James Phang

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What is VR and AR?

 

You may have heard of VR and AR in the technology community and may not know what it is. Both these technologies have existed for many, however; it is only recently that their popularity has grown due to their technological advancements.

Virtual Reality

VR stands for virtual reality; it has become popular in the gaming industry due to the application of technology to immerse a user in an entire virtual world. Being able to engage a user completely in fantasy and being able to go on adventures is a gamer’s dream. Users would typically wear a device over their eyes and earphones to immerse them in the virtual world. More high-tech virtual reality devices come with controllers, which allow user input and interactivity in the game. To have a proper VR environment all five senses have to be engaged.

The application of virtual reality can be incredible can the technology still has a long way to go for example the graphics still need to improve in order to visually be immersive if virtual reality manages to have current gaming graphics the immersive experience would be truly incredible.

Augmented Reality

AR stands for Augmented Reality; this involves interacting with the real world via a camera on a smartphone. This allows the digital realm to interact with the real world allowing seamless interaction and immersion with reality.

Augmented Reality has been applied to various apps such as Snapchat and Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go become popular due to making Pokemon exist in the real world and allowing players to catch them.