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SPECIAL REPORT: AUGMENTED/VIRTUAL/MIXED REALITY
Reality on Display: VR, AR, and MR

By Brian Santo

irtual reality (VR) had been on the radar for so long that the Virtual Reality (VR)
commercial VR now available already seems old hat. That Full immersion — Everything in
says more about consumer psychology than it does about the view is computer-generated
V technology. Perhaps also inevitable was that the market would (or virtual).
get segmented — into VR, augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), Augmented Reality (AR) Partial immersion — Most of what
and a grab-bag category of XR. is in view is the real world; virtual
The distinctions have become important, as they map well to sets objects are overlaid or otherwise
of applications. VR has thus far proved most suitable for entertain- inserted. Virtual objects can even
ment purposes, such as video games and virtual travel. AR, meanwhile, appear to interact with real objects.
has proved useful for industrial and professional applications, such
as providing interactive guidance in manufacturing; for reference in Mixed Reality (MR) Partial immersion — MR commonly
system repair; as an aid in medical training as well as in the practice of describes when real objects are
medicine; and in similar situations wherein a professional can benefit inserted into a VR environment.
from access to all kinds of reference data. MR and XR, meanwhile, still The term is also sometimes applied
tend to be invoked only in special cases. to special cases of AR.
The market for AR/VR gear is projected to grow to US$18.8 billion by XR
the end of this year, according to Statista. That includes mostly head- A generic term covering VR, AR,
MR, and related technologies; a
sets and glasses but also handhelds, wearables, and body cameras. grab-bag category covering related
Research-And-Markets has a more expansive view of AR/VR. It takes technologies that don’t cleanly fit
into account enabling technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, the other descriptions, including
edge computing, and robotics. The firm expects that advances in those head-up displays (HUDs) and some
areas will pave the way for AR/VR adoption in diverse markets, includ- systems based on haptics.
ing media, gaming, telepresence, retail, medicine, and education.
The industrial sector may have more applications, but the big part
of the market in terms of revenue will still be consumer products, such microprocessor generations.
as Sony’s Playstation Virtual Reality and Facebook’s Oculus Rift and In this Special Report, we’ve got an interview with one company
Quest. Microsoft and Intel have been investing heavily in AR/VR and that took a deep dive into haptic actuator technologies for VR and
have yet to commercialize their technologies. wearables, a story about how Lockheed Martin is using AR in its manu-
Intel, for example, has been working on a set of technologies that facturing operations, and an article that takes a look at how
capture live activity and then replay it in such a manner that the viewer AR/VR is being adopted in the manufacturing industry. We’re also
can review the action from literally any angle. The demonstrations pleased to include a contribution from Peter Hartwell of TDK
of True View (photo, below) are almost always of sporting events, InvenSense; Hartwell not only is a top-notch technologist, but he is
and after several years, they are still astonishing. At CES, company prescient when imagining how technology might be implemented. ■
executives said they might have the processing power necessary to
commercialize the technology cost-effectively in two or three more Brian Santo is editor-in-chief of EE Times.

Intel True View (Image: Intel)

APRIL 2020 | www.eetimes.eu