28 Mar VR/AR Stock Photos That Will Make You Say “Huh?”

We often rely on stock photography to add visuals into presentations to give those who are unfamiliar with virtual and augmented reality a better idea of what we are talking about. Being that VR/AR are still so new it can be difficult to find pictures that accurately portray how it works. We put together some of the worst stock photos that we’ve come across.

*Warning: these stock photos do not represent what VR/AR actually look like in real life! 

This is probably one of the most worrisome of VR stock photos as it shows a woman wearing a mobile VR headset…riding…a…bicycle. She’s next to a pleasant meadow but probably also on a country road with cars – without a helmet! You could be saying, “Nah, she’s on a field with cows.” Have you seen how big and ‘beefy’ cows are?! I don’t think cows would appreciate her crashing into them either.

That baby is giving her hipster dad a strange look and so are we…

This one is the classic VR/AR mix up. They’re working on this great looking project in VR, but by the looks of the holographic elements and their hand gestures, they’d be better off using HoloLens instead of whatever sleep masks they’ve got on. Better luck next time, fake business people!

Playing a group of swashbuckling pirates in VR doesn’t require you to turn your living room upside down. Put down the fake sword and the…selfie stick?

This guy has no idea that a gorgeous rainbow is behind him. As the saying goes, “Sometimes you have to stop and smell the beautiful little details of reality too.”

There’s a lot going on here. Each person’s facial expression seems concerned about how immersed their friend is in VR. He wouldn’t dare ruin the leather sofa with the skis, hence the yoga mat, but it’s completely fine to mount the skis on with just socks and gym shorts on.

We can’t help but think “ET, phone home.” for this one. She is in a beautiful setting and it wouldn’t be that bad of a photo except we see something that is quite common. People looking pleasant and pointing at nothing. (Oh, and did we mention this one came up when we searched for “augmented reality”?)

This is like one of those family pictures on the beach expect the only one who sees the beach is the dad. 

A polka-dotted cooking pot is not an effective replacement for a functioning, synced-up VR controller. Nice try, Roger Federer.

Who knew stethoscopes could be so exciting!

This lady is so far in the future that she forgot what corn looks like and needs AR to find out. It’s too bad she can’t see through the metal band on her headset.
Tags: Virtual reality stock photoaugmented reality stock photo