The difference between VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality)

VR (virtual reality: virtual reality), which has become a hot topic in recent years, and AR (augmented reality), which became a hot topic a few years ago. They are two similar and different words, but for those who aren't familiar with keywords such as “VR” or “AR,” “what's the difference?” There's a part I don't understand. Even for those of us working on such technology, it is a difficult theme to explain in clear terms such as “this is what AR is” and “the difference from VR (virtual reality) is here.”

“VR” and “AR.” If you look at the content that was actually created, there are many cases where these two words “apply to both.” If this is the case, for example, when making something out of a project, you don't know whether you should make “VR” or “AR.” These words do not clearly indicate a specific technology or software, and if you think of them as words that indicate “the nature of technology” or “the meaning of content,” it may be a little easier to understand. On this page, I will explain the differences between VR and AR in as simple terms as possible.

“AR (augmented reality)” is expressed by adding “some other information” to information that people sense in the real world.

AR (augmented reality: augmented reality), as the word “augmented reality” indicates, is a technology or method for “expanding” reality by adding “some other information” to information that people can sense in the real world. The type that displays visual information that cannot be detected by sight alone is popular as an example. For example, real-world images displayed on smartphone or tablet camera images are superimposed and displayed on top of data such as location information, and images and CG that should not actually be there. Let's take a look at an actual case.

• “Constellation Chart” is an application that allows you to check the constellations you can see by holding it up to the night sky
• National Geographic AR promotion using large screens in shopping centers
• IKEA's app “IKEA Catalog” that can simulate the arrangement of furniture using AR

Zodiac chartis an orthodox initiative that can be said to be the royal road for AR apps. It's romantic to be able to check the shape and name of that constellation while looking at the actual starry sky. This is a great example of using AR to expand the real world and enhance user convenience.

On the other hand, AR using mobile terminals such as smartphones and tablets is highly compatible with corporate promotions and campaigns, and there are various examples.National Geographic AR promotionis multi-person participation/experiential AR content using large screens in highly public places such as shopping centers. It was a dynamic effort to superimpose world images of nature and the Lost World on the real world in urban spaces, and it was held all over the world and attracted a lot of attention.

The IKEA caseThen, a simulation function for furniture arrangement using AR is included in the catalog application called “IKEA Catalog.” Using this function, you can check the overall impression by placing a 3D image of the furniture you are considering in your own room. It is an effort to address issues that tend to occur in the interior industry, such as “the furniture I bought so much, but the impression was different when I actually placed it in the room.” The overall impression, which is difficult to understand with only 3D images of furniture, can be expressed by superimposing 3D images on actual room images using AR. This is an example of making good use of the characteristics of AR.

In the AR world, “location-based AR” uses GPS and device acceleration sensors. There are several types, such as “marker-type vision-based AR,” which reads a pre-arranged “marker” with a camera and superimposes images or images at the intended location. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases such as “markerless AR,” which detects and triggers the characteristics of objects and shapes that actually exist in real space without using markers. However, what AR in general has in common is that it seems that efforts to add “something else” additional information to “real world” information and express and use it can be called AR. In addition to visual information, research to expand all human senses, such as voice information and sense of smell and touch, is also thriving. Also, new devices, such as “Google Glass” provided by Google, are also appearing, and as AR technology penetrates into them, the day will soon be when AR will realize richer expressions and a more convenient world. The development of AR (augmented reality: augmented reality) is still a long way off.

“VR (virtual reality)” expresses all kinds of experiences, including virtual worlds, transcending time and space as if they were in the real world.

Meanwhile, virtual reality is PANOPLAZA's main theme. The word virtual (virtual) is reminiscent of CG and “fictional worlds,” but creating and experiencing an imaginary world is not just “virtual reality.” We see the term “virtual reality” as a general term for technology and initiatives to experience all kinds of spatial expressions, including “virtual (virtual),” “as if they were reality (reality).” The major difference from AR is that “AR adds additional information based on the real world,” while “VR (virtual reality)” “the user himself jumps into a realistic world created in various forms.” The essence of “virtual reality” is that no matter what “virtual reality” has been created, users can experience and act as if it were a “real world.”

Here are a few examples.

• Immerse yourself in a virtual world with a head-mounted display. “Virtual Drive” where you can simulate a drive with Kei Nishikori
• “zSpace,” a desktop virtual reality that uses motion parallax to make objects float on a special display
• “Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Kizuna” where you can get into a cockpit equipped with a dome screen and enjoy a simulation game in the Mobile Suit Gundam world

The first case is also the case where we helped at PANOPLAZA. It's a “virtual reality” used by “Jaguar Land Rover” in a new car announcement promotion project, and you can simulate a drive with “Nishikori Kei,” who is a world-class tennis player, using an Oculus Rift. Since it was an unsold car at the time, there were no actual cars in Japan, and the shooting took place in London and Barcelona. It is a content where you can experience a “test drive experience of a car that isn't here right now” in “virtual reality” across time and space. Furthermore, the fact that it was possible to simulate a test drive with “Nishikori Kei,” who had just finished runner-up at the US Open at the time, became a hot topic. This is a typical example of experiencing an experience that is difficult to achieve in reality “as if it were real” in “virtual reality.”

“zSpace” is a futuristic three-dimensional display developed by US company zSpace. When “stereoscopic glasses” are worn, sensors mounted on each part of the display detect the movement of the glasses, that is, the movement of the user's head, and the screen on the display is displayed three-dimensionally accordingly. Thus, the image displayed on the display is three-dimensional, and the object is drawn as if it were floating in the space above the display, and it can be moved and rotated as if it were a “real object” using a special pen (stylus). The stereoscopic vision with zSpace is excellent, and you can operate it as if you were picking up a virtual object floating on the screen. It achieves an immersive feeling that is different from a head-mounted display.

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Bonds”is an arcade game provided by Bandai Namco, whose first version was released in 2006. The inside of the large housing that imitates a cockpit is a large dome-shaped screen, and they participate in combat missions as pilots in mobile suits (large humanoid robots appearing in anime works). Virtual reality has a high affinity with games until now, and while various works have been presented, “Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Bonds” is a representative game content that goes beyond the boundaries of games and is appropriate to be called “virtual reality” from a comprehensive point of view, such as “operation booths imitating cockpits,” “special experiences called pilots,” “virtual worlds created by CG,” and “added value such as online battles.”

Virtual reality has evolved in various forms and is used in various forms

In the previous section, I wrote that what “expresses and uses information from the real world by adding some other additional information” is AR, and VR (virtual reality) is “where users themselves jump into and experience a real-like world created in various forms.” Whether it's AR or VR, there are various final forms. The virtual reality examples introduced have been realized in various forms, such as those experienced using a head-mounted display, those operated interactively using a special display, and devices and content built to immerse oneself in the game world. However, what all cases have in common is that “users themselves jump into and experience a realistic world created in various forms,” and VR (virtual reality) continues to challenge the theme of how to “bring the quality of that experience closer to reality,” and it is also interesting.

VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) continue to advance day by day. Both are continuing to search for “experiences” that make use of not only visual information but also other senses. In the near future, transcending the boundaries of each word, completely new content may appear, such as incorporating AR ideas into the VR (virtual reality) world, or vice versa. At PANOPLAZA, for example,Live streaming service with 360° panoramic videoIt has started. Trials of VR (virtual reality) x AR (augmented reality) have already begun, such as introducing fictional characters using CG in such 360° live streaming. Although VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) have different meanings, they are also keywords that lead “virtual experience” to a higher level by utilizing and fusing the characteristics of each.

References:”What is the difference between VR, AR, and MRPlease also see”.