Now, the discussion and research surrounding the possibilities within VR is real and vibrant. VIRTUAL REALITY BEYOND GAMING While gaming and entertainment may be the more primary uses for virtual reality technology today, other industries are exploring possible benefits of this emerging technology. In aerospace, domestic pilots can train in simulators to allow them to get the necessary flight time and experience prior to flying planes with actual passengers. VR allows astronauts to experience the conditions and the environment that they will encounter in space without the risk of encountering real uncalculated hazards, preparing them for future expeditions. VR has the capability to support several types of training efforts including driving, skiing, golfing and many others to prepare people for work or leisure. Virtual reality, in some cases, can also add culture to our daily lives as well. People can instantly be transported to locations of their choice including different cities, countries, and continents. It can also transport people back to previous experiences in an effort to conjure memories both pleasant and life-defining. Health experts are leverage VR technology to help our heroic veterans diagnosed with PTSD overcome their challenging experiences. In civil engineering, virtual reality can be used to design infrastructure and look for fatal flaws or design improvements prior to construction. Automotive design engineers have the opportunity to build multiple prototypes for decision making while cutting down the cost of building physical molds or models. VR can inevitably speed up the design development stage and allow industry leaders to be more efficient and effective in bringing products to market. VIRTUAL REALITY CONCERNS There’s speculation that virtual reality can be much like a drug in the sense that it lulls users into a false sense of security. Training within the virtual reality environment can produce participants who have developed a more inflated confidence level than appropriate. While it may not be as concerning to have a golf enthusiast take his virtual reality trainings to the course and fail, it would be much more concerning to have professional practitioner failures. Separately, some of the health, ethical, security and privacy concerns that apply to cell phone and internet usage apply to virtual reality. Researchers are concerned with the physical effects from devices with underdeveloped graphics and related features that contribute to headaches and nausea. Consumers are also concerned with security and the data that can be shared as core connectivity occurs with VR and
other devices, such as phones and computers. As with any revolutionary technology, there will need to be a conscious effort to adapt to the ongoing changes in laws and human behavior associated with the increased use of virtual reality to minimize potential adverse impacts to our daily lives. FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY Most agree that the benefits of virtual reality outweigh the concerns. Additional research and development is expected to enhance virtual reality across the news, travel, healthcare, sports, construction, transportation and engineering industries. Although the adoption of virtual reality has been a much slower transition in the workplace, some sectors such as construction, engineering, retail and healthcare are more open to adopting VR than others. In fact, Spiceworks’ “Future of IT” report shows that although only 5 percent of organizations in the construction and engineering industry use VR today, an additional 27 percent plan to adopt it over the next 5 years. Rapid growth in the use of VR in conjunction with BIM (Building Information Modeling) and various 3D modeling programs have been observed in the AEC (Architect, Engineering and Construction) industry as a means to get higher quality designs, positive client interactions and faster project approvals. The use of VR is expected to contribute to a savings in time and money on complex projects now and into the future. Mainstream use of virtual reality may be a little ways off, but it’s coming. The opportunities to improve safety and reduce risk by performing experiments in a virtual environment is extremely interesting to many industries performing life changing research and development. The possible efficiencies to be gained as a result of virtual technologies are attractive and currently being investigated. With all of the excitement, attention and advancements in virtual reality today, it’s very likely that many innovators will begin to leverage the capabilities of this technology for advancements in efficiencies within their industries. Virtual reality is the future and has the potential to be a primary catalyst in the quest to connect many different worlds. It seems that time, to allow further research and development of this technology, is the major hurdle to virtual reality becoming a reality.
Cyrill Weems is senior vice president at Plante Moran Cresa with a project management career spanning more than 20 years. He is an active member of the Engineering Society of Detroit, the Project Management Institute, the Michigan Water Environment Association, and COMTO (Conference of Minority Transportation Officials) where he also serves as a board member. www.esd.org | The Engineering Society of Detroit | 15