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AR and VR Are 2018's VisiCalc

VisiCalc changed the way people did accounting projects in the early days of the PC. Augmented and virtual reality can do the same for the next era of computing.

If you know your computer history, you know that VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet designed for personal computers, put the PC on business users' radars.

OpinionsCreated by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston in Boston in the late 1970s, the VisiCalc was created for the Apple II. It changed the way people did accounting projects, but more importantly, it helped the Apple II find its ways into the accounting offices of Fortune 500 companies and made VisiCalc an indispensable tool.

VisiCalc spurred IBM into action, resulting in the birth of the IBM PC in 1981. IBM was highly interested in what VisiCalc could do because its history and DNA was rooted in computational calculating machines that were used in the 30s and 40s to manage things like the US Census and IRS-related tabulations.

The real value of VisiCalc and subsequent spreadsheets like Lotus 123 and Microsoft Excel is that it introduced the "what if" concept to numerical data applications. I've long been fascinated with the role computers play in answering the "what if" query, since much of what is done in business productivity is focused on asking this vital question. As I thought about the "what if" question as it relates to today's age of computing, it became clear to me that AR and VR technology is now being applied in many types of applications to answer this question in new ways.

VRG Glasses

I recently met with a Prague-based company called VRG, which showed me one of the most powerful VR headsets I've seen to date. I also saw various VR apps used by auto designers, architects, and individuals who wanted to test different form factors or dimensions before creating a final product. An architectural example I saw allowed a person to select different wall colors and floor designs in a virtual home.

What was interesting about VRG is that it licensed the hand-gesture technology from Magic Leap. To me, it seems by far the best way to interact with data, as the current joy stick-like hand devices are less precise.

From an AR perspective, you get that same "what if" concept with AR apps. With the Ikea app, you can point your phone at an empty room and then—using a side menu with furniture lights—drop items into the empty room to see what they would look like in your home.

To be fair, we have 2D apps that can do some of this now, but with AR, you get new forms of visualization added to various "what if" scenarios. With VR, you can be in the virtual house or virtual car being designed to see a final product or solution. In fact, I think VR offers more accuracy and new dimensions to the many "what if" scenarios for business and consumers.

Computers are essential for helping with "what if" questions, however, I see AR and VR as the next generation of technology to deliver even greater ways to answering new forms of that key query.

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