A 2018 movie about Virtual and Augmented Reality caught the attention of both sci-fi and tech fans. Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg, who is also known for Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan, is based upon Ernest Cline’s 2001 sci-fi novel.
Let’s start by setting the scene. The movie is set in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 2045. As their ultimate playground, most people attempt to escape reality by using OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensive Immersive Simulation) VR world. It’s a virtual world that allows people to connect, play, and even touch and feel one another without physically being together. James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance), was the creator of OASIS. He programmed a quest for three keys and a hidden Easter Egg. The first person to find the Easter Egg would receive half a trillion dollars and full control of the OASIS. You can race with a DeLorean, fight with Iron Giant, and avoid King Kong. Over the years, it has become the essence of “useful” and “cool.” Some of the most exciting and innovative inventions of today include voice-controlled assistants, self-driving cars, and robots that can communicate with humans using human language. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are accelerating the pace of technological advancements.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: Technology for the Future
What is Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality? How are they different?
Understanding AR and VR is key to understanding how they can ignite reality. Virtual means “near or imitation” and reality means “real life” or the actual thing. Virtual reality is a simulation or imitation of the real world. Reality is the ability to imitate the physical presence and movements of another person in a virtual world. Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard are some of the most well-known VR headsets. AR digitally enhances reality. AR can be used on smartphones and tablets to provide both virtual and actual views of the physical world, as well as informational virtual components about it. It also creates digital images that blend in with the real world in real time. One of the most well-known examples of augmented realities is Pokemon Go, which was developed by Niantic for iOS and Android. The players can use their mobile devices to look around the real world and attempt to catch and train virtual creatures known as Pokemon.
Photo source: GoogleHow did Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Technology begin?
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are two of the most popular technologies in today’s world. Their origins are much older than most people realize. One of the earliest attempts at virtual reality was to view two photos through mirrors.
The Stereoscope of Sir Charles Wheatstone, an instrument to view two separate images from a pair mirrors, created an illusion of one 3D picture. It was followed by David Brewster’s Lenticular Stereoscope 1849. This is similar to Wheatstone’s Stereoscope, but it’s a closed-box with two lenticular lense.
Wheatstone’s stereoscope, 1838Lenticular stereoscope, 1849Morton Heilig invented “Sensorama”, a theater machine in 1962. It could play 3D films with stereo sounds and winds, as well as aromas, that create an immersive sensory experience.
The “Sword of Damocles”, a 1968 work by Ivan Sutherland, is widely considered to be the first VR head-mounted display (HMD) that connected to a computer and allowed the wearer to view a virtual world.
Jaron Lanier, the founder of VPL Research, used the term “virtual real” for the first time in 1989. His research data helped to shape the development of the VR industry. Tom Caudell, a Boeing researcher was the first to use the term “augmented reality” in 1992.
“Augmented reality” is a term that describes a head-mounted virtual display that mixes digital graphics with physical reality. It was used by aircraft electricians. It allows for a see-through HMD that guides wire bundle assembly in aircraft. Since then AR and VR have gradually become mainstream. Source:
