Micron Column | “Virtual” VS. “Augmented”, who will be the winner of the future of reality technology?

By Harsha Nagaraju, Segment Manager, Embedded Products Business, Micron Technology

Over the past few years, we have seen how our experiences are enhanced through technologies that change or affect physical reality. These technologies work in different ways and have a variety of names, of which VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) are two of the more common ones. The difference between the two is that VR works by creating virtual (digital) environments and letting users enter these virtual worlds or experiences. In other words, VR cuts off the real environment while the user experiences the virtual world. For example , HTC Vive , Oculus Rift and Sony PSVR are excellent examples of powerful VR headsets (head-mounted display devices), which are powered by independent gaming computers or game consoles. AR , on the other hand, enhances the real (physical) environment by overlaying it with artificially generated digital images, providing users with additional situational awareness information, and in order to make the physical world richer, AR devices need to continue to improve, helping them make better decisions or better grasp information. AR headsets have the following characteristics: they are equipped with transparent glasses, are movable, and can generate digital images directly on the headset. Epson Moverio , Lenovo C200 and the original Google Glass are excellent examples of such devices.

Recently, new terms have been introduced in this space, including MR (mixed reality) and XR (extended reality). As we all know, Microsoft positions its Hololens as a mixed reality headset. MR headsets are advanced AR headsets that use digital information to enhance the real environment, are more complex in terms of computation and architecture, and allow users to interact with digital information or objects in the same way as in the real world, making the environment richer and closer to reality. Headsets can be used in education, training, and design / research in unique ways , such as walking around planets in the solar system, visualizing products before building them, or conducting remote field training / support, which are just a few examples of such applications that would not be possible without MR .

At AWE (Augmented Reality Expo) in Santa Clara a few weeks ago , I was introduced to another term: XR (Extended Reality). XR encompasses all of these different technologies and describes a future where users can choose how much they want to extend their physical reality into the digital space. Perhaps the device itself will be able to switch between modes with the help of AI (Artificial Intelligence) to provide the user with the most relevant information or experience at the time.

Another very useful way to understand how these different technologies interact with each other is to think of them as being on a continuum, with the real (physical) world and the virtual (digital) world acting as the two extremes, and everything else in between.

Currently, VR and AR use different devices, but it is foreseeable that the various technologies will merge in the future, and devices will be able to intelligently transform from one form of reality to another. The choice may be in the hands of the user - when using these devices, users can choose which form to complete tasks or experience different things. In many ways, these headsets have not yet crossed the famous adoption gap. Improvements in hardware / software and the increase in content availability have helped the rapid adoption of smartphones around the world. Similar improvements and technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence will drive XR technology forward.

From an architectural perspective, many early headsets have adopted smartphone-based designs, but as headset applications mature, we will likely see hardware and software developed specifically to enhance the user experience. Today's headset designs still use standard memory densities and packaging widely used in smartphones, and as people's demand for more power-efficient, more fashionable and more powerful headsets grows, these traditional memories may not be able to meet the requirements. As a leader in storage technology, Micron Technology not only excels in creating the most advanced memory and storage technologies today, but also continues to invest and research new technologies to create a better future. As we all know, the future of reality technology is bright, and Micron Technology will continue to strongly support this cause and contribute its resources and strength to create a better tomorrow for reality technology.