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Mediated reality or extended reality is indicated among the 2020 trends by the International Data Corporation , with forecasts of a growth of 78.5% ($18.8 billion) compared to 2019 ($10.5 billion). According to Accenture , B2B business is overtaking B2C. Growth is estimated at 134% and 69% respectively over the next three years. Although immersive experiences are now part of everyday life, there is still some confusion between virtual reality and augmented reality. To clarify and talk about some applications by brands, we interviewed Simonetta Pozzi , trainer and storytelling consultant , specialized in these topics.

What is meant by VR, AR, MR and 360° tours?

“Who among us hasn’t tried the Ikea Place app AR application , which allows you to position the furniture from the catalog in the home space, observing it on the screen? Who hasn’t yet experienced viewers in museums or trade fairs? If we look around, we find that there is a great variety of immersive experiences at our disposal,” says Pozzi.

Virtual reality (VR) is immersive technology. It is identifiable with a digitally created space within which it is possible to move by means of devices, such as the VR viewer which excludes the outside world . We can speak of experience at 3 degrees of freedom (3 DOF) or at 6 degrees of freedom (6 DOF): in the first case, the movements of the head are traced, in the second also those of the body.

Augmented reality (AR) maintains a user’s connection to the real world by adding computer-generated graphics, images, or interactive data to perceived reality. For the simplest use, it only requires a smartphone with camera and AR app.

Mixed reality (MR) combines virtual Thailand Mobile Number List reality and augmented reality by superimposing them. It allows you to observe the real world around us  by drawing useful information (AR), but also to see and move virtual objects as if they were real. It was studied and disseminated by Microsoft with Hololens and Windows Mixed Reality viewers. You don’t have the total isolation typical of VR, but an augmented vision.

Virtual tours and 360° videos

Virtual tours and 360° videos are not classified as virtual reality, explains Simonetta, due to the type of use (mobile device or computer, sometimes an HMD viewer and Google Cardboard). The first examples known to most are the Google Street View projects . Personalized virtual tours are 360° interactive content with hotspots, i.e. buttons that refer to other content, allowing you to guide the user along his path and lead him to focus on certain details, on product or offer in-depth pages.

The fundamental stages of mediated reality

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Later, in the 1950s, Morton Heilig had invented the Sensorama simulator for the cinema of experience. It allowed to see 3D stereo images and to perceive a tactile sensation of movement, ‘Smell generators and vibrating chair’. Only in the 60s did Ivan Sutherland (1968) build the first viewer called Sword of Damocles, which already had ‘head tracking and see-through optics’, but was hooked to the ceiling and had a considerable weight.

The first time of virtual and augmented reality

 

What is presence in virtual reality
Presence is defined as ‘the ultimate empathy machine’ by Chris Milk:

VR is difficult to explain because it’s a very  Hong Kong lead  experiential medium. You feel your way inside of it. It’s a machine, but inside of it, it feels like real life, it feels like truth. And you feel present in the world that you’re inside and you feel present with the people that you’re inside of it with.

Chris Milk
Why choose virtual or augmented reality?
Today we can see how much virtual tours, 360° videos, VR and AR are attracting interest not only from big brands , but also from medium-sized companies. Tourism boards invite users to download VR apps and share the experience. Artists use virtual reality to create and disseminate their works.

Why, then, choose and include mediated reality in the marketing plan? The VR/AR Association , an international association that brings together the main companies in the VR and AR ecosystem, suggests applying the 5 W rule before adopting extended reality:

Why . Is the immersive approach right for my audience?
How . Does it make sense to use virtual rather than augmented reality?
Who . Who will be willing to use it?
What . Will it be a valuable experience?
Where . Will the location/space support the experience?
Applications and examples of VR and AR: from art to medicine

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