You can now apply to work at Ikea’s upcoming store — in Roblox
Ikea is opening a new store and hiring fully remote workers. The catch? It's in Roblox, and it's only for a limited time.
Top 8 Uses for Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a technology with a dizzying range of potential applications. And as new and more powerful AR hardware enters the market (such as Apple’s mooted glasses), we’re likely to see even more uses for AR.
That’s not to say that AR, as it exists today, is any slouch, and to prove it we’re looking at eight of the best uses for augmented reality.
Virtual try-ons
The retail industry has been one of the most prominent embracers of AR technology over at least the past decade. Most of the industry’s biggest brands offer some form of the technology, which allows prospective buyers to see how a product would look on them without needing to physically try it on, usually utilising the ubiquitous phone camera to display the virtual elements in real-time.
Prominent virtual try-on examples include make-up from Maybelline, clothing from ASOS and Zeekit, and shoes from Vyking.
Gaming
Augmented Reality has found a natural home in the gaming industry, where it has powered some huge mobile game successes including Pokemon Go and Pikmin Bloom, both from developer Niantic.
Pokemon Go in particular was a smash hit, peaking at over 250 million players per month on the back of an experience that transported the gameplay of the popular Pokemon video game series to real-world locations. That built on work the developer had done in its previous game Ingress, which allowed players to use their mobile phones to interact with virtual portals appearing in real-world locations as part of its science fiction story.
Construction
AR is a key tool in the construction industry, from the design stage right through to the actual building process. For architecture, numerous tools exist to aid in the visualisation of spaces, such as The Wild, which allows designers to view 3D models in both virtual and augmented reality.
On the building side of the equation, AR has uses ranging from training workers on safety to progress capture and tracking functionality that directly compares real-world sites with virtual models in real-time to ensure they aren’t deviating.
Surgery
The high-stakes field of surgery is being revolutionised by augmented reality technology which can overlay vital information onto a surgeon’s field of view as they work. Mixed reality headsets such as the Microsoft HoloLens 2 allow surgeons to operate on patients more effectively, blending the real world with projections of computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of the patients.
Holographic representations of the area being operated on can also be observed in 3D before surgery takes place to ensure a surgeon has full familiarity of the area they are working on. To find out more about the role of AR in healthcare, read our article on the subject.
Navigation
The tricky business of finding your way around busy spaces has been much improved with the help of AR, such as the Live View feature offered by Google Maps, which takes existing data from the map app and overlays it on the camera’s view of the real world with help from your phone’s GPS capabilities.
Individual locations have also explored using augmented reality to help guide visitors, such as Gatwick Airport, which installed navigational beacons that guide a passenger’s way back in 2018 – all accessed via a smartphone app.
Education
From a school setting to on-the-job training, AR can be used to help learners safely interact with materials they would otherwise not be able to gain access to, all while remaining in a familiar setting. Google debuted augmented reality search during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people learn by placing virtual objects such as spacesuits and animals into real-world locations. A host of apps exist to bring similar objects into a classroom setting, including the Merge Cube, which adds tactility to the experience.
Energy giants such as Shell, meanwhile, are using AR to educate workers in the field by bringing in experts who can see through a worker’s eyes and even draw on the screen of the augmented reality display they are using, boosting safety as they interact with potentially dangerous heavy oil and gas equipment.
Design
Designers at all levels are making use of AR to preview how a space will look before any changes are made physically, from those designing individual rooms all the way up to those planning cities.
Non-professionals too can make use of augmented reality to aid in their designs. Just one example is furniture store IKEA’s IKEA Place app which allows users to place 3D models of the company’s goods into their own rooms in order to preview how they would look, automatically scaling them based on the room’s dimensions to ensure they are true to life.
Manufacturing
AR is one of the key pillars underpinning the phenomenon of Industry 4.0, alongside such technologies as machine learning and big data. Consultants PwC has estimated that industrial manufacturing and design is one of the biggest potential areas for augmented and virtual reality, with their use in the industry having the potential to deliver a $360bn GDP boost by 2030.
As a result, examples of the technology in action for manufacturing are easy to come by. One example is Boeing’s use of augmented reality to give technicians real-time, hands-free, interactive 3D wiring diagrams. Lockheed Martin also utilised augmented reality in the creation of NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, overlaying information to help with mission-critical procedures such as precisely aligning fasteners.
Augmented, virtual reality see uptake during pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the use of virtual reality and augmented reality, experts say, especially in retail, education and health.
“The trajectory is clear that this technology is set to become the next ubiquitous computing platform, much like we saw with mobile devices and personal computers,” Taylor Freeman, founder of Axon Park, an extended reality training simulation platform, told Hypergrid Business.
