31.10.2024

Author: ESEP

In recent decades, technology has extended physical reality into a cyber-physical dimension. This dimension emerges from the interplay between physical reality, virtual environments, and human interaction. Individuals navigate between these dimensions to perform a variety of daily tasks and activities. Consequently, new terminologies have emerged to describe these evolving reality.

FISICAL REALITY

As humans, our understanding and acceptance of truth are deeply rooted in how we perceive sensory information: sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. We compare this sensory information with memories from past experiences or pre-existing concepts we have learned. Consequently, our perception of reality emerges from a combination of sensory input and cognitive processing, which we then compare against these learned models. Reality, however, extends beyond what is immediately perceived through the senses. Our perception mechanisms also include cognitive models and concepts that play a significant role in how we interpret sensory data. In fact, perception is influenced by these internal models, which can alter how we understand sensed information. Considering the inherent limitations of our senses and cognitive processes, humans have developed extraordinary capabilities for making inferences, recognising patterns, and reasoning - even when information is incomplete or fragmented.

VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)

The term "virtual reality" (VR) has been in use for over fifty years, first gaining prominence in the United States by Jaron Lanier in the 1980s. VR refers to "substitute reality," "vicarious reality," or more accurately, a "vicarious environment." According to Fuchs (1996), the goal of virtual reality is to enable individuals (or groups) to engage in sensorimotor and cognitive activities within a digitally created environment. This environment may be entirely imaginary, symbolic, or a simulation that mimics aspects of the real world.

Fuchs et al. (2011) highlight that virtual reality enables users to move beyond the limitations of physical reality, allowing the manipulation of time, space, and the nature of interactions. This could mean interacting with environments that replicate real-world conditions, fictional spaces (imaginary worlds), or symbolic environments - using abstract representations to enhance understanding of the simulated space. Moreover, immersion and interaction are central to the experience of virtual reality (Diemer et al., 2015).

AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)

Although often confused with virtual reality, augmented reality (AR) overlays virtual information or entire virtual worlds onto the existing real-world environment, enhancing the user’s experience. AR generates sensory stimuli using specific technological tools, enabling virtual elements to blend as seamlessly with physical surroundings. For AR to appear credible or realistic, these virtual elements must consistently align with the position and orientation of real-life objects.

Augmented reality enhances the natural world by integrating computer-generated digital information - whether visual, auditory, or sensory elements. It relies on computer hardware and software, such as apps, consoles, screens, or projection systems, to blend digital data with the real-world environment.

In essence, AR either modifies the visual aspects of a natural setting or enriches it by superimposing additional information, thereby enhancing the user’s overall perception and interaction within that environment.

MIXED REALITY

Mixed reality is a hybrid technology combining elements of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Virtuality-reality continuum (in Uzun. & Akın, 2022: 58)

REFERENCES

Fuchs P; Moreau G. Guitton P (20211). Virtual Reality: Concepts and Technologies. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. ISBN: 978-0-203-80295-3 (eBook - PDF)

Uzun, Y & Akın, M (2022). Virtual and Augmented Reality Concepts, Y. Uzun. & R. Butuner (Eds.), Current Studies in Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (pp. 57–73). ISRES Publishing

Diemer, J., Alpers, G.W., Peperkorn, H.M., Shiban, Y. & Mühlberger, A. (2015). The impact of perception and presence on emotional reactions: a review of research in virtual reality, Frontiers in Psychology, 6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00026