Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality = Twin siblings? No. Distant cousins maybe.

World-altering technologies always grab attention. Especially one that bend and alter our realities definitely receive quite a lot of fanfare. Two such present day technologies that are becoming talk of the town in every digital conjunction are Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

AR and VR are similar technologies. But, they are not one and the same. They both alter our perspectives; but in a different way. While VR transports us to a whole new virtual setting, AR places digital snippets upon our real-time scenario to alter or create a new perspective.

The slow and steady growth of Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) has been around for about 2 decades. Research and development has been happening in the field since the early 1990s. the launch of Nintendo Virtual Boy is a testament to that fact. Although Virtual Boy failed miserably in commercial terms, a minor part of the scientific population did wake up to the enormous possibilities that VR can bring around in daily life.

The recent entry of Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality entered the digital arena in the recent years and is soon becoming mainstream in several sectors including entertainment, education, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, etc. In fact, its infinite possibilities are still being explored thus adding more applications that can facilitate daily living substantially. Tech leaders like Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, etc. have grand plans in their arsenal to make best use of AR.

Difference between VR & AR: United by technology; divided by perceptions

Basically AR and VR are siblings of the same family. But they have stark differences from each other with specific functionalities and perceptions. The difference between VR and AR can be spotted based on our perceived presence.

For instance, VR transports the user to a virtual environment that relays prebuilt scenarios. It takes your presence to a virtual environment recreated using graphics and animation interlinked with actual physical activities.

Whereas, AR recreates a virtual environment at the real-time location of the user. AR relays digital information over common daily objects or places that a user sees frequently.  

Not quite getting the point? Here is a live example for better understanding.

Imagine going for scuba diving. In virtual reality you can virtually swim with the sharks and marine life in the pool. Whereas in AR, you can actually see a shark jump virtually jump out of your business card. VR uses a head-mounted gear for projecting its effects to the user.

AR makes use of any digital screen like your smartphone or television screen for projection. AR adds digital elements to our current scenarios that alters our perspective or current state of presence. It makes believe things to have happened or happening real time, whereas they are mere digital projections.

See how BMW has fitted its subsidiary brand Mini Cooper with using Augmented Reality for safe driving. Drivers can see through the car to take visual cues of external happenings that are otherwise obstructed. Thanks to Augmented Reality, it makes driving easier and a lot safer.

It can be summarized that VR and AR have set off a new scenario-oriented technology that will add several benefits to everyday life and modern science. In fact, both the technologies are being rampantly applied in several cutting-edge research conditions to achieve what has been considered impossible until now. The days are not far when AR and VR will present the world what has been considered fiction in parlance.