What makes the VR industry so attractive

How might innovative people represent their version of reality while they were living? Or how would such people represent the future during their present?

These questions, among others, emerged for me when I realized that Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest inventors and artist of the renaissance age, represented his visions of the future and representations of the world through his paintings and drawings.

The art of painting changed considerably through time and although baroque painting was characterized by the representation of extreme details, there were more abstract forms of art that distorted depictions of reality, such as cubism and modernism art movements.

But the art of drawing has evolved in a way that although in some situations art might represent a distortion of reality, such as in cartoons, it also might represent detailed reality through technical drawings.

For many years, engineers drew plants, buildings and equipment on paper. Some of those drawings had the characteristic of a project which should be approved by legal entities to start.

Once computers, in particular personal computers, emerged as one of the greatest innovations in the last 50 years, they provided tools and graphics that would meaningfully assist the creation of technical drawings.

AutoCAD is one of the oldest and most used programs for 2D and 3D drawings. Currently, most of the technical projects are built on computers — not on paper.

Similarly, videogames emerged as a fun technology to represent virtual reality (VR).

Presently, the trend has been to connect reality with the imaginary world of things. Once separated by art movements, the abstract world has now connected with reality through the use of personal computers and other electronics, such as video games and smart phones. And what has emerged and proven to be disruptive are VR devices and technologies.

Once represented only on a TV screen with movies, TV programs, computer and video games, VR devices now provide an immersive experience creating digital twins, or the digital representation of the real world.

To understand the VR industry, there are some key elements:

1. VR platforms. These companies focus on the development and distribution of software, and include engines, tools, and SDKs to create VR projects.

2. Custom VR development companies. These firms work directly with clients to bring the latter’s ideas to life — a form of outsourcing if you will.

3. VR app development companies. These firms focus on designing and building their own ecosystem of VR apps and games.

4. Industry-specific VR solutions. Similar to custom development companies, these firms target one or two market niches: real-estate, sports events, education etc.

As a comparison, imagine the smart phone industry: you have smart phone devices that are connected to powerful platforms (or system operators, such as the Apple iOS), and you have developers that create applications for use on said platforms.

VR also has an intersection with augmented reality (AR). To give a sense of what these technologies mean, VR is a computer-generated scenario that simulates experiences through senses and or perception. The immersive environment can be similar to the real world or impressions of things that depart from reality, creating an experience not possible in our physical world.

AR systems may also be considered a form of VR that provide layers of virtual information over a live camera feed into a headset or through a smartphone or tablet device. This gives the user the opportunity to view three-dimensional images.

Companies such as Magic Leap, Uni-Bit Studio Inc. and Groove Jones, are revolutionizing the VR field. Others like NextVR, WorldViz, Firsthand Technology and Brick & Googles are also disrupting this field.

Currently, people can buy NBA tickets and use a VR interface to help determine which seats to choose.

In the future, physically traveling won’t be required to tour an apartment. Instead, will be able to forgo that burden and view an apartment with the aid of VR technology.

This future will be impacted by not only disruptive startups, but also by their larger counterparts such as Microsoft, Facebook and Google — all of whom are investing considerable resources in VR.

So, what makes VR technologies so attractive? That depends, by it is not only about the technology.

It is also about the experience customers have using it. That experience can focus on entertainment applications, such as in the gaming space, or on commercial purposes, such as in the real estate market.

However this landscape evolves, I believe we are all in for a treat — a “real” one, for that matter.