XR (Augmented Reality) encompasses all reality manipulation technologies that have exploded in popularity in recent years, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). Even if you are a little familiar with these terms, you may have trouble distinguishing between them.
Meta and Apple are both developing mixed reality headsets for 2023, so you’ll want to know how they differ from traditional VR headsets and AR glasses like Google Glass. , analyze VR vs AR vs MR technologies and compare them to help you decide which (if any) you are most interested in buying or investigating.
VR vs MR vs AR
virtual reality: VR hardly needs an introduction. It’s a technology that aims to transport the user into a virtual projection of another world, whether captured by a 360-degree camera or computer-generated. Your view of the outside world is completely blocked to protect your immersion.
Meta, Sony, Valve, and Pico make some of the best VR headsets. While older VR experiences such as Google Cardboard only require the display to be in view, most VR headsets use lenses to magnify the display below for a better field of view and an immersive experience. increase.
Most headsets have an external camera because VR can cause injury. This allows you to track your controller and see your surroundings with “passthrough” enabled. But passthrough is not VR. I’m MR.
Augmented reality: There are several different types of smart glasses, including “assist” reality glasses that are technically different from AR glasses. So everything can get a little confusing.
AR basically refers to devices that project information into a vision without altering reality in any other way. Google is developing smart glasses that visualize Google Translate in real time. Nreal Air projects movies and video games into your field of view. and Lenovo smart glasses (over it) to connect to your phone or computer and project them visually as a digital display.
The common denominator here is that these extended projections float within the field of view. Some modern AR glasses allow you to set the position of the monitor instead of having it always in front of you, but it doesn’t register or interact with your surroundings at all.
ARCore apps like Pokemon Go are the best-known examples of this technology. Basically, your smartphone’s camera is your vision, and apps project virtual things into the real world, whether it’s Pikachu or furniture from a shopping app, so you can see what they look like in a room. can.
mixed reality: Mixed reality is a more nebulous term that overlaps with both VR and AR in some situations.
Similar to AR, MR adds artificial objects to the ‘real’ field of view. However, MR devices usually allow you to manipulate these objects using hand tracking or controllers. Expensive enterprise headsets like the Hololens 2 have professional uses in fields such as engineering and healthcare, projecting user-operated designs.
Hololens and Quest Pro are traditional see-through “glasses,” but mixed reality also applies to VR headsets that use pass-through technology to artificially recreate your surroundings. Meta, in particular, uses its “presence platform” and the camera in its VR headset to register its surroundings and create a specific “bounding box” play area like a dining table.
The Quest 2 is a VR headset, but its passthrough allows for a limited black-and-white form of mixed reality. The Quest 3 also enables full-color passthrough with increased resolution for an overall better MR experience.
VR vs MR vs AR Summary
VR vs MR: Virtual reality is completely removed from reality. Put your head in a sealed container and play while staring at the display.mixed reality can You can either (1) use pass-through with a VR headset to augment the physical world with virtual technology, or (2) use semi-transparent glasses to see the world directly, but with an interactive virtual projection. are excluded.
AR vs MR: Augmented Reality also fits the second definition in the paragraph above, except that the content is not spatially fixed or connected to the environment, and generally does not “touch” anything. Instead, AR populates her FOV with information that is displayed regardless of where she is looking.
The future of VR, MR and AR
Virtual reality is the technology of choice for consumers, and some popular headsets such as the PS VR2 offer high-definition experiences with great graphics. The Quest lineup has its graphics downgraded for the wireless form factor, giving it more versatility where it can be used.
VR is here to stay, but few VR headsets other than the Quest 2 have achieved significant sales numbers compared to typical video game consoles. The technology has a long way to go before finding the right balance between visual quality and affordability. Also, VR headsets cannot be used in crowded or public areas unless they incorporate mixed reality.
Meta is pushing hard for mixed reality as the next step beyond VR, announcing new technology at the GDC 2023 conference. That engineer admits that MR is “still in its early stages,” so while the Quest 3 will support his MR games, MR won’t be popular among consumers for some time. thinking about.
Apple has its own standalone mixed-reality headset due out in 2023, but the company is holding off on selling the headset due to concerns about its high price (around $3,000) in a tight financial situation. I am going backwards. any cultural influences. Colleagues at iMore are beginning to suspect that Reality Pro will never ship.
Given that Microsoft essentially scrapped the Hololens 3 and Meta canceled the Quest Pro 2 to cut the price of the Quest Pro, high-fidelity MR glasses still haven’t found the right market, It is clear that the company is withdrawing for now.
When it comes to augmented reality glasses, companies like Nreal have found success with gamers looking for a portable monitor. Meanwhile, mobile brands such as Lenovo, OPPO, and Google continue to develop more prosumer glasses, but they are still in the prototype stage. AR glasses are still available for purchase, but are often priced between $500 and thousands of dollars.
The ideal AR glasses provide clear information without too much obstruction, work wirelessly with Android smartphones and iPhones without the need for cables, have good battery life, and are comfortable to carry. increase.Some AR prototypes have achieved Several Not all of these criteria. With all these hurdles, AR glasses are a long way off from being “consumer”.
