The world is advancing faster than it has ever before and it is hard to keep up with the day-to-day technological advancement. So, at given time there is a plethora of new technologies to keep your eye on especially if you are an investor, it is the investor’s job to know the next big thing and one of things that the investors are heavily investing is in virtual and augmented realities.
We are surely spending most of our time looking at screens beaten laptop, TV or a cellphone they have become a big part of our lives and VR and AR are the two technologies that are changing the way we use screens, creating new and exciting experiences both in a different way. The market for AR and VR products in 2018 was approximately 17.8 billion dollars but in 2022 it is expected to go as high as 150 billion dollars.
Now, AR and VR are two different things and each has its strengths and weaknesses.
What is Virtual Reality (VR)?
Emerging yourself into a totally different world, that is the virtual world is the whole concept of the VR technology. The use of computer technology to create a simulated environment of which we become a part and can live with that experience.
Virtual Reality uses head technology where we move our head to look around what is happening. Although, it mostly used for gaming it was supposed to give us an experience of travel with our travelling and experience entirely in new worlds. But it is also now being use in research and therapy. Nowadays, VR content is useful of PTSD and cognitive therapy patients.
Applications in different fields, such as:
- Safety VR training: Trainees put on a VR headset and learn how to lock and verify that an industrial machine is de-energized and learn the risks in the procedure and avoid an electrocution.
- To treat cognitive disorders: VR can help patients with dementia or cognitive impairments better cope with memory loss, judgement and distinguish hallucinations from reality.
What is Augmented reality (AR)?
AR add things to the existing world. The word augment is derived from the latin word ‘AUGēRE’ which means to add or increase. It does not cut out the real world but rather an enhancement of the real world where we mix the real world with virtual objects and that creates beauty.
That’s why it’s sometimes referred to as mixed reality. Now when a person’s real environment is supplemented or augmented with the computer-generated virtual images it is known as augmented reality. With AR you can interact with things right in front of you as if it was an object in the room. You kind of manipulate it and it completely creates a new environment around you. Example, Pokemon go, Snapchat. Now AR users can interact with virtual content in the real world and can distinguish between the two.
Applications in different fields, such as:
- Education: AR has number of applications that can help improve the learning experience for students, especially for visual-focused learners. A student can inspect a 3d hologram from many different angles
- Furniture or other tangible products: With AR, customers can click on the product and instantly see it overlaid wherever they point their mobile devices.
The thing that makes VR and AR different from any other forms of technology is that it directly affects the perceptions and processes of the human mind in an obvious way if the only technology that can provide actual packaged experiences.