“Gaming has seen a large uptick in playtime and sales,” he said, “and personal well-being, with meditation and mindfulness apps.”
But the biggest growth areas are health care and education, he said, as well as events and conferences that have moved from in-person events to virtual reality.
For example, the Cannes Film Festival will focus on extended reality in its special Cannes XR virtual show this year.
And WaveXR just raised $30 million for its virtual events platform, which proves there are unique opportunities for augmented and mixed reality in the event space, as conventions, concerts and conferences start to move digital, Cory Grenier, CEO of Genee — an augmented reality authoring and publishing platform, told Hypergrid Business.
The growth is expected to continue after the pandemic. According to a May report by Vynz Research, the virtual and augmented reality market will grow from $22 billion of revenue this year to $161 billion by 2025.
“We are also seeing a surge in many other areas, such as showrooms, remote training and walk-throughs,” Dave Dolan, chief product officer at virtual reality education platform Veative, told Hypergrid Business. “Just in the last two months, we have seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in demand for remote training.”
Retail shopping and advertising
Seek XR, an extended reality company whose augmented reality platform is used by companies to increase sales and to create interactive customer experiences as well as for interactive learning, has noted a 600 percent increase in usage of augmented reality through its customers’ websites since the beginning of March when much of physical retail shut down.
To date, Seek XR has deployed more than 10 million experiences to over 100 million users.
And the company reports increases of between 10 200 percent in its corporate clients’ conversion rates — that’s the percent of visitors who turn into paying customers.
“Product returns are dropping by 25 percent and time to make buying decisions has been cut in half,” Seek XR CEO Jon Cheney told Hypergrid Business. “Augmented reality is making impacts with real return on investment that can’t be ignored, even without the looming fears of coronavirus.”
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Education and training
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced 1.53 billion learners out of school and the closure of schools in 184 countries around the world, which has affected learning for 87 percent of learners globally, according to a fact sheet posted by a UN initiative called Education Cannot Wait.
Some of these schools are turning to virtual and augmented reality to help address the needs of these students.
This was a challenge for some platforms, since students don’t usually have VR headsets at home.
One such company, Veative, offers virtual reality-based STEM educational content, serving over 200 schools in more than 24 countries.
During the pandemic, the reported an increase in use — but only after they started to offer web-based mixed reality content that didn’t require that students have virtual reality headsets.
“We managed to pivot and offer our virtual reality content on web-based extended reality,” said Veative’s Dolan. “Schools have welcomed it and we expect to double our user base by the end of summer.”
Other organizations are responding to the challenge by issuing headsets to at-home users, especially enterprises using virtual reality for training.
“Lenovo’s ThinkReality team is receiving more customer inquiries specifically as a response to the global pandemic,” Nathan Pettyjohn, commercial augmented and virtual reality lead at Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group told Hypergrid Business. “Companies are looking for solutions to enhance their workforces through training and re-skilling with immersive virtual reality experiences or using augmented reality to enable workers to do more remotely or be more productive with fewer workers on site.”
Lenovo just announced the release of its Mirage VR S3 virtual reality headset.
It is supported by Lenovo’s ThinkReality software platform, on which companies and enterprises can deploy and manage applications and content.
Healthcare
During the pandemic, companies in healthcare are using virtual and augmented reality for health-based learning, simulation such as surgery, VR-based treatments, and remote monitoring of patients.
XRHealth, for example, has added 500 clinicians on-board its platform and between 500 to 1000 new active patients per month as a result of the pandemic.
The extended reality health company now runs extended reality clinics in 17 states in the United States, with certification from the Federal Drug Administration,
“During this time, both clinicians and patients are seeking out alternative and remote methods for treating various conditions,” company CEO Eran Orr told Hypergrid Business. “Extended reality is a unique platform that is designed to treat so many conditions like pain management, anxiety, memory loss, and hot flashes — and we have experienced a significant spike in interest during COVID-19.”
XRHealth supplies patients with virtual reality headsets.
Its telehealthcare services became accessible to coronavirus patients in all the United States hospitals in March and patients can, on its website, join others in virtual support groups moderated by physicians.
“Our challenge is keeping up with the demand and letting others benefit from our solution, now that we are out there,” said Orr. “Many patients have expressed that they have been getting better results from using our platform than from in-person therapy since their time with clinicians is completely focused on them without the outside noise that comes with being in-person.”
Vendors providing technology to help train medical staff have also seen increased demand.
Oxford Medical Simulation, another medical training platform in the United States, has recruited more than 17,000 doctors and nurses to train during this pandemic using its augmented reality simulation platform.
Osso VR, a virtual reality surgical simulation platform, has seen a ten-fold increase in demand from teaching hospitals as a result of COVID-19 outbreak and lockdowns.
