Virtual reality, augmented, mixed … you have certainly already crossed these terms. Indeed, these new technologies have made a lot of talk about them because they present a whole new world of opportunities and an era of innovation and investment. What is important to know is that each of these technologies is a different experience, if the understanding of virtual and augmented reality is quite easy, the combination of the two confuses many people. This article aims to dispel this fog by presenting each of these innovations, explaining the difference between them, and especially What do they have in common?
WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY?
Virtual reality is “the set of techniques and systems that give people the feeling of penetrating into synthetic universes created on the Internet” According to Jean Segura, a specialist in synthetic imaging and virtual uses. It is, therefore, a technological revolution that allows the user to emerge completely in a fictitious physical environment and to interact with the machine. The experience is visual, auditory and, in some cases, haptic.
WHAT IS AUGMENTED REALITY?
The definition of augmented reality is not obvious enough. Because it is not the reality that is increased but our perception of what surrounds us. Indeed this technology is an interface between reality and virtual objects, It relies on the assumption of real images and 2D or 3D elements in real time and allows the user to interact with this new reality. It consists therefore of giving a surplus value to the real by increasing it. The excellent and simple example of the AR is the table developed by IKEA, which offers recipes based on the ingredients on the table.
WHAT IS MIXED REALITY?
Contrary to what we think, the mixed reality is far from being a sub-category of augmented reality, it is even more sophisticated and more complex, it is a sort of gateway that allows the display of virtual elements so natural in a real environment, and to give the impression to the user to exist in a real world, “it consists in having a world which is shared without hierarchy between real and artificial objects” according to Pierre-Louis Xech. Philippe Renevier also defines the mixed reality as any system that implements one or more increases. An increase is the expression of a link between the physical world and the digital world, that is to say:
• Either adding an entity from one of the two worlds to the other world.
• Either the manipulation of an entity from one of the two worlds by tools from the other world.
VIRTUAL REALITY VS AUGMENTED REALITY VS MIXED REALITY
Virtual reality is certainly the technology of the moment thanks to the development of VR headsets, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive (by HTC and Valve) … which is to emerge the user in a 100% virtual world. The difference therefore between this technology and the other two is not very complicated to understand, although the difference between augmented reality and mixed reality can create confusion for some.
The two technologies combine the real and the virtual. Some consider that the mixed reality is a form of evolution of the augmented reality since the principle of the two technologies consists in integrating elements of the virtual world in the real world. But the difference between the two is according to the type of information that is added, For the augmented reality it is a layer of obviously artificial information in order to increase the real environment of digital contents, whereas for the reality mixed it is to integrate artificial elements with which the user can interact, and in this case the illusion is more difficult to break .
Many people consider that the distinction between MR and AR has not yet been sufficiently drawn. Indeed, some experiences that have been called augmented reality, such as Daqri’s Crayola coloring application, are now called mixed reality. This can mean that they can be used interchangeably, or that mixed reality can be favored since it seems to be the most ephemeral today. However, can we imagine a future where texts and synthetic information can interact with the user?
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