At present, the terms virtual and augmented reality (hereafter referred to as VR and AR) are very well known in society at large. During the 4th industrial revolution, various tools were created that were able to improve the situation in companies. Digitization, virtualization, automation and many other processes have started to gain ground in various industries. How is VR and AR doing these days? Can they fully utilize their potential and take the company to a higher level? Can these tools be implemented on any process in any industry, or are they just marketing tools? As in the well-known American series Believe it or not, we will find out the answers at the end of the article.
People often think that it is possible to take a real process and “flip” it into one of the realities. Both realities, like other tools, have their limits and possibilities. These tools are often dependent on technology and its performance, which is especially true for AR. For example, so-called smart glasses are very limited in terms of performance, working space and controllability. Other limiting factors relate to the environment (lighting, dust, humidity, gloss). For the reasons mentioned, AR applications are hardly used and this method is rather waiting for suitable technology. It is now mainly developed for tablets and phones. In contrast, VR has far more acceptable conditions in terms of environment, technology and controllability. When implementing VR, it is always important to conduct a thorough usage and workplace/product analysis. From these analyses, we get tips on suitable technology, how to use it and detailed information about the digitized process, including all inputs.
If we return to the questions from the first part of the article, we will come to the conclusion that AR is very limited by technology and currently cannot be effectively used in practice. VR applications can bring new values to the company, but it is important to start from detailed analyzes that define the necessary inputs and conditions for their creation and use. The images show examples from real projects.