Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality

No doubt you’ve seen all the apps in your phone’s app store that advertise Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. Unless you’re up on all the advances in the design and development happening around these two types of tech, you might feel confused or uncertain which is better for you.

You’re not alone in this, trust us. They’re really closely related technologies and most of the time discussed in the same context. Augmented reality and virtual reality do in fact have a lot of similarities to the way they operate and the experience you’re meant to have through using them. But, and we stress but in this instance, they are actually two completely different forms of technology even though they might be close relatives in the tech world.

Augmented reality, firstly, requires no use of a headset to have the experience. You’re using your phone or pad to enhance your actual reality. You can look at your living room without your phone and just see your living room, but when you hold up your device running the augmented reality application, suddenly there could be a zombie or a dinosaur in your living room staring you down and trying to eat you! This technology is meant to enhance your reality.

Virtual reality is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a virtual world experienced through the use of a headset that shuts you out from the physical world. Virtual reality is full immersion in the world of the simulation that you’re experiencing. This type of immersion can have quite the impact on your other senses outside of what you’re seeing because to your brain, your new physical world is what you’re seeing in front of you. Have you ever tried the roller coaster VR application? It can be quite trippy and an experience that’s completely different than going out and riding a real coaster.