Most people have heard of the Oculus Rift, manufactured by a Facebook branch, and how this virtual reality headset can mimic sight and sound to produce immersive experiences meant for entertainment and gaming. And then there is the HoloLens, developed by Microsoft, which is less immersive, impressing holographic images upon reality without cutting off the real world around you, therefore making it an augmented reality device, or “mixed reality,” according to Microsoft. But there are more applications to virtual and augmented reality than just entertainment.
First off, though, let’s clear up the confusion regarding all these terms -- virtual reality? Augmented reality? And now mixed reality? -- What’s the difference?
Virtual reality refers to an immersive experience that cuts one off from the real world, replacing vision and hearing with a headgear set. This is what the Oculus does. Augmented reality, on the other hand, imposes virtual images onto the real world background -- a well-known example would be Pokémon Go. It takes what’s before you, be it trees, your home, or a screen, and throws in an extra bit of material to draw your interest. Mixed reality is a little different: it’s Microsoft’s catchall way of expressing all virtual realities, augmented realities, and in-between realities that may be invented in the future. They currently have only two types of reality headsets on the market, though, so as of yet their “mixed reality” production term refers to two products: a virtual reality device similar to Oculus and an augmented reality device resembling virtual reality headsets that applies 3-D holographs through transparent glasses to your surroundings.
Beyond the scope of gaming and entertainment through things like 3-D movies and virtual sports stadiums, virtual reality holds applications for other purposes as well. It has been successfully utilized as a possible treatment for PTSD patients, especially soldiers. The American Journal of Psychiatry has upheld the effectiveness of virtual reality environments for treatment of psychiatric disorders. It may also be used to create practice simulations for surgeons and provide therapy for physical rehabilitation patients and disabled persons. Furthermore, virtual reality simulations could be used to train future astronauts, pilots and military troops. It holds potential for educative purposes through museum exhibitions and interactive schools and could provide engineers with detailed models for problem inspection, such as with car displays. Virtual reality has also been researched by a team Switzerland for its possible usage to reconstruct crime investigation scenes in order to represent live evidence in front of trial juries.
In addition, other recreational uses have been found for virtual and augmented reality. The Guided Meditation virtual program places headset users into calming meditative environments to destress and reduce anxiety, a need of increasing importance in our fast-growing, busy world. ASOS, a British online fashion store, has invested in Trillenium, an augmented reality shopping experience software that allows users to tour a store as if they were shopping in person, rather than online.
And, let’s not forget the implementation of augmented realities through virtual college campus tours and Google Maps.