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What Is Spatial Computing and How It Is Reshaping Industries?

Noah Davidson — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 15:40:31 +0000

The last few decades have been characterized by significant tech innovations like artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and driverless cars. As we progress into the current decade, another massive shift in computing is unfolding right before us – spatial computing. This new technology holds enormous potential to change how industries optimize their operations. In this article, we answer questions like what is spatial computing? What are the key elements of this technology, and how will it affect industries in future?

What is Spatial Computing?

This refers to digitization of activities that involve people, machines, objects, and environments where they take place. It merges the digital and real worlds to create a more immersive experience for users. Combining technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), spatial analysis technology facilitates seamless interactions between computers and users in a 3-dimensional (3D) world.

What are the Main Elements of Spatial Computing?

Computing spatial analysis technologies have four main elements:

1. Augmented Reality (AR)

Space computing uses augmented reality to improve user perception and interaction by overlaying objects and digital information into the real world. AR applications leverage this technology to track user position and orientation for improved interaction with virtual objects.

2. Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality immerses users in computer-generated environments. It’s ideal for simulating real-world activities. But, what is spatial computing technology with regard to virtual reality? Space computing utilizes VR to add natural interactions to virtual environments by tracking body and head movements.

3. 3-D Scanning

Computer spatial analysis leverages photogrammetry or 3D scanning to capture real-world objects and scenes. This results in the production of detailed 3D models with the right shape, texture, and color for immersive 3D user experiences.

4. 3-D Modeling

Mixed reality uses augmented reality to improve user perception and interaction by overlaying objects and digital information into the real world. AR applications leverage this technology to track user position and orientation to improve interactions with virtual objects.

Spatial Computing Use Cases that are Reshaping Industries

What is spatial computing enabling companies to do? We take an in-depth look at six use cases of computer vision spatial analysis and their application across industries:

1. Redefining Employee Training

Space computing is redefining employee training with its immersive and highly interactive capabilities. Using this technology, companies can develop virtual training environments that are very similar to scenarios in the real world. In such environments, employees learn by doing as opposed to observing. For example, pilots can acquire aircraft flying skills through virtual simulations that resemble real-life flight experiences. This hands-on, immersive approach accelerates employee learning and improves knowledge retention.

2. Improving Productivity

Mixed reality automates tedious tasks and optimizes workflows. Industries can use it to add intuitiveness to digital content interactions for enhanced efficiency and task completion. For example, the technology gives visual cues on AR glasses to enable factory workers to locate or identify the tools they need. In retail environments, technology can give buyers pleasant shopping experiences by leading them to the products they wish to buy. This blend between the physical world and digital data provides contextual information needed to fast-track decision-making and enhance productivity.

3. Virtual Product Prototyping

What is spatial computing to product development and how will it alter the way industries prototype their products? Companies incur huge costs conducting physical prototyping and testing on new products. Computer vision spatial analysis is changing this by enabling prototyping and testing of products virtually. Product designers and developers can develop, refine, and test product designs in digital environments before producing physical products. By facilitating simulation of real-world product usage and conditions, spatial computing technology allows companies to identify product design issues and resolve them early in the development process.

4. Improving Workplace Design

Companies in different industries can use spatial analysis computing to create workspaces that foster employee productivity and collaboration. Using this technology, organizations can simulate different office layouts, create digital replicas of real-world workspaces, and evaluate their impact on employee collaboration, workflow, and efficiency. Interior designers and architects use the spatial analysis technology to visualize workspace layouts in 3D, giving companies an office feel before implementing actual changes.

5. Fostering Collaboration

The immersive nature of computer spatial analysis technology gives buyers personalized experiences. For example, the technology can facilitate ‘try before purchase’ experiences for retail shoppers. Buyers can see how a dress would look on them or how furniture pieces would look in living spaces without trying or placing them physically.

