Physical, augmented, virtual or mixed reality… Did we get lost? Don’t worry. Let’s find our way together by untangling ourselves from these realities and discover the foundations and various opportunities of this phenomenon.
Is it only a niche? Or maybe a little game for true nerds? Or (help!) just an eternal promise? None of this. Augmented and virtual reality have already become global trends in many successful cases around the planet. Real-time support systems for delicate surgeries, complex industrial processes, or for the simple, but anyhow annoying assembly of furniture. What about virtual dressing rooms, home configurators, editorial, educational, cultural and artistic projects, such as the wonderful virtual restorations and, of course, games. Is all of this still to come? No, all of this is already reality.
The mixed reality technological framework is a constituent part of the broader paradigm of the fourth industrial revolution, endorsed and funded by supranational bodies and global companies. In fact, players and products from this market appear in the portfolios and activities of investment banks, investment funds, accelerators and top-level players such as Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook just to name a few.
In short, we are talking about something of which we should at least know the basics, to be able to join the discussion. But we will most likely discover that it would be useful to master the most important aspects, because we should invest our time, energy and money into it.
Of course, we have already unraveled the peak of this hype, and yet we do not possess the magic bullet greatly desired for many decades. We hope it is useless to say it, but you never know, there may be someone around who believes it.
The game rather is the slope of enlightenment to remain in Gartnerian terminology. Meaning how to intercept the apparent needs or, even better, to interpret the latent ones. Build suitable business models. Design effective experiences and interfaces, already designed to enhance multiple levels of reality. Knowing how to reach the target audience.
A lot of work to do, yes, but if it is too much, at least let’s try to acquire adequate awareness and knowledge of this phenomenon which, although not in-depth, for a professional can and must be organic.
For those who need or have the opportunity to learn more or, why not, simply for the passionate ones or as well as those simply interested we will clarify, play, study and take some first steps together.
Andrea Bellezza
VP of Enterprise Strategy
Co-founder of OSC Innovation, having 15+ years of experience as Strategic Innovation Researcher and Consultant, and New Media Designer: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Robotics, IOT, AI. Innovation and Intuition are the key cross-cutting components of his professional development, exploited in a wide range of environments: technology and new media, international academic research and education. Proudly led the launch of the ‘augmented reality’ in Italy, making OSC Innovation the Italian leader since then. Teacher and coaching for italian and international universities and institutions.
