HAVELSAN and BTK, in collaboration, held the first of the Technology Meetings with the theme of “Augmented Reality.”
The program, held at the main campus of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK), was attended by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, HAVELSAN General Manager Ahmet Hamdi Atalay, numerous industry representatives, and students.
President Karagözoğlu: AR Will Be an Important Revenue Source in the Future
Reminding that technology companies worldwide are competing in the field of Augmented Reality (AR), BTK President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu said, “It is inevitable that AR applications, used in many sectors such as education, social media, commerce, production, and especially games and entertainment, will become a significant revenue source in the near future. It is forecasted that the number of monthly unique users for augmented reality applications will reach 1.8 billion in 2022, and the revenue generated will reach 93 billion Turkish Lira annually. Augmented reality enables interaction by adding digital images and graphics to the real visual environment for users. In Virtual Reality (VR) applications, on the other hand, images entirely produced and processed in a computer environment are presented in a virtual setting. Providing the imagined environments to end-users has added a new dimension to the entertainment sector. Similarly, adapting virtual reality to education makes the learning process more enjoyable and much more impactful. In addition, new educational scenarios can be prepared independent of the environment, beyond on-site learning,” he stated.
Expressing that standardization efforts for 5G, which forms the basis of AR/VR applications, will be completed worldwide by 2020, Sayan said, “Thanks to 5G's high data speeds, low latency, greater data capacity, energy efficiency, and software-based network logic, it meets lower cost factors, which will trigger new usage scenarios in many areas. In coordination with these efforts, we have intensively worked on deploying test network infrastructures at the 5G Valley Open Test Field that enable domestic and national production. With the test infrastructure that will soon come to life, we aim to experience and develop such applications. Today, the role of technology in the development and welfare levels of countries is undeniable. We must continue our efforts with patience, faith, and determination, and fulfill our duties to enable our country to have a say in the world.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: AR Is Among Today’s Most Popular Topics
Speaking at the program, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan stated that dizzying developments are taking place in the technology field. Sayan, who said that the convergence of these technologies and their interaction in physical, digital, and biological fields heralds developments on a scale we have never witnessed before, continued, “This technology, translated as ‘Augmented Reality,’ is one of today’s most popular topics and the most dynamic areas of technology. With these features, it is leading sectors such as IT and Telecommunications, as well as Electronics, Electrical, Textile, Construction, Aviation, Military, Digital Games, Publishing, Tourism, Cinema, Logistics, Food, and many more. Augmented Reality means enriching the environment we live in and its contents for a specific purpose by combining them with live or indirect physical images and/or information obtained through a tool. In other words, it can also be defined as overlaying virtual objects onto real images using the object recognition feature of devices.”
Sayan listed the benefits of Augmented Reality as follows: “It is one of the most important arguments of the Industry 4.0 revolution, which means Digital Transformation in industry, and provides significant contributions in areas such as time, cost, speed, performance, efficiency, and workforce. In new technologies, it enables users to access the information they seek through different means, offering the easiest experience. Thanks to the creative innovation it provides, it greatly increases the recall rates of advertising campaigns, thereby boosting brand awareness. For the consumer's top demand to experience the product among purchasing habits, it offers the closest experience to reality, bringing brands one step closer to their target audiences. In terms of ensuring customer satisfaction, which is of great importance to marketers, it meets marketers' first expectation from this technology by providing personalized advertising experiences tailored to users.”
Deputy Minister Sayan also addressed the dangers in virtual games. Stating that analyses of digital games—both their positive and negative aspects—as well as games played on mobile and web platforms have been conducted, Sayan said, “We have initiated studies on educational digital games that support children and youth in areas such as visual attention, comparison skills, quick and accurate decision-making, strategic thinking and analysis, high concentration, probability calculation, effective use of logic, and planned action. In addition, our work continues on a gamification project to enhance students' social responsibility and research skills for use in schools. We believe that educational games and awareness materials developed using augmented reality technologies will make a great contribution to efforts to increase societal awareness regarding the conscious, safe, and effective use of the internet.”
Sayan, who said that using technology more leads to addiction, continued, “we are also becoming more vulnerable to the risks it brings. Cybersecurity has now become a part of National Security due to interconnected risks in social and economic life, and a major factor affecting nations' welfare. Therefore, while we need to think about how these new technologies will make our lives easier and how to make them more accessible, we also need to consider how to ensure their security and take steps accordingly. Our Ministry and affiliated organizations are intensively continuing our work in this field with the contributions of our sector.”
Following the speeches, the topic of “Augmented Reality” was thoroughly discussed in the sessions.