AR & VR Are Two Different Technologies. It's High Time You Knew The Difference & How They Work!

While browsing the internet, we often stumble upon some really interesting tech jargons such as Virtual Reality or VR and Augmented Reality or AR, and while many might not be really interested to dive deep into the confusing world of tech, you keep on coming across these terminologies and you do get inquisitive to know what it really means.

And although they sound similar, they are two entirely different things.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is the creation of a digital, virtual space to interact with using a VR headset and a computer. Basically, Virtual Reality replaces your existing reality and takes you to a digital world, using the VR headset.

The headset completely disconnects you from the outside world and lets you interact with the digital world within. You cannot see anything from the outside world while wearing the headset. The headset consists of two tiny displays with lenses, which generate a 3D image within. So when you actually wear it, it gives you the feeling of actually being present in the virtual world with realistic three-dimensional elements. The headset also comes with a bunch of sensors which track your head movement and simultaneously change the image within, creating an illusion of a digital world.

This digital world could be anything! It could take you to New York while you¡¯re at your home in Mumbai, or take you to some planet in the solar system. Since it is digitally generated, the possibilities are endless.

Certain VR headsets come with dedicated controllers to interact with the elements in the digital world. Commonly used VR headsets include Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. Google also has its VR headset called Google Daydream, which allows compatible smartphones to be placed into the headset for an immersive VR experience.

Today VR is used by game developers in the gaming industry to provide a larger-than-life gaming experience. Moreover, there are numerous movie makers are creating movies in VR to create an immersive movie experience. It is also being used for training pilots, doctors in performing certain kind of surgeries, as well as by the tourism industry to actually take the person to the location to experience its beauty. It is also being used by

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality, also known as Mixed Reality is the opposite of VR. Where in VR, the headset takes you to a virtual world, blocking you from the real world, Augmented Reality uses the real world and adds virtual or digital elements into it. AR also uses headsets but isn¡¯t bound to use one. You have apps that provide AR interaction through a smartphone.

Microsoft¡¯s Hololens is a great example of an AR or Mixed Reality headset. Hololens has two holographic lenses in front of a huge glass viewfinder with cameras that allows the wearer to look at objects in the room, and the displays add the virtual overlays to interact with elements. The cameras help in tracking objects in the room and interacting with the digital elements accordingly.

AR is seen to have far more practical applications, most commonly seen in the sensational smartphone game Pokemon Go, where players would fight in a digital space, using the actual maps and locations.

Global lifestyle brand IKEA has an AR app on the iPhone that lets users try out furniture inside a home using the camera from the smartphone, giving buyers a good idea of the dimensions of the furniture.

Both AR and VR are working to make our lives simpler and fun, and although they¡¯re in really early stages right now, the future looks promising!