Virtual Products 101: VR, AR, MR
When people talk about virtual products, they tend to think of a full-on VR experience. In reality, there are a wide variety of virtual products that provide a range of experiences. Furthermore, the combination of individual products and content-specific devices bring these experiences to life.
Beginning with virtual reality (VR), this is a fully immersive experience where you do not see the physical world. Instead, you experience a completely different world that a headset/software interface brings to life. This is a very mind-blowing experience and feels like wearing goggles underwater for the first time.
The fastest-growing virtual product segment is augmented reality (AR). This creates virtual overlays in a physical space to illustrate information. For example, AR technology will recognize specific locations and use graphic elements to provide more context about what a user is experiencing.
Finally, merged reality (MR) is very easy to confuse with AR – because they both involve engaging with virtual content in physical space. Simply put, MR products create interactive virtual objects on a mobile interface. The interaction with these objects is very similar to their physical counterparts.
Looking forward, the reach of virtual products continues to expand. This is especially true with AR/MR applications on mobile devices.