Looking To Jumpstart Your Career? Becoming Adept At VR/AR Programming Might Be The Best Option For You

Far too many people fail to pursue career opportunities in fields they consider to be too “technical.” And while Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are certainly highly technical fields, there is an immense need for creative talent in this space. AR is already extensively used, as it is deployed to create the filters and alterations that are becoming commonplace in photo-sharing apps like Snapchat. Major technology companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are investing in the VR ecosystem with significant programs to tap into this opportunity. With significant development and deployment of these technologies in the offing, it has become a lucrative skill to pick up to enhance one’s career.

What are AR and VR, and why should you care?

AR and VR are immersive technologies that attempt to replace or alter a user’s perception of the real-world environment around them. AR overlays digitally-created content into digital depictions of the real world; VR, on the other hand, relies on placing the user in a completely immersive virtual environment. As the technologies develop, these technologies are poised to reshape marketing in domains ranging from real estate and automotive to consumer goods and retail.

A variety of factors are creating a conducive hardware and software environment for the entry of VR and AR technologies into the mainstream market. Mobile devices have become more sophisticated and have higher processing capacity and increased processing speed. The introduction of AI-leveraging software systems has enabled AR and VR to be more effective and lifelike. In the midst of all this technological evolution, dropping prices and over 700 companies finding new commercially viable applications for these technologies are driving massive professional and funding interest in the sector. It is a booming industry, and this is the perfect time to enter into this field.

If you are a creative and imaginative student or professional for whom the prospect of recreating reality and providing immersive experiences seems intriguing, there’s no time like the present to enter the field. There are far fewer experts in the field than the current demand, and this gap between demand and supply is expected to continue, as accessing the knowledge and experience to become an expert in this field is difficult at legacy educational institutions. In this environment, how are people interested in this field expected to reskill themselves and become ready for the fantastic job opportunities of the future in this exciting emerging field of technology?

Building your foundation and learning the right basic skills

AR and VR technologies require expertise in a variety of diverse skills, ranging from the purely creative to the purely technical. Within that spectrum lies the literary composition of an alternative universe and the visual design of it, as well as the hyper-technical requirements of programming, hardware, computer vision, and sensors to map and reflect user movement. However, accessing any of these exciting job roles in these nascent fields will require a foundational understanding of the technology.

The basic requirements to access VR/AR learning revolve around programming skills and familiarity with software platforms such as Unity and ARKit. It would also require an understanding of motion tracking, computer vision, advanced graphics simulation, and the translation of physical sensory data to virtual movements to bridge the gap between simulation and reality. Those unfamiliar with these platforms or technical concepts would find themselves lacking the basic requirements to start a career in this field. Thankfully, comprehensive learning courses in this field exist online, designed to take anyone from curiosity and aptitude to expertise through targeted knowledge delivery.

Finding the right course for you to enhance your professional reality

Interested candidates should exercise due care when making a selection of the options for AR/VR learning offered in the market. While several providers have added AR/VR to their course portfolio, not all are designed to be comprehensive and end-to-end, starting from scratch and leaving you an expert. Ensure that you pick a course that builds the right foundation for you to access this field of learning. Further, when it comes to such learning opportunities, many providers tend to offer substandard fare.

The pace at which the technology has changed means that many of the courses available online in this field are already outdated. Even when the course is not deficient technologically, it is deficient due to content; the outcome of the course does not leave students ready to enter into the field professionally, as it is designed for hobbyists or part-time developers. Ensure that the brand offering the course is a renowned one and that the certification they provide is widely accepted in the market by the best technology brands. Further, check and see if experts and industry stalwarts have been deployed to assist in the construction of the course, as this is likely to ensure that graduates are ready to be gainfully employed once the course is complete.