What Makes Augmented Reality So Appealing And Why It May Be Good For You
Ever since the first time I downloaded Pokemon Go and saw the little characters on my screen, I had become hooked on AR technology.
Now, I've never been much of the tech kind of girl. I'm not on my phone 24/7 scrolling through Instagram, nor am I clicking around random hashtags on Twitter and reading pointless comments from people that mean absolutely nothing to me and who I will almost certainly never meet. I've always been more of a walk in the park and soak up the nature kind of girl.
So why would I care about a technology like augmented reality? Because it fits perfectly with that kind of life-style. Playing Pokemon Go for example wasn't about staring down at a phone while self-isolating from the world around you. Instead it gets you involved with everything around you. Your friends, the outdoors environment and other people in the nearby area. Like it was always supposed to be!
Isn't this just like virtual reality?
No and that's where a lot of people get confused. VR is a digitally created artificial environment. Once the VR headset is on, that's it, all visible communication with your real-world physical surroundings is cut off. You've now watching or participating in a pre-constructed scene.
I do not like VR. As if looking at a smartphone screen all day wasn't bad enough, but virtual reality is the final destination and a disaster waiting to happen if mass-adopted by society.
Augmented reality isn't like this because you're still interacting with everything around you. The difference is is it projects holograms into the real world rather then you being taken of into a fake one by yourself. AR still keeps you physically involved with mother-earth, allowing you to talk to and interact with the people around you.
This is exactly what I mean when I say 'Why AR may be good for you'. Quite simply, the technology gets people outdoors and enjoying life like the good old days. Location based AR will allow you to find nearby people using AR or playing an AR game nearby and meet up and join them.
One of my favorite examples of this is Minecraft Earth. The game allows you to build as you would in a typical Minecraft game only you're in the real world. You can walk for miles buildings up cities, collecting resources plus team up with other people and go out together on mini adventures. Its one of the best games for getting you out and about but if you're thinking about downloading it then word of warning, its pretty killer on your phone battery so make sure you have a full charge before heading out on your Minecraft adventure!
