Depending on who you ask at CES, companies are showing off innovations that could take us even deeper into virtual reality, also known as VR.
Metaverse — essentially a buzzword for 3D virtual communities where people can meet, work and play — was the key topic of the four-day tech gathering in Las Vegas, which concluded on Sunday.
Taiwanese tech giant HTC has unveiled a high-tech VR headset aimed at competing with market leader Meta, and a host of other companies and startups are touting augmented reality glasses and sensor technologies that can help users feel — and even smell — in a virtual environment.
Among them, Vermont-based OVR Technology showcased a headset containing a cartridge of eight basic scents that can be combined to create different scents. Its release is scheduled for the end of this year.
An earlier business-oriented version, primarily used to sell perfumes and beauty products, has been integrated into VR goggles, allowing users to smell anything from a romantic rose bed to marshmallows roasting over a campfire.
The company said it aimed to help consumers unwind and marketed the product as a kind of Instagram-integrated digital spa with an app.
“We are entering an era where augmented reality will drive commerce, entertainment, education, social connectivity and wellbeing,” said CEO and co-founder Aaron Wisniewski. “The quality of these experiences will be measured by how immersive and emotionally engaging they are. The scent gives them strength like no other.”
But a more powerful and immersive use of the sense of smell – and its close relative taste – is still a long way off in the realm of innovation. Even more affordable virtual reality technology is in its infancy and too expensive for many consumers, experts say.
The numbers indicate that interest is waning. According to market research firm NPD Group, sales of VR headsets widely used in games fell 2% last year, bad news for companies betting on wider adoption.
However, big players like Microsoft and Meta are investing billions of dollars. Many other companies have joined the race for market share in cutting-edge technologies, including wearable devices that mimic touch.
However, customers are not always impressed with what they find. Ozan Ozaskinli, a technology consultant who flew over 29 hours from Istanbul to CES, donned yellow gloves and a black vest to test so-called tactile products that deliver sensations and stimulate our sense of touch through buzz and vibration.
Ozaskinley tries to enter a code on a keypad to pull a lever that opens a box of shiny gems. But the experience was mostly disappointing.
“I think that is far from reality right now,” Ozaskinley said. “But if I’m thinking of using it instead of Zoom meetings, why not? At least you can feel something.”
Proponents say that the widespread adoption of virtual reality will ultimately benefit different sections of society because it essentially enables the ability to be with anyone, anywhere, anytime. While it’s too early to tell what these technologies will be able to do when they’re fully mature, companies are welcoming them with open arms, aiming to provide their users with the most immersive experience possible.
Aurora Townsend is the chief marketing officer of Flare, which plans to launch a VR dating app called Planet Theta next month.
“Being able to feel the ground when you walk with your partner, or hold their hand as you do so… Once haptic technology becomes fully immersive in virtual reality, the subtle ways we interact with people will change,” Townsend. said.
However, Metaverse expert Matthew Ball said that many of these products are unlikely to become widespread in the next few years, even in the field of games. Instead, he says, implementation precursors could be areas with higher budgets and more specific needs, such as sappers and other healthcare workers who use tactile sensations and virtual reality to help them get their jobs done.
In 2021, neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins University said they were using augmented reality to perform spinal fusion surgery and remove a cancerous tumor from a patient’s spine.
Optics from Lumus, an Israeli company that makes augmented reality goggles, are already being used by underwater welders, fighter pilots and surgeons who want to monitor patient vital signs or MRI scans during surgery without looking at multiple screens, says David Gold. Mann, vice president of corporate marketing.
Meanwhile, Xander, a Boston-based startup that makes smart glasses that display real-time signatures for face-to-face conversations for people with hearing loss, is launching a pilot program with the Veterans Administration next month to test part of its technology. said Alex Westner, co-founder and CEO of the company. The agency will allow veterans who see a doctor with hearing loss or other sound problems to try out the glasses at some of their clinics, he said. If all goes well, the agency will likely become her client, Westner said.
Elsewhere, big companies from Walmart to Nike have launched various VR initiatives. But it’s not clear how much they can benefit from the early stages of the technology. Consulting firm McKinsey claims that Metaverse could generate up to $5 trillion in revenue by 2030. But gaming aside, much of the use of virtual reality today is still something of a form of entertainment, said Michael Kleiman, a technology strategist and visiting fellow at the University of California, San Diego.
“When people promote it, they have to answer: where is the value in it? Where is the profit? It’s not about what’s funny, what’s cute, what’s funny.”
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Post time: Jan-16-2023