1. What's VR?
1.1. As Defined by Professionals
1.1.1. "Virtual reality doesn't try to take our current reality and add to it. Rather it attempts to replace it with something else. A reality that doesn't really exist. A reality that is completely digital and may have very little to do with the real world of meatspace. A reality where lines of gender, age, ethnicity and even humanity are blurred." (Millard, 2016)
1.1.2. "Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. On a computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of the five senses: sight and sound." (Margaret, 2015)
1.2. My Personal Definition
1.2.1. My concluded definition of VR after various readings can be roughly defined in simple words as: An attempt to simulate an entire environment using digital technology.
2. Difference between AR and VR
2.1. Augmented Reality (AR) at surface, is defined as superimposition of physical world with digital elements generated by computers to change the way we interact and such.
2.2. Virtual Reality (VR) converse to AR is actual simulation of whole different environment; instead of enhancing existing one. And that, is the major difference.
3. The App that I used
3.1. Ingress
3.1.1. Ingress is an Augmented-Reality game available for iOS and Android which takes place in a fictional story in which the Scientists in Europe have uncovered a mysterious particle which they believe can influence the minds of people. The game is devided into two teams: The Enlightened - Those which look forward to use this power and The Resistance - Those who want to defend us against this power.
3.1.2. The link to this game for Android can be found here: https://www.ingress.com/
3.1.3. This app defines under the category of Augmented Reality" because unlike creating a completely new virtual environment for us in VR, it enhances our existing environment and surroundings with various digital technologies present in our smartphones; such as Gyroscopic Sensor, GPS, Camera etc.
3.2. My Experience
3.2.1. What I liked
3.2.1.1. To begin with, I really liked the concept. Augmented reality is like adding more flavor to existing and not-so-exciting world! The app encourages you to actually get out of home and have a good walk, giving you a chance to improve health alongside. And consequently, it also allows you to meet new people. And all of this for Free! Unlike traditional way of gaming, it actually lets you have a "feeling" of actual Agent and get into the role for real. A really nice way to explore the world around you. To sum it up, it was my almost first real experience with AR, and I enjoyed it.
3.2.2. What I disliked
3.2.2.1. It was a really good expeirence except for a few things that I disliked. One of the major was the device requiring to be constantly on. My screen got really warm under sunlight and battery did not last too long, hence it actually limits the "purpose of exploration". Another disadvantage I noticed is that it requires you to go out of home, while this might be good; but for conditions like bad weather, you cannot play this game.
3.2.3. My experience surprisingly exceeded of what I initially thought. My first thought at AR was something like: "This can't be any better than those MMOs and RPGs I play online. That's like some real simulation!" Afterall Ryan defines MMO as: "An MMO is simply a world. A persistent universe whereby player progress is constantly saved and updated...until deletion" (Ryan, 2007, p. 24). But undoubtedly, I was proven wrong.
3.2.4. How I feel my Experience could have been improved
3.2.4.1. Despite a great experience, I believe it could have been made better. The app should be more of combination of AR and traditional gaming; even though its dedicated to be AR. This is in cases as if someone is not able to go outside and still wants to enjoy the game. Navigation can be developed using Google Street Map APIs and such for this purpose. Another improvement could be using other areas of phone hardware to save battery from screen, such as notification light blinking to hint locations. Further overall reality-perception technologies in my opinion are still in its early stages. This fact is supported by the article here: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2159959/software/virtual-reality--more-virtual-than-real.html?page=1 And of course, I honestly believe that the AR and VR are the future of entertainment!
3.3. Gameplay
3.3.1. Sample GamePlay for this game can be found in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If984ZOlMns
4. What's AR?
4.1. As Defined by Professionals
4.1.1. Augmented reality is really about taking what we see or hear and adding to it, in essence augmenting it. "In short, it's a way to use technology to redefine space, and it places a virtual layer over the world" (Drell, 2012)
4.1.2. "When digital information is overlaid onto actual physical world." (Mashables)
4.2. My Personal Definition
4.2.1. After various readings, I have came to define the AR in my own words as: The enhancement of user's view of surroundings by using digital technology and overlapping reality by the input from digital computers.