Software Development

This article was written by our CEO Olga Kryvchenko and originally published on Linkedin. To get more biweekly updates about extended reality, subscribe to Olga’s XR Frontiers LinkedIn newsletter.

The power of touch has long been recognized as a potent sensory modality. With the rise of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, touch, or more precisely, haptic feedback, has found its profound significance. Especially in hazardous industries, where direct training poses risks, XR combined with haptic feedback offers a revolutionary approach.

Understanding Haptic Feedback

At its core, haptic feedback simulates the sense of touch and movement. This tactile feedback, when incorporated in digital interfaces or XR environments, provides users with realistic sensations ranging from a gentle breeze to a jolt from a virtual electric shock.

The Evolution of Haptic Devices

While the rudimentary concept of haptic technology revolves around vibrations, contemporary haptic devices offer far more intricate feedback.

– Glove-based Systems: Pioneering the future of touch in XR, these gloves simulate intricate textures, temperatures, and resistances. Users can virtually touch a hot surface or feel the graininess of sand.

– Vest Systems: These aren’t your average vests. They’re equipped to simulate everything from the impact of a bullet to the gentle tap on the shoulder.

– Treadmills and Platforms: Beyond letting users walk or run in a virtual space, these devices offer gradients, and resistances, and even simulate different terrains.

– Haptic Controllers: These handheld devices can simulate weight, resistance, and more. They’re often used in XR setups where precision is required, like machinery operation or surgical training.

Spotlight: Some XR Haptic Innovations

1. Manus Meta Gloves: Advanced haptic gloves that simulate intricate tactile experiences within virtual spaces, ideal for hazardous industry simulations.
2. SenseGlove: Offering unparalleled haptic feedback, this device simulates realistic touch sensations, ensuring authentic training experiences in hazardous industries.
3. Electric Haptic Vest: A revolutionary vest that provides electric haptic feedback, enabling users to feel virtual impacts, touches, and temperature changes, enhancing training realism.

These innovations are setting the benchmark for immersive XR training in high-risk sectors, ensuring both safety and efficacy.

Incorporating Haptics in XR Training for Dangerous Industries

Haptic feedback is not just a fancy addition; it’s a necessity in industries where mistakes can be catastrophic.

1. Realistic Hazard Simulation: XR environments equipped with haptic feedback allow trainees to understand and feel dangerous situations, like the rumble of an impending mine collapse or the heat from an electrical malfunction.

2. Skill Refinement: Fine motor skills can be honed in a virtual space. Imagine a trainee learning to operate a chainsaw; with haptic feedback, they can feel the tug, the resistance, and even the vibration, all without the real danger.

3. Emergency Protocols: Virtual emergencies can prepare employees for real-world crises. These drills aren’t just visual or auditory; haptic feedback ensures they are physically intuitive.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Haptic XR Training

The fusion of haptic devices and XR promises a future where training for even the most hazardous jobs is thorough, intuitive, and above all, safe. As the fidelity of haptic feedback continues to improve, the line between virtual training and real-world operation will further blur, leading to a workforce that’s adept and prepared for any challenges.

In an era dominated by technological advancements, haptic feedback stands out as a game-changer for XR training in dangerous industries. It’s not just about seeing or hearing; it’s about feeling, and that tactile element ensures that trainees are not only knowledgeable but are also instinctively prepared for real-world scenarios.

Image: Freepik

In this article, we will explore the impact of augmented and virtual reality on national parks, specifically how they are changing our experience of visiting natural landscapes. We focus on free virtual tours that allow us to see the beauty of national parks without leaving home. We will also reveal the main advantages of augmented reality, which enrich the visiting of real parks with the help of digital content with interesting information.

In particular, we will share our experience of creating tourist VR excursions using the example of the Carpathian Mountains Virtual Tour and Medieval Fortress Virtual Journey. We will also explore other famous AR/VR use cases, e.g., the State Parks of California, giving us a unique perspective on our national parks’ historical and ecological significance.

Discovering Benefits of AR and VR in National Parks

Virtual and augmented reality offer such benefits to national parks as

Getting informative content on the spot. When visiting parks and other historical places, visitors usually don’t know about this or that type of plant or even in which part of the park they are. With the help of an AR application, a tourist can simply point the screen at a particular plant and get additional information about it.

Speaking about orientation in place, AR navigation will come in handy here, which guides the tourist in the right direction with the help of digital pointers.

Visiting places that aren’t accessible for you. During the COVID-19 pandemic and home isolation, virtual tours of museums or national parks were one of the popular alternatives to visiting real tourist locations. Even though the pandemic began to gradually fade away, virtual tours continue to be relevant. By visiting free tours on museums or park websites, an Internet user saves money on the ticket, car fuel, and transportation. Especially when a person does not always have an opportunity to get to the place where, perhaps, he would like to go. “The advantage is that you can go somewhere and experience the same feelings without leaving your home. Virtual guides have musical accompaniment, the effect of presence thus allows you to immerse yourself in the environment. This is all about VR. Plus, not all of us can go to Papua New Guinea or somewhere else to look at bamboo, baobabs, etc. Or go on safari. Therefore, these are opportunities to visit somewhere without spending additional funds,” said Oleksandr Ivanov, project manager of Qualium Systems.

