Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality: how do they differ?

Surely we have all heard of Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality on more than one occasion. Is that right? Both Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are technologies that are in the spotlight. And how could they not be, when we are talking about a device that transforms the reality we are in, or can even transport us to new realities? All of this without leaving home and with the sole help of a headset, a pair of glasses or simply our mobile phone.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality offer us a great many possibilities, and not only in the worlds of computing, cinema or video games. These applications also allow us to explore new solutions in fields such as education, medicine or even the day-to-day running of any company. But before thinking about how we can apply these new technologies to our companies or our reality, let us start with the most important thing, the beginning: what exactly are Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality? And what differences are there between them?

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality, best known by its initials in English (VR = Virtual Reality) is the creation of a new, completely virtual and immersive world, which we can view and interact with through a virtual reality headset or glasses. As its name suggests, the aim of Virtual Reality is to visualise a new reality created artificially in a fictional world. In other words, a world is created from scratch, which we can step into immersively and leave reality completely behind.

“In Virtual Reality, the reality created is viewed in a new, completely digital world.”

A very clear example is Virtual Reality films, where we, the viewers, can be part of the staging of the film, as if we were one of the protagonists.

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality (also known as AR = Augmented Reality) is the combination of our real world with the virtual world: through a technological device, such as our mobile phone, we can observe new realities around us. In other words, the aim of Augmented Reality is to display new information, added to our reality through artificial creations. The world we already know is expanded to offer us new visual experiences.

“In Augmented Reality, the reality created is viewed in our own world, which is completely real.”

Another obvious example is the game that revolutionised Augmented Reality in 2016, PokémonGO, where through our mobile phone we could see the game's characters and “catch” them in the real world.

Virtual Reality VS. Augmented Reality: which is better?

In fact, no one technology is better than the other. Both virtual reality and augmented reality are very similar technologies, but at the same time complementary, as each can help us in different situations.

• Virtual Reality applications focus especially on living new experiences and interacting with them. We can apply this technology to education, to simulating dangerous situations or even to visualising advanced information, among other examples, so that users can see information much more clearly and in greater detail in a completely virtual environment, creating a far more effective learning experience.
• By contrast, Augmented Reality applications help us solve or improve situations we may encounter in our day-to-day lives. Augmented Reality can help us get more information when we visit a museum, or see whether the sofa we want to buy will look good in our living room, and it can also help companies in the logistics sector to keep better control of their warehouses.

Combining Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: Mixed Reality

It is clear that, both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are defined by the possibility of changing the way we see and interact with reality, although the application of the new information is very different. And just as we were beginning to get used to these two new technological applications, a third reality appears: mixed reality.

As its name suggests, mixed reality is a combination of virtual reality and augmented reality. A combination of both technologies that allows us to create virtual reality objects and scenarios to interact with in the real world, or to interact with real-world objects and scenarios through the virtual world. And not only that, the user's experience can also be recorded by mixing their reality (what they can see through mixed reality) with our reality (what is happening at that moment in the real world). Mixed reality is the latest addition to these new realities and is a technology still under construction. Even so, mixed reality promises to be the one that will make both virtual reality and augmented reality part of our everyday lives, in the not too distant future.

Both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are new technologies that, beyond the world of computing and video games, play a major role in our increasingly digital world, helping in sectors such as medicine, logistics and education. And although we still have some way to go, these technologies will make our daily routines easier and, ultimately, bring about a great change in how we perceive our reality, in every sense and in any kind of situation.