Ikea creates lineup of 3D-printed accessibility accessories for gamers
Ikea and Unyq are teaming up for a collection of accessibility-centered accessories for gamers. The lineup includes a mouse bungee, textured keycaps, and a biometric wristband that be customized via a scan of a person's hand.
Lumus Release Infographic That Shows AR Technology Is Not Just For Gaming
Augmented reality (AR) company Lumus, who last year entered a partnership with Quanta to create consumer AR optics, have released a detailed infographic that reveals the current trends within the AR sector.
As technology continues to become more accessible with new solutions offering more affordable solutions for consumers and content creators, the adoption rate of AR has raised greatly in the last year alone. Now, Lumus have released an inforgraphic which explores an umber of different areas within the sector to showcase just how far the industry has come and what the future might hold.
With the title message that “AR is not just for gaming anymore” the infographic lists some of the biggest industries for AR by potential 2025 revenue. Though videogames sits at the top with an impressive $11.6 billion (USD) this is followed by health care and engineering with $5.1 billion and $4.7 billion respectively. Most interesting from the potential revenue side of things is that military and education sit at the bottom end of the scale with $1.4 billion and $7 million respectively.
“The big players in consumer tech are making huge bets and putting serious capital and human resources into their AR product roadmaps. This IS a race. No one wants to be last but no one also wants to deliver a product that is less than “Wow, how do I ever live without this?” either. No one wants to be the Newton, and EVERYONE wants to be the iPhone” Ari Grobman, CEO, Lumus.
The second section of the infographic explores where AR technology is going within a number of different sectors. The real estate and home improvement sector, which is expected to have a potential revenue of $2.6 billion (USD) in 2025, is using the technology to help consumers visualize what products might look like in their home. In 2016 it is reported that 51% of consumers put off home improvements because they couldn’t imagine what the finished product would look like. With apps like the IKEA Place app, consumers can see if a product is right for them before even ordering it.
In the medical sector, which is expected to have a revenue of $5.1 billion by 2025, is seeing AR solutions being used to aid in detection and treatment of many conditions. It is reported that 24% of technology insiders expect to see the most advancements for AR technology within the healthcare sector. Solutions like AccuVein allow for projects of veins allow for nurses and doctors to more easily find them on their first try. This is in response to the 40% miss rate on first attempts of IVS.
The full infographic can be viewed on Lumus’ website and offers interesting insights into the potential future of the AR industry. With more people adopting to the technology the only way for the industry to go is up from here on out.
For more on immersive technology in the future keep reading VRFocus.
IKEA is Gifting 14,000 VR Headsets to Its Employees This Holiday Season
The Swedish flat-pack furniture giant has made some impressive strides into virtual and augmented reality in the past few years, and to celebrate its success, the company is gifting VR headsets to its employees this year for the holidays.
According to a Fast Company report, IKEA will be giving 14,000 of its US-based employees VR headsets.
Although the report doesn’t specify which headset the company is handing out, an image featured in the report reveals what is commonly referred to as a ‘Plastic Cardboard’, or a mobile headset shell that makes use of the owner’s smartphone to drive VR interactions. Hooking into Google’s Cardboard app ecosystem, a ‘Plastic Cardboard’ is a neat entry-level gift that, although not delivering the highest quality experience, is certainly a good starting point for anyone who’s never had the chance to use a VR headset before.
An Inc report has the rest of the details:
“Ikea understands the world around us is changing, and we are changing too,” said Mona Liss, Ikea’s U.S. corporate director of PR, “so selecting a gift that represents new ways of viewing the world seemed like a good fit.”
Ikea previously gifted its employees things such as tablets, Roku streaming players, and Jawbone UP fitness trackers. Not only material goods, but the company also contributed $113 million to 123,000 Ikea workers’ retirement funds.
Ikea released a VR experience last year for HTC Vive that lets you explore and interact with an Ikea kitchen. More recently, the company released Ikea Places, an AR app for iOS 11 that lets you virtually place Ikea furniture in your own home. Hopefully the company will also bring out a mobile VR experience in the future so its 14,000 VR headset-owning employees can get in on the fun too.
The post IKEA is Gifting 14,000 VR Headsets to Its Employees This Holiday Season appeared first on Road to VR.
Apple: Developer Support for ARKit has been ‘Unbelievable’
Apple, Inc. finally showed its hand to the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) industries at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), San Jose, earlier this month, revealing their work to bring both technologies to iOS and MacOS formats. In terms of AR, this begins with ARKit, the company’s own solution for AR development which is already available to developers.
In an interview with The Australian, Apple vice-president of product marketing Greg “Joz” Joswiak said the enthusiasm of Apple’s development community building AR applications had been “unbelievable”.
