Improving-VR
The term "virtual reality" refers
to a computer-generated environment that can be explored and interacted
separately from the real world. The emerging and increasing use of
virtual reality technologies is a ripening opportunity for the research
and development of products, services, and innovations.
Virtual reality has often been
depicted as a science-fiction concept, belonging in the realm of
far-out movies like Tron and The Matrix. For decades, many attempts to
construct a virtual space that a person can nearly completely immerse
themselves into have fallen short of expectations, however it seems
that time and technology are ready for meaningful virtual reality
technology improvement.
The Research & Development
Tax Credit
Enacted in 1981, the federal Research and
Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13% of
eligible spending for new and improved products and processes.
Qualified research must meet the following four criteria:
• New or improved products, processes, or software
• Technological in nature
• Elimination of Uncertainty
• Process of Experimentation
Eligible costs include employee
wages, cost of supplies, cost of testing, contract research expenses,
and costs associated with developing a patent. On December 18,
2015, President Obama signed the bill making the R&D Tax Credit
permanent. Beginning in 2016, the R&D credit can be used to offset
Alternative Minimum tax and startup businesses can utilize the credit
against payroll taxes.
The Gamechanger – The Oculus Rift
Aside from advances in mobile
computing and products like current generation laptop computers and
tablets, the Oculus Rift from Oculus VR, LLC. is one of the key
products that has emerged to become the main tool in championing and
contributing to virtual reality research.
The Oculus Rift has faced the same doubts as any other potential VR
technology in the last 20 years, but after being acquired by Facebook,
Inc. for $2 billion, Oculus VR has gained the strategic and financial
resources, positioning, and space to realize its goals.
A New Market Emerges
There is evidence of expected market growth as
MarketsandMarkets issued a press release reporting that the market for
dedicated augmented reality and virtual reality systems is expected to
reach $1.06 Billion by 2018, growing at an expected 15.18% CAGR from
2013 to 2018.
The momentum is building and
apparently creating substantial booms in the numbers of more recent
forecasts.
A press release from KZero
Worldswide, a consulting firm that works with companies operating in
virtual space, places the value of the consumer VR market at $5.2
billion by 2018. Without question, the consumer market, driven by
demand in entertainment (games), presents a big opportunity for anyone
innovating and creating something the masses will enjoy playing.
Transforming Design and
Development
The Oculus has gained a lot of attention since it
was first cobbled together as a prototype in 2011. Since then, the
Oculus Rift has found its way into both university research labs and
commercial companies, design and research labs.
Ford
Motor Company
One such commercial lab is Ford
Motor Company's Immersion Lab, which uses the Oculus Rift to immerse
users and monitor how they experience the cars they design. The Rift
links through their VR system straight to their AutoCAD system,
creating an integrated design and feedback environment. Ford enjoys
this system and is looking to create more ‘immersion labs’ like these
around the world.
Kumba
Iron Ore
Kumba Iron Ore has a stake in
virtual reality technologies for use in simulating and designing its
mining operations. Working with University of Pretoria's Department of
Mining and Engineering, Kumba hopes to be able to design and simulate a
mining operation in great detail in order to improve safety and
efficiency throughout the life cycle of the mine.
Commercial
Aircraft of China Ltd.
Virtual reality simulators are
particularly useful in training. Commercial Aircraft of China (COMAC)
is a Chinese aviation and aerospace company that decided to choose
Barco, a global visualization and design company, to design and install
a VR system for COMAC's Engineers. COMAC intends to use the
system for engineering operation training.
Advancing Research Frontiers
Major universities are performing the basic research
that will drive the commercial market. The use of virtual development
spaces is translating to new forms of product creation and production,
as well as manufacturing.
State
University of New York, Stony Brook
In 2012, the State University of
New York at Stony Brook first demonstrated its "Reality Deck", a
416-display room with a pixel count of 1.5 billion. Among many possible
applications, the Reality Deck seeks to visualize large amounts of data
for analysis for different problems in varied scientific fields.
