Augmented Reality (AR) vs. Virtual Reality (VR): What's the Difference?

pcmag.com:

The terms virtual reality and augmented reality get thrown around a lot. VR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 2 or the Valve Index, and AR apps and games, such as Pokemon Go, are popular. They sound similar, and as the technologies develop, they bleed into each other in some ways. This is readily apparent in the new Apple Vision Pro, a headset that won't go on sale until early 2024.

But VR and AR are still two very different concepts, with defining characteristics that distinguish one from the other.

VR headsets completely take over your vision to give you the impression that you're somewhere else. The PlayStation VR 2, the Meta Quest 2, the Valve Index, and other headsets are opaque, blocking out your surroundings when you wear them. If you put them on when they're turned off, you might feel as if you're blindfolded.

When the headsets turn on, however, the LCD or OLED panels inside are refracted by the lenses to fill your field of vision with whatever is being displayed. It can be a game, a 360-degree video, or just the virtual space of the platforms' interfaces. Visually, you're taken to wherever the headset wants you to go—the outside world is replaced with a virtual one—hence the name.

For both games and apps, virtual reality supersedes your surroundings. Where you are physically doesn't matter. In games, you might sit in the cockpit of a starfighter. In apps, you might virtually tour distant locations as if you were there. There are tons of possibilities in VR, and they all involve replacing everything around you with something else. This doesn't mean your surroundings are completely out of the picture, though; most current VR headsets are able to scan your surroundings or at least set boundaries to keep you in the