Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hold great promise for the future of gaming, marketing, e-commerce, education, and a variety of other industries.
Both technologies are known for providing an upgraded experience that combines a virtual and real world with enhanced 3-D images. Although the two can be easily confused, there are some fundamental differences between them.
What Is Augmented Reality (AR)?
Augmented reality is more efficient as a branding and gaming tool than virtual reality since it can be accessed by almost everyone with a smartphone. By displaying virtual graphics and characters through a phone’s camera or video viewer, AR transforms the dull, physical world into a colorful, visual one. The user’s real-life experience is simply enhanced with augmented reality.
The technology allows you to walk around freely while projecting visuals onto anything you’re looking at. AR apps and games, such as Pokemon Go, use your phone’s camera to detect your surroundings and overlay additional information on top of it on the screen, extending the concept to smartphones.
AR displays can range from simple data overlays that show the time to holograms hovering in the midst of a room. On top of whatever the camera is looking at, Pokemon Go projections a Pokemon onto your screen. Meanwhile, smart glasses like the HoloLens and others allow you to virtually place floating app windows and 3D décor all around you.
When compared to virtual reality, this technology has a significant disadvantage: visual immersion. AR apps only appear on your smartphone or tablet screen, and even the HoloLens can only project visuals in a limited area in front of your eyes, whereas VR entirely covers and replaces your field of view. When a hologram vanishes once it moves out of a rectangle in the middle of your vision, or you have to stare at a little screen while pretending that the thing on that screen is in front of you, it’s not particularly immersive.
3DOF can work quite well with basic AR that overlays minimal information over what you’re looking at. Most AR apps, on the other hand, require 6DOF in some form, which tracks your physical position so that the program can display visuals in 3D space in consistent positions. This is why the HoloLens employs a stereoscopic camera and advanced pattern recognition to identify its location at all times, and why more modern, AR-focused devices measure depth with several rear-facing cameras.
What Is Virtual Reality (VR)?
Virtual reality takes these elements to the next level by creating a completely computer-generated recreation of a different environment. Using specific technology such as computers, sensors, headphones, and gloves, these immersive simulations may simulate practically any picture or place possible for the participant.
When the headsets are turned on, however, the lenses refract the LCD or OLED displays inside, filling your field of view with whatever is being presented. It could be a game, a 360-degree film, or simply the virtual area created by the platforms’ user interfaces. Visually, the headgear transports you to wherever it wants you to go—the real environment is replaced by a virtual one.
Six-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) motion tracking is used in tethered VR headsets like the Index and PS VR, as well as standalone VR headsets like the Quest 2. External sensors or cameras (for the Index and PS VR) or outward-facing cameras provide this technology (for the Quest 2). This implies that the headsets detect not just the direction you’re facing, but also any movement you make in those directions. With this with 6DOF motion controllers, you can move about in a virtual area with virtual hands. Although this area is usually only a few square meters in size, it is far more immersive than simply standing stationary and staring in different directions. The disadvantage is that you must be cautious not to trip over any of the cables connecting the headset to your computer or gaming system.
The Different Between AR and VR
The main differences between VR and AR are the gear needed and the experience itself:
While AR uses a real-world context, VR is entirely virtual.
VR users are controlled by the system, whereas AR users can control their presence in the actual world.
While VR requires a headset, AR can be viewed with a smartphone.
While VR simply enriches a fictitious reality, AR enhances both the virtual and actual worlds.
Jobs in the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Industry
The AR and VR industry is expected to reach $209.2 billion by 2022, indicating that these new, growing technologies provide limitless prospects for enterprises and employment. Through software and hardware development, graphic design, research, and more, VR and AR are altering businesses.
Careers developing and upgrading VR and AR technology are in high demand, including:
- Engineering and development of software
- Management of a project
- Upkeep of software
- Design for the web
The sector will only continue to develop as virtual and augmented reality become increasingly integrated into how we work, play, and learn. The Tulane School of Professional Advancement’s digital design curriculum combines design and cutting-edge technology to help students stay on the cutting edge of these industries while converting their passion into a career. Request more information about SoPA today by filling out the form below.
Despite their comparable designs, virtual reality and augmented reality accomplish two very distinct things in two very different ways. VR takes you away from reality and transports you to another world. AR augments reality by superimposing data on top of what you’re already experiencing. They’re both powerful technologies that haven’t quite caught on with consumers yet, but they have a lot of potential. They have the potential to dramatically transform how we use computers in the future, but whether one or both will succeed is currently unknown.
