When VR and AR become just reality

IT IS an industry that Goldman Sachs has valued at a possible US$80 billion by 2025, but what is virtual or augmented reality?

If the first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) is something akin to a scene from The Matrix, you are not alone.

AR describes applications where computer- generated content - images, sounds, Global Positioning System (GPS) data - are placed in physical, real-world environments. Fantasy overlaid on to reality. VR, in comparison, does not augment the real world; it replaces it with a simulated one.