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Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality

VR is a computer-based simulation of a 3D environment where users perceive their surroundings as real by visualizing certain situations. A variety of devices are used for this technology such as virtual reality goggles, headsets, or helmets. The main purpose of using VR is to provide users with a space where interaction akin to what happens in real life occurs on the relevant platforms. There are many applications of virtual reality. Virtual games in entertainment, medical training in education, virtual meetings in business, and testing engineers in the automotive industry are examples of it.

Why people use VR for training has so many answers. Firstly, it is a safe environment. That is, making mistakes is not a horrible situation because a non-fixable problem does not happen after that. Users can learn from their mistakes easily. Also, it is a cost-effective way of teaching a situation quickly. Users do not have to pay too much money to get that facility and learn something. Especially in vocational training and specialized instructions, VR technology is an easy and smart way to teach better. VR creates just like a real experience such as touching and hearing.

AR is an advanced version of the real world. That is, more than a physical environment by using digital visual technologies, sounds, or another sensory stimulus. In every area of life, its usage is growing because it enhances real performance. It can be used in many areas such as education, medicine, or entertainment.

In the retail sector, consumers use AR when using catalog apps. Stores want consumers to visualize what different clothes look like in a variety of situations by using AR technology. In the healthcare sector, users can see highly detailed images of body systems or organs by hovering their mobile phones over a target. In education, AR platforms can be used to incorporate gamification. That is, teachers can use AR in their curricula to create educational games. Also, when abstracting concepts, VR can be used to visualize subjects. For example, in laboratory classes, hands-on activities can be done by using VR technology. AR applications can be used in a standard curriculum. Text, graphics, video, and audio can be integrated into a student's real-time environment. When educational reading materials are scanned by an AR device, the device produces supplementary information for the student. In history classes, historical events can be reconstructed via AR technology. Students can participate in interactive simulations of historical events, exploring and learning details of each significant area of the event.

If we compare AR and VR in different aspects: AR needs a real-world setting, and VR uses a virtual environment. VR users are controlled by the system, AR users control their presence. VR necessitates goggles or headsets, AR necessitates a smartphone. VR only increases the virtual World, AR increases both the virtual and real World.

These technologies have great potential for increasing cognitive processes' effectiveness and attractiveness. Firstly, they refer to higher brain functions that allow the processing of information in the nervous system and involve receiving, storing, and transforming. Secondly, they refer to features of post-cognitive processes for creating/constructing, and modifying knowledge about the environment. Considering VR and AR systems, it can be said that these technologies, provide cognitive processes in both aspects. Technology users can experience conditions comparable or even identical to the real world but also find themselves in an entirely imaginary space. Thanks to their features, VR and AR are gaining popularity every year.


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