Disruptive Technologies– VR, AR and Star Trek

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

This article and subsequent follow-ups will cover various disruptive technologies. During the planning stage for this month’s issue of The PCB Magazine, I was asked to consider a number of potential topics; two of them are areas that I am very interested in—augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and 3D printing and security. Another is a topic that I do not believe gets enough coverage—counterfeit components. Faced with a difficult choice I decided to cover not one, but all, and in order to cover them in some detail they each deserve their own research and commentary. Therefore, this will be the first of at least three articles.

The topic I chose for this month is disruptive technologies, focusing on AR, VR, and mixed reality (MR). In future articles, I will cover security issues such as phishing, hacking, malicious code insertion, etc. Then, I’ll cover new techniques and progress in 3D manufacturing (no longer limited to printing) as well as the growing problem of counterfeit components and assemblies.

As I look at these topics and their impact on the overall industry we cover, I realize that any of these are deserving of their own, more detailed and continuing coverage. After all, things are moving very fast and accelerating. They will be revisited at a later date.

So here we go with the game changing world of VR and AR, as well as mixed reality and how they differ. From there, I’ll address what to expect in the next year and how VR/AR are far more than a gaming technology (in some cases they are perhaps better than real life), and finally, how they are changing our military and aviation industries.

To read this entire article, which appeared in the September 2016 issue of The PCB Magazine, click here.