Virtual and Augmented Reality are two of the most trending technologies nowadays. Both are growing and showing new applications and solutions they can provide. AR and VR today are two distinct things – think more like cousins than twins. Although, they are well-known in every field but the difference between them is not much clear. Let’s discuss what they actually are and how do they differ from each other.
What is VR and AR?
Virtual reality (VR) implies a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world. It completely takes over your vision to give you the impression that you’re somewhere else. A VR experience is limiting in that your focus is entirely on the world. For the most part, you can’t look around your world, but you can’t look away from it. You’re trapped in it until you remove the headset or shut off the app. Some example of VR is HTC Vive Pro Eye, the Oculus Rift S and many more.
Augmented reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone. Virtual reality replaces your vision, augmented reality adds to it. AR devices are transparent, letting you see everything in front of you as if you are wearing a weak pair of sunglasses. The technology is designed for completely free movement while projecting images over whatever you look at, it can be floor, wall etc. AR displays can offer something as simple as a data overlay that shows the time, to something as complicated as holograms floating in the middle of a room. Examples of augmented reality experiences include Snapchat lenses and the game Pokémon Go.
Science behind AR and VR
Virtual Reality – The technology is a computer-generated simulation of a 3D-environment that you can immerse yourself in, navigate around, and seemingly interact with via special hardware, like a chunky headset with handheld sensors. For virtual reality to work there needs to be two things: hardware and software. The hardware powers the VR experience by giving you a display to look at, for instance, while the experience itself is nothing but software, such as a video game that puts you in the middle of the action. With this combo, you strap on a VR headset, load a VR app, and jump into a virtual world. In the headset, the LCD or OLED panels inside are refracted by the lenses to completely fill your field of vision with whatever is being displayed by the VR software in the headset.
Augmented Reality – This let you experience a computer-generated simulation of either a 3D or 2D environment, and all this is superimposed onto your actual view of the real world, creating a composite view. AR can add contextual layers of information in real-time as well, so you can see suggested restaurants nearby, for instance, while walking down the street as 3D aliens run past you. Like VR, AR needs both hardware and software to work. There must be something that powers and displays the augmented reality, while the augmented reality itself is software or a game or an app designed by a developer. But the main thing to realize about AR is that it enables you to interact with the real world while simultaneously experiencing something totally augmented.
VR vs. AR
VR replaces reality, taking you somewhere else. AR adds to reality, projecting information on top of what you’re already seeing. In VR, the user no longer perceives the real environment. User can only experience the digital 3D world with aids such as VR glasses. Whereas in AR, the user still sees the real world, but receives additional information displayed from the AR device. AR can be in both 2D or 3D form. The virtual world can be seen, heard, and felt. In VR, there are 360-degree images, 360-degree videos, and fully created 3D worlds meanwhile in AR, there are texts, images, animations, videos, and static or moving 3D objects.
The VR device don’t just detect the direction in which you’re facing, but any movement you make in those directions wherein the AR device will only display the content on top of whatever the camera is looking at with no movement detection.
Augmented and virtual reality have one big thing in common. They both have the remarkable ability to alter our perception of the world. Where they differ, is the perception of our presence.
Augmented and virtual technologies are quickly developing. we’ll be seeing a lot more from both augmented reality and virtual reality soon. Devices will be cheaper, experiences more accessible and with any luck this new technology will continue to improve all our lives.
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