February 2024 has arrived. This month marks the end of the long wait for Apple’s Vision Pro. The device took social media by storm as soon as it was first released, creating buzz and hilarious moments for audiences around the world. Many of them do not have access to designer technology devices.
However, in terms of the current enterprise and consumer XR market, the optics are positive. Although there are first adopter skeptics and the device is far from perfect, the optics are generally positive and exciting.
These sentiments trickle down to the wider companies and end users in the market. Mainstream success and exposure brings XR closer to practical use case deployment and future ubiquity.
To talk about the many major companies taking part in the XR space race, we’ve got some industry-leading talent coming together, including:
- Jay Latta, speaker and founder of The Fusionists
- Kevin O’Donovan, VRARA Industry Metaverse and Digital Twin Committee Co-Chair, VRARA
- Laetitia Bochud, Director, Virtual Switzerland
Apple Vision Pro takes the world by storm
There’s a lot of corporate talk about Apple Vision Pro coming to market. Microsoft and Zoom also released their respective apps to Vision Pro this week. The Vision Pro costs $3,500, and excluding the $200 carrying case, it’s quite expensive compared to the Quest, so it’ll be interesting to see where the Vision Pro goes.
Apple has already sold 200,000 devices in the first week, which is impressive. The question is whether this price point is market-appropriate and sustainable.
Kevin commented:
I give Apple a lot of credit. They have brought all of these topics back into public awareness in a way that many other companies cannot. It’s very interesting to know that because of the world I live in and a lot of people in the oil and gas industry are in the United States, they may not have ordered it, but they all went to try it. This peaked interest. The risk is that people go. I thought it would be better and became disillusioned with transportation. I hope that doesn’t happen.
Kevin also added that “I think this is a really great time” in terms of raising XR awareness for the general public. He added that the enterprise scene at CES was “boiling with interest, not just for Vision Pro but for all kinds of other things.” Technology and digital twins are clearly becoming pillars.”
Laetitia also added:
Also about interoperability. For example, as a producer, I want to know if my creations can be viewed on either (XR) device. This is one of the key components when it comes to dropping money. For that price you have to get something in return. So, drawing a line between not just coolness but also the technical aspect and what you get is really going to be a return on investment.
Jay also explained that “Apple set the benchmark,” noting how the world had regular smartphones and PDAs before the iPhone. What Apple has accomplished is to bring this technology to the mass market. “It makes technology easier to use,” Jay said.
Jay said accessibility benchmarks could help drive Vision Pro forward. “The use of this technology can be more open to non-experts.” This is a huge benefit for businesses as it opens up the understanding of XR to a wider range of users, not just the technology. Wizard.
The future of Magic Leap
Since Ross Rosenberg was appointed CEO of Magic Leap in October 2023, the company has been focused on its 2024 enterprise roadmap. We are targeting XR devices at enterprise and industrial customers.
The new CEO explained that Magic Leap is now in its ‘Chapter 3’ phase, where the company is focused on commercializing its XR technology to industry customers and building customer use cases.
Magic Leap also secured about $590 million through Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund this year, boosting the company’s valuation to more than $4.5 billion. This funding will support Magic Leap’s “Chapter 3” roadmap to deliver enterprise-grade XR solutions.
Jay commented:
We are experiencing difficulties due to several rounds of restructuring. Additional money had to come in, and so on. In Europe it still doesn’t exist as much as it should. It’s still Microsoft’s game to some extent. So the more we can push our products to the enterprise, the more we can collaborate with other companies to showcase the right fit for dedicated enterprise devices, the more success we’ll have. – The most important thing is interoperability, as Leacttia says. This is multi-mode, so you don’t have to throw away your device, and even if you buy multiple devices from someone else at HTC, you can still work with them. Magic Leap is beginning to understand that walled gardens are not their future.
Magic Leap claims its XR technology can help in a variety of fields, including healthcare, military training, and offices, and Rosenberg says it considers these “very high-value use cases” and sees a surge in interest in these industries. I did.
Magic Leap is also exploring the potential of XR technologies in industrial settings to deliver immersive training applications, particularly for complex field procedures that require submillimeter tracking and digital content overlay.
The company aims to dominate the industrial XR devices market by 2024. The roadmap focuses on moving from proof-of-concept projects to large-scale deployments.
Laetitia also explained:
There were reliability issues. I heard that from a customer. Because it’s primarily an enterprise solution, you need a reliable foundation, and in that sense, I hope they’ve been able to solve this problem, because HoloLens has at least taken from what I see here in Switzerland and Europe. , They took the initiative. Honestly, I think the hype has died down on our end.
