The phrases “virtual reality” and “augmented reality” are frequently used interchangeably. Augmented reality applications and games (such as Pokemon Go) and virtual reality headsets (such as Oculus Quest or Valve Index) are still popular. They sound the same, and as technology advances, they begin to merge. However, these are two different concepts with qualities that make them unique.

What Is Virtual Reality and How Does It Work?

The virtual reality viewer completely blurs your vision and creates the illusion that you are in a different place. When wearing HTC Vive Cosmos, PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest, Valve Index, and other headsets are opaque and cover the surrounding environment. However, when the headset is turned on, the lens will destroy the internal LCD or OLED display, filling your field of vision with the content presented. It can be a game, a 360-degree movie, or just a virtual room created by the platform UI.

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 cameras or sensors (for Index and PS VR) or external cameras provide this technology (for Quest 2). This means that the headset can determine not only the viewing direction but also any movement in that direction. Therefore, you can use a virtual hand with a 6DOF motion controller to move in the virtual area. Although this area is usually only a few square meters, it is much more exciting than just looking in a different direction. The disadvantage is that you must be careful not to trip over the wires connecting the headset to the computer or gaming system.

Virtual reality exceeds your surroundings in both games and apps, transporting you to other locations. It makes no difference where you are physical. During the game, you can sit in the cockpit of a jet fighter. You can use the app for virtual navigation as if you were there. Virtual reality offers a plethora of possibilities, many of which involve replacing everything in your environment with something else.

What Is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work?

Rather than replacing your eyesight, augmented reality enhances it. AR systems, such as Microsoft’s HoloLens and other enterprise-level “smart glasses,” are transparent, allowing you to see everything in front of you as if you were wearing a pair of flimsy sunglasses. This technology allows you to walk freely by projecting images onto everything you are 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. Smart glasses such as HoloLens allow you to virtually place floating application windows and 3D decorations around you. Compared with virtual reality, this technology has a major 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. If the hologram disappears immediately after leaving the rectangle in the center of the field of view, or is it necessary 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 inconsistent 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.

The potential for augmented reality is practically endless. For years, phone-based AR software has recognized surroundings and provided additional information about what it sees, such as real-time text translation or pop-up restaurant reviews as you look at them. Dedicated AR headsets, such as Microsoft’s HoloLens, can go much further, allowing you to realistically position different programs as floating windows all around you. They effectively turn your computer into a modular multi-monitor system.

Now augmented reality can only be used on mobile phones and lacks the zoom function of enterprise-level augmented reality displays. As a result, until a consumer AR headset is released, AR will remain relatively limited.

What Is the Difference?

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 the data you have already experienced. Both are powerful technologies that consumers may not like, but they have great 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.

Source: https://jordansmith389.wordpress.com/2021/07/05/virtual-reality-vs-...