6. Better Customer Service

Industrial enterprises can use spatial glasses to create shared digital spaces that allow teams to interact as if they were located in the same physical room. In such environments, teams can exchange digital objects, view each other’s avatars, and engage each other. This enables teams to build stronger relations and enhances collaboration, making it more immersive and highly interactive.

Final Thoughts

Industrial enterprises that understand space computing and its use cases can change their operations significantly. But, what is spatial computing in relation to extended reality technologies like augmented and virtual realities? Space computing leverages these technologies to recreate physical environments in digital spaces for immersive, highly engaging experiences. Industries can use this technology to enhance employee productivity, improve staff training and collaboration, and facilitate virtual product prototyping.

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Microsoft Mesh Now Available in Microsoft Teams: Supports 3D and VR Meetings

Noah Davidson — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 13:08:30 +0000

On January 24, Microsoft launched its immersive 3D meetings inside Microsoft Teams. It will let people meet in virtual spaces with or without a VR headset. The company’s mixed reality platform, Microsoft Mesh came out of preview and integrated into Teams. The 3D Mesh meetings in Teams perform at optimum with a VR headset, with the tech giant only supporting Meta’s Quest devices currently.

With Mesh VR, you can engage in virtual 3D meetings, and the spatial audio feature imitates the ability to have private conversations you have in an office by moving away from other co-workers in a virtual space. The amazing part about it is the 3D spaces are customizable and there are games like tossing bean bags or icebreaker questions for you to play with remote colleagues who you haven’t met before.

Is Microsoft Mesh Available for Users?

The standard features include 3D immersive experiences using next-generation technology that help virtual connections feel more like face-to-face interactions and are available on PC and Meta Quest VR devices. If you want to deploy it in your teams it is available in Microsoft Teams business plans and requires a Teams Premium license. The plans start for small businesses from $4 per user/ month and for enterprises, they have plans like Microsoft 365 E3 which is $36 per user/ month.

Enterprises Using Microsoft Mesh Today

Many organizations opted for the immersive 3D experience in Microsoft Teams. Beginning from Bp to Takeda, some of the biggest enterprises have done it.

Accenture

One of the largest consulting firms globally created a strategic partnership with Microsoft to design a solution that maintains authentic connections promotes cultural understanding, and encourages unity across the organization.

Ellyn Shook, Accenture’s Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer in talks with Microsoft explained that the new onboarding experience helped the new employees understand the company’s culture, core values, and how Accenture drives value for the clients, people, and communities. All in a collaborative, immersive way that transcends space and place.

Takeda

Takeda had a unique challenge of finding a cost-effective way to help their geo-diverse workforce connect and further their common cultural understanding. They created a custom solution designed to inculcate engagement, strengthen the commitment to their corporate philosophy, and speed product innovation: the Hirameki Garden. The garden, created in Microsoft Mesh, enables a virtual location for large, company-wide events like town halls and all-hands meetings.

bp

They created a specialized physical meeting space called Highly Immersive Visualization Environments (HIVEs). This permitted experts to understand and team up on complex problems in a way that wouldn’t be possible with traditional tools.

Roger Rohatgi, Vice President and Global Head of Design for bp, shares that “highly immersive visualization environments open the path to a more digital and collaborative future for bp. By partnering with Microsoft Mesh, we can explore how to use advanced technology for faster, more informed, and safer decision-making as we pursue our ambition to become an integrated energy company.”

Final Thoughts

Microsoft has always been in the news, whether it was stopping updates of Windows 10 or launch an in-house AI chip. This feature though being innovative and engaging needs to witness the adaptability and utility of most organizations. As Microsoft confirmed many international organizations have been using it, but overall how many companies use Teams as their mode of corporate communication? We have to see since the upgrade how many enterprises actively engage in it.

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5G Network: A Comprehensive Resource for Consumers

Olivia Carter — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 10:04:02 +0000

The year 2023 is almost on the verge of ending and users and readers are keen on learning about the fine print of advancing technologies and critical topics like cyber resilience, Internet of Things and so much more. One other thing that is a hot topic is the 5G network and why are we delving into it.

