XR, AR, VR and 360 | David Vega Website

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Post

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Sep 3, 2020

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xr-101

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First concepts to understand the environment of virtual realities.

XR or RX?

They are actually the same, the difference is in the translation. XR stands for Extended Reality, it should be understood as a set between everyday reality and the virtual that seeks to redefine our concept of what is real. XR has become the great godfather of other realities such as AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and 360 as a format to visualize audiovisual content, such as Netflix, Facebook, YouTube, among others.

Virtual Reality

Probably one of the best known, since it is of great use in the industry. VR encompasses everything related to immersive realities, from 360 videos that capture the real world, to digital images or videos made with render, such as illustrations of Tilt Brush, Quill or Animvr. To enjoy this we need VR glasses like the Oculus, HTC Vive, Microsoft's, PlayStation's, etc.

This is based on two methods to enjoy: WebVr, which is used in YouTube, Facebook or 3D pages, and immersive VR, which includes sense of taste, touch and use of actors.

Augmented Reality

Probably the second best known form, who has not used an Instagram filter or translated a photo with Google Translate? Well, AR is a way to pass the real world to the digital in real time. To differentiate it a bit, the objects of this "digital reality" cannot interact with the real world.

The latest IKEA mobile application, IKEA Place, uses AR to have a great impact on the way we buy furniture for the home. The basic premise is that buyers select an item from the catalog and then, using the camera of their mobile device, they can place digital furniture anywhere in a room. The product is automatically adjusted to the space (with a precision of 98%, according to IKEA) and can be moved or rotated to view. Amazing!

However, where IKEA and AR generally fall short is that the computer-generated content is only anchored to the camera's view. Using IKEA Place as an example, if I were to crouch behind a physical table or chair to get a better view, the rendering would not "disappear" behind the object of the real world. That's where MR comes in.

Mixed Reality

MR removes the boundaries between real and virtual interaction through occlusion. This means that computer-generated objects can be obscured by objects from the physical environment, such as a virtual robot running under the table.

Here is where things get interesting, because "isn't all this 'reality' technically augmented with computer graphics?" Technically, yes. But there is a key distinction in the user experience (and the complexity of development) that does not allow these terms to be interchangeable.

In conclusion, the terms Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality are not the same, although all MR is AR, not all AR is MR. AR is given by composition and MR is interactive.

Adapted by David Vega Original by Kaitlyn Irvine

Source: https://www.viget.com/articles/xr-vr-ar-mr-whats-the-difference/