Extended Reality and Its Applications Across Industries

Enterprises are actively seeking to improve digital and physical experiences for users by combining real and virtual elements and providing an enhanced human-machine interface. These immersive environments are created through technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR), which, along with other immersive technologies, have come to represent the broad spectrum of Extended Reality (XR). Despite significant scope for technological improvements and lack of well-defined standards, the market for XR is growing via implementations aimed at improved experiences for consumers and increased efficiencies within organizations. XR has enabled a shift from the creation and consumption of information to the creation and consumption of experiences – which can range from being merely episodic to deeply immersive.

The development of improved computing resources, realistic display technologies, and 5G are driving XR adoption. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the pace of adoption, with increasing needs of remote collaboration among enterprises and evolved consumer behavior that is shifting toward online models.

This viewpoint examines XR technologies, including the differences between AR, VR, and MR. It also explores XR use cases across industries and discusses the challenges to adoption, while also highlighting the roles of ecosystem players, such as start-ups and service providers.