Technology is all around us, in every moment of our day: we use social networks to interact with people, internet searches of every topic we want to master, programs and apps for our job and websites for our entertainment. No wonder big companies are always looking for new ways to engage their customers with new technologies in every single field. There are apps about food, health, transportation, dating, sport, and even an app for the sacrament of Catholic confession! There are no limits in our reality.
The reality itself can be replaced: in the last five years, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality showed an incredible expansion and the big Google, Facebook & Co invested billions of dollars in devices such as Oculus Rift or VR Gear. The business is growing and growing and in the next years we will witness a faster expansion of this kind of technologies.
One of the most important markets for these companies is gaming. The popular game of Pokemon Go was played by over 20 billions of daily active users and it is not the only one. Every time a new Call of Duty, or a new GTA, or Overwatch are released, millions of players run to the nearest video games shop. To this unstoppable demand, the offer is responding by investing on the mix between gaming and new technologies.
The market is open, so we can play networking games and interact with people oversea, or create an alternative reality, or use 3D to have a more realistic experience of the games. Also gambling and betting company saw the business in the field, so it is possible to bet on real sports, sure, but also on virtual sports! Many major betting sites give the chance to bet on esport tournaments, which became so popular during the last five years. Every company wants its piece of this big cake.
The applications of AR and VR are also pointing towards other directions: Virtual Reality can be used in medicine for rehabilitation and even for psychiatric therapies. Another useful application in pain therapy. In the emergency department at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, doctors use a VR game to reduce pain. The results are stunning: pain is reduced by 24% during Bear Blast game. This could be the beginning of a drug-free pain management.