“They’ve built everything from virtual tape measures [to] ballerinas made out of wood dancing on floors. It’s absolutely incredible what people are doing in so little time,” stated Joswiak. “Who knows the kind of things [are] coming down the road, but whatever those things are, we’re going to start at zero.”
Joswiak suggested that it was never Apple’s plan to build AR glasses or a head-mounted display (HMD) of any kind, but instead to leverage the existing iPhone and iPad audiences for AR.
“I think there is a gigantic runway that we have here with the iPhone and the iPad. The fact we have a billion of these devices out there is quite an opportunity for developers.”
Since the announcement of ARKit, Apple has revealed their work with IKEA to create an AR shopping experience, plus highlighted work by Peter Jackson’s Wingnut and an improved Pokemon Go during WWDC itself. VRFocus will continue to keep you updated with all the latest details on Apple’s work in AR and VR.
Apple Team Up With IKEA To Create AR Shopping App
Apple have begun making a push towards augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology recently. With news that SteamVR would be supporting Mac platforms, and the iPhone 8 expected to have advanced AR capabilities, Apple have teamed with well-know furniture store IKEA to create an AR shopping app to show off some of Apple’s new focus.
The app is designed to help customers in choosing what kind of furniture and accessories they wish to buy for their home. By using an iPhone camera to view the customer’s home, and overlaying the image of the furniture in question over the top, it is possible to get an impression of what the sofa, or table or lamp would like like when placed in the home, allowing customers to make more informed buying decisions.
Michael Valdsgaard, leader of digital transformation at IKEA Systems said This will be the first augmented reality app that will enable you to make buying decisions,” Valdsgaard also indicated plans to include e-commerce features in to the app in future, “Ideally, you could put a sofa in your home with the help of the app, and then with one click add it in the shopping cart on the e-commerce site.”
When the app is launched later on in 2017, IKEA hope to have between 500-600 products available for users to browse, and the company intends for new product lines to appear in the app first before they are launched in stores.
Valdsgaard was enthusiastic about the possibilities provided by Apple’s investment in AR and is of the opinion that is had the potential to become: “The largest AR platform in the world overnight. I think that augmented reality and virtual reality will be a total game changer for retail in the same way as the internet,” said Valdsgaard. “Only this time much faster.”
VRFocus will bring you further news on Apple’s AR projects as it becomes available.
Report: Ikea Teams With Apple For Augmented Furniture Shopping App
Some argue that AR will be the immersive tech that really takes off due to the fact that it adds elements to our daily lives and surroundings vs VR’s dependence on isolated virtual worlds. Shopping is simply one of the examples of augmented reality’s potential to change how we live, giving us different ways to test out consumer products, and Apple is coming to the table with one of the biggest names in furniture for a new AR application. A report relayed via Business Insider suggests Apple is teaming up with Ikea to launch an AR app that lets you test drive some furniture in your home before making a purchase in the very same app.
AR has been used as a promotional tool in a somewhat gimmicky fashion from other entities, but a statement from Ikea’s Leader of Digital Transformation Michael Valdsgaard points to the company investing heavily in the technology. While he recognizes that the physical stores are their greatest assets, he declared that future new products “will first appear in the AR app”. We don’t have any direct insight into such a decision, but this could also be a cost-saving move that allows them to see who is interested in certain products before moving to mass produce an item.
Early in the year, we got another glimpse at the potential of augmented shopping when Gap and Google collaborated for CES 2017. Apple and Ikea are both leaders in their field and this could be a major boost for augmented platforms.
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Customers Get Chance To Flip Pancakes In IKEA’s Virtual Kitchen
IKEA Canada is taking a unique approach to kitchen design by offering customers that chance to flip pancakes in a virtual simulation of their dream kitchen.
The IKEA Etobicoke store in Toronto, Ontario is piloting two virtual reality (VR) experiences for customers. The first is the IKEA VR Pancake Kitchen, which allows customers to get a feel of various kitchen designs through the medium of flipping pancakes. The second is the VR Kitchen Visualiser, which allows customers to see a basic version of what their finalised kitchen design for their home will look like when complete.
“IKEA strives to be an innovative company and is exploring virtual reality as a tool to better meet with our customers. We know that this technology is developing fast and will play a major role in the future for our customers,” says Rob Kelly, Head of Sales, IKEA Canada. “Through this test, we want to learn if virtual reality experiences will help our customers to visualize their dreams and make informed choices when buying a kitchen.”
The two VR experiences are designed to complement the existing IKEA Home Planner that is already available in IKEA stores and on the main IKEA website. The two VR experiences were developed for the HTC Vive headset and are expected to be rolled out to other stores for testing in Sweden and Belgium soon.
Further information on commercial VR use will be available here at VRFocus.