Along Arilyn's decade-long journey, many things have changed. Extended reality technologies have taken massive leaps, as have businesses' interest in immersive and interactive online content.
How did it all start? What has happened during the decade-long journey? Where will this adventure lead to?
From the tech point of view, let's hear from Arilyn's founder & Chair of the Board, Otto.
In the beginning, very few people knew anything about augmented reality. The demos we showed were taken in with astonishment - "How can this be possible!" Today, an explanation of what AR or VR is is rarely needed.
When the technology became more common, we aimed to create XR content with a purpose. We wanted to utilise the tech rather than building demos merely for the tech itself. We wanted to create value that 2D lacked.
Little by little, it has become easier to blend virtual content into the real world. Two of maybe the most significant improvements have been Apple and Google including surface detection directly into their mobile devices in 2018, and advancements in web-based XR. These have made immersive content more accessible to more people and virtual experiences more pleasant to explore. There is no longer a need for separate app downloads, installations or registrations.
In the beginning, we were sure that by 2020 everyone would have a pair of AR glasses. As we now know, that didn't happen. The development has taken surprisingly long.
But now that Apple has announced the Vision Pro launch for next year, I believe it accelerates the XR device development. There are some glasses in the market, but usually, what Apple does, others follow.
XR glasses becoming more common gives businesses more possibilities in their digital content creation; blending digital with the real and offering even greater value in 3D content will become even smoother. And with more people having XR glasses, there will be an increased demand for immersive online content.
More demand means more supply, but those offerings might take some time to adjust. It will be interesting to see how generative AI develops to aid in answering this demand. There are quite well-working AI tools for text and 2D, but for 3D, not so much. I believe AI can be of great help in content creators' work.
From a techie's viewpoint, creating code for XR content is much more intriguing than just seeing some numbers change in a database. Technological progression and the new opportunities it brings along, as well as the whole world being more ready now than ten years ago, will for sure give us fascinating paths to walk in the immersive and interactive future.
Let's get you started on your journey to the future.
