If you read about the Metaverse, you will find the terms Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) used repeatedly, You will also see the letters XR used to describe the Metaverse. What does all this jargon mean? It is not difficult to understand so I will describe each term.
Augmented Reality
Perhaps the simplest way to understand these terms is as labels for different degrees of immersion in the Metaverse. With augmented reality (AR), the user has an interactive experience where real-world objects are enhanced by computer generated perceptual information. It is possible to involve more than one sensory modality such as vision, audio, tactile and olfactory.
The AR experience may be created on a device such as a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or it may employ a different technology. AR can be understood as having three basic features. It is a combination of real and virtual worlds, a real-time interplay, and a precise 3D recording of virtual and real objects. The overlay of virtual sensory data can be practical and useful (enhancing to the real space), or obscuring (concealing the real space). This is accomplished seamlessly so the user experiences it as an immersive part of the environment.
One popular current technology using AR is Snapchat. With Snapchat, filters are imposed on the user’s face. The face is detected using AI. Then these filters are digitally overlaid on the face of the user. This overlay looks very real and original as a result of AR and AI.
Another current example is the Microsoft technology known as HoloLens. HoloLens technology allows the user to manipulate gadgets by viewing a levitating screen in front of them. It employs features like air tap, head tracking, gesture and voice commands to create a simple user-machine connection. HoloLens technology utilizes “environmental understanding” detectors, a depth camera, and space maps. It is an excellent example of AR.
An interesting application of AR is emerging with interior decorating. People care about making tasteful decisions concerning the appearance of their home and they fear making a poor choice that could be irreversible. When it comes to wall colors and furniture selection, consumers want to get a picture of how something will appear in their home before a purchase is made. There are now many apps developed for this purpose. These apps work by virtually imposing a picture over a physical object. This adjustment is made to supply a consumer with a perception of how the desired change would appear after it is done. It offers consumers the ability to try out different options so they can purchase what they like the best. However, there are many other applications of AR. The Metaverse frontier is wide open. For example, AR can help in the field of architecture by aiding in the visualization of building projects. Virtual images of a structure can be inserted onto a real local view of a lot before the building is constructed. AR has also been useful in archeology. The archeological features of a site can be superimposed onto a modern landscape to determine possible configurations of remaining construction. AR applications are rapidly emerging in the fields of urban planning, education, industrial manufacturing and more.
Virtual Reality
With virtual reality (VR), computer technology is used to create your entire reality. The simplest way to think about it is as complete immersion in computer generated environments. VR provides the user with a 360-degree view and interaction with a 3D world. You can see and hear things in every direction. You can watch a car crash and participate in a virtual dueling or sword fighting game. Special technology is required to create the VR experience.
There is the VR headset known as the Head Mounted Display (HMD). You wear the HMD on your head, and it is fitted with detectors to reproduce a computerized environment. The HMD records and displays images sent to a VR device connected to a PC or other equipment. It is the HMD that transmits the feeling of movement to the user. Artificial objects can be mimicked transparently or opaquely.
VR is going through an evolution from 2D digital displays (like a computer monitor) to the use of HMDs as mentioned in the previous paragraph. But VR has been popular for years. PlayStation and Oculus Rift have offered high end VR headsets for home use. Indeed, HMDs create their own barriers to a fully interactive VR. Such an experience would be synonymous with an alternate reality. We are not there yet.
VR has long been understood as a label for a simulated experience. It can mimic reality or be entirely different. The present-day applications for VR include video games, flight simulation, medical and military education and business (virtual meetings). What makes VR confusing for some to describe is that it is also referenced when describing augmented reality and mixed reality. The fact is, AR and MR each access VR to some degree.
The modern HMDs are based on technology created for smartphones. This technology included gyroscopes and motion sensors. The sensors make it possible to track head, body and hand movements.
Some interesting applications of VR have developed. For example, beginning in 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have used VR to match visual effects with tactile experience. Virtual reality programs have also been used to treat elderly patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Through simulation, VR provides these people the opportunity to experience things they would not be capable of experiencing in their present condition.
The immersive quality of VR may be an effective physical therapeutic treatment for treatment resistant phantom limb pain. In psychology, there is also good evidence that VR offers an inexpensive tool to research and reproduce interactions in controlled conditions. It has shown to be an effective therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) and phobias. This type of treatment is called virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET).
Mixed Reality
In mixed reality (MR), environments and visualizations are created in the merging of real and virtual worlds. This merging happens where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real time. MR is not occurring exclusively in the real world or in the virtual world. It should be understood as a hybrid of augmented and virtual reality. Another way to view MR is that real objects are added to a virtual world, virtual objects added to a real world, or virtual objects added to a virtual world. MR encompasses both augmented reality and virtual reality. The objective in MR is to create an environment with interactive digital objects.
The applications for MR have extended across disciplines from education, military training, healthcare and robotics. The first fully immersive mixed reality system was Virtual Fixtures in 1992. It was used by the United States Air Force. It made it possible for users to control robots in real world environments that included real physical objects along with virtual overlays in 3D. These “fixtures” were added to enhance the performance of humans. The study suggested that introduction of the overlays significantly improved the performance of human operators.
The introduction of MR resulted in a breakthrough in remote work. It made it possible for a global team to work together to grapple with complex business challenges. Regardless of where they are located, workers can wear a headset along with noise canceling headphones and work in collaboration with other workers in an immersive virtual environment. As these applications evolve to more precisely translate in real time, language barriers are no longer relevant. This kind of work will only increase in flexibility. During these days when the global pandemic is a serious consideration, this application of MR becomes much more attractive.
In the healthcare arena, the incorporation of smart glasses in operating rooms will transform operating procedures. Patient data can be easily displayed as overlaying precision visual guides can also be displayed for the surgeon. Mixed reality headsets will allow for the sharing of information between doctors as well as provide a platform for training.
With MR, technological advancements, the product and content management has been transformed. Prior to MR, the selling of products and content relied on brochures with very little customer engagement. With the advent of MR, new forms of interactive content and product management has emerged. For example, 3D digital renderings of products have increased the customer interest in this area.
MR has also introduced human-in-the-loop operation robotics. Once discarded as unfeasible, there is now a renewed interest in this work process thanks to MR. The technology provides for alternative modes of communication between humans and robots. Much like the successful study conducted by the Air Force back in 1992, human operators wearing MR glasses such as HoloLens are interacting with robots and lifting machines. Humans are directing and controlling the movements (heavy lifting & placement) of these robotic machines. This typically requires real time data communication between a mixed reality interface and a machine.
Extended Reality
The term extended reality (XR) is a label applied to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions produced by computer technology or wearable devices. X represents a variable for any current or future spatial computing technology. In other words, XR refers to any combination of AR, VR and MR. Thus, XR is understood to mean the degree or level to which user interfaces are virtual. XR can be applied to partial sensory inputs or fully immersive virtual reality (VR).
