Are You Not Entertained? – How Broader Applications can Improve XR Adoption

 2019-01-08 By: Elroy Yao

A brief look at AR/VR applications will tell that the main usage of both of these technologies is in entertainment. Spanning from gaming, cinema, or even as a way to remotely watch live shows; most of XR applications are in some way related to entertainment. However, this can be said to be an underutilization for such a high-potential technology; which is why other functionalities are developed for other purposes such as manufacturing, maintenance, medical, and many more. Perhaps this non-entertainment content can be the key to more XR application adoption.


See, Experience, Learn


Generally, humans perceive more from their vision than their other senses. This evolutionary trait makes a new form of visualization all the more important as it affects the viewers' experience more. This is very useful for information transfer, especially when the information should be transferred in comprehensively, but conventional methods have been tried with little to no success. For example, students who found some difficulty in learning geography might get some benefit in personally witnessing and essentially experiencing the location. This is quite similar to what one of the exhibitors of InnoVEX 2018; GTrainers are doing. While their current product is focused only on Taoyuan, this is certainly a step in the direction of expanding XR adoption as it can also be used for virtual tourism and promotion.


Closer to Businesses


A majority of XR contents are B2C oriented, but whether this is the correct approach remains to be seen. For example, AR contents need a smartphone to be enjoyed, but for the best performance, a better and most likely more expensive smartphone is needed. On the other hand, both VR and MR require dedicated headsets which can be too expensive for the general public; thereby further limiting the number of potential users. The other approach to this issue will be to create more dedicated XR solutions or contents for business clients and purposes. This approach was used by several InnoVEX 2018 exhibitors such as Innoviz who uses XR for real estate visualization or Luci Group who uses AR to display information or instructions. These applications might not be the most obvious, but they might be the most effective way to get more people to utilize XR.


Join InnoVEX 2019! Registration Deadline: January 25


In 2019, InnoVEX will be held from 29 to 31 May in TWTC Hall 1. More than just an exhibition, InnoVEX will feature forums, matchmaking sessions, pitch contest, demos, and networking opportunities. This year, the booth registration will end on January 25. Don't forget to secure a booth as we're quickly running out of available spots. Interested startups can register to exhibit at InnoVEX 2019 here.