For years,
technologists have predicted that virtual-reality applications are right around
the corner—apps that can provide an immersive 3-D experience to enhance
students’ learning, allow a customer to try products, or provide employee
training. At long last, they may be right.
Most of the
virtual-reality applications so far have dabbled in gaming. Microsoft has been
trying to scare up companies to develop more practical software for its augmented-reality
headset known as HoloLens. Last week, one company stepped forward with plans to
build apps for HoloLens with businesses in mind.
Object
Theory, whose founders include a former Microsoft engineer and an entrepreneur
who created mobile apps for Starbucks and Whole Foods Market, told the IDG News
Service it expects to leave the gaming apps to the entertainment industry and
instead focus on business needs.
“High-end
jewelry and fashion stores and car dealerships could use HoloLens to show
customers products that are customized to their specifications,” said IDG’s
article in PC World. “Holograms can
help retailers plan store layouts and shelf placement, among other in-store
uses.”
Recent
advances in the technology that underpins augmented reality are making it more commercially
feasible to develop apps that businesses could actually deploy.