Extended reality (XR) has come a long way in the gaming world — evolving from highly pixelated images to entirely immersive worlds in a mere three decades. Gaming, however, is only one application of XR. The same technologies that brought our favourite game characters to life are also revolutionizing business and educational sectors.
At its core, XR is a way to bring digital information into our world in ways that are not possible with traditional hardware. Essentially, it is an umbrella term which includes virtual, augmented and mixed reality:
• Virtual reality is where users can put on a headset and immerse themselves into an entirely new world.
• Augmented reality bridges that new world into a user’s existing environment by overlaying digital elements into the physical space
• Mixed reality blends physical and virtual worlds interactively.
Bringing solutions to industries
One Calgary local company driving innovation in this field is located in an interesting historic telephone building. Built in the late 1800s to develop the city’s first phone system, the building once connected Calgarians via switchboards and wires. Today, it is home to VizworX, a software development company that is laying the foundation for XR solutions from industrial applications and training to disaster response.
Jeff LaFrenz, co-founder of VizWorx, explains that XR is gaining traction in the industrial, commercial and governmental sectors for its ability to bring complex data into the real world in ways that are easy to understand. This is especially valuable in the training environment, allowing individuals to practice simulations multiple times before they encounter real-life scenarios.
“Another area of XR that is useful is for something we call the rare instance critical impact system,” says LaFrenz. “How do we use it to really enable people to experience situations that they may not ordinarily experience during their work world, but need to be ready for if they ever do experience them?”
One of VizworX team members, Raya Mihaylova, led a team who developed a virtual reality software to train medical students in glaucoma surgery. This innovation is the first of its kind in the medical industry, and is something that Mihaylova says has the potential to disrupt the industry by training surgeons in half the time as traditional methods.
“The inspiration that we often have in projects that involve innovation are driven by the fact that we are helping people,” says Mihaylova.
The software is controlled by haptic devices, a small pen-like tool that simulates the exact amount of pressure needed to carry out the surgery effectively. Mihaylova notes that before this software training relied on dead pigs, which were difficult to acquire and offered limited practice time due to rapid tissue degeneration.
Calgary as a smart city
Innovation is happening right here in the heart of Calgary’s downtown core where the City of Calgary just launched the Wave Tech Centre in October — a think tank that is laying the foundation for the future of our city’s urban planning and operations through technological innovation.
The centre is straight out of a science fiction novel and utilizes a quantum computer that can optimize snow routes in Calgary by analyzing multiple pathways. At the same time, there’s a miniature model of a robot called Machito which is capable of 3D printing and concrete milling which IT project manager with the City of Calgary, Chace Kostelny, says could one day address accessibility issues by creating ramps.
Further increasing accessibility, Kostelny highlights the possibility of their highly praised VR immersion room bringing solutions for those with accessibility issues where a tradesperson experiencing mobility issues can be on site without having to actually be there.
“Throughout my whole life and career, I’ve been passionate about technology. I would like to see Calgary be seen as a world leader in the technological ecosystem, especially within (XR) and the benefits it can bring our businesses and how those benefits can trickle back into the community,” says Kostelny.
Jason Cameron, program manager of storytelling, engagement, and experimentation also with the City of Calgary echoes similar aspirations for the city, citing great potential for the pilot project.
“We’re not all cowboy hats. It’s a great part of our history, and it’s as sure as fun for ten days during the summer, but we are so much more,” says Cameron. “What we’re seeing is the tech ecosystem really blossoming here, because there’s this sense of connectivity and intentional collisions that isn’t happening elsewhere.”
While Calgarians may not wear cowboy hats every day, despite the rest of Canada believing so at times, the shift towards the technological ecosystem echoes the fearless spirit of the “console cowboys” from William Gibson’s Neuromancer — the first science fiction novel, published in 1984, to reference the matrix as a virtual world which, in turn, influenced the cyberpunk movement in the late ’80s to early 2000s.
While Gibson’s console cowboys navigated the virtual world through morally questionable and illicit means, Calgary’s modern day cowboys embody that same bold, trailblazing spirit but with a focus towards technological innovation that will create a positive impact in our daily lives by reshaping and revolutionizing the way we work, live and learn in Calgary.