Drawing attention to ecology, rare plants and animals. As you know, there are more than 35,000 species of endangered plants and animals in the world, 99% of which are endangered due to human activities. With virtual and augmented reality for parks that are the home for these species of animals, it becomes possible to tell about these endangered species to a wider audience. As of July 2023, there are almost 7 billion people in the world who have smartphones, which is more than 86% of the entire population of the planet.

Qualium System’s Virtual Tours of National Parks

Qualium Systems has great experience in developing VR excursions. Carpathian Mountains Virtual Tour is an application for Meta Quest, created as part of The World Of Carpathian Rosettes — Activities For Preserving The Cultural Uniqueness Of The Carpathians project by the Euroregion Carpathians — Ukraine association with the financial support of the European Union. The main goal of this program is to preserve the cultural uniqueness of the Ukrainian Carpathians.

The main challenge in the development of this virtual tour was to introduce more than 260 photo and video materials into the program while providing the VR headset users with such an experience as if they were visiting a real museum.

In this application, a tourist can explore virtual settlements in the Carpathians, both with the effect of presence in these settlements and from a bird’s eye view. There is also the option of a “bicycle trip” available. A tourist can “ride” along the Franko route, which is a path in the forest, famous Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko liked to travel.

Also, our developers are working on another virtual tour of the medieval fortress in the Ukrainian town of Tustan. Unlike the previous tour, a VR headset user will not only be able to see the digital environment with exhibits but also interact with them.

“With the help of VR, you can not only be there, in that museum, but also take the artifacts, examine, bring them up to your forehead. You could see everything down to every crack,” said Oleksandr Ivanov, project manager of Qualium Systems.

Unveiling Diverse Use Cases of AR and VR in National Parks

Our company pays attention to virtual tours and giving people the opportunity to see places that are inaccessible to them due to various circumstances. We constantly monitor the latest trends in the modern IT industry, and there are other famous examples that will be mentioned later.

Virtual Reality Adventures in California State Parks

The California Department of Parks and Recreation has introduced virtual and augmented reality tours for 9 parks located in the state of California. In the Virtual Adventurer mobile app, tourists get a guided tour that tells the story of each of the parks, including Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, Montana de Oro State Park, Old Town San Diego Historic Park, and others. Moreover, futuristic holograms and 3D reconstructions are also involved.

“The app also supports and enhances the department’s Reexamining Our Past Initiative by developing content for parks that tells a more complete, accurate, and inclusive history of people and places,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero.

Great Barrier Reef’s Virtual Realms

As mentioned above, virtual excursions allow gadget users to get to places they would be unlikely to get to in real life. The same is true for the underwater attractions. Not every tourist wants to spend their time and money not only to reach, for example, Australia but also to train diving skills and buy a wetsuit with an oxygen cylinder.

In this case, one can explore the Great Barrier Reef in the 180 video format without the need to dive into the real ocean. This two-minute experience was created by ECOVR for Meta Quest. The main purpose of the virtual coral reef excursion is meditation and relaxation.

Free Virtual Tour to Ambrym Volcano

Short VR tours also come in handy when a user wants to see natural places that contain potential danger while sitting on their cozy couches. For example, you can explore a virtual tour in the 360 video format from Red Bull, which tells about a scientific expedition to an active volcano on the island of Ambrym, the Republic of Vanuatu, the South Pacific Ocean. The video is also accompanied by an audio narration that tells about the features of the Benbow volcano and how dangerous this expedition is.

Thanks to virtual reality tours, we can now discover the wonders of the pristine landscapes, whether we are physically present or miles away. Free VR tours of natural national monuments can deepen our understanding of the importance of preserving rare and endangered species of plants and animals. VR excursions also provide more knowledge and a clearer understanding of the ecological status and historical significance of national parks.

As augmented and virtual reality continue to evolve, their potential impact on strengthening the bond between humanity and nature holds promise for the future, inspiring us to become better stewards of our beloved national parks and the environment as a whole.

Image: Freepik

In recent years, IT and immersive technologies are one of the most popular fields that people choose for their future careers. According to Statista, as of January 2023, the number of IT workers was 3.1 million, and by 2032 the number of workers will exceed 6 million. Among those starting to work in the field of IT and XR, there are both young professionals and those who have career experience in other fields and want to change their lives. And free online courses, which introduce a beginner to the essence of the matter in an interesting and accessible language, are useful for future developers.

In this article, we offer an interesting selection of the best free XR training courses online. Whether you’re looking to develop XR experiences for Unity and Magic Leap 2, shoot a 360o film, or create your own metaverse, our selection of courses will provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge needed for those just starting their XR journey.

Create with AR: Face Filters by Unity

A training course for those new to AR application development, including creating face filters. This course is designed for those willing not only to learn the basics of programming applications on Unity but also to expand their portfolio with new cases, which will make it much easier to enter the field of XR.

The course is divided into three parts:

Get Started With AR. The future developer will learn the types of features in augmented reality, such as AR face filters, and AR markers that allow you to place digital content in real space. One will learn how to integrate a finished 3D model design into a game.
Create a basic face filter. The main goal of this segment is to create your own customized AR face mask, including creating face trackers and using various textures, 3D models, and other components that can be used for an AR mask;
Create an interactive face filter. In the final part of the course, the student has to make their mask interactive. In particular, developers also learn to add a user interface to the created mask and use visual scripts to program functions.

