The Rise of Technology - Virtual Reality vs Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation where someone can interact within a three-dimensional experiential environment. Simply in virtual reality, the world you're standing in is replaced with a virtual one and everything you see and hear is something computer-generated.

Major Applications of Virtual Reality

• Real-time medical education
• Remote training in the manufacturing industry
• Creating ideas and forecasting trends
• Virtual exhibitions and entertainment
• Military mission training
• Design new experiments in the automotive industry
• Go on guided virtual tours of tourists landmarks
• Gaming purposes

You can interact with an artificial yet very naturalistic or extremely synthetic three-dimensional environment using electronic devices such as special goggles with a screen or gloves fitted with sensors. Virtual reality uses VR headsets to create a simulator environment and helps an individual to immerse into it to experience an entirely different reality.

Mainly there are 3 types of Virtual Reality

• Non-immersive VR
• Semi-immersive VR
• Fully-immersive VR

What Is Non-Immersive Virtual Reality?

Non-immersive virtual reality is where you can control some characters or activities within the experience, but the virtual environment is not directly interacting with you. Non-immersive virtual reality provides you with a computer-generated environment but you don't feel immersed in the virtual world. That means you can control the characters or activities within the experience without the virtual environment directly interacting with you.

Key elements of non-immersive VR

• Users can perceive the images only in two dimensions
• Only allows users to see the contents based on the device that uses
• Least interactive and immersive
• Mostly used in video games

The main difference between immersive and non-immersive virtual reality is in the 3D content delivery method.

What Is Semi Immersive Virtual Reality?

Semi-immersive virtual reality allows the users to experience virtual 3-dimensional environments while remaining connected to real world surrounding visuals, auditory, smells and haptics as well as keeping control over physical objects. Semi-immersive VR is something in between non immersive and fully immersive virtual reality. You will only get the ability to move around in a virtual environment using a computer screen or VR glasses, so you can't experience any physical sensation other than your visual experience in the computer-generated environment.

Key elements of semi-immersive VR

• The realistic 3D virtual environment
• Haptic feedback
• High quality sound properly synchronised with a digital image
• Advanced hard simulator

What Is Fully Immersive Virtual Reality?

Fully immersive virtual reality is the presentation of an artificial environment that replaces users' real-world surroundings convincingly enough that they can suspend disbelief and fully engage with the created environment.

Simply fully immersive virtual reality allows users to experience an artificial environment like the real world. Unlike semi-immersive VR, where users retain a strong connection to the real world but in a fully immersive virtual environment users are completely isolated from their physical surroundings. Users can't interact with real-world objects. Instead of using head-mounted display and using wireless controllers, they can explore digital 3D environment and interact with the computer-generated environment.

Key elements of fully immersive VR

• Fully immersion in virtual space
• Sensory feedback
• The virtual world should be fast and interactive
• Comfortable to use and bug-free

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is an increased vision of the real physical world achieved by utilising digital visual elements, sounds, and other different sensory stimuli delivered via technology. AR blends digital information with virtual objects in the physical space. Augmented reality projects are computer generated on top of reality and it helps someone to perform tasks more efficient and better.

"Augmented reality falls in between reality and virtual reality."

AR is also known as mixed reality. The main purpose of AR is not to cut out the real world and transport it to another one but rather is to be an enhancement of the real world with a set of magical and virtual objects in it.

Key elements of augmented reality

• AR use the device to blend digital content into the real world
• Real-time interaction and provide a richer user experience
• Accurate 3D demonstration of real and virtual objects
• Major components are hardware, software and remote server

Now let's take a brief look at applications of Augmented Reality

• Medical Training
• Design and modelling
• Business logistics
• Tourism industry
• Education purposes
• Healthcare
• Tracking systems in sports
• Gaming and entertainment

Hope you all got some clear and brief knowledge about Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality as well as their real-life applications from this blog. My name is Vishalya Karunaarachchi and I'm an undergraduate of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Check out and comment your thoughts about my very first blog!

Thank you..!