Digitisation of our lives has increased dramatically with the novel coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a surge in the tools to enjoy and work in virtual reality and virtual worlds. Here’s a glance at how they will affect our lives in 2022 and beyond.

XR and the Metaverse

Given Meta’s focus on virtual reality, the concept’s three key parts, 3D settings, avatars, and gamification, all work well with VR. Metaverse is ideal for augmented reality, which can blur the virtual and actual worlds.

Advanced Headsets and Hardware

Virtual reality gear is getting smaller and more powerful, like any other technology. AR contact lenses that display information directly into the retina have already been demonstrated.

XR in Retail

VR technologies can offer online retail more engaging and immersive retail experiences that mirror physical stores’ ‘hands-on’ benefits. Augmented reality (AR) technology can help users find what they’re searching for on the racks and deliver the kind of info that online buyers have grown to expect.

Customers can ‘try on’ jewellery and clothing using virtual avatars and engage in ‘personal shopper’ exchanges with chatbots using VR.

XR and 5G

The advantages of 5G include quicker data transfers and the capability of other types of data and services. This will involve the massive amounts of data required to run XR, enabling cordless and cloud-based VR and AR. Gaming is a proving ground for much of the VR technology already pervading other industries such as health care and education. Many firms already piggyback on this to launch XR solutions without investing heavily in infrastructure.