A student is able to independently monitor their own progress and mark the completed lessons on the page.

The entire course is available here: https://learn.unity.com/course/create-with-ar-face-filters?uv=2021.3

Virtual Reality Development Specialization by the University of London

A virtual reality training program by the University of London is designed for beginners and consists of 5 courses. Its total duration is 6 months, 4 hours per week, with a flexible schedule.

Each of the 5 training courses contains the following information:

Introduction to virtual reality. Students get acquainted with the concept of virtual reality, its history, and basic principles;
3D Models for Virtual Reality. In this course, students will take the first steps in developing 3D models for VR, the basic principles of digital content development, and overlaying models in a digital environment. Students will also learn the basic principles of one of the most common VR engines, Unity3D;
Interactive design with 3D models in VR. Students will learn to work with a key aspect of virtual reality, i.e., creating user interaction with the digital world. The course will cover the basic principles of creating interaction with virtual reality, taking into account the natural movements of the human body. In the end, students will receive useful advice from experts in the field of XR, and the main task to consolidate the result will be the creation of their own project where a person interacts with virtual reality;
Creation of interactive 3D characters and dialogues. Students will learn to create communication between users of virtual reality, in particular the psychology of communication in VR, the basic principles of animation of 3D characters, in particular, game characters that will be used by the player and NPCs that will interact with a real player;
Creating the First VR Game is the final course of the curriculum from the University of London, in which students have to create their first game in virtual reality and learn all the main stages of its development: idea, storyboarding, prototyping, testing, and implementation.

The hosts of the Virtual Reality Development Specialization program are Professor Marco Gillies and Dr. Sylvia Xueni Pan. Gillies is an Academic Director of Distance Learning and Deputy Head of Computing at the University of London. Pan is a senior lecturer at the Virtual Reality department of the same university.

You can sign up for the course here: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/virtual-reality

Extended Reality for Everybody by Michigan University

A learning program from the University of Michigan that introduces students to the general concept of extended reality. Its total duration is 3 months, 7 hours a week. The main goal of the program is to teach students the basic concepts of XR, the key problems of the development of augmented reality, and to correct them in further work with programs, as well as to learn how to create their own programs.

The program consists of three main courses:

Introduction to VR/AR/MR/XR, Technologies, Applications, and Key Issues. An introductory course to the concept of augmented reality where students will learn to understand the essential difference between virtual, augmented, mixed, and extended reality. Students will also learn more about the current state of XR, its main advantages, level of development, and problems;
User experience and VR/AR/MR interaction design. In this course, students will learn the basic principles of creating XR experiences, including creating extended reality prototypes and putting them into operation. In addition, the issue of ethics in creating an interactive XR application for the user will be raised here;
XR applications development with WebXR, Unity, and Unreal Engine. Students will gain practical skills in creating VR experiences in WebXR or Unity, AR applications with or without markers. The final course is where students will learn the basic concepts and techniques of creating complex applications in augmented reality, as well as learn to create their own apps taking into account the ethics, privacy, and basic principles of user accessibility.

The lead instructor for this course is Michael Nebeling, Associate Professor of Information in the School of Information and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan College of Engineering.

You can sign up for the course here: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/extended-reality-for-everybody

What is Metaverse? by Meta

A course by Meta will teach future developers how to interact with the metaverse and how to create their own metaverses, taking into account all the rules of security, ethics, accessibility, and inclusivity. The total duration of the course is 3 weeks, 3 hours per week.

This course contains 6 modules covering topics such as

What is the metaverse. An introductory module that describes the basic concepts of this technology, the basic principles of interaction in the metaverse, and how to interact with other users in it;
Who creates the metaverse. Students will learn about the basic principles of creating a metaverse, what devices, platforms, and game engines are used to create their own digital universe, and how augmented reality is used here;
Verticals of the metaverse. Students will learn about the influence of the metaverse on various spheres of life, including education, medicine, city planning, and interaction with people. Students will also learn more about how marketing, design, and entertainment work in the realities of the metaverse;
Finance in the metaverse. This module tells how blockchain and cryptocurrency work in the realities of the metaverse, how to introduce your own economy into your metaverse, and the latest financial trends;
Responsibilities in the metaverse. Students will learn about the basic principles of building a metaverse, taking into account all the rules of ethics, inclusiveness, and diversity;
How to build a metaverse. The final module, in which students learn more about the possibilities of the metaverse, as well as the further development of this technology and the influence of companies on this technology.

You can sign up for the course here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/what-is-the-metaverse

VR and 360 Video Production by Google AR & VR

Another free course for beginners from Google introduces students to virtual reality, 360o video, and the basic principles of creating such videos. The duration of the course is three weeks and four hours a week.

The main course consists of 4 modules, which include the following educational material:

What is 360o video and how does it relate to VR. An introductory module that covers the basic principles of creating 360o video;
Setting up VR pre-production. Students learn the basic technical nuances of preparing for video shooting. During the module, students will be provided with the necessary tools for writing a script, planning, selecting a crew and cast for a 360o film;
The shooting process of 360o video. Students will learn the main nuances of the operation of the 360o camera, as well as the arrangement of the shooting process itself;
VR post-production and release. The final module, in which students will learn how to edit the footage, as well as publish the finished film.

