AR vs VR: What’s The Difference Between Them?
At the moment we’re hearing a lot about Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) and that’s no surprise- both are exciting, innovative concepts that have really come into their own recently. Although they might sound similar, there is a crucial difference between AR vs VR. This means that when talking about AR vs VR it’s important not to confuse the two terms and use them interchangeably.
So what’s the main difference we’re talking about?
The major difference between AR vs VR is the experience that is created for the user. VR is a fully immersive experience which completely shuts out the real world, whilst AR adds components from the digital world into the user’s perception of thereal world.
That’s what the difference entails, but let’s take a closer look at how each of these concepts is actually created:
Virtual Reality (VR)
VR involves the use of a headset or VR goggles in order to block out the physical world and create an experience in which the user is fully immersed in the digital world. When wearing a VR headset your vision is completely taken over giving the impression that you are somewhere else. Whether it’s a game, video or simply an imagined space, with VR, the real world is visually replaced by a virtual one that has been created by a developer.
VR is popularly used in gaming, however is also a powerful marketing strategy which allows brands to tell a story with their products and create a memorable impression on their customers.
Augmented Reality (AR)
A crucial difference between AR vs VR is that AR doesn’t require the use of a headset. AR experiences can be delivered by simply using apps on your smartphone or tablet. Through your phone camera AR can create visual overlays of your physical surroundings or project images into the real environment.
Using AR in a retail environment is an exciting way to engage customers with products. By scanning a QR with their phone, customers can bring up a digital image of how the product would look in real life. This is particularly useful in retail environments such as furniture shops where customers can visualise how the product would look in their own home. At Fuel immersive we are well versed in using AR as an interactive tool to market products and services by quite literally bringing them to life for customers to engage with.
Mixed Reality (MR)
Although we’ve been talking about AR vs VR as separate entities there is a new technology emerging which combines elements of both these exciting concepts.
As the name might suggest, Mixed Reality (MR) creates a visual environment in which real and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time. Whilst AR is delivered through a smartphone or tablet, MR uses ‘Smart Glasses’ (similar to the VR headset) through which the user sees 3D objects projected into the real environment in front of them. The term ‘Mixed Reality’ was first used by Microsoft in 2016 when they launched the ‘Hololens’, a headset used to facilitate the MR experience.
Although Mixed Reality is still relatively new to the scene, it’s exciting to see how the world of AR vs VR is set to progress and at Fuel Immersive we’re always on the look out for developments within the industry. If you’d like to discuss how AR or VR could benefit your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today by emailing hello@fuelimmersive.com.
