Total Disconnect or Enhanced Environment
Would you rather be in an enhanced environment of your own setting or be completely submerged in a fictional world you didn’t know existed? Being able to enhance gaming to include your surroundings or allow you to act in a completely different world is something that gamers around the world once only saw as a futuristic dream. But, with the continuous advancement in technology, these once far fetched dreams have now become a reality for many users. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have made their way into the gaming world and have taken gamers by surprise with the enhanced technology that generates a more fulfilled and immersed gaming experience for all.
Although these two types of ‘realities’ may seem similar to some, and to an extent they are, they offer different gaming experiences that may alter how one wants to be immersed in their next game.
Augmented Reality
To start, Augmented Reality (AR) is more well-known in the world today as games such as Pokémon Go have brought this reality into the spotlight. But what is Augmented Reality? AR is a type of technology that overlays computer-generated enhancements atop of a pre-existing reality, or world. This allows for a more meaningful experience by allowing gamers to interact with both the real and created elements in their world. This technology seamlessly blends digital components into the real world as enhancements to each other, but in a way that can easily be told apart. The most popular form of AR is through apps, tablets, and sometimes computers. Recently, companies have been creating and releasing translucent glasses to wear that incorporates digital enhancements even more effortlessly into play. Think of wearing Iron Man’s helmet - a little cliché, but a perfect example.
Virtual Reality
Next, is Virtual Reality, a type of technology that is discussed among many gamers, but may not be well known to some. Virtual Reality (VR) is an artificial computer-generated simulation of a real life environment or situation, although it can be fictionalized as well. This technology allows its users to feel as if they are experiencing the virtual reality firsthand by stimulating the users’ vision and hearing. The coding differs slightly from AR as it uses VRML (virtual reality modelling language) which ultimately creates a series of images and specifies what types of interactions can be performed. VR is achieved through users wearing headsets that completely block out the surroundings to create a new immersive world for the gamer. Here, let's think of the Matrix - you enter a whole new world that you didn’t think was possible, or better yet existed.
Alternate Realities
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are actually inverse reflections of one another as VR is a digital recreation of a real life setting, whereas AR delivers virtual elements to be a part of the real world. Both of these realities use some of the same technology and both strive to enrich the user’s experience while gaming. They both offer an alternative to 2D gaming by having a more interactive 3D world. These reality games are quickly becoming the preferred gaming option for entertainment purposes and are sometimes blended together to create an even more memorable and out-of-world stimulation.
The Future
There is a popular belief that Augmented Reality is ahead of Virtual Reality as there are more AR products on the market thus far. Big corporations such as Google and Microsoft have been investing, creating, and launching AR technologies, contributing to their popularity. On the contrary, others believe that Virtual Reality is just becoming popular, if not more popular, as it starts and continues to receive more recognition for what it offers the gaming world. As these two realities go head to head, their future success lies in the hands of the eager gamers that await an enhanced environment or a complete disconnect from the world in which they live in.
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