AR technology makes reality be modified by a computer overlaying generated images into the real world, in the entertainment industry has been a very popular technology to innovate video games, while virtual reality immerses someone into a generated world and makes the person feel they are part of it, augmented reality offers a direct view of a real world with augmented and generated objects an elements.
Both new technologies are in exponential growth not only in video games and entertaining industry, augmented and virtual realities count with the same type of elements and characteristics, they both are innovative and can be very useful for different sectors like science and medicine, educational and business fields.  
Both simulate reality but they differ because of their purpose and methods, for example, augmented reality works by making a person experience into the real world the addition of virtual components like digital images, layers of interaction and graphics, people don’t see another world or feels to be in another ambiance, they just see and sense items or sensitive elements to be added into their actual reality while VR creates a different environment and makes the person feel they are into a simulated world.

Augmented reality

This type of view of the real world include augmented graphics, sounds and different elements to modify reality due to a computer generator installed in different devices such a tablets, smart phones, etc. Many industries and sectors are being innovated thanks to the ability to improve different practices and making some tasks easier.  
A very good example of augmented reality are applications like Pokémon Go in which people search and catch monsters in the real world, also Snapchat which add augmented reality effects to selfies.
While virtual reality needs of a head mounted control and many other implements to allow people the navigation through another world augmented reality is available in simple devices such as smart phones, laptops, tablets, etc, that uses cameras to intersect and interact with digital graphic and images that are added in the place they are.
One of the advantages of augmented reality is that a person doesn’t need a headset to use it, they remain aware of the world around them which makes it more accessible to people because its hardware can be simple downloaded and installed in a Smartphone with a great screen resolution and camera, being able to reproduce 3D animations with augmented reality features.

Augmented reality VS virtual reality

Virtual reality is used in educational systems to make students experiments scenarios, also used by militaries to train soldier with battlefield, flight and pilot simulations, in healthcare field it helps doctors to simulate operational procedures. The main difference between these types of reality simulation is that augmented reality provides more freedom for users and possibilities of functions because it doesn’t need a head mounted display.
From now on augmented reality is ahead of virtual reality in market, more and more engineers are creating new hardware and applications to improve this technology and succeed commercially, having the remarkable ability to alter perception and being easier for people to get it.