Immersive experiences are no longer just for gamers. The market size for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) combined is expected to skyrocket from around $18 billion today to $215 billion in 2021, according to Altimeter research analyst, Omar Akhtar. A recent IDC report notes that the AR/VR ecosystem has matured to the point where it’s easier to create content. That IDC report further predicts that these advancements will drive more companies to incorporate immersive experiences into their digital business strategies.

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In fact, some early adopters are already implementing AR and VR functionality with convincing results. Here are some apps that give you an idea of ​​what AR/VR can do now and where it’s headed:

Retail: Lowe’s AR/VR Bundle

Lowe’s is at the forefront of commercial AR/VR implementation, having been named number one in Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in AR/VR this year. Lowe’s Innovation Labs, a specialty home improvement retailer, has launched a series of mixed reality tools and capabilities to make life easier for its customers (and potential customers). The company’s first efforts are focused on resolving one of its enduring struggles: the nearly $70 billion that Lowe’s says is left on the table when consumers can’t get started on a home improvement project because they can’t figure out how to do it. will see or not I do not know where to start.

The Holoroom How To VR tool allows customers to learn basic DIY skills in an immersive environment. Equipped with a virtual reality headset and controller, customers can learn how to paint a room or tile a shower. The company’s research has shown that customers have a 40 percent better memory retention of the steps to complete a project after completing VR training, and nine out of 10 users reported feeling confident in their abilities in the world. real. Measured by Lowe’s is an AR app that uses augmented reality to turn any iPhone 6S or later model into a virtual tape measure for objects or distances within the camera’s field of view. Designed by former game developers and designers, Lowe’s 3D is a scanning solution that can generate high-fidelity 3D models of physical products to help customers visualize potential purchases in their homes. Currently, in private beta tests with select Lowe’s vendors, the company says users of the 3D tool were twice as likely to purchase products in the store as those who didn’t.

Advertising: Blippar AR Advertising Platform

London-based Blippar’s first AR advertising unit creates immersive solutions for some of the world’s biggest brands, including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Spotify. Its solutions combine AR with computer vision, artificial intelligence, and visual search to create immersive marketing experiences.

Jaguar Land Rover, for example, worked with Blippar to put would-be car buyers in the virtual driver’s seat of its latest models without having to make the dreaded dealer visit. Consumers can launch the AR capability launched directly from a billboard without the need to install an app to explore the vehicle, interact with hotspots, and see the view from the driver’s seat through transparent windows.

One of Blippar’s recent innovations is the Urban Visual Positioning System, launched last year, which uses computer vision to determine where a user is geographically and their orientation to the environment. Said to be twice as accurate as GPS and boasting a response time of less than a second, Fast Company has said the technology has “broad implications for location-based augmented reality experiences, especially those related to industries such as tourism and cartography”. Some potential use cases that Blippar has put forward include virtual departure boards at train stations, virtual menus at restaurants, and virtual maps and directions overlaid on highways. Blippar also introduced a facial recognition tool in its mobile app called Halos, which allows users to create personalized social profiles in other AR apps. Additionally, its Automotive Recognition API uses deep learning and computer vision to identify any American car built since 2000, with 97.7 percent accuracy; car companies and service providers can integrate the API into their own application or website.

Real Estate: JLL 3D Property Portfolio

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) provides commercial leasing, real estate brokerage, management, consulting and financing through nearly 300 corporate offices in more than 80 countries around the world. JLL has partnered with several companies, such as the Indian start-up Foyr, whose virtual reality technologies can provide visualization and personalization services for indoor commercial spaces. Working with a company called Studio216, the company developed a way for customers to immerse themselves in undeveloped environments to explore and collaborate on scratch builds, capital upgrades, and outer space virtually using Hololens, WMRs, and all Windows 10 devices. In partnership with Dronebase and Tangram 3DS, JLL is combining drone footage with 3D renderings to offer another perspective on potential property sites. JLL’s goal is to create the world’s largest 3D-enabled property portfolio.

Healthcare: Imperial College London at St Mary’s Hospital AR Surgery

AR and VR have a number of applications in medical services. Imperial College London at St Mary’s Hospital is one of the first to trial mixed reality in the operating room, with the aim of helping surgeons improve outcomes for patients. Researchers there recently demonstrated how surgeons could use Microsoft HoloLens headsets to interact with “holograms” while operating on patients undergoing lower extremity reconstructive surgery. The technology overlays CT images, which indicate the location of bones and blood vessels, on the patient’s leg.

When patients sustain tissue damage and open wounds after a car accident or other trauma, surgeons must perform reconstruction using flaps of tissue (including skin and blood vessels) taken from another part of the patient’s body to cover the wound and allow it to heal. It is vitally important to connect the blood vessels of the transplanted tissue with those of the wound site. The traditional approach has been to use a portable ultrasound scanner to pinpoint blood vessel locations based on blood pulsation, but that approach offers only an approximate location. Augmented reality offers a more accurate and faster way to find blood vessels by allowing surgeons to actually see through the limb.

According to the researchers’ findings, the technology could decrease the time a patient spends under anesthesia and reduce the margin of error. The research points to some limiting factors, including errors during the modeling stages, the possibility of the overlay model becoming misaligned, and time-consuming data preparation. However, the researchers say they hope to further automate the process, using software to improve alignment, for example.

Pharmaceuticals – C4X Discovery Molecule Visualizer

Spun out of the University of Manchester, C4X Discovery (C4XD) says it wants to become the world’s most productive drug discovery and development company – virtual reality is at the heart of those ambitions. Earlier this year, it began using its own virtual reality tool, 4Sight, to help scientists visualize the structure of complex molecules. Traditionally, drug developers would work with static models. The VR tool allows developers to get inside the molecule to see how it moves and responds to different stimuli and situations. “Starting to use virtual reality was quite transformative, because suddenly the molecules become part of my world and I can manipulate them in the space right in front of me, like you would comparing two oranges and two apples,” C4XD medicinal chemist at Thorsten . Nowak told Wired UK.

According to the company, the virtual reality tool will reduce errors and shorten the multi-year drug development cycle as the company develops treatments for diseases such as cancer, chronic addiction, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. The visualizer is also used to facilitate collaboration between people in different places.

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