WHAT IS VIRTUAL REALITY?
Virtual Reality is a form of technology that uses a form of computer technology to create a kind of stimulating environment. This unique experience takes the user into an unusual experience where instead of just sitting in front of a screen, the users are made to fully involve themselves by interacting with 3D worlds. This kind of computer technology enables many senses such as vision, hearing, touch and smell. Virtual reality acts as a gate that leads into an artificial world that almost seems like the real existing world. The display of Virtual reality first splits between the eyes of the viewer that further creates a stereoscopic 3D effect with stereo sound. All of this together with the technology and the input tracking helps in creating a fascinating, believable experience that further allows you to explore the virtual world which is generated by computer technology. The interesting fact about VR is that makes you believe that you are physically and mentally present at that very place. As and when you choose to turn your head, the illusion world will also take a turn. To create a fascinating immersive experience, the lenses help in reshaping images into stereoscopic 3D image. The 100 or 110-degree field of views that are involved help in ensuring whichever way you look, the virtual reality world created follows you. Experience how a walk on Mars would be like or driving a sports car on the racing tracks, anything you imagine can now be brought true with the power of Virtual Reality.
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Uses of Virtual Reality
1. One of the main achievements of Virtual reality is its impact on medical training. Its interactive nature has led to many medical and dental students using it to practice all kinds of surgical procedures. This technology provides a great learning environment as the risk of inflicting any form of harm or making a mistake while practicing on real patients is removed. This process helps in allowing medical students to develop skills that can later be applied in the real world as well. This an effective way to improve the quality of training for medical students and also present them with a great opportunity to optimize costs.
2. Another great way of using Virtual Reality for various people is to help them understand their emotions. This unique technology helps in becoming a predominant way through which post-traumatic stress can be treated. VR exposure therapy involves a person entering a re-enactment or replay of a past traumatic event. This method helps in an attempt to come to terms with the event and healing from it. Not just a traumatic event, virtual reality also helps in treating anxiety, phobias and depression. Some patients that struggle with anxiety have practised meditation while using VR that has shown positive results in managing stress reactivity and boosting coping mechanisms.
3. Virtual Reality technology has been known to impact teaching in schools. Students are now able to take numerous virtual field trips to either museums or planetariums where they get to take tours around the magnificent solar system. Students also get to go back in time to an era of their choice. This way of teaching has especially been said to be beneficial for students with special needs, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Floreo, a technology company, has stated that VR will allow children to learn and practice skills such as pointing, making eye contact and building social connections.
4. It is known that both the United States of America and the United Kingdom have adopted the use of virtual reality in their military training as it allows them to undertake a huge range of simulations. The training impacts all branches of services, the army, navy, air force, marines and coast guard. VR technology helps in preparing a trainee for any kind of situation, place or environment. Currently, the military uses it for flight simulations, battlefield simulations, medic training, vehicle simulation and virtual boot camp. The technology helps to provide real-life dangerous situations that help in preparing soldiers without risking their lives.
5. The use of Virtual Reality in the field of sports has proven to impact the lives of many players, coaches and viewers. This technology is used by coaches and players of all kinds of sports to train much more efficiently. Virtual Reality helps them in watching and experiencing certain situations through which they can further improve their every step and move. This has especially been used as a training aid to help measure athletic performance and analyse technique. This method has been proven to improve athletes’ cognitive abilities when injured, as it allows them to experience gameplay scenarios virtually.
WHAT IS AUGMENTED REALITY?
Augmented is one of the biggest technology trends in the world right now. It has managed to surpass the impact of all kinds of smartphones and other devices. Augmented Reality technology helps us witness the real-life environment right in front of our eyes. One can always see leaves of a tree swaying due to the wind, dogs running around, kids playing on the swings, all of this is possible due to the digital augmentation that is overlaid on it. For example, a vulture could be seen landing on top of the trees, the dogs chased by some famous cartoon characters such as pokemon, and the kids could be seen discovering and playing around an alien spacecraft that happened to land on their playground. Though these advances are said to be already incorporated into your smartphones. Augmented reality can easily be spotted in numerous ways such as Snapchat lenses, in applications that help you find your car in a crowded parking lot. People can also spot it in numerous shopping apps that let you try on clothes without getting to leave your house. The most premium and successful example of AR technology is the famous mobile app Pokemon Go. The app became a big favourite of people all over the world. It saw people being mesmerized when Pokemon characters showed up in the real world.
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USES OF AUGMENTED REALITY
1. One of these most useful ways of Augmented Reality can be seen in the massive Manufacturing sector. The industry has always been known to thrive on the usage of new technologies that help them strive to the utmost level of functioning. Augmented technology reality has been helping many companies in improving their productivity and quality. It is known to help in providing a great level of assistance in reducing any form of manual error, saving time and increasing efficiency. Some of the world’s biggest corporations, such as General Electric and Boeing have been using Augmented Reality in their manufacturing processes for a couple of years now.
2. As the world is moving at a fast pace, the demand for customers is also rising. Gone are the days when the customer used to visit their favourite store and spend hours queuing up to buy their wish list items. But now the customer orders everything off the internet. Online shopping has shown to be much more favourable due to factors such as convenience, time-saving, and money-saving. But sometimes the customer gets the opposite of what they had bought. AR apps have proved to be of great help as they allow customers to virtually view or try products sold online on themselves before buying.
3. The Augmented reality has been known to create a great application that helps in aiding the healthcare sector. The technology helps in training medical students in AR environments or telemedicine. This helps in enabling future medical professionals to interact with patients. At the time of any criticality, augmented reality applications can deliver real-time information to the treatment area to support diagnosis, surgery and treatment plans. The AccuVein is a known handheld device that can seamlessly scan the vein network of a patient. This helps in leading up to a 45% reduction in escalations. Surgeons can hence plan their procedures before making the first cut, models can be made of tumours, and AR diagnostic tools can model disease conditions.
4. Augmented reality has been helping marketers and advertisers reach out to their audiences in more productive and efficient ways. The days of conventional boring ads have been replaced by the Augmented Reality ads. These ads are known to be much more interactive and engaging. These ads not only promote sales but also help in impacting the brand awareness of the product as well.
5. Augmented reality has also managed to impact the arena of interior designing. It has been assessed that AR has been helping designing professionals envision their final products before their entire construction process is brought into existence. Through the access of AR headsets, designers, architects and engineers will be able to step inside buildings and construction spaces and see their designs come alive. This also enables the professional to make any form of changes on the spot. Any form of design or modelling jobs that involve spatial relationships involve the perfect usage for Augmented Reality.