Virtual Reality — A Beginner’s Guide
If we live in this world using the five sense organs of sight, smell, sensation, sound and taste, then VR or Virtual Reality is an artificial world that uses only two of those — sight and sound to create an amazing world of… mainly games, real estate experience, training and education.
The concept of Virtual Reality has been around for several years before it was actually developed. Today, the term, ‘Virtual Reality’ is haphazardly thrown about, and not many of them are fully aware of what it actually is. And there is a slight confusion between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
In this article, we will explain what Virtual Reality is, the scope it has in future technologies, a few examples and how different it is from Augmented Reality.
In Virtual Reality, you wear a pair of headsets and related accessories to experience simulated 3D experience. You can look around in 360 degrees just as you do in the real world as it is a computer generated three-dimensional world, even move around and interact in the virtual world.
The headsets are fitted with stereoscopic displays that would immerse you totally in the simulated world. Several new varieties of headsets come with improved technology, so you can actually see your hands and feet in the artificial, computer-generated environment.
This is designed to give you a more enhanced experience with all the elements (for example, guns, if it is a war game that you are playing) that are induced in the virtual environment. The idea is to put you in the ‘actual’ environment where you get a real-life experience of “visiting places”, “having fun” and “playing games”.
The best experience is garnered through high-end headphones, but since that is not possible for everyone, there are cheaper versions that would give you a good experience of the virtual world. Google Cardboard is the best example of an easily affordable VR gear. It works on phones that range from 4 to 6 inches.
If you want to go further up the ladder, or if your phone is bigger than the recommended version for Google Cardboard, then you will have to go for other options. The most popular VR experiences are offered through Sony PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive.
Various Applications of Virtual Reality
As mentioned earlier, the wider application of VR can be experienced through real estate, gaming applications and education. The scope of VR in gaming applications is tremendous where you have full access to the motion controls to create a totally new level of immersive gaming.
An artificial scene or environment is created through 3D effect. Though still in its nascent stage, VR will make its presence felt in various applications in the coming years:
· Medical studies, where students can learn about the nuances of the human body
· On the roads, so learning to drive will be a much easier experience without actually hitting the road
· When you are visiting a new place / destination, VR would give you a realistic review of the things you can enjoy there
· Military training for soldiers to familiarize them with different battlefields
A few examples that would etch the importance of VR in various aspects of life:
Checking Out Universities
Suppose your child is sending applications to various universities spread across the state, and you would like to see these colleges without actually physically visiting them, then VR can help you there.
You can visit each of the classrooms, look up and down the buildings, the walls, go through ceiling to ceiling and even have a short visit to the dorm room. You can enter buildings and walk from room to room.
Buying a Car According to the Features Designed by You
How about having a shimmering car stripped to its bare bones, so you can have a stint at choosing the features right at the showroom itself? Does that sound cool? Microsoft and Volvo have turned pretty futuristic with this concept of having a holographic car right in front of the buyer.
A Fully Immersive Animation Video of the Home You are Building
Arch Virtual is a company that brings you a revolutionary concept when you build a home. You can visualize the entire house, plan rooms by actually going through them, look under the kitchen sink, examine the loft — the options are endless.
Augmented Reality Vs Virtual Reality — The Difference
We have understood what Virtual Reality is. Augmented Reality, however, is a technology, slightly different from VR, but definitely related to it. In AR, computer generated enhancements are placed atop existing reality in order to make it more interactive.
In VR, there is a recreation of real-life setting, whereas AR is more about virtual elements acting as overlay on the real world. In AR, apps are developed and they blend digital components with real world, but the difference can be clearly understood. It is not as if they are at war with one each other.
Both of them sometimes work independently with one another, and at other times blend together to create an astounding experience to the user.
Conclusion
Virtual Reality is clearly clamping the space caused by the stagnation of smartphones. While app developers struggle hard to innovate, VR aims to revitalize the digital sector with a totally new kind of experience.
The promise of a solar system in your living room is exciting enough (what AR gave you). But surely, there is something more in the making with VR.
2016 is the year where new ideas and tricks are going to come into the world of Virtual Reality. Till now, what VR experts have explored in terms of technological concepts and other peripherals of VR is only the tip of the iceberg. And as they say — the best is yet to arrive!