You can sign up for the course here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/360-vr-video-production

Unity Development for Magic Leap 2

Another course from Unity Learn, created for beginners who have an initial level of command of the C# programming language and a basic knowledge and understanding of the rules for using the Unity platform. The purpose of this course is for students to learn how to design XR experiences for Magic Leap 2 augmented reality glasses.

The course consists of 14 separate video tutorials that introduce students to every aspect of Magic Leap 2 digital experiences development, starting with an introductory lecture that observes the general characteristics of the glasses. The following videos describe in more detail the intricacies of developing XR experiences, such as entering voice commands, tracking hand and eye movements, creating and superimposing markers on real space, etc.

A student completes the full course independently at any time convenient for them, just like other courses on the Unity Learn website.

The entire course can be found here: https://learn.unity.com/course/magic-leap-2-development?uv=2022.2

We hope these free courses will inspire you and give you confidence in your future career as an XR developer. They will not only develop your practical skills and enrich you with theoretical knowledge. Training programs from Unity, Google, Meta, and many other augmented reality experts will also develop your creativity and flexibility, which XR developers need so much.

Image: Freepik

AI has already begun to be applied in areas where it is necessary to analyze and generate content. In particular, artificial intelligence is implemented in game and app development. AI is getting popular primarily due to its ability to significantly speed up and facilitate the content development process. Instead of spending several hours manually creating graphics for games and applications, you can use AI to generate the necessary components on its own simply. Then the developer will make their edits.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of companies using AI is growing. According to Forbes Advisor, by 2027 the artificial intelligence market will be estimated at 407 billion USD. And 64% of enterprises believe that artificial intelligence will increase their productivity.

Unity, one of the most famous app manufacturers for portable gadgets, is among the companies that are already gradually introducing AI into their work.

In this article, we will take a detailed look and analyze the new artificial intelligence developments from Unity and what they mean for the development of XR applications.

Leveraging Unity AI for App Development

Unity has been using AI for a few years now, but, firstly, it was mostly for marketing and non-game content to a wider audience. Like, for example, Luna, a platform that aims to improve the advertising strategy of brands. Or Supersonic which is a stand-alone platform that automates and accelerates game advertising.

Secondly, artificial intelligence and neural networks for gaming have previously been created only for developers who have special qualifications for working with applications. Like, for example, ML agents, which allow you not to code the behavior of digital elements, because these elements themselves (smart agents) are independently learning the algorithms of behavior in the environment. For example, in a game from Unity, you can hone the behavior of a digital corgi that runs after a stick. Or the behavior of racing cars, as in this video.

“In the carting micro game, our ML agent scenes are typically set up with a few major components: the training environment, the level, that we want our agents to observe and familiarize with. Which, in our case, is our racetracks. The agents are the game objects we want to train. So, that they can accomplish a goal, such as driving without colliding with the track walls. And, finally — our academy, which collects all observations, done by our agents and trains them”, said Unity’s official video.

In March 2023, Unity announced their own AI game and application development features. Then there was the first presentation of an ecosystem with artificial intelligence, which operates according to the principle of many AI generators, such as Midjourney and ChatGPT.

A few days ago, new AI tools for developing games and applications were announced: Unity Muse and Unity Sentis, which we will discuss in more detail below.

Unity Muse: Empowering AI Creativity

Unity Muse is the newest platform with artificial intelligence, the main purpose of which is to accelerate the creation of applications with 3D graphics. In particular, the option of this platform includes such basic functions as:

automatic creation of animated characters and digital doubles;
creation of the movements of the animated model — for example, jumps or backflips;
creating a texture for the environment;
addition to ready-made 3D models — for example, the video shows how you can highlight the roof area on the digital model of the house, enter a prompt and select several options for a red roof from the database.

“The Muse platform provides quick access to detailed information from the documentation and can also generate 2D sprites and 3D animations. This allows developers to quickly get the resources they need to create prototypes or new experiences without waiting for final versions of models and sprites. With Muse chat, developers can effectively communicate with other team members and get the help they need during development”, said Qualium Systems Unity tech lead Arcueid D’athemon.

The main difference between Unity Muse and ML agents is ease of use. The newest platform looks like a chat with a neural network and the principle of operation resembles the sensational ChatGPT. As mentioned above, the user enters the required prompt to generate the 3D content required for the application.

Harness the Power of Unity Sentis AI

Unity Sentis is a cross-platform tool that integrates AI into Unity applications. According to Unity’s official announcement, Sentis enables in-app digital models to work flawlessly on all operating systems, browsers, and devices that support Unity, from smartphones and tablets to game consoles and XR glasses.

Thus, applications with built-in AI models work more efficiently due to the fact that data is processed in real-time.

However, according to Arcueid D’athemon, Unity tech lead at Qualium Systems, the range of Sentis options is wider, and the platform can also generate voice acting and animation for a character.

“It opens up opportunities to quickly create dynamically generated actions in the application that will depend on the environment or interaction with the user. With Sentis, developers can effectively create realistic character movements and high-quality voice acting that enriches the user experience”, said Arcueid D’athemon.

In the end, the combination of the input of the own neural network can change the process of the application use. For example, the user can directly interact with an NPC, while would respond to him with lines that are not pre-recorded. It enhances the immersive experience of gameplay, using the example of a virtual AI character named Orb.

