Fusion VR - AR, VR and MR Company in India

Tech giants such as Meta and Microsoft have invested billions in becoming the frontrunners in this area. There is also some degree of confusion that the industry itself generates and propagates with the use of interchangeable terms, particularly between MR and AR. And this quite naturally confuses the tech community and the general public. To add some spice to this mix is also the fact that some devices appear to be the same, and it takes an experienced person to distinguish them apart based on the manufacturer of those devices. Hopefully, I haven’t added to the confusion. Fear not, as I will make this simple enough on the difference between VR, AR and MR.

Virtual-Reality (VR) is a digitally created environment that completely disconnects the individual from his or her surrounding physical or real environment. To experience VR, we need to use a head-mounted device that also covers the eyes completely. This enclosure enables the user to experience a totally different sort of environment. The cool thing is that the user not only sees but also feels different in the virtual world seen through his/her VR headset.

This is the immersive nature of VR and quite truly the magical aspect of it that has unlimited potential for human benefit and enjoyment. The user not only experiences this virtual Reality but is able to navigate, engage in tasks, work and play using gestures, voice commands and a pair of hand controllers. These controls can also teleport the user to any place in the VR environment, view with a 360-degree view and enjoy all six degrees of freedom. For one thing, VR doesn’t allow you to move freely in the physical world as your vision is blocked. Therefore, it is necessary that VR is restricted to indoor use to ensure user safety.

Augmented-Reality (AR), as the name suggests, uses a digital overlay on tablets, smartphones or wearables such as goggles to augment or enhance the Reality in front of the user. A connection is established with the real world surrounding us through the lens of the device’s camera. This hybrid Reality can be experienced using touch and voice commands. AR is not as immersive as VR. Its applications are quite versatile. Users of Pokemon go can instantly identify what AR is, but the technology is simple to understand, deploy and use. AR has found applications across many industries and professions and can be used both indoors and outdoors.

Mixed Reality (MR) can be considered the enhanced version of AR with much better immersion. MR overlays 2D and 3D infographics with three-dimensional depth and spatial understanding. Mixed Reality helps visualize and interact with the physical and digital elements using hand gestures and voice commands. This is made possible through the use of holographic see-through or pass-through wearable goggles. MR is relatively safer as the user clearly sees the physical world in front of them. Like AR, it can be used indoors and outdoors. However, the visual quality of graphics is degraded if the ambient lighting is quite bright.

All three technologies have exciting applications across various industries and domains. VR, AR and MR are technologies that elevate human capabilities and performance to meet the professional needs of the 21st century. It enables us to visualize like never before and extend human understanding and innovation into newer and bolder areas of human endeavour.

I hope you are quite clear about these technologies and how they are different from one another. I encourage and highly recommend the reader to explore the Fusion VR website to explore it and broaden their knowledge using resources such as the Knowledge Hub and FAQs. Even as these technologies grow and trends change, the understanding gained here will surely help everyone undertake the exciting journey through the world of VR, AR and MR technologies.

It is being realised now that a product such as a smartphone has become the most essential to lead an everyday life. Everything is connected to the smartphone and our dependence is only increasing day by day. As consumer preferences change, the demand for new products is on the rise, and the ensuing competition rewards companies that bring out new products the quickest. The journey from ideation to production must be the fastest. Product designers have recognised the need to accelerate design processes and help their companies deliver new and innovative products to the marketplace in the shortest possible time. While there are other vital stakeholders in this value chain, the product design process holds centre stage.

Virtual Reality technology helps people visualise and experience something that hasn’t been there before. This visualisation of a new concept, product, or change is challenging to accomplish on a two-dimensional screen by everyone. The reason is that we see things differently in our mind's eye. Design processes require the collaboration of multiple teams and differences in perceiving a new proposal could kill off a promising new product. VR product design helps to shorten the product design process with an immersive and collaborative approach.

VR in product design allows designers and engineers to empathise with a problem or challenge that people face. This enables better ideas to be generated for discussion. This becomes particularly useful for a lesser-known problem that only a specific section of the people encounter. Virtual reality product design helps develop virtual prototypes that can be visualised, constructed, dismantled, and experienced multiple times. VR allows movement in six degrees of freedom which is rotation and move along all three axes.

The User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) aspects of the design can be developed and reviewed with participation from anywhere in the world. Physical distance is no longer a constraint in product design as VR helps engage experts and stakeholders from the manufacturing industry in real-time. The advent of 5G and its implementation across the world will greatly reduce the latency, thereby giving the feeling that all of them are present in the virtual space at the same time. A virtual prototype can be tested multiple times and its design revised based on the inputs received from everyone. Physical prototyping is expensive and often takes significant time and effort to complete.

Product designers need to learn how to use VR tools and engage VR engineering and solutions experts to integrate virtual reality into their processes. They need to identify VR solutions providers who have the industry experience to better understand, guide, and execute VR strategies at any company. They also need to familiarise themselves with the advantages and limitations of virtual reality 3D design and finally become comfortable developing virtual prototypes. With VR devices costing lesser and their availability wider than before, integrating this technology into the design process may become more accessible.

Virtual Reality is one of the critical technologies in Industry 4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Becoming early adopters of VR will create many competitive advantages for the organisation in the 21st century. Feel free to check out the Fusion VR website to learn more about our products and services, in addition to the wealth of knowledge provided there, which I believe will help better understand these exciting technologies.