Technological progress has always been influenced by how we humans interact with our environment. The next steps in this evolution are Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality. By dissolving the barrier between user and content, these technologies are set to revolutionize the way we handle data. Augmented Reality (AR) combines the real world with digital content in real time, allowing for intuitive forms of interaction. Augmented Reality can be used directly on site: it is a tool that layers virtual content over a real environment, visualizing that content in the process. The physical experience is unimpeded and enhanced with interactive content that provides additional information.
By contrast, users in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment completely immerse themselves in an artificial world that can be shaped in a multitude of ways. Virtual Reality allows for a unique life-size representation of virtual content, enabling the user to experience it. What is more, by allowing users to interact with its digital representations, Virtual Reality feels like the real world.
Mixed, Augmented and Virtual Reality have evolved at breakneck speed in the past few years, thus creating a range of new applications for the industry, architecture, training and education sectors. Further exploiting existing data, they offer new ways of testing and trying out virtual designs. They create a safe and controlled environment to train skills, and they allow for visits to far-away places and for experiments that would otherwise be impossible to conduct.
The Immersive Realities Research Lab explores the potential of this technology from a user-centered perspective, thus improving both user experience and usability. To this end, the research team develops new forms of interaction that harness the immersive nature of this technology and make optimal use of it. In addition, they develop prototypes and applications, conduct market feasibility and user studies, and advise you on your journey towards new worlds.
