Computerizing Our Real World

From Virtual Reality to Augmented Reality to Mixed Reality and then what?

By Francis Stephen Martinson

Roosting Birds

Is Technology finally finding a home in our Universe?

About 20 years before Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook acquired Oculus VR for about US$ 2 billion in 2014, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy had introduced our universe to Virtual Reality. It was more of an entertainment scheme with little goals to graphical enhancements. Gradually, we were seamlessly being socialized into a world that hitherto would have been religious heresy. Our world had fought so many opportunities for these technological advancements centuries before. Our intangible world was unique to the society that was experiencing it.

To some societies, it was their spiritual reality – where they connected to an intangible thought or being. To others, it was their philosophical perspective – where they scientifically questioned thought processes, norms, realities, and beings. All of these can be found in so much knowledge of the Theory of the Mind. So, how is it that the Sociological, Spiritual, Theological, and even Philosophical are finally finding a commonality within the Technological Space? How are the birds finally coming home to roost?

In the 1930’s Stanley G. Weinbaum penned the first immortal note on goggle-based Virtual Reality system and how eventually, our minds were going to have a tangible portal to the subconscious. He was relatively ambitious in his fictional narrative – where he suggested that eventually, through some sort of Alternative Reality, we were going to adopt a remote sense of touch and smell. Understanding this, Stanley was thinking beyond Virtual, Augmented and even Mixed Reality about 200 years ago!

About 30 years later, Ivann Sutherland, taking advantage of the chaos that this fictional narrative was attracting, created the first ever VR headset. This was exclusive to the military and almost creating a sort of a software that simulated motion, control, and platform for interaction. The military used this so much for fundamental and even advanced training.

Silence of the Masses

The Halls are Silent because the echoes are convenient

There are so many social-religious-scientific beliefs and convictions that have been broken since the advent of Virtual Reality, there are even more that will be torn down, eventually, when Augmented and Mixed Reality becomes accessible and affordable to the larger society. Why hasn’t there been the normal rebellion that characterizes the introduction of an alternative moral, norm or thought? Why has Virtual Reality been allowed to just walk into the fibers of our society without the usual fuss? Don’t get me wrong, technology has had its fair share of opposition.

The devil has been seen in so many operations and operationalization of technology. Gods have spoken about and detested – through their messengers – the cancers of technology and the dependence on them. Again, don’t get me wrong, society and even the technology world still fight the unknown unknowns of Technology while catching up with the known unknowns of technology. Talk about the anxieties that automation brings to the working class – the fear of losing your job to robots. Talk of the security vulnerabilities and the rising costs and inconveniences of authentication and firewalling.

All of this said, we still live in some sort of Virtual Reality and operate likewise. So then, how are we embracing Computerized (Virtual, Augmented Mixed) Reality and what next after that? Do we finally venture into a world of the unknown unknown unknowns? Maybe that will be for another article. For now, let’s appreciate Virtual Reality’s Augmented Reality and its integration into a Mixed Reality.

Virtual Reality’s Augmented Reality into a Mixed One

Daring the World of Impossibilities

In 2016, 2 years after Mark Zuckerberg’s Oculus purchase, the rise of the commercialization of VR devices took full effect. First, it was the Gamers’ trove, then this phenomenon began to thrive in our other social cycles – Technology Throve. You can see social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok leveraging Nintendo’s logic.

Zuckerberg’s Facebook has been touting a VR to AR model that has high bandwidth and can rely on a seamless multi-channel. They claim this will be the biggest proponent of Meta and the metaverse phenomenon – there is skepticism though. The enhancement of AR/VR/MR is gradually going to move us from using heavy headsets and the inconvenience of our natural peripheral views into a more sophisticated situation where we integrate our very reality into an augmented one. Does this confuse you already? Let it not. Let me try and explain this futuristic euphoria – one that has existed in some quarters of this human space already.

For the guy asking from the back, I know. What at all is Virtual Reality and how does it factor into Augmented Reality? What is Augmented Reality, and will that be the Apex of our interactivity within the metaverse?

Although VR does not seem to answer these questions, maybe, Augmented reality could. And as we see the logic of AR/VR/MR, we are better appreciating how we can lower the cost of structure and infrastructure. Virtual Reality has been limited to the creation of immersive environment through the creation of computer-generated simulation. What does this me? If you have been following, then this would mean to you, that it is simply the generation of an alternative would graphically. Under very normal circumstances, our brains should have duly followed the process of we getting unto a VR platform, but the immersive nature means that with the right infrastructure, we may be so immersed into this digital world that we will fail to differentiate it from the real world. If this scares you, think about Augmented Reality.

Augmented Reality is the crème la crème of the digital world… but just for now. What it does is to combine the digital world with real elements. If you are still following, say, you can now have a situation where your mates from zoom calls will now be sitting opposite you on a couch you bought in your own home. It does this by reflecting digital components into the real-life tangible elements within your surroundings! You also have the choice of which components in the real world you want to “fit” the digital world into – and seamlessly too! Get excited! It gets better with mixed reality.

With Mixed Reality, we don’t just and only get to reflect digital environments into real life surroundings, we get to create them too! You know what that means? It means we get to create learning spaces, socialization spaces and other spaces that are futuristic and individualized. For whatever your preference is, you create it. You integrate unknowns with your fantasies and even leverage efficiencies.

Big businesses are leveraging mixed reality for their internal operations and building relationships with their consumers. With simple Mobile AR, students can connect with classrooms remotely within the convenience of their space. No wonder big corporations like US Bank, Facebook and Microsoft continue to use this to improve their experiences and enhance profitability while ensuring the trust of their customers.

The Big Question is, what comes next after Mixed Reality? Stay engaged for the next article.

Original article published on: https://theaugustdispatch.com/2022/10/16/computerizing-our-real-world/

Francis Stephen Martinson

About Author: Francis Martinson is currently the Head of Global Reporting and Intelligence for the Customer Assurance Department of US Bank. He also lectures CSCI 114 Computer Packages at the North Dakota State University, where he continues to pursue a PhD in Software and Security Engineer. He is a member of the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi and has interests in Machine Learning, Data Science, Cloud Computing and Software Engineering.