Unlocking XR: Tech, Ecosystem, and Tools

Dive into the world of eXtended Realities (XR) in this presentation. Explore emerging technologies shaping AR, VR, and MR, and unravel the intricate XR Ecosystem.

Date: 2024-Jan-17
Presentation by: Eusebiu Marcu
Meetup: Unlocking XR: Tech, Ecosystem, and Tools

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Unlocking XR: Tech, Ecosystem, and Tools
Dive into the world of eXtended Realities (XR) in this presentation. Explore
emerging technologies shaping AR, VR, and MR, and unravel the intricate
XR Ecosystem.
Discover the tools driving XR development, empowering creators to craft
immersive experiences. Join us as we navigate the future, bridging the gap
between the digital and physical worlds through XR innovation.
And don’t miss the chance to experience XR devices firsthand, immersing
yourself in the captivating world we’ve just unveiled.

Image source: vive.com

Unlocking XR:
Tech, Ecosystem, and Tools
Alicante Tech Meetup
Eusebiu Marcu
January 2024

About me
• Aerospace engineer, PhD – Flight Control UAVs with AI
• Founder of LetsVR (https://letsvr.ro), Augmented Software Solutions
• Innovation architect and XR consultant/developer
• 17+ years in software research & development
Started with Microsoft techs (MFC/C++, .NET*), SAP PLC dev, now
Unity (for XR), Python/Docker/Linux + Cloud (mainly Azure),
PowerPlatform, Cognitive Services

• R&D holographic signature, automotive, pharma,
• ~6 years in XR development
• Former Member of IBM Academy of Technology
• Open source contributor – SharpDevelop IDE, ILSpy (debugger),
Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit (SteamVR support)


Disclaimer

*This is my personal view on the topic.*

*The opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.*

Emerging Technologies
Reality Extensions – AR/VR/MR
XR Market size & Ecosystem

Agenda

XR Use-cases
XR Dev Tools
Demos
Tech demo

Emerging Technologies

• Reality Extensions spectrum
• VR vs. AR vs. MR

What are
Reality
Extensions?

• Relation with Game development
• Can be seen as
• As a new channel for content-delivery
• Next step in Engagement systems – interact with sensors and IoT devices, interact with other wearables

• New/Next computing platform (client side)

What are Reality Extensions? – VR

VR = Virtual reality (most
common one)

Elements of VR

Main industries

Real-world replication/simulation into
an (closed) virtual environment

Entertainment / Gaming

Displayed on a classic monitor or a
head mounted device (HUD)

Travel

Education
Pharma

What are Reality Extensions? – AR

AR = Augmented reality

Elements of AR

Evolving to context-based
AR & sensory augmentation

1. real-world capturing device (usually
a camera of a phone, tablet or
glasses)

Environment
awareness/augmentation

2. recognition of some elements of
the real world
3. augmentation elements (images,
text/html, [animated] 3D objects,
video etc.) over the real world

IoT integration

What are Reality Extensions? – MR

MR = Mixed reality

Elements of MR

Main industries

merging of real and virtual worlds to produce
new environments and visualizations

Entertainment / Gaming

physical and digital objects co-exist and interact
in real time

Travel

Education
Pharma

AR/VR Market size (2016)
• AR/VR adoption is accelerating
over next 5 years.

• AR/VR market is estimated at
$9B in 2016, growing to $47B in
2020 and $122B in 2025.

• Smartphones and tablets will be
the device of choice for AR and
VR in the near term.

• 25%-40% of VR devices will be
smartphone (like Google
cardboard).

• Similarly, nearly 75% of all AR
software will be for
smartphones and tablets over 5
years.
Source: MD&I Analysis using Goldman Sachs, Citi Research, Digital Capital, and Juniper Research

AR/VR Market size (2022)

XR Ecosystem – Hardware, Software, Services
Hardware

Software

Services

XR Use cases
• Industries & use cases
• Entertainment
• Games

• Utilities
• Underground assets
• Filed asset monitoring
• Danger areas visualization

• Retail
• In-store product order visualization
• Stock verification

• Automotive
• Mixed reality showroom
• Car assistance

• Life sciences & pharma
• Molecule visualization & interaction
• Wearable data visualization

• Other Industries
• Medical & Healthcare
• Banking & FSS
• Information technology
• Industrial Manufacturing
• Etc…

Business processes value & Extended Reality (XR)
Business process phases mapped to XR
● Preparation/training – VR

● Implementation – AR/MR
● Delivery – AR/MR/VR

=>

XR Collaboration

Why XR collaboration?
1. Presence in the same environment

2. Faster & Better learning – Practice doing/hands-on
3. Easily simulate the reality and much more
4. Infinite use-cases

a. Education – e.g. medical, engineering students

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_pyramid

b. Work collaboration – e.g. meetings
c. Hands-on trainings – e.g. automotive assembly line, soft skills, high-risk scenarios

d. … sky’s the limit

XR collaboration benefits

Train more employees
simultaneously

Safe training for highrisk scenarios

Increase employee
engagement and
knowledge retention

Scale and deploy the
right solution rapidly

Reduce costs and
travel time

Capture detailed
training data to
improve performance

XR Development Tools
• Development
• Native – iOS/Swift & Android/Java Visual
Studio/Xamarin/C#/C++

• Game engines: Unity3D/Unreal + C#/C++
• AR/VR/MR kits
• Microsoft Hololens – Win10 SDK
• Vuforia (+OpenGL), Wikitude, D’Fusion
• CraftAR, ViewAR, BlippAR, Look.io
• Free/OSS – ARToolkit, MRTK3, DroidAR, AR Foundation

▪ Design & 3D Modelling
− Blender
− Autodesk Maya
− Autodesk 3D Studio Max
− Pixologic ZBrush

Demos & Showcases
• Hand-held AR

• AR Cockpit (Powered by Vuforia – 2017)
• XR Micro Learning (Powered by EduAR)

• Mixed-reality – Hololens

• Show-room MR (Powered by HoloToolKit – gestures & voice – 2017)
• 3D Molecules (Powered by UnityMol)
• Virtual ruler (Powered by HoloToolKit – gestures & voice)

• VR Collaboration

• Online meetings (Powered by LetsVR)
• Employee trainings (Powered by LetsVR)
• Immersive education (Powered by LetsVR)

• Autism spectrum – interactions improvement (Powered by LetsVR)

Automotive – Cockpit AR

Automotive – Mixed reality showroom

Pharma – 3D Molecule visualization*

*In partnership with Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Paris, France

Online Meetings

Employee trainigs – Aerospace

Immersive Education

Autism spectrum – interactions improvement

XR Micro Learning
(AR Prototype – EduAR)

Tech demo
● Project setup in Unity
● XRI
● MRTK
● AR Foundation – EduAR


Q &A
Thank you!

Author: Jeroen Derks

Jeroen is the founder of the Alicante Tech meetup group. His current day job is to mostly build all kinds of applications, ranging from IoT to educational to corporate.

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