However, Kevin said, “To be fair, Magic Leap has been around for about 10 years,” and added, “I hope it does well. Obviously they’ve got some serious funding, but let’s be clear about this: they have to deliver. Yes? It’s a company. You can’t just buy it and forget about it. Again, there were interoperability issues, but to be honest, if you had a digital twin five years ago, you had a digital twin that you couldn’t share with anyone.”
Disney and the influence of giant corporations on XR
Disney made headlines this week with its new HoloTile innovation. HoloTile is a prototype device that acts as a VR input treadmill for multiple users. This allows users to move around a shared virtual environment without a controller.
Disney primarily makes Holotile for theme park attractions. But given the company’s enormous influence, the technology could be used in other industries as well.
Laetitia noted that she’s “very curious” about how Disney integrates HoloTile technology into its upcoming experiences. However, Laetitia noted how the wellness and medical treatment market could benefit from such technologies if opportunities emerge. Holotile is a “very timely” launch, she said.
Laetitia also added:
We can use it in rehabilitation centers here in all the digital health centers that are popping up in hospitals and institutions, and we’re using them more and more (XR devices) and even building new spaces dedicated to that type of rehabilitation with MR and haptics. . So it’s very interesting and it’s really more about the entertainment industry but also for me. What is important in the medical field and in the simulation space is data, and since it is ultimately a tile, it is the data that can actually be collected from this mat. It is like a mat, so I think it can be really interesting.
“One of the biggest downsides here, of course, is that it’s flat on the ground,” Jay said. “It doesn’t simulate you climbing,” Jay said. But Kevin said, “It’s perfect. “It takes longer,” he explained. He went on to say, “There are certainly use cases for it, and I think we need to build those use cases keeping in mind that flat land is moving around.”
XR device dilution
Many major hardware vendors, including Apple and Sony, plan to enter the XR device market in 2024 and beyond. South Korean company LG is rumored to be joining the fray this year with its XR headset.
By collaborating with industry leaders like Meta and Apple, LG’s experience in this field could give it an edge in developing potentially competitive devices. However, with so many new XR devices vying for a spot in the market, LG’s entry into the market could be complicated and difficult.
Kevin said:
I think we’re still trying to figure out what the XR market means. – We will have a huge number of products, each product will have different features, and there will be segments. There will be glasses that will do this. There will be headsets that do this. – Combine according to the rack and stack method. Ready Player 1 There are a variety of use cases, from gamers to US military training, and they are already using HoloLens. Yes?
Kevin also explained that XR devices are not entirely defined as headsets or wearables. XR technology is expanding significantly beyond headsets to create a variety of display-based use cases, including 3D monitors, virtual cinema, and smartphones.
Kevin also said that experts should be asking what XR devices are, noting how companies like LG and Samsung are “talking about all this,” adding that cameras on Samsung and Apple devices are already recording spatial video, making them XR devices to some extent. I mentioned how to make it.
Understanding the market therefore means understanding what XR devices are and how the range of devices beyond headsets fall into the realm of emerging technologies.
At CES 2024, Kevin got a hands-on look at a variety of Headset XR devices. He explains:
One of the things I saw at Samsung’s (CES) booth was that they had 3D monitors. If you think about a regular monitor, it has a camera that focuses your eyes and gives you the perception that what you’re seeing has spatial depth, like a 3D image. Samsung demonstrated three models. It’s an unannounced product, but it’s been released. There was no need to sign anything. So, is Samsung planning to release an extended reality device? Yes, it’s a monitor. Many people may not wear a headset at all. – There is a valid use case there and it costs a few thousand dollars. No additional ecosystem is needed. The software does everything for me. So are we going to see all these people entering this market? totally. This is just the next wave of digitalization.
Laetitia commented on the rumored LG:
What I heard there is that they are not making headsets, so what is that? And that’s where I tend to agree with Kevin. With our flexibility and great knowledge of screen technology, we can make a difference.
Jay also expanded on the future of XR devices, noting how, with mobile computing, devices will become smaller and more invisible to users, driving ubiquity through portability and usability.
Jay explains:
The smartphone of the future might just be a tiny thumb drive that you wear. You can wear it on your belt or in your pocket and have a personal area network connected to all your other devices. Perhaps soon we will see transparent displays and smartphones as a service.
To learn more and experience the full conversation, check out the latest Big XR News Show.