Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, they seem to be hot buzzwords which we have all heard before but What are they exactly? and What’s the difference between them? and What it meant for the world we live in? Let’s find out about it.
What is Virtual Reality or VR?
Let’s start with VR in simple terms. VR is a computer generated simulation or replacement of one’s environment or in other words VR will make you feel like you are computer generated 3D world mentally and physically. You turn your head and the world turns with you so the illusion created by whatever world you are in is never lost but actually you are never leaving the reality or real world. For example you put on a head set it blocks out your worldview and substitute the digital world that designed to fool your senses which is from point of view of your brain, you are somewhere else, it’s a form of mental teleportation, if you will.
so where does VR comes from?
Virtual Reality Origins
Origin of VR as technology system can be traced back to 1962 when filmmaker Morton Heilig created the sensorama. It was an arcade style cabinet with 3D display, vibrating seat, fan and sense producer. One of the experiences was riding a bike down the streets of Brooklyn. The viewer will have a 3D-view of the streets while having the wind blow in their face while simultaneously feeling the vibration of the motorcycle seat and even experiencing the smells of the city although it was absolutely revolutionary for the time but the idea didn’t gain much traction.
Most people point to MIT computer scientist Ivan Sutherland as being the godfather of VR displays in 1968 he created sword of Damocles, the first VR headset. He and his colleagues in MIT started the first virtual headset experiments, as a side point Sutherland was a low-key genius, he also invented the sketch pad in 1963. An advance software for computer-aided design and a breakthrough in human-computer interaction but more on this on the full history blog.
It wouldn’t be until 1987 when the actual term virtual reality was coined. The term was the brainchild of Jaron Lanier, an American computer philosopher and computer scientist.
Let’s breakdown the actual meaning of virtual reality, Virtual means ” being something in effect, though not in actually or in fact. This is from mid 15th century English so in other words ideally. VR is an approximation of our reality that is digital but not reality itself since its inception in the late 60’s. VR hardware in university research labs is hilariously big and bulky form, never to test the waters of the mainstream consumer but for understanding the limit of our brain’s perception systems. It was also helpful tool for PTSD and cognitive behaviour therapy patient.
Over the years many companies such as Nintendo and NEC have tried bringing VR to the consumer market but these efforts were major failures. The reasons for the industries previous failure will be looked at in future blog posts but broadly speaking the technology just wasn’t there and the threshold for building convincing headset was too high until now.
Currently VR is quickly becoming extremely relevant to Gamers, 3D artists, architects and real estate agents teachers and student and even astronauts after crying wolf a number of times VR is finally showing some promise this time around.
Oculus Rift is the most common example of Virtual Reality devices as Oculus is working on virtual reality projects for quite some time and other examples must include Samsung’s Gear VR, Sony’s project Morpheus and HTC’s vive.
Let’s move on to Augmented reality
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality also known as mixed reality is a different beast from VR. This is because its main purpose isn’t to cut out the real world and transport you to another one but rather is to be enhancement of your world with set of magical virtual objects in it. When a person’s real environment is supplemented or augmented with computer generated images usually motion tracked then that’s Augmented Reality.
If you have played Pokemon go when that was a thing or have you use snapchat lens face filters then you have already used primitive forms of augmented reality. An amusing example of augmented reality would be Ikea, a swedish home furnishings giant launched an app with help of which not only can you preview Ikea’s furniture in 3D, but you’ll be able to use your smartphones to see exactly how the digital items will look in your home. Rather than imagine how an object will look in a space, Ikea shoppers can display it in real time. It’s the sort of thing that only augmented reality can let you do.
The term augmented reality is attributed to the former Boeing researcher, Thomas P. Caudel in 1990.
Augment is from the latin word auguerre which means to increase or to add. Hence AR technology is adding to our existing reality.
Augmented reality is also showing promise with efforts like Microsoft’s. Hololens and Apple is constantly working on Augmented Reality.
Now, lets take a quick summary of both technologies
Summary
Virtual Reality tends completely immersive with no real world stimuli affecting the experience. The goal of VR is make user as if they are in fact in another place in stark contrast to this Augmented Reality act as digital addition to user’s world for example objects can appear on tables information can be displayed in floating windows and graphics can be generated all seamlessly motion tracked to the user’s field of view. The thing that make AR and VR different from any other form of technology is that it directly affects perceptions and processes of human mind in a obvious way.
Future of AR and VR Technologies
It is only technology that can provide that can provide actual packaged experiences.While there are a large number of people that do think that both AR and VR are fad that will fade out like previous hype cycles of the technologies from the 80’s and 90’s. The thing to note here that the underline technology is vastly more powerful this time around and it’s very much feasible think of it as time that is parallel to smartphone just before the Iphone. We just need the right blend of killer AR and VR applications product price and consumer demand to really begin the altered reality spark. At current rates by 2025 attractive AR and VR services will be commonplace.
If done right these technologies show incredible potential.
Tell me what you feel about these technologies,are these technologies are a fad as believed by the masses or this time around these technologies are really going to bring the revolutionary change in tech world.
TecnoCoder 