Many of us know about the world of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) either from the movies of the 1980s (think Tron) or, more recently, from gaming products like Facebook's Oculus VR headset.
According to ARC's* latest market research report, the global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (ARVR) market are anticipated to generate revenues of around US$ 298 billion by 2023. It's a technology we've been aware of for some time, but how it is being applied in real-life situations may still feel remote for some of us. Not so for Roke's Layla Gordon, a consultant engineer who leads the visualisation team in Defence at Roke.
Explains Layla, "Our overarching purpose at Roke is to bring the digital and the physical together, and that has never been more true than in the world of AR and VR. I lead a team of eight, and together we help the Defence business unit explore the world of AI and immersive visualisation and how it can help their customers."
Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality – what's the difference?
"AR is the process of overlaying digital information over the real world to enhance situation and awareness. An example of this is the game Pokémon Go, where the Pokémon characters are placed virtually within the real world through the app. In a defence scenario, we are looking at creating a heads-up display of an area through a soldier's visor, giving the ability to overlay further information. This immerses the individual in their surroundings and helps improve reaction times during an operation.
"With VR, everything is digital. It is an alternate parallel from the real world. With VR, we can create simulations of situations to help with training and planning in a safer environment. VR creates an artificial 3D environment, stimulating the senses to create an immersive experience. Current platforms operate in vision and hearing, but new advances in haptic suits could soon extend to include touch and smell."
How are you making AR and VR possible in the defence sector?
"We're currently looking to collaborate with manufacturers of the helmets to see how we can apply the heads-up display onto the visor. We're also looking at creating a bespoke headset for customers, specifically tailored to their needs.
"At the moment, we're using Microsoft HoloLens to prove the concept and test the systems' vulnerabilities. In the UK, most sectors currently using AR use Microsoft HoloLens. Facebook is probably the biggest player in the commercial world.
"In the US, the Department of Defense is developing a specific form of AR headset designed to increase a soldier's situational awareness in the field. This includes weapons' sight view, compass direction, night or thermal vision, and other useful information.
"Simulation has been used in defence for years, but it hasn't been portable, and it's very costly. Now with AR and VR, the technology is becoming portable. There are still issues to be solved, though. For example, motion sickness is a problem, and there is work to be done on the data assurance and security aspects of the systems. For example, the digital data sits within the cloud, which is then vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This is where Roke has a particular strength, as we have the experience needed to test the vulnerability of the systems against cyber-attacks."
What's your background? How did you get involved in AR and VR?
"Back in 1994, I was doing a degree in computer engineering in Iran and was very interested in medical IT. One summer, whilst visiting my sister in the UK, I paid a visit to the open day at Southampton University and realised I could do Artificial Intelligence as part of the undergraduate computer science course. This was the start of it all!
"I became fascinated with computer vision and biometrics. My third-year thesis was in automatic MRI brain region classification to aid surgeons with finding small tumours, for which I got a First. I then worked in a company specialising in biometrics for two years and developed facial and vein pattern recognition software for identification purposes.
"I did a PhD in computer science and worked at Ordnance Survey (OS), where I developed AR for OS maps. That's where I used AR to overlay points of interest topographic mapping data onto the real world through the smart device camera. The feature won the 'Yahoo Sports award of the year for best use of AR'.
"I joined Roke in 2019 as a computer vision engineer. It's an exciting time, as the technology is progressing, and the pace of development is really picking up. Covid has sped things up, too, in a way, and VR has been used more to bring people together to enable training and collaboration to take place without the need for travel.
"When I did my PhD, I was the only girl on the course. Because of this, I've been inspired to encourage more women into this field. It is becoming more popular with women, as we are naturally into visuals and creativity. I've done over 100 talks to encourage more people into this field and raise awareness of the opportunities. Working with AR and VR is a craft. It's as much an art as it is about technology."
What does the future hold for VR and AR?
"I would like to see a world where this technology is used to enhance human ability, where AR is used to assist an expert and enable collaboration between machines and humans.
"Humans would train the AR/VR with Artificial Intelligence in the background. Devices can then become more dynamic and adaptable to what humans are doing.
"There are a huge number of applications for this technology too. One example of an industrial application is to assess how an AR system could be used to assist the human operator during an aeroplane inspection. It would guide an engineer to a fault in an engine and then give the engineer instructions on how to repair the fault.
"In medicine, the technology can be used to train surgeons with a hologram in place of a patient. And for crime scene investigation, you could use AR to overlay digital evidence over a crime scene. In Chemring, we could look at how lab technicians could use VR for experiments or conducting controlled explosions. It would give a completely safe environment in which to operate."
It's clear that VR and AR aren't just for gamers, they're technologies that provide real, tangible benefits to multiple sectors, and their full potential is yet to be fully realised.
* ARC Advisory Group is the leading technology research and advisory firm for industry, infrastructure, and cities.