With technological advancements, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have garnered much media attention as both enhance an individual’s experience of reality. According to a news report, the next five years are said to experience a rapid growth in both technologies as users will become more accustomed to the artificial stimulation.
For starters, VR is an artificial intelligence (AI) that recreates real-life scenario through computer-generated stimuli. Users are tricked into believing that they are in the situation by stimulating two of their senses, hearing and vision.
Products such as Facebook’s Oculus is the best example of VR devices that usually recreates real life environment through headsets. Users put on these headsets and experience first-hand stimulated reality. One of the most popular form of VR are 3D movies. Almost all animated movies along with mythologies are being created in 3D to enhance the viewing experience of the audiences. As objects almost seem like coming out of the big screens with computer stimulation at play, cinemagoers are stirred to believe they are in action and part of the movie.
Over the years, many uses of VR technology has helped it grow. Besides acting as a recreational activity for the masses with VR video games and 3D movies, the AI also helps assist trainings for a range of professions that requires recreating a real life environment to serve as practice grounds for professions such as pilots.
On the other hand, AR, although gradually gaining its market share, especially after the success of Kyoto-based Nintendo’s Pokémon Go, is a computer-generated technology that serves to enhance the existing real-life scenarios. It envisions to make it much more expressive through active interactive interface. Developed into apps, the technology is used on mobile phones and perfectly blends digital into real.
Seeing the potential in the growth of AR, the American multination company, Apple Inc. has announced its ARKit platform. It is forecasted to enhance much higher advancements in AR than the growth witnessed by VR, which took many years before finally finding its standing in the industry. The ARKit will assist the growth of AR and have a huge impact in applications that cater to both consumer and commercial.
Another multinational giant that is developing an app to rake in the benefits of the predicted future growth of AR is Swedish company IKEA. The furniture giant announced signing an app development that will be using Apple’s ARKit platform. This will enable the iPhone and iPad users to overlay photo-realistic 3D renders from the comfort of their homes. In fact, if rumors are to be believed, ARKits won’t be the only product Apple Inc. is creating to help push the growth of AR. The company is also said to be creating Apple AR glasses – an AR headset ready to enhance your experience of reality like never before.
The report released by International Data Cooperation further predicts that while VR will still dominate AR in the next five years, the latter will go on to witness a massive growth with it being almost 172.9% CAGR in AR headsets by the year 2021 in comparison to just to 48.7% for VR headsets.