The Virtual Reality (VR)the Augmented Reality (AR)the Mixed Reality (MR) and the Extended Reality (XR) They are terms that, despite having many things in common, also have differences that are sometimes difficult to assimilate.

Virtual Reality (VR)

The Virtual Reality (VR) immerses users in totally artificial digital environments and virtual reality headsets are the main component for users to have an immersive experience in these worlds.

It is mainly used for entertainment experiences, such as video games, concerts or sports, but it also has enormous applications in the social, educational and medical fields.

For example, speaking of entertainment, the VR It allows users to immerse themselves in video games, as if they were just another character. While in the medical field, users can learn how to perform heart surgery or improve the quality of sports training in a high-performance athlete.

Augmented Reality (AR) and its differences with VR

For its part, the Augmented Reality (AR) overlays virtual objects on the real world environment.

And there is the first big difference with the VR, since the real world becomes the perfect framework to place images and objects; It is not a totally artificial environment.

The most famous example of Augmented Reality (AR) in recent years it’s Pokemon Go, which overlays elements of the game onto the real world. The pokemons appear on the mobile screen, while the players walk in a real environment.

Having said this, we can understand that in the Augmented Reality (AR) the vision of reality is modified through inputs generated by an electronic device, while in the Virtual Reality (VR) software is used to replace the real world with a totally artificial one.

Mixed Reality (MR)

On the other hand, the Mixed Reality (MR) it not only superimposes virtual objects, but also anchors them to the real world, with which the user interacts.

And there we find another differentiating element, the ability to interact with virtual objects or subjects in the real world.

For example, if you place a virtual object on a real chair, mixed reality applications will register it and move the virtual item with the chair, if you move the chair to another place in the real environment.

While in the applications of Augmented Reality (AR) it doesn’t work that way.

In order to live this immersion experience, users need to have a helmet of Mixed Reality (MR). Some of the most popular MR glasses models are those developed by HP, Asus, Acer or Lenovo.

Extended Reality (XR)

Finally, the Extended Reality (XR) which is also known as Cross Realityuses the overlay or immersion of text, animations and computer graphics in virtual environments and in the real world.

It can be said that it is a concept that encompasses the Virtual Reality (VR)the Augmented Reality (AR)the Mixed Reality (MR)and the relationships between them.