Advent of Augmented Reality
Social media, manufacturing, automobile, education, tourism, gaming, military and medicine; these are a few fields in which Augmented Reality (AR) has been touted as the future of information and interaction. Though the technology emerged nearly 20 years ago, recent developments, in technology and communications, has seen companies taking advantage of advances in technologies like geo-location, high-powered graphics processing, high-speed communications and mobile devices to develop applications that change the way we interact with information and the real world. Ongoing research in hardware, software, privacy and security is bringing us closer and closer to constant immersion in augmented reality. Many parties agree that AR is not just a passing trend but an evolution in interaction and information that will have a “major impact in industrial and consumer applications”. To which end, its success in becoming mainstream will be highly dependent on its profitability. (Kroeker, 2010 )
AR Defined
Soha Maad, editor of the book Augmented Reality, portrays Augmented Reality as “a system that supplements the real world with computer-generated virtual objects”. (Augmented Reality, 2010) This is to suggest that Augmented Reality is the incorporation of digital information into the real-world by overlaying or attaching the said information on real-world objects. An example of augmented reality is Google Goggles, a mobile device that allows users to search for information about an object in the real-world by simply taking a picture of it.
Properties of AR Applications
As with advancement, in technology, there are certain properties that be used to sum up its nature. The properties of AR were concisely documented in the survey, Recent Advances in Augmented Reality as (Azuma, Baillot, MacIntyre, Behringer, & Feiner, 2001):
- combines real and virtual objects in a real environment;
- runs interactively, and in real time; and
- registers (aligns) real and virtual objects with each other.
These properties, in turn, allow the user to experience the real-world with all the trappings and benefits of information digitally available courtesy of AR applications.
Popular AR applications
There has been rapid growth in number of available Augmented Reality applications recently. These applications span from healthcare applications, social media, web applications, manufacturing, gaming and everything in-between. (Kroeker, 2010 ) Some of the applications, of the technology, that have enjoyed more attention by consumers are:
Layar Browser: A “Real-World Browser” that allows users to scan their environment and visualize information on objects surrounding them.
Wikitude World Browser: A “Real-World Browser” that allows users to scan their environment and visualize information on objects surrounding them (similar to the Layar Browser)
PlayStation Eye: the Sony PlayStation gesture-recognition peripheral that allows users to control and play video games by actual physical actions (gestures)
Kinect for Xbox360: Microsoft’s gesture recognition peripheral for the Xbox 360 gaming console
Websites for retailers have also used the technology to provide customers with “virtual testing” of their offerings. An example is Tissot, which manufactures high-end watches, allowing users to virtually try on watches on the website using a webcam (Tissot Reality). Other companies, shops and retailers like Nissan have also taken to using AR as a method of improving the users’ shopping experience.
With the vast potential applications of Augmented Reality, it is well poised to be the next evolution in human-computer interaction.
References
Azuma, R., Baillot, Y., MacIntyre, B., Behringer, R., & Feiner, S. K. (2001, Nov/Dec ). Recent Advances in Augmented Reality. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE , 21(6 ), 34 – 47. Available Here
Kroeker, K. L. (2010 , July). Mainstreaming augmented reality. Communications of the ACM, 53(7), pp. 19-21. Available Here
Maad, S. (Ed.). (2010). Augmented Reality. INTECH. Available Here
Augmented Reality Today 