Now that virtual reality headsets are becoming increasingly popular for the video game industry, after years of being relegated to fully business functions, it's time to talk about the two types of realities that exist. We are not talking about metaphysical, existential, or philosophical terrain. We talk about augmented reality and virtual reality, and the difference between them.
If you're a bit tech-savvy, you probably know the basic difference and even the details, but we're writing this text so you can pass it on to your friends and family who don't understand the difference. Now, we are going to explain in a clear and concise way what each one is, why they are being promoted, and its relationship with the metaverse projects.
Table of Contents
What is virtual reality?
Virtual reality is a concept based on the fact that the user enters a virtual world with the help of headphones that block his vision and hearing, and through images in the helmets and sounds in the headphones, they give the user the sensation of that he has been transported to another world. It doesn't have to be a fantasy place, just a digitally generated space, 360 degrees in all directions, to give the feeling of being somewhere different.
History of Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is a concept that goes back decades, and if we are a bit generous, in 1838 when stereoscopes showed two images taken by two parallel cameras so that when placed in a certain position on a support, it gave the sensation of being in a distant area, usually in forests or at waterfalls, to be sold to city people as the feeling of being in places they have never been.
In 1969, Ivan Sutherland had already begun to take the first steps of virtual reality as envisioned by scientists of the last century. He created a helmet connected to a ceiling-mounted system called the "Sword of Damocles" that allowed the user to view a virtual environment from different angles. The image was simply a wireframe, but the possibilities of showing the user a virtual world were already evident.
In 1985, NASA developed virtual reality motorcycle helmets, with the intention that these helmets would be used to control robotic vehicles. They had the vision that virtual reality it would be a kind of virtual workstation and a three-dimensional data space.
A game developer named Jaron Lanier had invested a lot of money founding VPL (Virtual Programming Languages). With that company, he released virtual reality products like the DataGlove and the EYEphone. the company produced small virtual worlds, but peripherals then cost $8.000 and required a PC that once cost $200.000.
When VPL's computers were powerful enough for this, they created full-body tracking suits to display the movements of the avatars. Users were strapped into bracelets and anklets so their movements could be tracked and reflected in programs.
Reality has been driven by video games
In the decade of the 90s, Nintendo and Sega had approaches to the reality of consumers. On Sega's part, the Virtual Reality project was cancelled. On the part of Nintendo, you could hardly call Virtual Reality the Virtual Boy, since it did not allow users to follow the head movement and they were simply two projectors towards a glass located in front of each user's eye.
In 1991, Dr. Jonathan Waldern had some success with his Virtuality multiplayer arcade system. It was a system where players could shoot each other in an arena to simulate a boxing match. It managed to stay in the market for most of the 1990s thanks to novelties and an arcade scene, which then provided an opportunity for millions of people to experience experiences that they couldn't replicate at home due to the lower power of the machines. consoles, or the large peripherals or complicated assemblies that were used in one or two games.
On the subject of arcade games, the arcade versions of Beach Head 2000, Beach Head 2002 and Beach Head Desert War, which were PC ports, stood out as precursors of the Virtual Reality idea. They were developed by a Virtual Reality game development company.
In the case of home use, the Oculus Quest, HTC Vive and Valve Index showed how Virtual Reality could reach gamers' homes. One of the big bets for this was PlayStation VR, which required the use of a PS4 console and separate headphones for a price close to 800 euros, as an accessible version of Virtual Reality. For its part, Microsoft in its day announced that the then-called Project Scorpio, which months later would be known as Xbox One X, and that it never had any Virtual Reality game or accessory.
Today, virtual reality video games are seen as the logical generational leap to have new experiences. But they require high-end equipment to offer two high-quality image streams at a sufficient frame rate, in addition to the virtual reality equipment itself and enough space to avoid colliding with objects in the "real world«. This is why, outside of the upper classes, virtual reality is available at consumer fairs and leisure centres as specialised recreational spaces.
Uses of Virtual Reality outside of video games
One successful application was in training simulations to replace on-the-job learning, where mistakes can otherwise be dangerous or prohibitively expensive. They have been used for training in surgery, and have also been tried in virtual reality immersion therapies with experiences designed to help users overcome their fear of flying through 3D virtual modeling.
Virtual Reality problems to reach the mass market
Since the eighties, it has been said that once costs are lowered, it becomes more intuitive and there is software for it, among other factors, Virtual Reality will be widely adopted. but there are many factors that perhaps Virtual Reality will never be able to overcome and will always remain something more of a luxury than a hobby.
- It will always be expensive for the consumer: With the recent announcement of the Meta Quest 3, the Virtual Reality headset from Meta that does not require a PC for base applications, but may require connecting to a PC for larger experiences; the Meta Quest 299 costs $2. It's not a bad price, but it's a price for a system exclusively dedicated to entertainment. YU those are the options that a priori are cheaper. PSVR2 costs about 500 euros with a separate PS5; and Valve Index costs $799 for a deck with headset and controllers, not the full game, and to play Half-Life Alyx you need a PC with 12 GB of RAM and a 6 GB graphics card, thanks to the fact that it uses a Modified version of the Source engine, known for not asking for a lot of resources.