5G is the fifth generation of wireless cellular data providing users with greater upload and download speed, coherent connections, and enhanced capacity than previous networks. 5G networks have the capacity to completely change the way we use the internet to access applications, social networks, and information. It is seen time and time again that 5G is better than 4G. But we would like to demonstrate it for clarity.

Difference Between 4G and 5G Network

Aspects	4G Networks	5G Networks
Latency	10-100 ms	Less than 1 ms
Download Speed	1 Gbps	20 Gbps
Frequency Channels	1.4-20-100 MHz	Upto 800 MHz
Mobility (Km/h)	350	500
Frequency Band	Below 6 GHz	30 GHz to 300 GHz
Multiple Access	CDMA	CDMA, BDMA
Network Design	Base Station (Macro/ Micro)	Heterogenous Networks

Top Benefits of 5G Network to Consumers

So now you know the subtle difference between 4G and 5G networks. It is time to know the advantages of it.

1. Smartphones

5g technology will impact smartphones widely in the coming time and 5g devices will become a norm in our day-to-day lives. The advantage of 5g over any other network is the reach and connectivity. So every nook and corner of the world will have an improved network. Even the hard-to-reach places will have a connection guaranteed as part of service plans. Moreover, users will have a high-quality experience on their devices with downloads having to face no delays like before

2. Entertainment and Streaming

5G provides an unprecedented advantage over other technologies with virtually unlimited capacity and reduced lag time. With high-quality and comparatively faster streaming, 5G also assures revolutionary immersive experiences.

So you can have the perception of being a part of the world you are viewing or streaming. This includes multisensory digital content due to its increased capacity that can support virtual reality and augmented reality. So the experience you will receive is new ways of communication, smarter working, and smooth and reliable immersive gaming.

3. Virtual Reality

A report predicted that 90% of 5G traffic will be video by the year 2028 and instead of using an average of 11.7 GB of bandwidth per month, we’ll each use 84.4 GB. With 5G’s speed and latency, we will not only stream videos in 4k but also get a virtual reality becoming reality experience.

At the moment, VR and AR are restricted to fixed locations of the devices that operate them. 5G in collaboration with the cloud will help us spread information onto the environment around us using VR headsets.

4. Edge Computing

Edge computing is a distributed information technology architecture that brings organization applications closer to the data sources in order to reduce latency and bandwidth use. So you have the advantage of creating high-performance applications that can process and store data close to where it is generated, providing ultra-low latency, smartness, and real-time responsiveness.

With the changing edge computing trends use cases and data requirements, it requires high-speed networks to achieve that near real-time responsiveness. 5G networks provide that support for complex edge computing infrastructure and specialization.

5. Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is enhancing our lives in many ways and stretching beyond laptops and smartphones. These devices include thermostats, weather monitors, traffic systems, light bulbs, and industrial sensors. The low latency of 5G could benefit a wide variety of connected devices, including self-driving cars.

It’s going to affect how we buy our product or service. The IoT will enable the things we use every day to make payments. you could pay for small expenses too by just pressing a button. So it will not only make things convenient but will also save a lot of time.

4 Ways 5G Will Alter Business and Consumer Technology

Considering the benefits of 5g for consumers, there are certain aspects that will change in the technology for businesses and customers. They are,

1. Virtual Access to Most Business

In the coming year, 5G will speed up the availability of IoT devices with greater capabilities and effectiveness in multiple industries like e-commerce, tech, fashion, and shopping. Entertainment and education will improve too with 5G technology.

So, this will benefit customers boostly as they will be able to witness more impactful services and immersive experiences from the enterprise. This applies to all industries and sizes of enterprises. Customers can enjoy personalized services along with frontline workers and employees. So video, virtual, and augmented reality will enhance consumer experience as businesses will provide virtual access.

