Since the dawn of humanity, tools have played a significant, game-changer role in the psycho-physical evolution of our breed. In the beginning, people used bones and rocks as tools for pounding, cutting, and killing. The early humans couldn’t even imagine the possibilities that future technologies hold. Millenniums after the Stone Age, technologies emerged with lightning speed – and in “2 minutes to midnight”, if we compare it with the timeline of human evolution. In the last 2-3 centuries, humans have developed technologies beyond our imaginations thanks to the tremendous think-ahead minds that have made this possible. It gave birth to a change of world views and tendencies, i.e., striving to develop technologies that mimic or interact with reality.
In the 21st century, it’s easy to overlook the vast technological possibilities. The line between “artificial” and “natural” is becoming increasingly blurred, and the boundaries are challenging to define due to ongoing technological and scientific advancements.
The issue is not whether technology is altering our world. The real problem is how and to what extent our world is affected by technology. This has been a matter of fierce but relevant debate in some instances. However, what cannot be reasonably denied is that solutions regarding the applications of future technologies will shape even reality in no time.
New innovative technological ideas for gadgets – possibly to revolutionize the world are always exciting to explore and can lead to significant advancements in various aspects of our lives.
Tech companies are always more energized at the start of each year, announcing ambitious plans for the coming months. Startups and multinationals also sense the interrelated effects of industry innovation, where technology is becoming increasingly intertwined with daily life year-round.
Some of those currently developing technologies are the famous VR/AR. VR was initialized from virtual reality, while AR stands for augmented reality. You may find them together or in a mutual implementation, but they aren’t the same. While VR and AR are immersive technologies (technology that integrates elements in the virtual and real world) and have similarities, specific differences exist.
Therefore, this article will take a closer look at these technologies. Let’s start with Virtual Reality (VR).
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) means experiencing objects or working through a computer-built non-existent environment. Virtual Reality is already a process in demand, and with so many new integrated components like cameras, fingerprint readers, geo-locators, etc., you can quickly trail behind. However, VR remains a relatively new technology in commercial terms, and many anticipate its further development and advancement.
VR is also a credible, interactive 3D computer-generated world in which to explore and experience everything physically and mentally.
VR is becoming close to reality in no time. It will reach a point where it would be hard to distinguish VR vs. reality, as the experience will be similar and consistent with the real one we perceive through our senses. If the predictions come true, this would involve including systems to stimulate human senses, such as simulating through sounds, odors, images, movements, and even tastes. This could elevate VR to a level where it becomes more vibrant or abundant than reality itself.
Virtual Reality is essential:
- Credible
Simulates exact images of reality that prompt credible experiences for the user.
- Computer-generated
Only powerfully built machines are fast enough to make interactive, alternative, and credible worlds.
- Interactive
All movements are intuitive, so they need to be registered intuitively by the VR system.
- Explorative
The world of VR must be large enough to carry the title “world” with rich details, making it attractive and adventurous for exploration.
- Immersive
VR needs to interact reliably with your mind and body to be interactive and convincing.
VR is completely immersive, making you think you are in a different environment or world than the real world. Using a head-mounted display (HMD) or headset, you will experience whole worlds through computer-generated images and sounds in which you can manipulate objects and navigate around using haptic controllers while on a console or a computer.
The history and future of Virtual Reality
Jaron Lanier firmly coined the term Virtual Reality in 1989.
We have been trying to ride on the waves of Virtual Reality since the middle of the previous century. In general, the 1950s saw the introduction of public peer-through toys, and the 1960s witnessed the introduction of enclosed simulators for flight, but the idea of VR dates back even further.
In the 1930s, inventors, science fiction writers, and think tanks dreamt of an environment where you could escape reality through art and machinery. We weighed questions about Virtual Reality versus Augmented Reality versus Mixed Reality long before we had the technology to pose or answer such questions.
Technology is catching up with fiction and materializes as reality, and market researchers are predicting the rapid growth of the VR industry.
VR: how does it work?
Virtual Reality has become possible thanks to the advancements in computer technology. There are several systems and hardware that allow users to experience virtual worlds. These include headphones, specialized bracelets, and the ubiquitous treadmill for running and jumping, enabling the user to explore the environment and experience the virtual world more dynamically. Our brains and our senses have evolved enough to work together to give you accurate feedback about your immediate surroundings. Creating fun and practical Virtual Reality experiences can be so tricky. Besides, for the virtual worlds to be convincing enough to deceive your senses, developers need to consider your field of vision, including your peripheral vision.
Your senses and brain have evolved to work in symbiosis to provide fine-tuned and accurate feedback of the surroundings. When something is pleasing to your senses, it can draw your attention and stimulate your actions. That’s why creating compelling, enjoyable VR experiences can be tricky.
As mentioned above, virtual worlds must be stimulative enough to attract your senses. That is why it is necessary for developers to consider various aspects from a biological microscopic level and to translate everything into the virtual world. Among all considerations from this pool, your field of vision, including your peripheral vision, is central. A sense of balance is crucial; technically speaking, avoiding any lag as you turn your head to explore your virtual surroundings is the key for now. In stages when it was not developed to perfection, it caused motion sickness. When the VR system achieves what is already discussed regarding software, hardware, and sensor input, you will experience a “sense of presence.” It means you will experience being genuinely present and can interact with the virtual environment.
