While it’s not 100% certain, there’s a good chance you’ve interacted with AR at least once or twice. You may have played Pokemon Go, watched a football game with the red line projected across your screen to show the first down line, or used Ikea’s AR app when furniture shopping.
AR technology is showing up in our offices, homes, stores, and elsewhere. But what does this mean, and how does it work? What does all of this terminology mean? How do these 3D models, holograms, and interactive displays work? Keep reading to learn more.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality is the superimposition of digital elements onto the physical world. This is in contrast to virtual reality where a full headset or other enclosure puts the user in an artificial environment. With AR, users see, hear, touch, and otherwise experience the existing environment. AR is used to introduce videos, sound, images, and graphics.
Augmented reality apps often use a physical trigger or marker, or a devices GPS capabilities to connect digital information with a specific physical location. To use the example of Pokemon Go, your phone broadcasts your location, and the software uses that to show a Pokemon character in your field of view.
Today, you can interact with four different subsets of AR. These are:
- Marker Based
- Markless
- Super Imposition Based
- Projection Based
The Sword of Damocles And Other Early Adoptions
Back in the late 1960s, two scientists invented a head mounted device that would project very rudimentary computer graphics that the wearer could see. This was called the Sword of Damocles. Later in the 1970s, an artificial reality lab called Videoplace. The innovations there were later used in video and film production.
Brief history of AR
AR in the 1960s. In 1968 Ivan Sutherland and Bob Sproull created a first head-mounted display, they called it The Sword of Damocles. Obviously, it was a rough device that displayed primitive computer graphics.
1990 was the first year that the term augmented reality was used. It was coined by David Mizell and Thomas Caudell, two researchers at Boeing. This decade also saw the development of Virtual Fixtures. This is a technology that superimposes sensory information over the users field of vision in order to enhance their performance during challenging tasks.
Finally in the 2000s, Hirokazu Koto developed and released ARToolKit. This open-source SDK laid the foundation for many developers to use this technology for a variety of applications. Today, Google Glass, Microsoft HoloLens, and Niantic’s Pokemon Go have put AR technology in the hands of the average person.
How it Works
With augmented reality, images and videos can be seen on screens, through glasses or headsets, on handheld devices, through headsets, and through mobile phones. It uses depth tracking, simultaneous location and mapping, sensors, cameras, and inputs received from the users own actions. In some cases, the devices are specifically designed for AR in others, multipurpose devices like smartphones are used.
AR requires most of the same components that computers have. They need RAM, CPU, Bluetooth or WiFi capabilities, GPS, and GPU. They also need some way to determine speed, velocity, orientation, and direction.
Digging Deeper Into The Types of Augmented Reality
Markerless Augmented Reality - This is also known as location or position based. It uses a compass, GPS, gyroscope, and accelerometer to broadcast the user’s location. This is the form of augmented reality that bases what you say on your current location. It’s applications include navigation, use in events, and location based pop-up advertising.
Marker-Based Augmented Reality - This uses an image or object to kick off the AR experience. For example, a QR code that is scanned with a smartphone, or a trigger image that is snapped with an iPad. The interaction between the device and the trigger image informs the AR technology of when and where to broadcast the content. For example, scanning a trigger image at a museum could result in a 3D model of a display being shown.
Superimposition - This takes an original view of a particular space and replaces it with one that has been augmented. Object recognition is key in this technology. This AR is used in the IKEA app that allows users to see what pieces of furniture will look like in their homes. It’s also used in fashion apps that allow users to see what shoes or clothing look like without having to try them on in real life.
Projection-Based - This involves projecting light onto a physical surface so that people see an image or images that appear to exist in real time. These holograms have been used in concerts, in films, and other applications.
AR Devices
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, tend to be the most popular for AR applications. They are readily available and widely used already. Users can download AR apps, or their devices existing capabilities can be used. These are often used in sports, business, educational, and social applications.
Augmented reality glasses are wearable devices that bring virtual images into the wearers vision. These include Google Glass and Hololens. Some manufacturers have begun developing AR contact lenses as well.
There are also devices that are created not just for AR, but for specific applications within AR. One example of this would be a device that is specifically created to wear on a football helmet, or one that sends information to a fighter pilot during training.
Final Thoughts: Applications For AR Technology
Now that you know a bit more about AR tech, you may be wondering how and where it could be applied. The possibilities are endless. It can be used in automotive applications, aviation, travel and tourism, gaming and toys, marketing, education, healthcare, warehousing and distribution, transportation, and more.