Comparing Augmented Reality And Virtual Reality
Augmented reality and virtual reality are used interchangeably by some people, but the two technologies are distinct.
Below is a summary of the two technologies relative to disruptED, as well as how these technologies can be applied to learning.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is our method of taking our fun and colorful characters and placing them into our surrounding world. This means that the characters are made to appear next to actual real-world objects. We achieve this effect using the AR technology in the disruptED mobile AR/VR App. More on that in a minute.
Virtual Reality
Credit: IKEA
Virtual Reality (VR) describes the environment when a user is taken to a completely new world that does not exist in reality. It can be similar to our own world, or it can be a world with dragons and wizards. If you can imagine it, you can create it.
The best example of this would be a videogame or a PC game.
Getting Started With Augmented Reality
An easy way to think about AR would be to look at IKEA’s smartphone app (see right). While the app won’t build your furniture, it will show you what that furniture looks like in your house before you buy!
Another great example of this would be the Pokemon GO AR App, which took the world by storm in 2016.
Our disruptED App is easy to use. Simply open the App, select the AR mode, hold your mobile device, and point its camera toward one of the book’s colorful pages, and watch the character drawings come to life!
How Books Can Come To Life With Augmented Reality
If a book is a flat, two-dimensional item, how can we bring the book to life?
Your child will be amazed to see the pictures in their favorite books pop up in front of them, and the pictures will draw your child closer into the story. The live 3D animations, sounds, and voices all engage them and help them make deeper connections to the characters and content.
That’s not where the disruptED journey ends. Our immersive learning games included in our App allow a whole new way to experience play. Not only can children read to learn, they can play to learn!
Our products show that learning can be fun, and gaming can be educational as well as entertaining. Learning and entertainment do not need to be mutually exclusive!
Getting Started With Virtual Reality
What’s so special about VR?
VR provides an immersive experience without the user going anywhere. Through VR gear, such as headsets, users feel like they are transported to another place and time.
Users are able to hear the sound of rain and wind, see a forest in front of them, and touch the animal in front of them.
Users make deeper emotional connections that inspire empathy or joy, assist in overcoming fears, or enable them to understand and practice procedures.
The great thing about mobile VR technology is that you can bring it with you to use anywhere. Take our disruptED world with you!
To experience VR, select the VR mode in our disruptED App, slide your mobile device into one of our disruptED VR Cardboards, and step into the world of the book (which can be purchased here).
Combining AR & VR
What happens when you mix the two to create stories?
Your child will be taken on a journey to another world. Picture the Neverending Story for a book meant to teach your children about shapes.
Your child won’t just read the story, s/he will feel part of the story.
At disruptED, we feel AR and VR each provide unique characteristics for telling stories, demonstrating a concept or evoking emotions.
We provide both AR and VR experiences for our books so that parents, educators and kids can choose which one speaks their learning language best.
What Do You Think of AR & VR?
So now that you’ve learned a little bit about AR and VR technology, what creative ideas are you thinking about right now? What would you use this technology for? What industry or area of life do you think would benefit from using this technology?
Which system (AR or VR) do you think is better for helping children learn?
Send us a message or comment on our social channels.
We’re just getting started here at disruptED. We are excited to be creating early childhood educational materials and books that give kids a new way to read stories and provide a deeper, more natural learning experience.