Unity’s interest in AI in app development is evident with recent innovations such as Unity Muse and Unity Sentis. The first tool allows developers to quickly and efficiently create 3D models of game and non-game characters, environments, and textures. As for Sentis, this program allows you to modify the gameplay by introducing NPCs with their own artificial intelligence. Unity’s AI ecosystem continues to evolve, inspiring game and app developers to explore new horizons and reimagine what’s possible in interactive entertainment.

In our fast-paced digital world, there’s a new kid on the block – Extended Reality (XR). XR is a catch-all term that includes Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR), and it’s totally changing how we experience and interact with the world. Right now, it’s taking the art and theater worlds by storm, injecting a fresh and immersive twist into these time-honored forms of human expression.

The Art World Meets XR

Just like two buddies hanging out, art and technology have always shared a close bond. Technology consistently unlocks new doors for creativity and artistic expression. Today, XR is reimagining how we enjoy art. Galleries and museums are using XR to put together exhibits that give us an interactive, deep-dive into the art world like we’ve never seen before.

Ever wished you could step back in time and experience an artist’s studio in the roaring 20s? At the Tate Modern’s “Modigliani” exhibit, visitors could slip on VR headsets and do exactly that. Over in Washington D.C., the Renwick Gallery used AR to take its “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” exhibition to the next level, letting visitors engage with the artwork through their smartphone screens.

XR is even shaking up the accessibility of art. Not everyone can afford to jet off and visit a world-class museum, but with VR, that museum can bring its exhibits to anyone with an internet connection and a VR headset.

XR Takes Center Stage in Theater

Theater, one of humanity’s oldest traditions, is also welcoming XR with open arms. By integrating XR into their performances, theaters can create immersive and interactive experiences that invite audiences to lose themselves in the world of the play like never before.

Remember “The Tempest” from English class? The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) production of this classic, in partnership with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios, used cutting-edge motion capture technology to project a real-time digital avatar of the character Ariel onto the stage. Meanwhile, virtual theater pioneers like the National Theatre are playing around with VR to deliver boundary-pushing, immersive performances straight to your living room.

With XR, theater isn’t just exploring new frontiers of creativity; it’s also breaking down barriers to accessibility. Virtual performances can bring the magic of live theater to those who might not have the opportunity to experience it otherwise, such as people living in remote locations or those with mobility issues.

The Ups and Downs of XR in Art and Theater

There’s a lot to love about using XR in art and theater. It’s not just about crafting new and immersive experiences; it’s about tearing down the walls of the traditional venues and formats and reaching out to more people. With XR, art and theater become more inclusive and accessible to all.

That being said, it’s not all smooth sailing. Getting your hands on XR tech can be a bit pricey, and not all organizations can afford it. Plus, XR might be the new cool thing, but it’s still pretty new, meaning both creators and audiences may need some time to get the hang of it. It’s also a balancing act trying to harness the power of this new tech while keeping the soul of traditional art and theater intact.

What’s Next for XR in Art and Theater?

As XR technology keeps evolving, we’re bound to see more ways it can be used in art and theater. More interactive and immersive exhibits and performances, slicker XR tools, and deeper integration of digital and physical elements are all on the horizon. We might even see XR playing a bigger role in teaching art and theater.

The future of XR in art and theater is exciting. It has the potential to connect artists and theaters with a global audience, breathe new life into traditional art forms, and above all, make art and theater more accessible to everyone, no matter where they are or what their physical abilities are.

We’re at a pivotal moment in the story of art, theater, and technology. As we explore this new frontier of XR, it’s thrilling to imagine the limitless creative possibilities waiting for us just around the corner.

Image: Unsplash

Working in the XR industry for about 4 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of marketing agencies looking to incorporate XR technologies into their marketing strategies. While these technologies can be incredibly powerful tools for creating immersive, engaging experiences for customers, it’s important to approach them with a clear plan and a solid understanding of what they can do.

If you’re considering incorporating XR technology into your marketing strategy, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Understand the technology: Before implementing any XR technology, it’s important to have a solid understanding of what it is, how it works, and what it can do. This will help you choose the right technology for your specific marketing campaign and ensure that it is used in a way that makes sense for your client and their target audience.
Set clear goals: When incorporating XR technology into a marketing strategy, it’s important to set clear goals for what you hope to achieve. This might include increasing brand awareness, driving engagement and interaction, or improving the overall customer experience. Having clear goals will help you measure the success of your campaign and make any necessary adjustments along the way.
Choose the right platform: There are a variety of different XR platforms available, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to choose the platform that best aligns with your client’s needs and goals, as well as the technical requirements of your campaign.
Create engaging content: XR technology can be a powerful tool for creating immersive, engaging experiences for customers. However, in order to be effective, the content you create needs to be high-quality and engaging. This might include creating interactive product demonstrations, immersive brand experiences, or virtual tours of a physical location.
Test and iterate: As with any marketing campaign, it’s important to test and iterate your XR strategy to ensure that it is delivering the desired results. This might involve running A/B tests to compare different versions of your XR experience, gathering feedback from users, and making adjustments based on that feedback.
Consider accessibility: While XR technology can be a great way to create immersive experiences, it’s important to consider accessibility when designing your campaign. This might include ensuring that the experience is accessible to people with disabilities, as well as making sure that it is optimized for different devices and internet speeds.
Stay up-to-date: XR technology is constantly evolving, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in the field. This might involve attending conferences, reading industry publications, and staying connected with other professionals in the field.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can create powerful, effective XR experiences that drive engagement and improve the overall customer experience. If you’re looking for help getting started with XR technology, feel free to reach out to me for more information!

