Is Virtual Reality the New Age of Reality?

Have you ever wished you had the ability to augment your reality? While we’ve played around with these possibilities in the past with video games, movies, and rides at theme parks, the experience is only meant to last temporarily. Well guess what geeks? The tech industry is making strides towards making VR our actual reality.

With the new wave of technology hitting the market, gadgets and AI are becoming integrated into almost every device we encounter. It’s no secret humans are developing a much more intimate relationship with technology in our everyday lives, and as a result our reality has shifted a bit. Whether you’re shopping at the mall or Best Buy, you can find a VR kiosk that affords the general public an up close and personal experience that may turn the on-the-fencers into true VR/AR enthusiasts.

Vive Pro

According to CES, some of the best innovations of 2018 thus far are HTC’s Vive Pro which improves on the original Vive but maintains backward compatibility. The headset is said to transport you to any scene in split seconds. With the highest quality display of any VR headset, they’ve increased pixel count by 78 percent. It has also been redesigned to improve comfort for people with glasses, and has built-in headphones.

Although not quite defined, the Vive Pro sounds to be geared towards gamers and actors who may need to switch scenes in a movie in a split second.

Looxid

The Looxid is a VR headset that tracks your eyes and brain activity in VR. For example, if you’re out house shopping and decide to wear Looxid, the device will track your emotional responses based on what you’re paying attention to, and the electrodes can tell what effect those stimuli may have. Incorporating the algorithms from brain activity further supports the analytics of the VR simulation, and infers how one is feeling at that time.

Some industries that may find this gadget useful are retail, healthcare, and education to name a few.

Pimax

The Pimax 8K VR headset is one of the highest resolution VR headsets you’ll find. It features two 4K displays and a 200 degree field of view which is significantly wider than it’s competition. Talk about great peripheral vision, and not to mention no motion sickness.

So, what does all this mean? Well, for users it’ll make the experience much more intense. There are still some things that need to be worked out with the design of this gadget so the price and release date have yet to be determined.

The military, motor vehicle, and sports industries all come to mind when I think of who could benefit from this gadget when it hits the market.

Meshroom

For auto motive engineers, Meshroom is a life saver. It is a headset that turns CAD drawings into VR prototypes. 3D printing simply doesn’t have the capability to bring a large object such as a car to life so this is where Meshroom comes in.

By using physical “bucks” you can walk around a virtual product and examine it from all angles. The interior of a vehicle is simulated so designers can pre-determine how changes to the design of a car will affect the way it feels to sit in it, and all the other nuances that come with designing cars.

Does it sound like this should be your next gadget? For a not-so-cheap price tag of $2,700 plus a one-year license, it’s all yours!

Are You Ready to Live in a VR/AR Dominated World??

While much work is to be done to have a fully practical VR headset for everyday life the future looks compelling. Wireless headsets are on the horizon, motion tracking capabilities, and AR navigation for motor cycle riders to name a few.

Manufacturers are working endlessly to bring these products and prototypes to retailers. The next wave of in-home gadgets is predicted to debut around 2019-2020.