What is known as Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality (AR) might not be as exciting as a virtual reality roller coaster ride, but the technology is proving itself as a really great tool in our everyday lives.

From social media filters, to surgical procedures, AR is rapidly growing in popularity because it brings elements of the virtual world, into our world , thus enhancing the things we see, hear, and feel. When compared to other reality technologies, augmented reality lies within the middle of the mixed reality spectrum; between the real world and therefore the virtual world.

Augmented reality is that the mixing of digital information with the user's environment in real time. Unlike Virtual Reality, which creates a totally artificial environment, augmented reality uses the prevailing environment and overlays new information on top of it.

Boeing researcher Thomas Caudell coined the term augmented reality in 1990, to clarify how the head-mounted displays that electricians used when assembling complicated wiring harnesses worked. One of the primary commercial applications of AR technology was the yellow "first down" line that began appearing in televised football games sometime in 1998. Today, Google glass and heads-up displays in car windshields are perhaps the foremost well-known consumer AR products, but the technology is used in many industries including healthcare, public safety, gas and oil, tourism and marketing.

Augmented reality apps are written in special 3D programs that allow the developer to tie animation or contextual digital information within the pc virus to an augmented reality "marker" in the real world. When a computing device's AR app or browser plug-in receives digital information from a known marker, it begins to execute the marker's code and layer the proper image or images.

AR applications for smartphones typically include global positioning system (GPS) to pinpoint the user's location and its compass to detect device orientation. Sophisticated AR programs utilized by the military for training may include machine vision, visual perception and gesture recognition technologies.

Augmented Reality (AR) Categories

Several categories of augmented reality technology exist, each with varying differences in their objectives and applicational use cases. Below, we explore the varied sorts of technologies that structure augmented reality:

Marker based Augmented reality

Marker-based augmented reality (also called Image Recognition) uses a camera and a few sort of visual marker, like a QR/2D code, to supply a result only the marker is sensed by a reader. Marker based applications use a camera on the device to differentiate a marker from the other real world object. Distinct, but simple patterns (such as a QR code) are used because the markers, because they will be easily recognized and don't require tons of processing power to read. The position and orientation is additionally calculated, during which some sort of content and/or information is then overlaid the marker.

Marker less Augmented reality

As one of the foremost widely implemented applications of augmented reality, marker less (also called location-based, position-based, or GPS) augmented reality, uses a GPS, digital compass, velocity meter, or accelerometer which is embedded within the device to supply data supported your location. A strong force behind marker less augmented reality technology is that the wide availability of smartphones and site detection features they supply . It is most ordinarily used for mapping directions, finding nearby businesses, and other location-centric mobile applications.

Projection based Augmented Reality

Projection based augmented reality works by projecting artificial light onto world surfaces. Projection based augmented reality applications leave human interaction by sending light onto a true world surface then sensing the human interaction (i.e. touch) of that projected light. Detecting the user’s interaction is completed by differentiating between an expected (or known) projection and also the altered projection (caused by the user’s interaction). Another interesting application of projection based augmented reality utilizes laser plasma technology to project a three-dimensional (3D) interactive hologram into mid-air.

Superimposition based Augmented Reality

Superimposition based augmented reality either partially or fully replaces the initial view of an object with a newly augmented view of that very same object. In superimposition based augmented reality, object recognition plays an important role because the appliance cannot replace the initial view with an augmented one if it cannot determine what the object is. A strong consumer-facing example of superimposition based augmented reality could be found within the Ikea augmented reality furniture catalogue. By downloading an app and scanning selected pages in their printed or digital catalogue, users can place virtual ikea furniture in their house with the assistance of augmented reality.