Physical meets digital -- the changing world of augmented reality [Q&A]

The physical and digital worlds continue to intertwine in new and exciting ways, and more precise mapping of the real world opens up unique opportunities for brands to drive more traffic and engagement to physical locations.

We spoke to Rypplzz CEO Josh Pendrick about why he believes augmented reality is a sector that's ripe for disruption.

BN: How do you see the physical and digital worlds continuing to come together in the near future?

JP: I see an exponential increase in the building of technical platforms and infrastructure that enable what we experience in the physical world to interact with and be enhanced by a layer of data that overlays and augments the world around us.

This will go far beyond current uses, such as showing people additional information when they visit a historical monument or providing navigation using Augmented Reality. Instead, we will see an entirely new era of computing. This next generation of spatial computing will soon combine physical context with data in real time while using mixed reality as its interface. This shift will deliver never-before-seen user experiences that are not confined to our phones and computer screens. What's especially important to underscore is that this will not be limited only to entertainment purposes, but it will provide critical utility, convenience, and automation that are uniquely enabled by the blending of the physical and digital worlds.

BN: Why do you believe augmented reality ripe for disruption and what are its current limitations?

JP: One of the most significant reasons that augmented reality is ripe for disruption is that many companies are thinking about augmented reality in very limited ways. They're building their new AR technology through the lens of old perspectives and assumptions, which doesn’t allow the technology to evolve in a meaningful way. These companies are simply re-deploying AR without re-thinking it and without pushing the boundaries to what's truly possible.

A major limitation of current AR technology is that it's not as precise and accurate as it could be. It is an extremely difficult engineering challenge to align and persist multiple layers of digital objects and data for millions of users. Also, since most current applications in this area must use a combination of camera vision and GPS technologies to place and orient the AR overlays within the physical world - it is not easy to do this in a way that is realistic and consistent.

Rypplzz is changing that. Whereas GPS mapping typically has 10-20-feet accuracy (length x width), Rypplzz's technology can map airspace in 6-inch by 6-inch cubes (length x width x height), which is far more precise and accurate. Rather than building more applications on the current, limited technology backbone, building applications on the Rypplzz spatial operating system -- called Interlife -- gives developers more freedom and control over their digi-physical environments. Think of it like an artist that has suddenly gone from strictly using a pencil to now having access to a range of painting options, sculpting options, and digital technologies like film and photography from which to bring their ideas to life. The creativity we're about to witness is poised for an explosion.

BN: How does more precise mapping of the real world open unique opportunities for brands across industries to drive more traffic and engagement to physical locations?

JP: The more precise mapping of the real world helps to provide more data points with which to engage, increasing the 'resolution', if you will, of our picture of the world around us and thus our ability to connect the digital and physical worlds more meaningfully and accurately.

To that end, brands and property owners across industries can now design new experiences that they haven’t been able to before. For example, from a brand perspective, you can create experiences like highly precise spatial scavenger hunts that can draw customers into your brick-and-mortar locations. A great example is a restaurant that is unveiling a new menu item that gives customers a discount for collecting a certain number of virtual coins on the way to their location. Not only does the customer get to try the new item at a reduced price, but they also get to have fun while doing so. Brands can also use this technology to gain a competitive edge against competing brands. Imagine a fan heading to a concession stand at a stadium and on the way, they get a notification on their phone for a 50 percent discount at a competing stand. You can literally drive sales away from your competitor into your own pocket. There are tons of use cases just waiting to be unlocked with our technologies.

BN: How does augmented reality go beyond ‘fun and exciting’ in ways that can also be beneficial to humanity?

JP: Games like Pokémon Go and treasure hunts are well known examples of 'fun and exciting' augmented reality experiences. However, augmented reality can also be made to be beneficial to humanity. Here are a few of the immediate ways this has been happening.

• Highly accurate 'Digital Twins', when combined with an understanding based on spatial intelligence, give us the ability to visualize and shape what may have previously hidden or unknown. This capability offers exciting opportunities to help make physical resources and environments more optimized, secure, and enjoyable.
• Augmented reality in education can provide significantly enriched learning experiences and even accelerated learning.
• Augmented reality in medical applications can offer more precise control during surgery, and the opportunity to simulate and practice new procedures without risk.
• Augmented reality in the manufacturing environment can assist with safety, training, and the maintenance of complex machines and processes.

BN: What have you learned from other companies that have tried to tackle this space and how have you built Rypplzz as a truly disruptive technology company?

JP: AR has been a fascinating space to me for a while now, and I have kept a close eye on the companies that have made the most progress. From what has been done to date, we learned that having a new perspective and developing a novel set of solutions to the challenges that augmented reality presents was the most effective approach.

In starting Rypplzz, we decided to address the space at the foundational level -- the technology and infrastructure behind AR -- rather than creating an app or a series of apps that are constricted by the same limitations of all the other apps on the market today. In this way, we are building a brand-new platform that allows everyone to stretch their imaginations further, inspiring them to bring their unique ideas and creativity to the table in a way they haven’t been able to previously. We believe this approach will exponentially speed up the pace of innovation and breakthroughs that are produced in this space.

The foundational technologies we are building are the ones that are needed to enable powerful and useful connections between the physical and digital worlds in ways that are beneficial for both entertainment and for humanity.

Photo Credit: Ahmet Misirligul/Shutterstock