2. Exclusive Gaming Experience Across All Devices

As we discussed above in the advantages that 5G will improvise the gaming arena. The reason behind this is 5G is beneficial due to its latency and not its bandwidth. The most-used app for that is cloud gaming among Gen Z and millennial gamers. With 5G in place, you will be able to play AAA games on your phones that would normally require a gaming laptop.

On 5G, the game itself is running on a high server so the lag between the server, cloud, and mobile phones will be unnoticeable. The gaming experience around all devices will be exclusive.

3. Improved Capabilities for Smart Appliances

The smart appliance industry will witness a boom all thanks to AI and 5G. Your needs will be fulfilled by truly smart devices as the 5G networks come with high speed and low latency. These appliances can determine the material, procedures, and even the finished product.

So in the coming expect a life-changing environment from 5G and smart appliances as they will continuously go through various advancements and the catalyst will be 5G.

4. Augmentation of the Metaverse

Consumers can rely on 5G technology to deliver and receive high density of data including videos, images, and more. So the expansion of the metaverse and everything around it is definite. As the metaverse highly depends on VR, the improvements in VR will also benefit it. Also, everything in the metaverse will be highly connected and the digital world will include robots, systems, and machines with little to no human involvement. Therefore, this virtual space will flourish and reach its full potential in no time.

Will Consumers Explore the 5G Experience to its Fullest?

In 2024, significant technology trends and continuous upgrades in AI have created a need for quality networks. With 5G advancements and technology immersing, now is 5G’s time to shine. In every sector from technology to marketing and VR to education, 5G networks will change the course of how most industries work.

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Breaking News: Apple’s second-generation AR/VR Headset will be here in Jan 2025, Says Kuo!

TRO — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:37:01 +0000

Previously, there have been fiery rumors spreading around Apple’s upcoming augmented and mixed-reality headsets. Now, we are going to have the second version of the device! Popular analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo confirmed in his blog post that Apple plans to launch its second-generation AR/VR headset in the first half of 2025. The second generation of the device will probably feature a more high-end configuration and it will be a new affordable option.

Apple’s second-generation AR/VR headset!

Rumors around Apple working on an augmented and mixed-reality headset have been on fire since its announcement. According to analysts Kuo, we are about to get the second generation of the device. In his blog post, Kuo explored some of what he has heard about Apple’s plans to develop its new products further once the first version has shipped. However, we do not have a concrete date, even for the release of the first one.

“The second-generation Apple AR/VR may have high-end and more-affordable models, which will launch in 1H25, and component suppliers will start shipping in 2H24. Apple AR/MR shipments may reach 10 million units as soon as 2025 or 2026, thanks to the second-generation Apple AR/MR product segmentation strategy and ecosystem,” Kuo wrote in his medium blog post.

He further added that Apple AR/MR shipments may reach 10 million units as soon as 2025 or 2026—thanks to the second-generation Apple AR/MR product segmentation strategy and ecosystem. Although this might sound extravagant for other companies, Apple’s (apparent) commitment to the project might not be fanciful.

What does Kuo have to say?

Kuo is further of the belief that once the first-generation chips, Apple will be working on the second generation of devices that will include a range of models, including more high-end and low-end options to suit a wider set of budgets.

Considering his blog post, we can expect the second generation of devices will apparently have improved lens modules for each eye. This will contribute to potentially increasing visual fidelity and perhaps allow the designs to shrink down slightly—a key variable for wearable headsets or glasses. Kuo has not specified any dollar pricing, preferring just to say ‘more affordable’ about the second generation. Previous reports have, however, claimed that the first headset will cost around $2,000.

What can we expect from Apple’s second-gen AR/VR Headset?

