What is Augmented Reality? A Parent’s Guide to AR

Whether or not you’ve heard of augmented reality (AR), you’ve almost certainly interacted with it in the real world. AR apps and games are all around us. 

If you’ve ever played the video game Pokemon Go, used Live View on Google Maps, or viewed a 3D digital image of a piece of furniture in your home through Amazon’s AR feature, you’ve used augmented reality. 

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality blends digital images into the real world environment to enhance customer and gaming experiences. 

Augmented reality works by using an image of the real world — whether in real-time or a still image — and superimposing a computer-generated image on top.

The social media app Snapchat’s interactive puppy dog and unicorn filters, for example, show how AR can create an entirely new image by animating features onto real faces. 

AR technology is also used to offer step-by-step instructions for all kinds of tasks, from office work and organization to furniture assembly. Through AR, users experience their world in a new way. 

Ultimately, AR is meant to enhance buyer and gamer experiences by bringing digital elements into the real world. Whether it’s to see if that new couch will fit in your space or to increase interaction with fictional creatures and worlds in a video game, AR experiences improve engagement.

What is the Difference Between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality? 

Though they seem similar, AR and VR are quite different. Augmented reality uses elements from the real world to ground a virtual image while virtual reality immerses the user in an entirely computer-generated world. 

Augmented Reality Vs Virtual Reality

For augmented reality, you don’t need a specific AR device or AR systems to participate. Mobile devices, smartphones, and tablets usually allow for AR. Augmented reality relies on the perception of the real world and enhances real images for a better user experience. 

Virtual reality (VR) requires the use of virtual reality goggles or head mounted displays that completely block out the outside world to direct focus on the virtual world and create immersive experiences. 

How Augmented Reality Impacts Young Minds

Because of its novelty, research around AR is limited. In the field of education, AR tools that allow students to interact with digital images and trivia in the real world show promise.

For example, pre-schoolers who used an AR application to learn about fruits and animals showed better test scores and more excitement about learning than those who didn’t. Even playing games like Pokemon Go has been shown to improve emotional intelligence and concentration in teenagers.

But these results don’t mean that AR doesn’t have its own risks. Just like any other device that allows access to myriad apps and games, AR can put children at risk of being cyberbullied, developing screen addiction, and being exposed to inappropriate content.

It has also been shown to lead to injury due to decreased awareness of one’s surroundings and even cause aggressive behaviors in some users. It all depends on which AR applications children use.  

Moving Forward with AR

As parents, we would love an easy answer one way or the other with technology. Good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, safe or risky. But technology like AR, which poses so many simultaneous risks and benefits, requires complex solutions and usage. 

A great place to start is by monitoring the AR apps that your child uses and noting the effects these apps have on their physical and mental well-being and proceeding accordingly.

Such a hands-on approach to evaluating novel tech can be overwhelming. However, the unique challenge of parenting in the digital age also presents unique opportunities to connect with our children.

Each new piece of tech that we choose to integrate into our child’s life provides an opportunity to learn and grow together.

We don’t have to introduce them to all the bells and whistles at once. Instead, kids can have a more controlled and beneficial approach to technology, being introduced to limited tech at first, and then given more features as they learn responsibility.

This method of teaching tech in steps lets you slow down the process and proceed with intention. 

What has your experience with AR been like? What is your advice to other parents? Let us know in the comments!