Image: Freepik

Today, artificial intelligence is a driving force that transforms and facilitates a whole range of fields: from creating texts and images to improving the performance of entire applications.

Moreover, AI is becoming an essential element in developing virtual and augmented reality. Artificial intelligence has already become an assistant for developers of such companies as Magic Leap, Unity, and others.

In this article, you will learn more about the solutions and benefits that AI brings to the development of extended reality.

AI and XR: Perfect Fusion for Immersive Experiences

Companies involved in the development of extended reality applications can use artificial intelligence for various purposes. Here are some ways in which AI can be applied.

Personalized Realities: Power of AI in Customizing XR Experiences

AI can analyze data on the behavior and preferences of VR users to offer more personalized and immersive content. For example, AI can customize the virtual environment to a user’s individual needs, as well as suggest content or interactive elements that may be of interest to a user.

Enhancing Interactions: AI’s Role in Developing XR Assistants

AI can be used to develop virtual reality agents with advanced intelligence. These agents can interact with users, answer questions, provide information, and create more realistic scenarios. The use of AI makes it possible to create agents that can adapt to the user’s actions and demonstrate intellectual behavior.

Magic Leap has already successfully implemented artificial intelligence to provide better and more realistic XR experiences to improve human interaction. They are already using AI algorithms to develop digital models in AR, one of which is the MICA hyperrealistic human. Using these AI algorithms, the creators managed to give their digital model eye movements, facial expressions, and behavior that are as close as possible to a living person.

“AI components were added to track a user and look them in the eye. Additional AI elements were added for body language and posture. Our team focused on natural facial expressions, we wanted MICA to emote in believable ways,” said John Monos, vice president of Human-Centered AI at Magic Leap.

Power of AI in Analytics and Development

AI can analyze the collected data while using virtual reality applications to identify patterns, trends, and problems. This information can be used to improve the development process and optimize the user experience. For example, AI can help identify the most popular features or discover bottlenecks in an application that need optimization.

Alex Volkov, Qualium Systems head of XR development, wrote an article about AI implementation in game development and how it optimizes and speeds up the work of a game developer, using ChatGPT as an example.

“In fact, it can save up to 60–70% of the time required for task implementation. Being a professional developer, I knew how to implement a task from scratch, but still needed to write each line of code, optimize it, and debug it. However, with ChatGPT, I managed to save a lot of time on the first point and focus on the last two points,” said Volkov.

You can read the full article about game development using AI here.

Rise of AI in XR: Enhancing Content Analytics and Recognition

AI can be used to recognize and analyze content in virtual reality. For example, AI can automatically analyze video and audio materials, detect objects or events in VR scenes, and also provide speech recognition and natural language processing functions.

AI-Enhanced XR: Revolutionizing Safety and Management Practices

AI can help manage and secure the virtual space. For example, artificial intelligence can control and optimize resources, manage virtual objects, and keep users safe by preventing unwanted situations or interactions.

For example, Unity is working on developing its own AI algorithm for honing the work of 3D models.

“Unity enables the real-time training of models based on unique datasets produced in the creation and operation of RT3D experiences. Through this training, we can build ever-richer services on top of Unity and provide extraordinary capabilities for our partners to leverage Unity as a data creation, simulation, and training engine for their own needs. Natural-language AI models incorporated into the Unity Editor and runtime train on real code and images. That real-usage training data is abstracted from its initial use (it’s not captured or recorded as-is), however, this learning enables Unity’s customers to substantially increase their productivity,” said a blog post.

These are only a few examples of how XR companies can use artificial intelligence. The application of AI depends on the specific needs and goals of the company, as well as on available technologies and resources.

Image: Unsplash.

Today, virtual reality technology is in active development and has already found its application in different fields, from manufacturing to healthcare. Meanwhile, VR solution development requires the presence of a professional team of specialists, that not every company can afford to hire. In this case, outsourcing the development process to another company is a more convenient solution.

In this article, we’ll highlight the key advantages of VR outsourcing and why it’s becoming more popular in business.

Flexible and Cost-Effective: How VR Outsourcing Can Transform Your Business

One of the most important reasons why companies use outsourcing services is to save money on personnel, additional equipment, and software. Thus, your enterprise can use outsourcing company experience and resources and pay only for required services. It also provides businesses with additional flexibility by allowing them to adjust the scale of VR projects according to their specific needs.

Thanks to outsourcing, your company’s employees can concentrate on their main duties. Meanwhile, outsourced developers can perform their VR-development-related work.

Moreover, VR outsourcing gives companies access to the latest virtual reality trends and news.

How VR Outsourcing Connects Your Business with Top VR Experts

By transferring the VR program development process to an outsourcing company, you get access to a team of developers that specialize in different aspects of VR app design. Moreover, this team has the needed experience, knowledge, and technologies to manage the entire cycle of your project development, including 3D modeling, programming, UI/UX design, etc.

Also, when you involve a bigger number of specialists with the required skills, you can release an effective final VR product faster and more economically.

