Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

This chapter combines the digital technologies of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) because they are closely related. Although having slightly different meanings, they are often mentioned together with an extended reality, the metaverse, metaspace, and so on. The key is that they focus on enhancing human–computer interaction by creating some type of immersive user experience. Being one of the most well-known digital technologies, they have many applications that target very specific groups (such as for online learning) or that reach out to a wider audience (among others for gaming or shopping). Moreover, the ideas in this chapter can be positioned in combination with other chapters, such as their synergy with AI and the IoT. VR and AR also offer a basis for digital twin technology, which is yet another chapter in this book. In this respect, also the difference between Web2 and Web3 is explained.