Interest in augmented reality has recently gone off the charts, with the likes of Pokemon Go and Star Walk, everyone from tech investors, designers, developers and marketers, are eager to get involved.
So what is Augmented reality?
Augmented reality is a way of fusing the real and the virtual world by overlaying digital data on to real-world analogue views. Not just limited to applications and interactive games, augmented reality is being using in fashion, advertising and a wide variety of technologies.
What’s the difference between AR and VR?
In the simplest form, virtual reality offers a digital recreation of a real life setting, while augmented reality delivers virtual elements as an overlay to the real world. However, they both use some of the same types of technology, and they each exist to serve the user with an enhanced or enriched experience.
While VR has been at the forefront of technology in the past, it seems AR is set to take over, with the recent launch of the iPhone 7, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple has opened up about their augmented-reality plans.
“There’s virtual reality and there’s augmented reality — both of these are incredibly interesting, but my own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far.” Tim Cook said, regarding a question about Apple’s position on virtual reality.
Apple’s recent purchase of Metaio and PrimeSense would suggest they are moving toward a future that revolves around a hand held augmented reality devices. That is supported by several recent hires of AR experts at Apple HQ. Cook, spoke last week to Good Morning America, saying that he suspects “virtual reality probably has a lower commercial interest over time” and that he believes “augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far.”
Regarding the areas of use for AR and VR, Tim Cook said “There’s some really cool areas there for education and gaming that we have a lot of interest in.”
So watch this space, AR could be set to be bigger than VR due to the opportunities it represents.
At Cogs we are fascinated with the virtual and augmented realities, which directly relates to the world of digital, design, technology and UX. If you are looking for opportunities in ant of these areas, contact one our specialist today.
