The expanding and shrinking space in virtual and augmented reality
When Apple launched its mixed reality headset Vision Pro at WWDC 2023, it wowed the crowd at Cupertino and provided talking fodder to the world. Innovation is always met with scepticism until it becomes a necessity. Here's a look at some of the cutting-edge innovations in the AR and VR space
Apple's new Vision Pro virtual reality headset is the cynosure of all eyes during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, on June 5, 2023. Image: Josh Edelson / AFP
Innovating with gestures and eye movement, Apple Vision Pro may want to shift the way we look at technology but they aren’t the only ones. Innovation labs and companies have been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of what's possible in AR/VR fields over the last couple of years. Selling has been an issue for most of them and the Vision Pro headset may also turn out to be Apple's lowest-selling product.
Unveiled after several years of development, a crime scene virtual reality room (holodeck) with a full-body scanner was developed by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office. Thanks to high-tech and VR goggles, the scanner can create a virtual photorealistic "copy" of a user and crime scenes can be accurately recreated and walked through in three dimensions. 05 June 2023, Bavaria, Munich. Image: Sven Hoppe/ via Getty Images
An employee demonstrates the quality inspection of 300-millimetre wafers with augmented reality glasses during the production of semiconductor chips on the production line at the Bosch semiconductor plant in Dresden, eastern Germany, on July 12, 2022. Image: JENS SCHLUETER / AFP