Through use of this large and immersive system, Stony Brook hopes to
contribute to advances in nanotechnology, climate studies, medical
imaging, and weather modeling.
Brown
University
Brown University is proving that
virtual reality is also quickly becoming a key tool in creating
simulations and lab conditions for large and difficult-to-isolate
experimental environments. Brown uses virtual reality and wireless
technologies to study the behavior of crowds. Crowds are just one of a
world of social situations that present a difficult challenge in
simulation and observation settings. By setting up a controlled space
to engage a virtual space through an Oculus Rift, a subject can walk
through the simulation as well as observe it at any point in time.
Through this research, humankind could find better ways of designing
public spaces that also create efficiencies in traffic
flow.
University
of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota has
its own VR design platform. In 2012 they launched a Virtual Reality
Design Lab (VRDL), set up in the Rapson Hall courtyard. Mounted on a
truss in the middle of the 5000-square-foot space, the VRDL allows
architects, designers, and builders a virtual space to evaluate and
design decisions and construction details as they make revisions.
Sanford
University
Stanford University is also
making strides in improving virtual reality technologies. Stanford's
Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) is making its own advancements in
VR simulation and VR equipment. Its equipment is far more expensive and
sophisticated than the Oculus Rift, offering a more immersive
experience than the less expensive, more consumer-ready device.
Stanford's VHIL projects range from projects to find possible
reductions in energy use to gathering insights in behavior and
identity. Stanford's range of projects shows there's an entirely new
field of research emerging as VR technologies improve.
University
of Montreal
The University of Montreal has
recently unveiled the Hyve-3D system, a system capable of creating a
virtual design space for the 3-dimensional sketching and sculpting of
collaboratively designed projects, greatly improving computer
aided design. Virtual reality technologies are quickly allowing
companies to efficiently and quickly design, produce, and test their
products.
New York
University – Langone Medical Center
Virtual reality technologies also
present solutions to obstacles of size and sensitivity for medical
doctors, scientists, and researchers. New York University’s Langone
Medical Center uses a Surgery Rehearsal Platform (SRP) to rehearse
sensitive and delicate surgeries using a patient's CT and MRI scans to
form a virtual space on which surgeons can practice and simulate. This
technology is also advancing towards using a virtual space during
surgery in order to monitor and observe things in real time. The
Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform (SNAP) succeeds the SRP by
operating in real time inside the operating room.
Iowa
State University
Iowa State has a dedicated
Virtual Reality Applications Center - its work is focused on developing
applications for VR technologies. The research they conduct
reaches to many corners of the possible VR market, including economics,
security, optics, 3D design and construction, and human-computer
interaction.
University
of Washington
The University of Washington has
an interesting take on VR therapy - with origins that date back to the
mid 1990's. University of Washington's HITLab has worked to advance
techniques in reducing pain during therapy through the development of
SnowWorld - a VR world designed for burn patients. SnowWorld is used to
engage and distract the patient as they receive treatment in order to
reduce the severe pain they'd otherwise have to endure or stabilize via
opiates or other pain-killers. As VR technology advances, virtual
reality may be used as a tool to aid many kinds of treatments.
Finally! Fun and Games
Finally, the most obvious application of virtual
reality technologies is in the realm of entertainment. The Oculus
Rift's first market is videogames. There are a lot of expectations
behind a device like the Oculus Rift, and the end result will be
determined mostly by the amount of support it will attract from the
developers the users that buy it. The Rift currently has a growing core
of developers behind it, with many games being developed with the
intention of supporting the Oculus Rift as a primary or secondary
feature. The entertainment industry's voracious demand will call
developers of systems and software to step up while carving out a piece
of the Rift's VR legacy.
Conclusion
In summary, the
emerging products and technologies that are bringing virtual reality
out of fantasy and into the real world are going to create a large
demand for more architecture, systems, and applications - to put it
plainly, products and services that will need to be innovated and made
real. The R&D Tax Credit may provide lucrative incentives to
those developing and innovating in the virtual reality industries.
