Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed reality — What’s The Difference?
You’ve probably seen a lot about these three things recently, but how does each one differ from the other two? This is a question that has been on many people’s minds of late but fortunately for you, it’s a question we know the answer to!
Before we dive into the more in-depth details of the differences, here is a brief overview of what virtual, augmented and mixed reality technologies are:
Virtual Reality (VR) is a fully digitalised environment in which the user is fully immersed.
Augmented reality (AR) combines virtual objects and the real-world environment by overlaying these objects on an image.
Mixed Reality (MR) doesn’t just overlay virtual objects but instead creates virtual environments within the real world.
Now that we know the main definitions, let’s delve into the finer details.
Virtual Reality
This is a technology that has become incredibly popular over the last year or two, with the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive impressing in particular. VR uses a headset to place the user within a completely virtual world. Now, this may sound expensive, and some of these VR headsets are, but there are plenty of options out there if you are on a budget!
Towards the bottom of the price scale, items such as Google Cardboard can turn your phone into a basic virtual reality experience for as little as £10 and will give you a great little teaser into what more elaborate products can give you.
If you have ever wondered what that odd shaped mask icon on your YouTube video is, the answer lies with Google Cardboard. Clicking that little icon will turn the video into a 360-degree experience when combining your phone with your VR set!
Reaching the top of the price bracket for home VR kits, there are products like the Oculus Rift (£399), PlayStation VR (circa £300) and the HTC Vive (£599). These high-end sets will fully immerse you in a digitalised and interactive environment and all make use of hand gestures with controllers to assist with navigation or to fight off oncoming aliens with a virtual weapon!
You will struggle to find a more immersive and thrilling experience using any other digital technology around currently.
Augmented Reality
As mentioned earlier, AR takes a real-world image (often through smartphone cameras) and projects digital content on to it. There have been plenty of examples of this in the last few years, whether that’s adding dancing cartoons into your room in your snapchat videos or running around trying to catch Pikachu in Pokémon Go.
AR hasn’t just been used for entertainment though, as shown in the helpful app ‘Ikea Place’ from the well-known Swedish ‘ready-to-assemble’ furniture store. Ikea Place allows you to project an image of a prospective piece of home furniture into whatever room you point your smart phone camera at, creating your own dream room right in front of your eyes.
There are more dedicated ways of using AR however in items such as the newly announced Intel Smart Glasses, where the digital content is shown on the lens of the glasses.
Mixed Reality
Of these three emerging technologies, mixed reality is probably the most difficult to understand as there are two different experiences that can both be named as such. Let’s take a look into the two meanings of mixed reality:
- Real world mixed reality: This form of mixed reality is comparable to AR but is perceived as a more advanced version of it. The user stays within their real-world environment whilst digital content is incorporated around them. An example of this is the Microsoft HoloLens. You can see how this headset works here.
- Virtual World mixed reality: Virtual reality is this form of mixed reality’s closest relative. Much like VR the user is fully immersed in a digital environment which replaces the real world. What’s the difference then? Well, instead of completely creating a virtual environment with no real-world aspects, the digital objects in this mixed reality overlap those in the real world creating a truly unique immersive experience. You can see and example of this with the Windows mixed reality headset or Microsoft Hololens.
In conclusion
- Virtual reality replaces your world with a virtual one.
- Augmented reality supplements your world with digital objects of any sort.
- Mixed reality seamlessly integrates digital objects into your world making it look as if they are really there.
Finally, and most importantly, it is vital that you focus on building a 3D experience that is relevant to your client and their audience’s needs — the key to success is to deliver an engaging piece of content that will ensure your client’s brand is well remembered.
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