Faster Product Launch and Innovative Ideas With VR Outsourcing

Outsourcing companies have access to virtual reality innovations and solutions allowing them to release your product on time. That means a possibility to schedule your product release on market and get ahead of your competitors.

From Risky to Reliable: Benefits of VR Outsourcing for Your Business

Outsourcing companies know the most common mistakes to avoid and how to reduce development risks. Moreover, by collaborating with clients from different fields, they can provide high-quality service and innovative solutions, that correspond to the standards of a certain field.

All-Inclusive VR Outsourcing: How VR Studio Can Provide Your Business with Comprehensive Support

Providing technical support, regular updates, and bug fixes are important factors, which may tip the balance in favor of outsourcing. And this factor ensures the smooth and efficient work of your VR solution. Moreover, it allows companies to concentrate on their main duties, leaving technical nuances of virtual reality development to experts.

Outsourcing offers companies numerous advantages for their development and design of VR apps. When transferring VR app development authorities to outsource company, your enterprise will get a qualified team of specialists, who can produce an efficient product quickly and accurately. If you consider VR outsourcing, make sure that the company you choose is a reliable and worthy one with the required experience and a positive reputation.

Image: Freepik

Virtual reality is gradually becoming more widespread in many fields, including music. With its help, newcomers learn how to play musical instruments in a more exciting and immersive environment, that facilitates the learning process.

Students can acquire a certain musical instrument in virtual reality since VR is not just about fancy environments. Some apps allow a headset user to use real musical instruments, with digital clues overlaid on them. Seeing these clues, a student masters their skills much faster.

This article aims to showcase in detail various virtual solutions that facilitate music learning.

Experience the Future of Music Education

In general, there are two types of VR music apps: games and learning apps. VR music games involve a headset user performing rhythmic tasks to the music. Beat Saber is a bright example of this game. While playing Beat Saber, a user hits digital cubes with lightsabers to the music.

Meanwhile, virtual reality learning apps are developed for newcomers who plan to learn to play real musical instruments. The basic principle of VR music apps for learning is it’s interactive experience, where a student uses hand gestures and controllers to press virtual piano keys, pluck digital guitar strings, or beat virtual drums with digital sticks.

Take Your Music to Next Level

Experience the Joy of Piano Playing

In a VR piano app, a VR headset user plays on a virtual or physical instrument, with digital clues are overlaid on it. These clues tell a student what piano key they should press on.

VR-XR Piano App by ArtMaster allows a newcomer to learn how to play the piano in an unusual set. In the program, you can also choose a location that fits your mood: an opera, Moon surface, cliff, etc. There’s also a selection of songs and compositions to play and the option that allows you to adjust a composition’s speed and the length of notes.

Moreover, this program also involves a physical piano, thus creating an additional immersion effect and facilitating the learning process.

We at Qualium Systems are also developing a VR piano app. In this app, a VR headset user gets transferred into a virtual music hall with a digital piano. Similar to the previous use case, playing music on virtual piano keys requires the use of hands. The app also includes three levels of learning: easy, medium, and hard. The playlist of our future VR piano app includes both classic and modern songs.

Enhance Your Drumming Skills

When dealing with VR drums, a headset user can apply controllers to use a digital stick to beat virtual drums and recreate movements while playing the real drums. Smash Drums is an example of a virtual reality app designed to teach how to play drums. It’s suitable for both newcomers and professional musicians. With a VR headset, users can try their hand at drumming on various difficulty levels, ranging from easy to challenging.

A few months ago, the app got an update that includes an additional, highly challenging level that realistically recreates the movements of a drummer.

Step Up Your Guitar Game

Virtual programs for learning how to play the guitar involve controller-free hands to pull digital guitar strings. Unplugged for Oculus Quest is an example of an app that uses similar principles. By the way, Tetiana, the Ukrainian host of Disco VR YouTube channel, attempted to play Unplugged, using a real electric guitar.

Guitar Strummer is another use case, where a headset user can learn how to play the acoustic guitar. There are two ways to create, learn, and play new chords:

choosing notes that look like virtual balls and playing them with a drummer stick
choosing a chord and playing with hands.

In this app, you can create and save your own chords. After every play, a program estimates your playing chord performance.

Transforming Music Education: Advantages of VR Technology in Music Learning

Virtual reality is becoming increasingly popular in music education due to its numerous advantages for learners, such as

A personalized learning experience for musicians. Students can develop their skills in a digital environment that is suitable for them and isolates them from various distractions. Moreover, virtual clues are overlaid directly on a real instrument and allow a student to master a played composition. Virtual apps also provide a user with the possibility to choose the speed and note length of a composition.
Compactness and constant access. Virtual instruments help you save some space in your home and play a musical instrument virtually at any suitable time.
Only you can hear the music. Your neighbors won’t complain about music being too loud when you learn how to play piano or another musical instrument.
Inspiring virtual environment. Sometimes, when a musician plays an instrument, they can find themselves in a not-so-supportive environment with a lot of distractions. Wearing a virtual reality headset, a musician can choose the most comfortable and inspiring place to learn music.

Virtual reality has become a convenient tool for learning music by offering a convenient and personalized experience of mastering musical instruments, such as guitar, piano, drums, etc. These apps enhance users’ music skills and improve their performance in an exciting and inspiring digital environment.