Here are a few insights from Kuo’s Medium blog post on the second generation of Apple’s AR/VR mixed-reality headset:

The first-generation Apple AR/MR Pancake lens suppliers are Genius (main supplier) and Young Optics (second supplier). GIS is the Pancake lens lamination supplier. The above suppliers are expected to be in the second-generation supply chain.
The first-generation Apple AR/MR will adopt two 3P Pancake modules (one for each eye). The total cost of the Pancake lenses is about $30–40 (USD), roughly equivalent to 20 high-end 7P lenses. It provides a new growth driver for Apple’s optical supply chain in the medium and long term. The cost of the second-generation Pancake lenses will likely increase to improve the visual experience and form factor design.
Largan will likely be a new supplier of the Pancake lens for the second-generation Apple AR/MR headset and expand production capacity for this order in its new Taichung plant.

As with most information about Apple’s plans for unannounced products, we may not hear anything from the Cupertino manufacturer for quite some time. However, this certainly makes it sound like Apple’s AR glasses are going to be here to stay once they do arrive

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Analyst Kuo Reveals the Release Date of Apple’s AR/VR Mixed Reality Headset!

Anwesha Mishra — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 14:15:12 +0000

In a piece of latest news, Apple Inc.’s anticipated mixed reality headset will “likely release” in January 2023, according to reliable analyst’s predictions. Although Apple has not disclosed much information on its AR/VR reality/mixed headsets, analysts are quite excited about the tech giant’s latest offering.

‘Most Complicated Product Ever Designed by Apple’

Reliable supply chain analysts Ming-Chi Kuo dropped the latest release date prediction in a new analyst note. The latest analyst note was first spotted by 9to5Mac and examined growth focused on the VR headset industry. Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset will reportedly offer a combination of augmented and virtual reality experiences, according to Kuo. It states that the headset is “the most complicated product Apple has ever designed.” However, its release could potentially fuel ‘rapid growth’ in the market for head-mounted displays.

In the note shared on LinkedIn, Kuo further wrote that Apple will be a game-changer for headsets. Although the tech giant has reiterated that its focus is on AR, its AR/MR supporting video see-thru could potentially offer an excellent immersive experience, according to Kuo. As a result, it will boost the demand for immersive gaming/multimedia entertainment.

An Industry Game Changer

According to Kuo’s predictions, Apple is about to make a big splash in the mixed reality headset space. He expects Meta, Apple’s main competitor, to take a step back and cut back its near-term investment in VR hardware to focus on its advertising business.

Kuo further added that Apple and its supply chain will see a favorable stock re-rating in the upcoming years. He added, “Apple is an industry leader with significant competitive advantages and doesn’t need to join the Metaverse Standards Forum now. Once Apple launches its AR/MR headset, its global rivals will attempt to imitate the company’s offering, the analyst said. This will propel the headset hardware industry to the next stage of rapid growth.”

Apple’s Most Anticipated Product

This is not the first time Kuo has predicted Apple’s headset release. Several predictions have been poured down the internet previously, offering far wider release windows. In 2021, Kuo said we might see the headset released at some point in 2022—which seems unlikely now. Recently in June 2022, he predicted that we can anticipate a release of the AR/VR headset at some point in the second quarter of 2023. Although this does not guarantee a January announcement since Apple’s plans could probably change or Kuo’s supply chain sources could downgrade, listing a specific month establishes a strong show of confidence from the analyst.

Moreover, the prediction coincides with several reported activities around the headset at Apple. The company’s board of directors reportedly tested the headset in early May 2022. This was confirmed by mentions of the headset’s RealityOS software cropping up in Apple’s code and appearing in trademark applications. In fact, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook recently teased upcoming augmented reality announcements.

Over the years, numerous reports have attempted to shed light on Apple’s intriguing headset. The gadget will work as a standalone device rather than needing to be tethered to a PC. It could also have as many cameras as possible to track its movement. Internally, the headset will have a processor with a similar amount of processing power to M1 chips that are becoming common in recent Macs. However, when it comes to power, it is unclear whether its battery will be wearable on the user’s body or built into the headset itself.

Anwesha Mishra

Anwesha has been a creative writer for a while. Currently, on her pursuit of tech writing, she is diving into the realms of technology to produce better content on the forever-changing world of technology. In her free time, you’ll find her humming tunes of her favourite shows or reading a book.

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