AR, VR & MR – Which Form Of XR Will Dominate The Metaverse?
The metaverse is evolving, with more and more of us spending time immersed in it for one reason or another. As we increase our levels of interaction in and with the metaverse – whether for socialising, education, or gaming – the future of the metaverse really hinges on one key question: which technology will emerge as the dominant way we interact with it?
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) all offer different ways to experience the digital world. These technologies come under the umbrella of extended reality (XR): anything that can blur our existing boundaries with reality and add a digital edge. However, if this new kind of interaction really is to reach its full potential, one technology needs to manage to break through to mainstream adoption. Tech giants are placing enormous bets on the future of XR technology (Meta alone has already invested billions and reassigned thousands of employees to its Reality Labs division). So, which of these technologies should the odds be shortening on?
What Is The Metaverse?
Bear with us for a second, but it’s important to take a step back and understand why this debate even matters. The metaverse could fundamentally shift how we work, play, and interact online, so it’s crucial that we understand what it is and the potential it has.
At its core, the metaverse is a digital universe that merges the physical and virtual worlds, allowing users to engage with each other and the digital space in real time. This could take a number of forms, such as gaming platforms like Roblox, social spaces like VRChat, and even workspaces like those offered by Meta’s Horizon Workrooms.
The metaverse has often been referred to as the next major evolution of the internet, so the question of which technology will dominate isn’t just theoretical; it could shape how we experience the internet in the years to come.
What Is The Difference Between AR & VR?
As we’ve already touched upon, there are multiple ways to experience the metaverse. However, the XR technologies that enable these digital interactions are often misunderstood or used interchangeably. AR and VR are the two most well-known but often wrongly assumed to be the only options. Nevertheless, understanding the distinction between them is a good starting point if we are to decide whether either (or neither) of them will dominate and go mainstream.
AR brings a digital dimension to the real world, allowing users to experience virtual objects overlaying their existing physical surroundings. It’s become particularly popular in gaming (just think about how rapidly Pokemon Go took over the streets) but also comes into its own in more practical spaces. For example, AR can be a great tool for businesses looking to showcase new products, opening up customer interactions without entirely removing them from reality.
VR, on the other hand, is a fully immersive extended reality experience, replacing the real world with a completely virtual one. It requires a headset (at the moment, anyway…) that transports users into surroundings entirely different from their physical realities, making it particularly useful for gaming, simulations, and even training exercises where it’s not always practical to learn in the real world.
Where Does MR Fit?
What the discourse around XR so often gets wrong is that it fails to really understand and take into account all of the technologies that can be used to access the potential of the metaverse. MR is the most obvious example that currently exists, though XR technically encompasses technologies that don’t even exist yet, so watch this space!
A lot of the confusion lies in the fact that MR is similar in essence to AR as it allows us to view digital overlays in real environments. However, MR takes this concept one step further by actually allowing us to interact with the digital overlays in real environments too. These technologies have a unique understanding of depth, gravity and perspective to blend the digital and physical worlds in real-time and enable more dynamic and immersive experiences than AR, which are still routed in the physical world we know, unlike VR.
You can see MR in action below:
Why VR Won’t Take Over
An understanding of each technology that exists for the time being leaves VR, AR and MR to battle it out for current metaverse domination.
There’s no denying that VR is a seriously exciting technology. The ability to step into a fully digital world and interact with it as if you were physically present is something that no other technology can currently match at the same cost or level of usability. VR also has strong backing from some of the biggest tech players like Meta and Apple, meaning that hardware and software are improving pretty much all the time.
However, despite its immersive nature, VR faces significant hurdles that will prevent it from becoming the dominant technology of the metaverse. VR headsets are still pretty clunky and uncomfortable, with dizziness and even nausea still causing lots of users some serious problems. This isn’t something you want from technology that would be worn every day in a truly evolved metaverse.
Then, there’s the cost factor. VR headsets aren’t cheap, and while prices have dropped and entry-level headsets released, they’re still a far cry from sitting at a price point we could honestly describe as affordable. Until this changes, VR remains largely confined to niche markets and self-proclaimed tech enthusiasts with cash to burn.
The Case For AR
If an immersive technology is to take over, AR has certainly made a good case for itself. Unlike VR, which isolates users from their physical surroundings, AR enhances the real world rather than replacing it. It’s much more intuitive and adaptive for everyday use.
The beauty of AR is that the hardware is already in our hands. We’ve pretty much all got a smartphone or tablet capable of delivering augmenting experiences, allowing us to experience the metaverse without the need to invest in a pricey and ugly headset. This also means we should all be able to use AR (or at least learn) pretty quickly. No fiddly controls or requirements for specific devices, just an extension of the way we are already using our everyday tech.
Additionally, AR strikes an interesting balance between the digital and physical worlds by offering a way to enhance our reality without fully replacing it. It also paves the way for exciting wearable innovations, which look genuinely exciting and useable if the upcoming Meta Orion glasses are anything to go by.
However, while AR has a lot of strengths, it isn’t without limitations. AR technology still struggles with limited interactivity and depth perception, and digital overlays can feel pretty static rather than truly integrated into our physical world. This is where MR comes in.
A Worthy Winner
MR takes the best aspects of AR to the next level. The level of integration offered by MR could genuinely be game-changing, allowing us to interact with digital content as if it were truly part of our environment.
What is particularly intriguing about MR and its role in the metaverse is its potential beyond entertainment. By allowing physical and digital elements to interact with and adapt to each other, MR could take us in some seriously exciting directions, spanning from training simulations to demonstrations that bring products and services to life.
For the metaverse to truly go mainstream, it needs to be accessed by a technology that is both practical and user-friendly. While AR provides an accessible gateway, it’s MR that delivers experiences that are genuinely worth getting enthused about. With its ability to merge the physical and digital worlds, MR promises us a future where interacting with a metaverse is natural and immersive but without all the clunk and noise of VR. That’s certainly something to be excited about.
In short: The metaverse is tipped to transform the way we use the internet. However, for this to happen, immersive technologies need to be adopted by the mainstream. While VR often takes the headlines and AR is an excellent stepping stone, it’s MR that gives us the most hope of a genuinely transformative metaverse through its unique ability to blend the physical and digital without losing one or the other.
