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AR enters  the  lives of most people  through
                  smartphones and tablets. Vito Technology’s Star
                  Walk app lets a user point their phone or tablet
                  camera at the sky and see the names of stars and
                  planets superimposed on the image.

                  One more app called Layar uses the GPS location
                  of the smartphone and the camera  to collect
                  information about the user’s surroundings.                             Star Walk App
                  The app then shows information about the nearby restaurants, stores and places of interest.


                                                    Disney Research developed a colouring book with AR. After
                                                    the user colours in a character in the book, he / she launches
                                                    the app on the device. The app uses the camera to detect the
                                                    character that was coloured. The app also uses AR to recreate
                                                    the character in a 3D form on the screen.
                           Colouring Book

                  Virtual Reality

                  In Virtual Reality (VR), we create a virtual world that users can interact with and explore in a way
                  that mimics real-world experiences.. In this world, the user cannot easily distinguish between
                  what is real and what is virtual.

                  In both VR and  AR, people must wear  HMD (Head
                  Mounted  Displays) or  a  VR Headset  like Oculus Rift or
                  Google  Cardboard.  The  headset  has two  small video
                  display screens one for each eye. This creates the sense of
                  three-dimension. You can also wear headphones and gloves
                  to experience VR and AR. The headphones play stereophonic
                  sound or even 3-D sound so that you can feel that you are                   Virtual Reality
                  hearing sounds not only near the ears but also in various places all around you. The gloves have
                  sensors to collect data about your hand movements. This equipment and the software gives you
                  interactive sensory feelings, similar to real-world experiences.
                  Both AR and VR provide a total immersive experience to the user. These technologies find the
                  greatest use in entertainment, sports/gaming, close interactive eye to eye communication and
                  aided shopping experiences. Imagine sitting at home and browsing through a store in London,
                  where you can see and feel the merchandise you wish to buy. This technology is also used in
                  education. Imagine being an active participant in a historical battle or a student of anatomy in
                  medical school. You can really feel the battle or touch the organs.

                  We must remember that the journey of VR started in the 90’s with the Nintendo Virtual Boy, but
                  it really did not catch on. Now the case seems different as the means of experiencing AR/VR has
                  become less expensive. Also, there is a lot more on offer and we are all connected all the time
                  at least via our smartphones.



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