Almost all of us have apple iPhones, use Facebook and work on windows. And so do we know that Apple's ARKit gives an experience to the millions of users and iPhone owners to experience AUGMENTED REALITY (AR).
Facebook the mega social monster that engulfed two of the most used social media websites i.e WhatsApp and Instagram is working its way on to bringing VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) to wider audiences.
Microsoft is aiming at using MIXED REALITY to combine the real world with virtual objects! Now, how cool is that and almost all of us understand what AR, VR or MR is. Or do we?
Well, let's have a look at these terms in detail
VIRTUAL REALITY (VR):
Among the many definitions of VR, I prefer the shortest and simplest one. Virtual reality is an artificially created digital environment that completely reinstates the real world.Users while using VR, experience ersatz sounds and sights and feel as if they’re in a digital (or sometimes unreal) world. Imagine opening your eyes and seeing Hogwarts all around you. You can go cast spells (or at least pretend to), ride pegasus, fight dragons! That’s what virtual reality is like.
Virtual reality can transmogrify the user's experience. Something that the user has never seen, sudden;y he feels it all around him! In other words, VR brings us someplace else. VR blocks out the room using closed visors and googles and puts our presence elsewhere.
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR):
This technology is a mystery for many people even though it is a buzzword. AR is like seeing the real world with some additional digital objects. Imagine you want to buy a piece of furniture – a sofa for an example. What AR technology will do is help you check how different sofas will look in your room and then you can choose the one that suits them best!
Why AR is more favourable because it adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone! And everyone has a smartphone thus making it usable by anyone and everyone!Few examples of augmented reality experiences that users have already started using without probably knowing to include Snapchat lenses and the game Pokemon Go.
One difference between VR and AR is where virtual reality replaces your vision, augmented reality adds to it. AR devices like various enterprise-level "smart glasses" are transparent thus allowing you to see everything in front of you as if you are wearing a weak pair of sunglasses. This technology is designed for completely free movement while projecting images over whatever you look at or wherever your camera points.
AR is the most accessible reality technology today because it allows people to use their smartphones or tablets to run augmented reality applications.
AR can be used in advertising, manufacturing, retail, navigation, maintenance and repairs etc. It's difficult to make the choice between AR and VR, cause both serve different purposes and won't suit each other's needs.