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Both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) surfaced the canvas of the tech world and earned a lot of business media attention in the past couple of years. Despite showing a promising tremendous growth, anyone outside of the IT industry, but the need of mobile application development often confuses about these two terms. People usually use AR and VR interchangeably because they do not always operate independently, but generally blended to generate a more immersing experience.

For instance, haptic feedback, which is a touch (sensation and vibration) to communicate with users when added to the interaction with UI graphics is considered an augmentation. However, it is normally used within a virtual reality setting to build a more lifelike experience through touch. Put simply, haptic feedback is an AR technology that allows users to get their required information in the virtual world through their sensations.

Complex Phenomenon? For commoners, yes, it is.

For this reason, it becomes important to differentiate between the two. Here’s we bring you some most significant differences between AR and VR from their primary objectives down to the user experience.

AR Explained
Augmented Reality, quickly coming into the mainstream, is a technology that enhances the real-world experiences by adding an overlay of digital components.

AR blends the real and virtual worlds by layering the computer-generated enhancements over an existing reality to make it more meaningful. AR in mobile apps development blends the digital elements into the real world wherein they enhance each other but can also be disengaged easily.

AR technology is generally used to pop out 3D photos, text messages, and emails on the mobile devices. The tech leaders are also experimenting with AR to do revolutionary things with motion activated commands. However, AR doesn’t give the same immersive, simulated experience as that of VR but it is much more accessible to average users because of its availability through mobile apps on iOS and Android devices.

VR Explained
Virtual Reality, typically attained by wearing a headset such as Facebook’s Oculus, is a digitally recreated real-life environment or situation or you can call it an artificial, computer-generated simulation.

VR creates a completely different reality for the users that makes them feel as if they are experiencing a simulated reality firsthand – primarily by stimulating their vision and hearing attributes.

VR headset blocks the user vision of the real world and immerses him into an entirely virtual space such as 3D movies, game interface, and head mounted display, etc. With endless locations and landscape possibilities available, mobile apps development services provider can use real-life photographs or computer-generated animations to deliver the users a 360-degree view of everything around them.

What Else?
AR and VR also differ in their purpose of use and delivery method.

The primary purpose of Augmented Reality is to enhance real environment experiences by adding virtual elements like digital images, graphics and sensations as a new layer of interaction with the actual world. In contrast, Virtual Reality is meant to create its own computer generated, digitally driven reality and involves the use of a headset.

Coming to delivery method, AR is most commonly used in mobile devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) to transform the real-world experiences after intersecting and interacting with digital images and graphics through iOS and android apps development. Contrastingly, VR needs a handheld or head-mounted controller to connect users to the real virtuality environments, and allow them to navigate and control their actions in multi-sensory virtual settings meant to simulate the real world.

Long Story Short:
AR and VR usually work together to create an immersing experience, in a simulated land for entertainment and play, by adding new dimensions of the intersection and interaction between real world environments and digital devices. Blended together or alone, both technologies are undoubtedly opening up the real and virtual worlds alike.

In a nutshell, having a clear idea about the difference between AR and VR is necessary if you are looking to incorporate any of these into your own app. It will help you better understand how each technology can be used to reach your business goals, and which mobile apps development company can bring you desired solutions with reliability and affordability. From concept to development, ArhamSoft (Pvt) Ltd. with an expansive team consisting of a hybrid onshore as well as offshore models, and decades of experience covers the entire mobile application development cycle, no matter how complex and diverse your project requirements are.