AR and VR present many opportunities and challenges to help users engage and transform processes and products at the center of today’s engineering climate.
By Jim Romeo – Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have taken the stage as useful tools that work well with software and equipment to serve the needs of many industries and applications. We find both technologies in things like smart goggles, headsets, design simulations, and many other applications. They help human beings train, experience, solve problems, and perform tasks in alternate realities.
AR and VR technologies, however, do have challenges and present users and designers with pros and cons which must be considered and pondered in their deployment.
AR and VR: The Good Stuff
AR and VR provide remarkable capabilities and offer users numerous advantages. “Products and their manufacturability can be reviewed, evaluated, and in some cases tested before expensive prototypes and tools are built and committed,” says Kelly Malone, Chief Customer Officer at Taqtile Inc. in Seattle, WA. “Remote colleagues can collaborate synchronously or asynchronously, saving time and travel costs.”
Gary McAuliffe, VP Global Utilities for Librestream in Raleigh, NC, says illustrative tools that use AR in a remote work environment increase efficiency and productivity by giving individuals the capacity to do more, cut travel costs, and be more resilient.
