What is VR, AR and MR : The Different Realities

Lots of realities exist in the world of technology, i.e., VR, AR, and MR. They respectively stand for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality. But what are they, and how they differ from one another? In this article, I am going to tell you about these realities. Let us go deeper.

The Introduction

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world. This simulation is completely computer-generated. Everything you see and interact with does not exist in reality. 

For example, a computer-generated living room in which your simulated self can move around and interact with the virtual things and other simulated characters like you.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world where the real-world objects are enhanced by computer-generated information and graphics, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including audio-visual and haptic feedback. 

For example, a real-time view of your living room that you can virtually enhance with different paint or carpet colors or call up virtual "floating" screens to read email or watch a game. Just like the famous "Pokemon Go" game, which is a brilliant example of AR technology.

Mixed Reality (MR)

Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new simulated environments and visualizations, where the real and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time.

For example, another real-time view in which virtual selves or objects are also displayed - but where the real and artificial elements can interact i.e., placing a virtual pencil on the real-world table.

The definitions written above easily distinguish VR from AR and MR because it is a 100% digital experience, whereas AR and MR combine real and digital aspects.

We can not eventually distinguish AR and MR, but we can say that MR is just an enhanced, more interactive kind of AR.

The Use of VR and AR

I hope you now have a better understanding of AR and VR and you know the basic difference between them. Let us now know about the use-cases of underlined technologies.

1. Games and Entertainment
2. E-Commerce and Retail
3. Interior Designing and Home Planning
4. Real Estate
5. Tourism and Travel
6. Education and Training
7. Healthcare
8. Communication and Collaboration
9. Manufacturing
10. Advertising and Marketing

You can learn about the use and applications of AR and VR in detail here.

The End Notes

So, that's all in this article. I hope you liked it. Please comment below with your suggestions. And do share this article with your friends, mates, and buddies. Have a good one.

Cheers!