Why do we need Virtual Reality?
At this point, you may think this is a lot of effort, and for what purpose? The truth is, you are right. It is a lot of energy. But the contribution to society can be enormous. And we’re not just talking about the entertainment industry.
For example, VR will also play a role in enhancing training simulations in various industries, such as:
- Medical diagnosis and treatment;
- Sports Science, Training, and Recovery;
- Training Medical Students;
- Education;
- Work Collaboration in the Workplace;
- Creating Ideas and Forecasting Trends;
- Pain Management;
- Architecture and design;
- Leisure;
- Military;
- Movies;
- and many, many, many more uses.
The quest for Virtual Reality technology will provide essential breakthroughs in these disciplines, positively affecting many lives.
Virtual Reality will give a firsthand experience of any scenario that would be too costly, impractical, or unsafe – making it a better way to learn new skills.
From highly improved flight simulators to complex and complicated surgical procedures, highly qualified professionals will gain real-world experience without the hazardous implications in the real world. As the cost of VR hardware and software decreases and its use grows, it will be incorporated into classrooms and jobs worldwide, improving education and productivity.
All successful VR systems have one thing in common: they provide a seamless experience. When the user turns his head or moves his eyes into the virtual world, there is no delay in the appearance and upscaling of computer-generated images.
All interactions in the virtual environment should take place in real time. Even the slightest delay between user action and system response can destroy the sense of presence that is fundamental to be created by the virtual world. The interaction seizes as soon as the user realizes he is wearing a headset.
The key to a robust VR system is to create a natural-looking interactive but virtual environment where the user can enjoy an unforgettable and immersive experience. All booming virtual reality systems have one norm: they all provide an experience that mimics reality or displays a new virtual world. Everything seems natural, life-sized, and enjoyable, with no lagging or graphic glitches that might cause movements to become unsynced. All interactions in the virtual environment shall take place in real time.
To sum up, VR will affect a wide range of industries, especially in the entertainment industry, and it will fundamentally improve the way many high-risk professionals are employing the future by using cutting-edge hardware and software.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality can be defined as technology that expands our physical world, adding layers of digital information. Unlike virtual reality (VR), AR does not create a whole artificial environment; it projects digital information. AR makes live footage of the existing environment and adds sounds, videos, and graphics. Viewing the physical world through the projection of computer-generated images, with changes imposed on the environment, is AR.
I bet most of you remember the famous Pokémon GO game. It is the best-known Augmented Reality application – technology that encompasses digital real-world information. Pokémon GO has ignited the entertainment industry in such a way that resulted in a merge of the physical world with the digital in a way not previously known by the public. Although the number of trainers hunting at Squirtles has fallen sharply, the game has enjoyed over 30+ million players daily.
Instead of providing a fully immersive virtual experience, Augmented Reality magnifies the real world with text, images, and other virtual information through devices such as head displays, smartphones, tablets, smart lenses, and AR glasses. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality applications can be helpful when using either a head-mounted display (often known as a smartphone) or just a smartphone. It is well-known as Augmented Reality based on the use of smartphones, and this is the type of AR that is currently booming, thanks to its availability and low entry barrier.
IKEA created an AR application that helps shoppers visualize what specific products will look like in their homes before purchasing them. The app projects images of virtual products in real-time onto the customer’s living spaces. In addition to IKEA, companies in the aviation, automotive, healthcare, travel, and tourism industries are developing solutions for Augmented Reality.
Augmented Reality can improve travelers’ experiences in numerous ways. Imagine being on a self-led walking tour and wanting to know the architectural design of the preferred buildings. With the application of Augmented Reality, you only need to direct your phone towards the building, and the details will be projected. Thanks to tools such as Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, and because smartphones can support many AR apps, more people outside the tech industry are already experiencing AR in various ways.
The history and future of Augmented Reality
To some extent, augmented Reality was first achieved by a cinematographer named Morton Heilig in 1957. He invented a sensor that gave viewers visuals, sounds, vibrations, and odors. By all means, it was not computer-controlled, but it was the first example of trying to add additional artificial data to the human experience.
Later, in 1968, Ivan Sutherland, the American computer scientist influenced by the advent of Internet technology, invented a head-mounted display incorporating a virtual world. Anyway, this invention was impractical for broader usage. Seven years later, in 1975, Myron Krueger, an American computer artist, developed the “Videoplace,” the first “Virtual Reality” interface that allowed its users to engage and manipulate virtual objects in real time.
By giving the world wearable computer in 1980, Steve Mann, a computational photography researcher, became popular in those years. Back then, these technologies weren’t named “Virtual Reality” or “Augmented Reality” because Jaron Lainer discovered Virtual Reality in 1989, and Thomas P Caudell of Boeing coined the term “Augmented Reality” in 1990.
