It depends on who you ask at CES, where companies are showing innovations that can take us deeper into virtual reality, otherwise known as VR.
The Metaverse – essentially a buzzword for a three-dimensional virtual community where people can meet, work and play – was a key theme during a four-day technology gathering in Las Vegas that ended on Sunday.
Taiwanese tech giant HTC has announced a high-end VR headset that aims to compete with market leader Meta, and many other companies and startups are touting augmented reality glasses and sensory technology that can help users feel – and even smell – in virtual environments. .
Among them, Vermont-based OVR Technology presents a headset that contains cartridges with eight main scents that can be combined to create different scents. It is scheduled to be released later this year.
The previous version, focused on business used mainly for marketing fragrances and beauty products has been integrated into VR glasses and allows users to smell anything from a romantic bed of roses to roasting marshmallows over a campfire.
The company says its goal is to help consumers relax and marketing the product, which comes with an app, is a kind of digital spa mixed with Instagram.
“We are entering an era in which extended reality will drive commerce, entertainment, education, social connection, and well-being,” company CEO and co-founder Aaron Wisniewski said in a statement. “The quality of the experience will be measured in an immersive and emotional way. Aroma gives it an unparalleled power.
But the more intense and immersive use of scent – and its close cousin, taste – is still further along the spectrum of innovation. Experts say the more accessible VR technology is in its early stages of development and is too expensive for many consumers to buy.
The numbers show that there is a waning interest. According to research firm NPD Group, sales of VR headsets, which find popular use in games, declined 2% last year, a sour note for companies that are making more bets.
Meta and others invested billions
However, big companies like Microsoft and Meta are investing billions. And many others are joining the race to gain some market share in the technologies that support it, including wearables that mimic touch.
Customers, though, aren’t always impressed with what they find. Ozan Ozaskinli, a technology consultant who traveled more than 29 hours from Istanbul to attend CES, suited up in yellow gloves and a black vest to test products called haptics, which transmit sensations through buzz and vibration and stimulate the sense of touch. .
Ozaskinli tried to dial a code on the keypad that allowed him to pull a lever and unlock a box containing a shiny gem. But this experience is usually liberating.
“I think that’s far from reality now,” Ozaskinli said. “But if I’m considering switching to Zoom meetings, why not? At least you can feel something.
Proponents say the widespread adoption of virtual reality will benefit different segments of society by fundamentally unlocking the ability to be with anyone, anywhere and anytime. Although it is too early to know what the technology can do once it matures, companies that want to achieve the most immersive experience for their users are welcoming it with open arms.
Aurora Townsend, chief marketing officer at Flare, a company slated to launch a VR dating app called Planet Theta next month, said her team is developing apps to incorporate other sensations like touch when the technology becomes available in the consumer market.
“You can feel the ground when you walk with your partner, or hold their hand when you do…
However, it is unlikely that many of these products will be used in the next few years, even in games, said Matthew Ball, a metaverse expert. However, he said the pioneers of adoption could be fields with higher budgets and more precise needs, such as bomb squads that use haptics and virtual reality to aid their work and others in the medical field.
In 2021, Johns Hopkins neurosurgeons say they will use augmented reality to perform spinal fusion surgery and remove cancerous tumors from a patient’s spine.
And optical technology from Lumus, an Israeli company that makes AR glasses, is already being used by underwater welders, fighter pilots and surgeons who want to monitor patients’ vital signs or MRI scans during procedures without having to look at multiple screens, he said. David Goldman, vice president of marketing for the company.
Meanwhile, Xander, a Boston-based startup that makes smart glasses that display real-time details of private conversations for people with hearing loss, will launch a pilot program with the US Veterans Administration next month to test some of the technology, said Alex Westner, co-founder and CEO of the company. He said the agency will allow veterans who have appointments for hearing loss or other audio problems to try on glasses at some clinics. And if it goes well, the agency will become a customer, Westner said.
Elsewhere, big companies from Walmart to Nike have launched different initiatives in virtual reality. But it’s not clear how much benefit there will be during the technology’s early stages. Consulting firm McKinsey says the metaverse could generate up to $5 trillion by 2030. But outside of gaming, many of VR’s current uses remain low-key entertainment, said Michael Kleeman, a technology strategist and visiting scholar at the University of California San Diego. .
“When people promote this, the answer is – where is the value? Where is the profit? Not the fun, the funny and the interesting.”
Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter examines how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Subscribe here.