by This is the world of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, what are they? You may know these two terms from the movies or games. But now with the developing technology, it is possible for people to experience them in real life. This article will tell you about their features, how long it took for them to come into existence and how much work has gone behind this new invention.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in Real
In a brand new landscape in which VR and AR are becoming reality, content has become a very important element. One way to generate valuable content for users is through Virtual Reality (VR). VR has almost become a reality for many people. VR developers are trying to come up with some new games or experiences every day. So, VR is becoming more popular and there are many variations of this technology, like 360-degree cameras, immersive headsets, and many other things.
Virtual Reality cameras can capture 360 degree views whereas augmented reality (AR) content is aural and directed towards the users eyes. The AR headset allows you to have virtual objects in front of your eyes without having to wear any sort of glasses or goggles. Using these features, AR content can be shown on any surface of a building or wherever you want it to be displayed.
History of AR:
It is a relatively new technology and came into existence in the year 1990. Before that, several people had tried to give a shape to this technology but actual progress started from 2012. The AR app development was finalized in early 2009 with the help of the iPhone’s 3GS camera by Niantic Inc. Software was released on some Apple devices which used the smartphone camera to overlay information on physical objects around you.
During that time, an application named ‘Layar’ was launched in order to provide information about businesses and services near you. With its popularity, more than 100 million apps were created around the world and it reached over 50 million downloads last year. To create the AR content, Google developed Glass and helped other developers to develop their own apps.
AR used in Games
Google brought a new idea into the world of entertainment and launched a concept called ‘Ingress’. It is similar to the Pokemon GO game but with more appealing features. With its launch in 2014, it aimed at making AR gaming more popular and had succeeded in doing this. It was one of the first of its kind games that had been presented in a completely virtual world. Activision and Ubisoft also came up with their own versions of this game. The main idea behind developing these games was to make people aware of geographical locations by real-time interaction on their smartphones or tablets.
Augmented Reality(AR) is basically a technique which superimposes computer-generated images over the real world. This is done by using various technologies such as GPS, computer vision and image recognition. The main goal behind developing this technology was to provide additional information about objects which cannot be accessed through virtual reality. So, AR is helpful in making the real world more interactive than it already is with many innovative applications like navigation, gaming, advertising and many other things to give you an idea about the concept of AR.
Mobile-based augmented reality (AR) apps have gained popularity with the launching of Pokemon Go. The trend of using AR in mobile phones has increased a lot in the last few years. It is also predicted that By 2020, about 80% of mobiles will have built-in or downloadable AR capabilities.
How long did it take:
Both these technologies are quite new but came into existence at the same time. The first virtual reality headset was born in 1968 and a prototype was made by Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull who worked on creating this amazing piece at Harvard University. AR came into light in the 1990s and still is developing.
It is quite difficult to count the age of AR development since its history has been quite short. However, it has been developed by many developers to make it as useful as possible. The first smartphones used in Augmented Reality were launched in the early 2000s but it was not until 2015 when iPhones used in this technology became common.
Future of these technologies:
Both these technologies are expected to grow even more with the launch of new VR headsets, Virtual Reality gaming is set to become very popular and AR will spread widely one day. It is predicted that Virtual Reality will be a $150 billion industry and AR is expected to earn $90 billion by 2020. So, VR and AR are a new reality for most of us but it won’t take long for them to gain popularity everywhere around the world.
Popularity of AR and VR
The growing popularity of AR and VR applications has increased the demand for developers. Who can create useful content for these technologies. Nowadays, apart from regular game development experts, game designers are also needed who are very familiar with these types of applications. These technologies have become so popular that marketing professionals have started relying on augmented reality apps in order to attract more customers to their business which has made it an important part of marketing today. It is clear from above that Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are going to become a part of our day-to-day lives eventually.
Uses of AR and VR
AR and VR can be used in many different industries, including entertainment. For example, the movie industry has been using them for decades. It has been found that with the help of AR, audience involvement in movies increases dramatically. In order to make movies more entertaining. Actors are getting involved in them so that they can attract more viewers to their movies. Every time a new movie is released, an app is also launched which offers additional features of the movie like behind-the-scenes footage. All these things keep the viewer interested and entertained throughout the movie-watching process.
According to a recent study, it has been shown that children’s engagement with a movie is high. When they are offered augmented reality experiences. For example, when children were asked to build their own X-wing fighter and the characters in the movie. They would interact with it accordingly, children got more interested in watching the movie. The Virtual Reality system helps them recognize themselves as characters of their favorite movies. By making them feel like they are present in the world of virtual reality.
Technology and entertainment
Technology and entertainment have been used in combination for quite some time. But because of AR technology, new things have come up that have never existed before. Augmented reality is something that has been developed through creative minds and innovative technologies. The interesting creation of this technology is being used to develop various educational programs. Games, and other kinds of interactive applications.
AR applications are being taught in classrooms as an effective way of improving student performance. In 2014, a research team at Stanford University was able to achieve a 95% improvement in students’ math scores when they were tested using 3D augmented reality. This was done by adding animated learning resources into a classroom environment. The students had access to the AR resources while they were taking the test. However, studies have shown that only around 60% of children watch their lessons through augmented reality. And also around 42% do not view their lessons at all.
