Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality
That’s Right, Virtual Reality Makes A Lot of People Puke Which Isn’t Really a Great Claim to Fame (Yet)
Most people (including me before I started this journey) when they hear virtual reality and augmented reality think they’re basically the same thing. And they’re not wrong… entirely. In this blog post, I am going to talk about AR and VR by breaking down the difference between the two, and then talking about how each of these technologies fits into the theme park industry.
While my grandma thinks VR stands for “very respectfully,” we’re talking about virtual and augmented reality. While both technologies allow for the user to see things that are not necessarily real, each technology goes about doing that in different ways. Think about VR and AR as cousins… while virtual reality transports the real you into a simulated world, AR transports simulated objects into your real world. Remember Pokemon Go? Augmented reality. It brought the simulated creatures into your real world. Whereas virtual reality is when you strap on a pair of Oculus Rift goggles and suddenly find yourself in the Grand Canyon.
So now that we get the difference between the two, which one is better? What I predict to be the case is that augmented reality is going to be the long-term winner. How I interpret the race between VR and AR is that VR was the first step in getting us toward the best AR experience we can have. But, that doesn’t mean that virtual reality is ready to go just yet. If you read my previous blog post, A Glimpse of (Theme Park) Tomorrow, then you know that Disney installed a Void attraction in Downtown Disney. Virtual reality has been on the industry’s mind for quite some time and, also mentioned in a previous post, Chen Jianli is planning to open an entire theme park in China dedicate to just virtual reality.
Some people argue that virtual reality is an anti-social activity, and I have to agree on a certain level. Wearing the headset makes the whole experience solo. Even if you can go into the room with your friends and play the same games as them, it’s not quite the same as doing something where we’re all participating together. But, I also attribute this to the lack of technology. If we could create a less bulky, even headset-less experience, virtual reality could be more inclusive and group-oriented. I also feel that currently, size is a limitation. Most of the VR attractions out there today, even the Void’s, limit the group to six people. Thinking on a theme park level this is much too small. Even at Chen Jianli’s new theme park, the guests only wear the goggles on the rides and not throughout the park. So where I see the current limitations of VR are in the size of the experience and its exclusive nature.
That being said, I have also found numerous articles suggesting that big companies like Apple and Facebook are no longer focusing on VR and are putting their money into further development of AR. Tim Cook said in this BBC article, that Apple is currently more interested in developing augmented reality to its fullest potential.“Tim Cook said that he felt that the technology could isolate users and voiced a preference for augmented reality instead.”In an Economist article, Cook expanded on his thoughts by saying, “augmented reality amplifies human performance instead of isolating people. Investing in AR also makes more business sense. Unlike VR, which is essentially a game-playing technology, AR has many potential uses. It is expected to make big impacts in industry, education, training, heath care and travel, as well as sports and entertainment.”
Numerous theme park experts I’ve spoken with tend to agree with Cook — VR may seem like the future, but AR is the present and also the future. When Bob Iger met with Imagineer and they brought him a set of ideas for virtual reality integrations, Bob Iger’s reaction was pointed:
“Don’t even think about it,” he said.
And some consumers already agree, citing concerns about the bulky headsets — especially for children, the cleanliness of sharing VR headsets and even the issues with motion sickness that many first-time users of the services face. Theme parks want you to save the queasiness for roller coaster drops, not their imagery projections.
Iger, the CEO of Disney, believes that AR is the next big thing.
At Disney’s D23 convention, the company released a teaser to their new augmented reality helmet that allows the user to play games like Holo chess, or even train like a Jedi with a Bluetooth connected lightsaber. The ability of AR to integrate sounds, sights and even interactions with other sensors and computing systems such as doors, floors or robots make the technology more than promising. Check out this video to see how you can train to be a Jedi using AR!!!
Augmented reality has the potential to improve theme parks immensely. And while virtual reality certainly can help the parks be more effective — it might be further off than augmented reality which companies like Apple have shown an ability to rapidly develop applications of the technology.
And please do buy the book at Amazon.com and if you’d like a signed copy, simply message me at mkelley2@wellesley.edu and I’d be happy to sign and mail the first fifty people who ask a signed copy.
