XR (Extended Reality) Club at Lambert High School

Introduction

Extended Reality “XR” technology is rapidly advancing and will constantly be used in our daily lives. As students, we should be aware of these upcoming shifts and explore how these changes could be applied to our future endeavors. I am pursuing to become a pediatrician and desire to further explore these advancements in my field of study.

When hearing words like virtual reality or augmented reality, we assume that it is only associated with large tech companies and doesn’t apply to our chosen pathways at LHS - Lambert High School. However, this is not accurate, students that stay ahead with this advancing technology can benefit and apply this to their pathway offered at LHS. Let’s explore the rapid growth in XR technology and how it will impact some of the LHS pathways.

Evolution of Mobile Phone

The Motorola DynaTac mobile phone was introduced in 1983. It was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone. However, it was created to do one thing, make phone calls. Forty years ago, it would’ve been very difficult to predict the exact evolution of how the mobile phone would be used today. The same thing could be said for XR technology. Today, we commonly know and refer to VR as being used mostly in gaming, and AR in aiding online shopping. But imagine how different it will be in the next 20 to 30 years. There will be many use cases we haven’t thought of and how they will be implemented.

Major Technology Companies

LHS Pathways - Computer Science / Engineering / Business

Big tech companies such as Apple, Meta (formerly known as Facebook), and Microsoft are investing billions of dollars in this immersive technology. The actions of these companies demonstrate that there is potential and is going to become widely adopted in the upcoming years.

• Apple is expected to announce its first AR/VR headset.

• Meta has spent $10 billion on designing its metaverse in 2021 and has 10,000 employees working on it and plans to hire 10,000 more. They are heavily investing and are betting on their company’s future.

• Microsoft has created Microsoft Mesh, allowing people from different locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences. With the help of this MR technology, virtual meetings might feel more realistic and present.

Business/Retail

LHS Pathways - Business / Marketing

As XR becomes more widespread, many local retailers are utilizing AR for shopping. These businesses are integrating AR to offer immersive shopping experiences that promote engagement, boost customer education, and pique their curiosity. Business leaders should be prepared to embrace this new technology as it’s expected to be an $800 billion market by 2024. Human resource professionals also predicted that 64% of their employees will be doing work in the Metaverse by 2025.

Education

LHS Pathway - Teaching as a Profession

Future educators that adopt XR technology could establish a more effective approach to education and provide standardized guidelines. Through XR, students can experience new learning styles and advance their understanding of complex concepts, subjects, or theories.

• Can simulate real hands-on labs and experiments as a whole

• Interactive study sessions can occur without leaving the classroom, or on virtual field trips

• Make learning more interactive and allows students to focus more on practice instead of just theory

Healthcare

LHS Pathways - Biotechnology / Healthcare

The involvement of XR in healthcare is on the rise and has the potential to have a positive impact across all areas of healthcare. Ranging from developing the skills of the next generation of medical practitioners to improving the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions.

• AR headsets could digitally project a patient’s digital twin on top of the physical body during surgery to see the CT and MRI data ‘inside” of the patient as they perform a procedure

• Realistic 3D visualization could help train healthcare professionals

• AR headset to access critical real-time patient data including heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and breathing rate

Benefits of Joining Lambert XR Club

There are many ways we will be impacted by XR technology in our chosen career pathway. Currently, it is in the stage of infancy compared to when a mobile phone was invented only to make phone calls. Imagine if we knew how a mobile phone was going to shift into a smartphone and then evolve into a device that we rely upon, daily.

We cannot predict the evolution of XR, but we do know that it will have tremendous growth and impact on our future. I want students at Lambert to be aware of upcoming changes and explore ideas on how it will help us in our chosen career pathways. I am excited and eager to see how XR will evolve in the next 20 to 30 years.