- The necessary space is not accessible to the population: Virtual reality in all its glory requires having enough free space available on a regular basis to play without crashing into anything. In an era of economic crisis and rental prices and the difficulties in getting a stable home, asking for free space to move around in Virtual Reality is for the majority of the population, something impossible. Years ago plans were made to make houses with "metaverse rooms", which involve a room dedicated to Virtual Reality, and nothing else. A space that will not be used to house anything other than Virtual Reality. And we are talking about a house, so it is a decision that will haunt him for years.
- Sanitation that makes it difficult to share: One factor that few people take into account is that Virtual Reality headsets are prone to spreading eye infections. For this reason, in demonstrations at consumer fairs such as the E3 and Madrid Games Week, between users there was always a time when the hostesses have to clean it for health reasons. This applied to consumers would imply that if a family wants to have their own equipment, they will have to clean it thoroughly so that an infection such as conjunctivitis does not spread among the family.
- People do not like to be isolated all the time: We already saw it during the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest breeding ground to see how much people can accept fully digital relationships. Zoom became especially popular, but people needed more, which is why great interest in board games has been aroused thanks to Board Game Arena, or online role-playing campaign. Anything before a conversation entirely by videoconference and that's it. The idea that Virtual Reality will be our eight-hour office or social hub, with our glasses on all day, has barely taken off as much as Meta has tried to make its Horizon Worlds metaverse accessible with an affordable Meta Quest 2. .
What is augmented reality?
Augmented Reality is when software, be it an application or a game, takes images of real life and performs processes and tasks so that, based on factors, such as the position using GPS, a reference, or more elements, it shows added elements. through the screen. A well-known example that you have surely used is Pokémon Go, which put the Augmented Reality concept in the hands of millions.
What was the first augmented reality game?
When Pokémon GO arrived, many people had their first experience of Augmented Reality, although Niantic had reused all the advances it made with the game. income. Thanks to its success, the Invizimals account made it clear that at least they came before the passion for Augmented Reality, since they already used it on the PSP, taking a card with a pattern that recognized the game to have it as a reference in terms of distance and relative inclination, given the limitations of the PSP.
While it's hard to define, as it could be a weird Japanese game that didn't come out on consoles, it's at least safe to say that Pokémon Go is not the first Augmented Reality game, but yes the most popular of all.
Does Mixed Reality exist?
With the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro, the term mixed reality glasses has spread. This is to say nothing of "virtual and augmented reality glasses", which is what they actually are. The Apple Vision Pro work as both Virtual Reality glasses and Augmented Reality glasses.
But there is no concept of "Mixed Reality" since Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are mutually exclusive. VR is about isolating the user and showing them a different world, while AR implies having a vision of what surrounds the user and putting additional virtual elements on the screen or field of vision of the user for the purpose of experiences or games.
It is possible that, with technological advances, the so-called Mixed Reality can be achieved. but for now, it is only a way of cutting words when referring to the operation of the Apple Vision Pro.
What do Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have to do with the metaverse?
Because there is a lot of interest in being among the first to support the technological future to reap big dividends, the use of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Metaverse has been pushed. Of course, as we explained in our article on the metaversesFirst of all, not all metaverses have to use Virtual Reality. Then, there is not a single metaverse, they are just a social hub with activities and more, and metaverse concepts already exist in current MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, social simulators like Second Life, or simply games in which we have a virtual profile like Grand Theft Auto Online.
The idea of metaverses using Virtual Reality is strongly supported by Meta, who develop the Meta Quest Virtual Reality goggles, which seek to be an accessible option within a prohibitive format. Its Horizon Worlds metaverse is presented as a social hub that is mostly supported by Virtual Reality. But VR Chat has already shown that Virtual Reality is not essential for metaverses.
What do Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have to do with NFTs?
In the case of Virtual Reality, NFTs were closely tied to it by the metaverses, who insisted on buying, selling, and renting virtual properties from metaverse virtual spaces in the form of NFTs. There have been numerous promises regarding the use of NFTs in VR metaverses, some of them with more success. But this is talking more about metaverses than about Virtual Reality.
Regarding Augmented Reality, it has had a lot of interest from NFT firms. Many of his ideas were based on being able to buy digital clothes and accessories that can be seen through Augmented Reality glasses, and that could be limited clothes that you could trade. This idea would be supported by Augmented Reality applications. But for that they would have to have a community that invests heavily in it, and have the tracking and detection technology advanced enough, and that those applications are constantly being used by enough users for those NFTs in Augmented Reality apps to have an effect.