Today, extended reality becomes a highly demanded trend among online service providers. There are two options of XR use for business purposes: native and WebXR apps. But which way fits your business best? And which advantages of native apps and WebXR should you pay attention to? The answer in our new article.

Briefly About Extended Reality

To understand what WebXR actually is, you should get acquainted with the concept of extended reality and its types: virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. You can read more about their main features and differences here.

WebXR And How It Works

After you figured out the basic concepts of extended reality, it’s time to discover WebXR. WebXR is a web application programming interface that allows developers to design VR/AR/MR apps for browsers. With WebXR, a user can get digital immersive content with VR headsets, smart glasses, smartphones, tablets, PC, and other devices.

Some gadget users may prefer WebXR because it gives them such advantages as:

Instant access to XR content with no requirement for downloading applications. According to Forbes, 91% of respondents hate mobile app downloading and installation. This is due to the native apps taking much space in the device’s memory. Moreover, the installation and updating process can take up much time, depending on the complexity and size of an app.
Extended reality content from any device with any operating system. Meanwhile, some native apps you can find on PlayMarket or AppStore may be incompatible with some device operating systems.
For example, Qualium Systems designed a virtual office you can visit, using any XR-supportive gadget: smartphone, personal computer, VR headset, etc.

“Anyway, if we hadn’t developed a WebXR app, we would have designed the app for every platform. Even considering that we developed this app on Unity, which is a multi-platform engine, we would still have to spend approximately 20% more of our time adapting the application to every platform. So, WebXR fits better here because it’s a one-code base,” said Alex Volkov, head of XR department at Qualium Systems.

Here, you can read more about how virtual offices facilitate remote work.

XR content processing speed on the web is quite enough to support the work of simple WebXR apps. That was one of the reasons Glasses Fitting App, the native AR app by Qualium Systems, was transferred to the web.

“When we were developing the native app, WebXR didn’t provide us with the possibility to design the application for the web. So, we developed it as a native one. The technology has improved, and now there is a possibility to recreate all functions in WebXR. WebXR is obviously more suitable since you just use the app with no need to download it,” said Alex Volkov.

More information about the Glasses Fitting App can be found here.

XR Native App And Its Advantages

A native app is a program with specific code that is designed especially for certain devices, operating systems, or platforms. As a rule, this app is downloaded on tablets, smartphones, VR headsets, or any kind of device. It is available on App Store and Google Play and requires periodical updates.

Native apps have some advantages over WebXR, including

The functionality of native apps is better than in WebXR ones. Native apps have better graphics than WebXR and are capable to perform more complex tasks.

“Let’s assume an app can recognize a QR code, and you can draw some content on this QR code. It doesn’t matter, how good it will look, the mechanics are more important. And if we talk about a company that wants to create a virtual room interior, it’s necessary for this room to have smooth, decent graphics, and some good different measuring tools. So, in this case, you’d better have a native app, because WebXR won’t handle these tasks,” said Alex Volkov.

Native apps are more interactive. A significant number of apps with better graphics and functionality offer VR headset users more possibilities to interact with digital objects.

Native apps provide access to XR content offline. For example, you can work with the AR app Pocket City by Skeiron with no Internet connection required. The app is downloaded using a QR code on a postcard you can buy in any local bookshop. Then, you open the app, point the device camera to the picture of a historical place, and activate a 3D version of the building and audio commentary. For instance, in this photo, you can see an AR mini-version of Lviv Jesuit Church.

WebXR Examples In Business

As it was mentioned before, WebXR is more suitable to perform simple tasks with minimal functions. Speaking about AR web apps, they can be useful in different business fields including:

Retail. In WebXR, you can design virtual try-on for brands’ official sites or online shops. This program can track the shape of faces, interiors, bodies, etc. AR web app by Maybelline is one of these cases. A site visitor gives the app access to the camera and then can try on digital versions of cosmetic items before buying them.

The information about how similar AR apps can be useful in retail is available here.

Advertising. WebXR can also be used for designing mascots and simple promos. For example, American beer brand Miller Lite developed an AR mascot that looks like a leprechaun. A smartphone user scans the label of a beer can, and then a digital leprechaun shows up and entertains the user with different tricks.

Education. MoleculARweb is a WebAR site library that contains digital models of molecules and chemical formulas. To start, you should print, cut, and glue the cube-shaped marker. The scheme of it can be found and downloaded on the site. Using the marker and the device camera, you can activate AR objects and interact with them.

Speaking about WebXR-based VR apps, here are few examples of how you can use them.

VR sightseeing. With WebXR, you can walk through the digital streets of Florence, Venice, Rome, and other Italian cities, using a smartphone, PC, or VR headset with a virtual excursion by BBC. The app uses the 360o photo.

Marketing platform. H&M developed its own Innovation Metaverse Design Story platform as a part of its promo campaign for the latest collection. This experience is based on WebXR API Spatial, which allows every user to design their own virtual world, where people interact with customizable avatars. Before you choose a certain space, you need to sign in and pass a tutorial on how to walk, observe the virtual environment, and express emotions.

Now you see the difference between native apps and WebXR. On the one hand, native apps are more sophisticated and provide more possibilities to interact with the digital world. On the other hand, WebXR users can get instant access to XR content with no need to download an app. Finally, using WebXR apps, you can get immersive 3D content, not depending on the device and the operating system you use.