A Comprehensive Understanding of Augmented and Virtual Reality
These are strange times that we live in, with our time split into all three types of Realities. First, we have our reality. The normal world that isn’t a part of fantasy or imagination that we crave. Next, technology has given us Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. Virtual Reality is seen as a completely synthetic world that removes the user from real-world experience. Whereas Augmented Reality allows users to experience the real world that has been enhanced with technology overlays.
But what are these realities exactly?
It’s vital to see virtual reality for what it is, a stimulating experience. It is also necessary to understand that augmented reality overlays virtual 3D graphics onto our real-world. For Example, Pokémon Go, in literal terms, augmented the way we now perceive everyday life!
VR devices have shut out the physical world completely. These devices help users feel like they are actually experiencing various activities, and thus it requires complete immersion. Where the majority see the healthcare, real estate, and gaming benefits of Augmented and Virtual Reality, we have noticed how beneficial it might prove to be in the media. What better way to understand what’s going on in the real world than being immersed in them? We, by default, can’t teleport to the center of every news story but what we can do is experience them in VR.
People often mistake Augmented Reality for Virtual Reality, but VR and AR differ in a few ways.
- VR provides us with a completely immersive experience. Once you put on the VR headsets, everything you see from now onwards isn’t our reality but a part of the world created by technology.
- With AR, you still see everything around you as you usually would, but it is augmented, which allows you to interact with “patients” and dissect “corpses.”
And that is exhilarating!
Both technologies, however, have the capability to respond to user actions and interactions with the environment.
Augmented Reality
Application of Augmented Reality technology sounds techy, ahead of its time, and a little out of this world. The concept of AR was first referenced by the Wizard of Oz author L Frank Baum in 1901, and the term ‘Augmented Reality’ was first coined in 1990 by Tom Caudell and David Mizell.
Augmented Reality technology is gaining widespread acceptance worldwide. Its development speed is inevitably high, as more and more benefits and investment returns are being expected and observed.
Recently, Dubai was introduced to its first taste of Augmented Reality, which has now become very popular amongst businesses.
AR is not only a success in the gaming and entertainment sector but also in other areas that are helpful in boosting Dubai workspaces productivity and in aiding in technological advancements. It is also effective in producing more efficiency and convenience in the implementation of other aspects of technology.
Virtual Reality
It was Virtual Reality that gave people a glimpse of the 3D world back in the old days. But It was only in the 1990s that AR became widely popular because of its integration into gaming technology.
Virtual Reality, on the other hand, was not limited to gaming applications and devices. With its haptic system and other advanced technologies, VR has been used in more complex studies by researchers in the fields of Mathematics and Science. With Virtual reality, car engineers and designers can effectively visualize the model they’re building without having to use any physical materials.
We are all aware of how VR is being used in regards to pain relief, but not many know about exposure therapy. It is used to treat phobias and often severe conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD.
It is indeed a BLESSING.
Whilst there are plenty of fun examples of virtual reality games – whether that’s virtual roller coasters, military training, or even space exploration, virtual reality has so much to offer across healthcare, business, and even marketing.
- What about a surgeon who can operate on you from miles away, with the implementation of VR where the surgeon’s colleague is holding the scalpel in the real world.
- Or if you could experience your dream wedding in the virtual world, before you’d even spent a penny on jewelry?
In the case of certain businesses, individuals, and healthcare providers, Virtual reality is gradually taking over reality.
And then there is the emergence of nudity. We see it today as a creative expression in web series on the OTT platforms. But soon, we may see it become one of the applications of VR. And according to VirtualLiving.io, Virtual Reality has paved the way for Teledildonic sex, where partners can remotely control the intensity of the sex toys over the internet.
Talk about Crazy!
Fear of height, fear of public speaking, fear of asking ‘the one’ out on a date?Not only does VR create an environment allowing us to overcome the fear, but it might also help us provide an instant solution for these issues. For example: Remotely controlling the crowd during a public speaking session. In VR public speaking sessions, you can make the audience disappear until they feel comfortable enough to speak in their presence. It might seem like a silly thing for people who have no issues speaking in front of the crowd, but this might work.
Prior attempts to incorporate smell in VR usually ended up distracting from the sense of immersion.
Researchers have now been looking forward to the other haptic features that come with the mask – bringing heat, wind, water mist, and vibration to VR.
Can you imagine the depth of interaction when it’s not just your eyes that see and experience the world, but the rest of your senses are involved as well. Imagine smelling burnt rubber on a racing track, enjoying a cool breeze, or feeling the raindrops on your cheeks. These are just a few ways multi-sensory Virtual Reality informs us of the current status of Virtual reality, and how using tools such as micro coolers or ultrasonic ionizing systems can help bring it about.
These are the luxuries that VR has offered us on a silver platter and we have so much more to uncover.
