IMAGINING TOMORROW: BUSINESS FUTURES | 58 OCTOBER 1, 2023 Koizumi acknowledges concerns, but offers a counterpoint: XR is also helping us to understand reality better. “We recently worked with Caltech on an app for physics courses, enabling students to experience virtually what reality would look like if we could see it operating at a quantum scale.” The same goes for Leigh’s argument that XR addiction is becoming the new opioid crisis. “Don’t forget XR has medical applications, too,” says Koizumi, “like helping to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers.” In industry, it is augmented reality (one aspect of XR) rather than virtual reality that is transforming how employees are trained in technical skills. The ability to display instructions in real time removes the need for a worker to switch between a task and reading a manual. According to a recent OECD report, “Headsets On: The Manufacturing Impact of XR,” this is significantly improving both accuracy and productivity. New products are reaching the market more quickly as XR eliminates the need to build physical prototypes. However, XR is also contributing to downward pressure on wages in advanced economies, since new hires can often be almost as productive as workers with lengthy experience. THE WORLD OF REDESIGNING THTHEE I IMAMAGIGINANATIONTION THE AGE OF “TECHNO-POLITICS” LIFE E ECONOMYCONOMY (IN)SECURITY