Louis Rosenberg developed the first properly functioning AR system at the USAF Armstrong’s Research Lab in 1992. It was called Virtual Fixtures and was an incredibly complex robotic system designed to compensate for the lack of high-speed processing of 3D graphics in the early ’90s, i.e., making sense of sensor information gathered through the stages of work to improve human productivity.
The most notable AR breakthroughs are:
- Bruce Thomas developed a mobile outdoor AR game called ARQuake in 2000;
- ARToolkit (a design tool) has been available in Adobe Flash since 2009;
- Google released its open beta version of Google Glass (a project with mixed successes) in 2013;
- In 2015, Microsoft announced Augmented Reality support with their Augmented Reality headset HoloLens.
The future surely will leave a significant portion of space for AR – when task efficiency is improved in parallel with the quality of the output for the user’s experience – which presents fundamental challenges to the 21st-century UX area.
AR: how does it work?
AR is more than a fun smartphone. It is a technology used in many domains, from business to military and medical applications. The US military, for example, uses AR tools to recreate digitally enhanced troop training missions. The possibilities of AR technology are limitless. The only uncertain thing is how quickly and smoothly developers will integrate these technologies into our daily devices. The basic idea of Augmented Reality is to impose graphics, audio, and other sensory enhancements onto the natural world in real time.
There is a specific range of data, such as images, animations, videos, or 3D models for AR, from which people can see the results in both natural and synthetic light. Unlike VR, users also know they are in the real world with advanced computer vision.
AR is compatible with and can be displayed on various devices: screens, cups, handhelds, mobile phones, head-mounted displays, etc. It includes technologies like SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping), depth tracking (in short, sensor data to calculate the distance to objects), and the following components:
Cameras and sensors
- Collecting user interaction data and sending it for processing. The devices are equipped with cameras to scan the environment and make sense of this data to locate physical objects and generate 3D models.
Processing
- AR devices eventually have to act like miniature computers, which modern smartphones already do. In the same way, they require a processor, GPU, flash memory, RAM, Bluetooth / WiFi, GPS, etc., to measure speed, angle, direction, space orientation, and so on.
Projection
- It refers to a compact AR headset projector, which captures sensor data and projects digital content (processing result) to the surface for viewing. AR projections have not yet fully emerged in commercial products or services.
Reflection
- Some AR devices have mirrors to help human eyes see virtual images. Some have “a series of small mirror curves,” and some have a double-sided mirror to reflect the camera’s light and the user’s eye. The purpose of such thinking paths is to align the image properly.
Why do we need Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality is likely to grow significantly in the coming years due to rising demand in the health sector. Factors such as the high adoption of smartphones and the growing demand for smartphones can drive the market in the future. The ever-increasing popularity of e-commerce and the increasing adoption of digital media are also expected to contribute to the market. Besides raising awareness of tracking customer transactions, sales records, and account generators can positively impact market growth. The growing penetration of AR devices into the gaming and entertainment sector is also one of the most significant driving factors in the market.
AR gives us flexibility – unlike VR. The device does not have to produce a whole new world because it is based on the existing one. It takes the data from the existing environment and solves our problem. You may be asking what that problem is, but it depends.
You can solve numerous problems that require solutions, and AR allows you to do so. Because AR devices do not always require high-performance hardware, we can use technology as small as your glasses day by day!
AR has proven to be very useful in many industries regarding location-based technology. Investment in this market continues to grow as several AR power applications are now available in different areas. AR in marketing is appealing because more detailed content is incorporated within regular 2D advertising, and it has highly interactive and productive results for creating viral campaigns. Other areas that incorporate AR successfully, yielding desirable results for any digital company, are:
- Education
Academic publishers develop applications incorporating real-world text, images, videos, and curricula into classroom lessons.
- Travel
AR has enabled travelers to access real-time information about tourist landmarks by pointing their cameras at specific locations.
- Translation
Globalization encourages the development of translation applications to interpret a text in any language, from Chinese to French, Italian, German, etc.
- Locators
Location-based apps allow users to find details about nearby places and read user reviews.
- Gaming
Used for developing real-time 3D games through Unity 3D engines.
- Defense
Several governments across the globe are already implementing AR solutions for their military. The US military has begun using Google Glass, designed for the battlefield. The glasses feature virtual icons projected onto the real world, giving data to increase the soldier’s environmental awareness.
- Automotive
In 2013, Volkswagen launched an app for the luxury brand Audi, which allowed potential customers to experience AR-based car driving represented through graphics and audio to enhance real-world vehicle driving.
- Health Care
AR usage at present is developed by optics manufacturers that have developed the technology up to a stage to design smart contact lenses that deter optical radiation that can worsen vision or cause cancer.
Conclusion
Technology’s evolution has significantly impacted how we perceive and interact with the world. From the early use of tools to the rapid advancements in virtual and augmented reality, the boundaries between the natural and artificial have become increasingly blurred. Virtual Reality (VR) can potentially create immersive and interactive experiences that mimic reality, with applications ranging from entertainment to medical training. On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) enhances our physical world by overlaying digital information, offering diverse applications across industries such as education, travel, gaming, and healthcare. As technology progresses, both VR and AR are poised to revolutionize numerous aspects of our lives, presenting exciting opportunities for the future.