There is no doubt that we are going through some strange times, and what makes it even stranger is that we don’t know what day it is, or if it is a weekend. and does it even really matter? Regularly used terms like lockdown, PPE, masks, face shields, economic meltdowns, etc., are beginning to make us feel like we are all living in a video game, except you can’t really hit “escape” and turn this one off. We all know it will end at some point, and perhaps our reality perception will shift to a “new normal.” However, parallel to all of this, there are a lot of activities happening developing cool tools, and even more important, valuable solutions for alternate realities. I could have—and others have—written books on this subject. However, since this is an article and I have limited space, let’s start with the high-level distinction between the various reality applications: virtual (VR), augmented (AR), and mixed (MR). 

Let’s start with VR. I would assume if you are like most other people, you immediately picture one of those headsets seen in sci-fi movies or used with video games, where you are moving around in a totally immersed environment. Virtual reality has its applications including education, engineering, and is even used by Landa Nanographics for training and troubleshooting their presses. However, I wouldn’t try walking around with one of those headsets on your way to the market. I can tell you from my own experience, just moving around too much in a tight controlled space with one of those on can lead to banging into very real obstructions. So, while VR is very cool, it has significant application limitations.

AR has the potential to offer much more useful applications, like Pokémon GO. (Just kidding.) However, that was one of the more popular AR applications that went beyond bringing children’s books to life and brought greater awareness to the technology and its promise. The main advantage AR has over VR is that it overlays the alternate or enhanced reality on top of the real visual world, and you can use your smartphone or special glasses to achieve the effect. There are 3.4 billion smartphones in the world today, 90% of them enabled for augmented reality. With AR, it is easier to see and even uniquely identify the light pole before you walk into it, or the open sewer cap before you fall in (usually). There are AR glasses like Google Glass 2 and Magic Leap, and rumor has it that Apple has a pair of Apple Glasses in the works as well. However, like many technologies that are early in their adoption cycle, these are expensive ($1,000+) and more importantly lack wide and standardized application support.