Smith, MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Lecturer, talks about the current value of the extended reality, metaverse, and other immersive technologies.  McDonagh-Smith answers three main questions about the extended reality: what is XR, why this technology is relevant, and what we think about/how we interact with XR today. According to the author of the webinar, the extended reality is relevant today because of the convergence of different trends, including: technical (reducing VR headset prices and increasing their efficiency); economical (the involvement of blockchain technologies and new ways to own NFT materials); social (improving customer communication, notably in the post-COVID period); organizational (improving the work planning process and organization of meetings with employees and customers). You can watch the full webinar here: https://exec.mit.edu/s/webinar-post/business-implications-of-extended-reality-xr-harnessing-the-value-of-ar-vr-metav-MCKUXUATA2H5CDXCWFQ6YGHSRITI    Realities and Distractions of Metaverse. Interview with Unity CEO John Riccitiello  In the one of the recent interviews, Fast Company, a famous business media, talked with Unity CEO John Riccitiello about metaverse, its possibilities and future.  Riccitiello said that many people don’t fully realize the meaning and possibilities of metaverse. They think that network is mostly about digital avatars or virtual and augmented reality. Unity CEO thinks the metaverse future belongs to 3D technologies, and 6G will be used at the end of this decade. Moreover, Riccitiello speaks about the new Unity projects in mixed reality, that will be released next year. Read the full interview here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90797940/unity-ceo-john-riccitiello-describes-the-realities-and-distractions-of-the-metaverse 

Our experience in XR project development shows that the applications our clients order often contain similar features, for example, it can be 2D drawing or interaction with objects. In each project, we developed features from scratch, even if we had already implemented them before. In order to optimize this process, we decided to develop a special library, the advantages of which we want to briefly tell you about in this post. This will be the first in a series in which we will focus on the benefits of this solution for our customers. In the future, we will talk in more detail about the structure of the library and its components. In short, the main idea of ​​our library is the development of typical features that we encounter from project to project. The library will contain the API with the core logic of the features and their implementation for specific Platforms, such as Oculus, Pico, iOS, Android, etc. There will be about 20 features in total that will be further supplemented. Why is it beneficial for our customers to have such a library? 1. The speed of project development increases, as a result, it becomes possible to bring the product to the market faster Due to the fact that we have already developed the main features for various platforms, there is no need to develop them from scratch for a new project. This saves time and therefore costs for our customers. 2. The reliability and quality of feature implementation is growing, while risks, code problems, and testing costs are being reduced All the features that we add to the library are constantly used in our projects. As a result, you get reliable functionality, perfected on various projects, which is constantly optimized. 3. The available functionality is expanding, as a result, it becomes possible to use all the properties of the features Clients need different functionality, for example, 2D drawing can be used in a VR smart office to draw on a flipchart, or it can be used in a 2D android application for signing documents. Thanks to our library, you will get all the available functionality of a feature, for example, the same 2D drawing, from which you can use the features you need. 4. Continuous improvement, resulting in the ability to receive feature updates even after the completion of the project After we have finished working on your project, the improvement of the library does not stop. You can also enjoy these benefits. We provide our customers with feature updates with new possibilities. To sum up, we want to once again dwell on the main advantages of the library we are developing: development speed, reliability and quality, accessible functionality, and continuous improvement. That’s all for today. Follow our future materials, they will contain more details on the internal filling of the library.

Metaverse is based on virtual and augmented reality. It’s a virtual world, where people can interact, communicate, and work, using digital avatars. Experts have different opinions on the metaverse future. Some consider it as an Internet successor and predict the prospective future. Others have more cautious opinions and point out possible issues with privacy violations and confidential information leaks.  This innovative concept is invested the most by worldwide companies, like Facebook (Meta), Apple, Tencent, Roblox, Unity, etc.  In 2022, the metaverse global market is estimated at 110 USD billion. Global Industry Analysts predict global metaverse market cost will have increased to 758 USD billion by 2026.   Naturally, prospects of metaverse development spark interest both in private companies and countries’ governments around the world. Metaverse investment in the United Arabian Emirates (Dubai) This year, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai and chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, announced the launch of the new city metaverse strategy. The main purpose of the strategy is to improve Web3 technology, develop new apps, create new government work, and develop these important fields, like tourism, healthcare, education, retail, law, and remote work. Metaverse strategy aims to contribute to the national budget a billion USD and create 40 thousand new workplaces. “We launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy today, which aims to foster innovation in new technology. Dubai is home to over 1,000 companies operating in the metaverse and blockchain sector, which contributes $500m to our national economy”,  the prince said. “With the early adoption of metaverse technology, Dubai seeks to become one of the top 10 metaverse economies and a global front-runner in adopting digital solutions”.  Metaverse investment in Spain Spain’s government has contributed 3,8 USD million to support small and medium-sized businesses, that work at experimental creation in the metaverse and Web3 fields. The state ministry of economy and digital transformation said the first money will be transferred to companies that produce new content in the gaming and audiovisual industry.  The government’s financial aid is part of the program for the development of Spain as an audiovisual industry center. This program is part of the strategy Digital Spain 2026.  Metaverse support in China (Shanghai) In July, the government of Shanghai, China’s biggest city by population, issued the document, which contains plans of turning the city into an important center of metaverse industry worth 52 USD billion by the end of 2025.  This plan also includes the development of 10 companies, that have a chance to compete in the international market, and the foundation of 1000 new enterprises, which will work in the metaverse industry. Metaverse support in South Korea The Korean government will start to invest 177 USD million in metaverse development. The main investment purpose is to kickstart the national metaverse industry and the development of new companies that work on VR and Web3. That was announced by the minister of science and information and communication technologies of South Korea, Lim Hyesook. According to him, the metaverse is «an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential».  The investment is a part of the new state’s main course to engage its citizens to do a full transition into digital reality. Korean metaverse will look like «an extended virtual world» with additional media and education sectors. Conclusion The metaverse is a new concept, which is in the early development stages. Nevertheless, many countries’ governments around the world are interested in this innovation, since the metaverse gives new possibilities to prospective business fields and creates new workplaces.