Have you heard of Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR)? Do you know what either of these are?

You have come to the right place.

The short answer

Virtual Reality is when a person is place into a virtual environment, normally within a headset and the person real world view is blocked. An example would be Beat Saber. Often a singular experience.

Augmented Reality is when the virtual world is mixed with the real world; Snapchat, Facebook Portal, Pokemon Go.

If you are interested in how VR or AR is made, please see the Virtual Reality and the Augmented Reality pages for more information. This post discusses the differences between them.

Where would a business use Virtual Reality?

The most common use for VR in business is training.

Amongst training, VR is primerially used as experiences and showcases.

Experiences are either;

Interactive (a user has cause and effect on the virtual world through controllers, voice, or another means)
Passive (the user sits back and relaxes, just like watching a film).

Interactive VR simulations are often categorised as a game, but this would be wrong. They allow a user to interact with the virtual environment; pick up objects, throw objects, or turn on/off switches. More complicated interactions can be achieved and requires further programming and development.

While passive experiences can be meditation environment. Passive experiences are designed to relax a user and take them on a visual guide, no need to interact with the environment. This is ‘ok’-ish with training, but applies minimal immersive learning. We believe that Interactive VR goes hand-in-hand with the expression ‘Learn by doing’.

Where would a business use Augmented Reality?

As stated Augmented Reality (AR) is the merging of the virtual world into the real world. A business can utilise Augmented Reality as a promotional device or as a visual training application.

The mobile device acts as the virtual camera, allow the user to move said virtual camera in a more natural and familiar manner, especially if the user is not keyboard/mouse literate, or some other device.

The latter is often a passive experience as Augmented Reality is still in its infancy, but rapidly moving to be more integrated into everyday life. As stated, AR is often passive or has very minimal interactions which may include basic mobile device interactions; touch, and swipe. These events often trigger animations.

A business can showcase their new product, be it from a new building for an architect, or a new product, or as a marketing stunt by applying 3D branded models to a users face.

A lot of the 3D models are often placed on a surface in view of the camera which is anchored in position using basic Image Recognition.

SnapChats filter is a great example of this.