What's the Difference Between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality?

By VeVe Team · September 16, 2025

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are often mentioned in the same breath, but they offer very different experiences. 

If you've ever wondered what is the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, you're not alone. 

Both are immersive technologies that blend the digital and physical worlds, yet they do so in distinct ways. 

In this article, we'll break down the definitions of AR and VR, highlight their key differences, and then see how VeVe Collectibles leverages these technologies in its digital collectibles platform.

What Is Augmented Reality (AR)?

Augmented Reality (AR) adds digital elements to your real-world environment. In AR, computer-generated images, sounds, or animations are overlaid on top of what you see around you, enhancing your current reality rather than replacing it. Importantly, AR does not create a totally new environment; it simply augments (enhances) the real world with virtual content. Almost anyone with a smartphone has likely tried a form of AR. 

Ever played Pokémon Go or used a fun Instagram/Snapchat face filter? 

Those are popular examples of AR in action. 

In Pokémon Go, for instance, virtual creatures appear on your phone screen as if they’re in your real-life neighborhood. AR can also be practical: furniture retailers use AR apps to let you see how a couch would look in your living room, and car manufacturers have AR owner's manuals where pointing your phone at the engine bay reveals labels and instructions. 

The key is that you remain in the real world, but with an added digital layer. You typically experience AR through a camera that imposes images on the real-world space, and in some cases through special AR glasses or headsets.

In summary, Augmented Reality enriches your current surroundings with digital details. It’s interactive and keeps you grounded in your real environment. You might still be in your living room or out on the street, but with AR you could see a cartoon character dancing on your coffee table or directional arrows on the sidewalk pointing you to the nearest cafe.

What Is Virtual Reality (VR)?

Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, immerses you in a completely digital environment.

Instead of overlaying images on the real world, VR creates an entirely new simulated world that shuts out your physical surroundings. 

When you put on a VR headset, you might find yourself on a spaceship, in a medieval castle, or walking on the surface of Mars. All the while, you’re actually standing in your bedroom. Your brain is tricked into thinking you’re somewhere else entirely.

VR typically requires specialized equipment. 

You’ll use devices like a VR headset (such as an Oculus/Meta Quest, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR) that covers your eyes and often accompanied by headphones for audio. These devices track your head movements (and sometimes your hand movements via controllers or gloves) to adjust the view, making you feel present in the virtual scene. Because VR is fully immersive, you lose awareness of the real environment around you while you're in the virtual experience.

In Virtual Reality, everything you see is computer-generated. For example, through a VR headset, you could take a virtual tour of the pyramids of Egypt or walk around a digitally recreated city as if you were actually there. This makes VR fantastic for things like immersive gaming, virtual travel, or training simulations (imagine practicing surgery or aircraft maintenance in VR). 

However, it also means VR is usually confined to wherever you can safely wear your headset. You wouldn't walk down a busy street wearing a VR device since you can't see the real world around you!

Key Differences Between AR and VR

Both AR and VR involve blending digital content with our experience, but they do it in opposite ways.

In short, AR is like a layer of digital magic on top of the real world, and VR is a total escape into a digital world. Both have their unique advantages: AR is great for keeping you connected to the real world (useful for applications like navigation, education, or interactive shopping), whereas VR is unparalleled for total immersion (amazing for virtual training, gaming, or exploring imagined worlds).

Applications and Experiences: AR vs VR

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies are used in different ways. For example, AR has made a splash in mobile gaming, marketing, and utilities. Beyond games like Pokémon Go, think of AR apps that let you try on makeup or see how a new car would look in your driveway. Museums have AR guides that overlay historical scenes onto exhibits, and surgeons use AR to get real-time data as they operate. AR's strength is in adding useful or fun context to the real world around us.

Virtual Reality, conversely, shines in areas where simulation or deep immersion is the goal. VR is popular in the gaming industry for truly immersive gameplay, putting players inside the game world. 

It’s also used in professional training. For instance, pilots use VR flight simulators to practice without real-world risk. Education and therapy leverage VR too: students can take virtual field trips to ancient civilizations, and therapists use VR to help patients overcome phobias by simulating heights or public speaking in a controlled setting. 

The common thread is that VR can transport you anywhere, which is something AR cannot do since AR still ties to your real location.

Despite their differences, AR and VR are sometimes combined in experiences or referred to under the umbrella term “XR” (extended reality). There's also Mixed Reality (MR), which is kind of in-between, where virtual objects are not just overlaid but can interact with the real world and vice versa.

How VeVe Uses AR with Digital Collectibles

Now, how does all this relate to VeVe Collectibles? 

VeVe is a digital collectibles platform that specializes in premium licensed 3D collectibles. These are essentially digital models of superheroes, cartoon characters, comic books, and more. VeVe makes great use of Augmented Reality to bring those collectibles to life in your real environment.

With VeVe’s AR mode, collectors can take their items out of the app and place them in the real world through their smartphone camera. For example, you can project a 3D Spider-Man figure in your backyard or put a Batman statue on your coffee table, viewing it through your phone as if it really exists there. You can walk around it, scale it up or down, and even take photos or videos standing next to your favorite characters. 

VeVe is truly at the forefront of using AR in the collectibles space. By detecting surfaces and depth via your device's camera, the VeVe app lets you drop a digital model into your room, making it look like a life-size figure is right there with you.

Try out VeVe’s augmented reality features today!

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