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Augmented Reality – Overview

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality is a variation of Virtual Reality. While virtual reality technologies require a  user to inhabit an entirely computer-generated virtual environment, Augmented Reality technologies take computer-generated information such as images, audio, video, and touch or haptic sensations and overlay them in a real-time environment. This enables users to see and experience the real world as a combination of virtual and real-world objects (Kipper, Rampolla 2012).

Ex: User can see a computer-generated image (motorbike) on a real-world object(Credit card).

Ex: Head up display used in fighter jets shows an overlay of information such as altitude, speed and an artificial horizon.

Peddie (2017 p.5) argues that Augmented reality will be like having X-ray vision. It will not only give us directions and visualizations of products, it will become the backbone of the scientific and engineering industries.

Most recent developments of AR

One of the most exciting recent developments of Augmented Reality is vision systems. Most commonly known AR vision systems are AR headsets which are head-mounted displays that enable users to experience simulated virtual objects through a physical optical lens display, allowing users to see both the digital display and real world through the lens.

AR Headset which allows users to see virtual objects in a real-world environment.

Another new application of AR vision systems is AVS (Advanced Vision System) developed by General Motors USA. According to Thomes (2017), this system embeds an array of sensors and cameras inside and outside vehicles that could monitor a driver’s eye and head movements and provide relevant additional information to help him deal with current driving conditions. This system helps define the edges of the road and points to upcoming road signs in foggy or dark conditions. With this new technology, the information will be displayed on the car’s windshield, which will be coated with transparent phosphors.

The following video further describe how AVS works,

(General Motors Augmented Reality Windshield, 2010)

 

 

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Historical Information

Even though AR technology sounds like a science fiction to most people, it has been in development for decades.

According to Augment (2018), AR’s history run back as 1968. The following diagram explains how AR evolved through time.

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Technical Overview

How Augmented Reality Vision Systems Work

According to Piszczek, Zarzycki and Szustakowski (2012), AR vision systems should have following elements:

  • Optoelectronic devices which automatically analyse the field of view similar way to the human eye.
  • High definition cameras to capture images and videos.
  • Sensors such as Accelerometer, compass & GPS
  • Processors capable of handling multiple cameras, sensors and rendering real-time images.
  • Display lenses for viewing.
  • Software for data processing (Rendering Engine).
  • Network connectivity

The below diagram explains how above elements are used in AR vision systems.

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Impact of Augmented Reality

Even though it’s an emerging technology Augmented Reality has already made a strong impact on science, engineering and entertainment industries.

Smart Phones have played a huge part in the success of Augmented Reality. According to Kipper, Rampolla (2012, p24), the mobile phone will act as a bridge of present-day AR and AR of the future. As mobile computing continue to grow in speed and capability, more advanced mobile AR applications will be developed to address more complex real-world situations. This is the main reason for the strong impact made by AR technologies on science, engineering and entertainment industries.

One of the main advantages AR brings to science and engineering fields is the ability show CAD (Computer Aided Drawing)  design that exists solely inside of the computer’s design software, as it is meant to appear in the real world.  This has made engineering and manufacturing process much easier as AR gives the ability to see the final assembled product to follow during the assembly process.  (Heimgartner, 2016 )

Another exiting application of AR is AR gaming. This involves the integration of game visual and audio content with the user’s environment in real time. Using specialized AR headsets, mobile phones, tablets AR games uses the existing environment and creates a playing field within it. This gives a users an immersive experience  with the procreated environment on top of a user’s actual environment. Success of AR breakthrough games like Pokemon Go shows the potential AR in the gaming industry.

Heimgartner (2016) argues that AR development will become $120 billion  industry by 2020 as AR applications have already made a huge impact across a myriad of industries such as,

  • Archaeology: Display ancient ruins as they looked at a particular site the way they existed in history.
  • Art: Help individuals with disabilities create art by tracking eye movement and turning those movements into drawings on a screen.
  • Commerce: Show multiple customization options or additional information for a product.
  • Education: Superimpose text, graphics, video and audio onto a student’s real-time environment.
  • Fashion: Show what different makeup or hairstyle options might look like on a person.
  • Gaming: Allow users to experience and interact with a game using a real-world environment.
  • Medical: Show patients’ internal organs superimposed over their skin via virtual X-rays.
  • Military: Use AR goggles in real time to show people and various objects and mark them with special informative indicators and to warn soldiers of potential dangers.
  • Navigation: Label road and street names along with other pertinent information on a real-world map or display on your wind shield showing destination direction, weather, terrain, road conditions and traffic information as well as alerts to potential hazards.
  • Sports: Show the first-down line on football games, the flight of a golf ball after it’s hit or puck tracking during hockey games.
  • Television: Display weather visualizations and images.

Even though we’re not even close to the Sci-Fi realm of AR technology described in popular motion pictures, AR technology has the potential to completely change the way we see the world.

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References

[1] Kipper, G, Rampolla, J. 2012. Augmented Reality: An Emerging Technologies Guide to AR. 1st ed. Amsterdam, Boston, MA: Syngress/Elsevier.

[2] Peddie, J., 2017. Augmented reality: where we will all live. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

 

[3]Thomes, C. 2018. NEW PERCEPTIONS: AUGMENTED REALITY AS ENTERTAINMENT. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.producersguild.org/page/augmented_reality/New-Perceptions-Augmented-Reality-as-Entertainment.htm. [Accessed 27 April 2018].

[4]General Motors Augmented Reality Windshield, 2010, YouTube, Mashable, 5 December, retrieved 27 April 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXyYQccegEk>.

[4] Piszczek, M, Zarzycki, M and M. Szustakowski., 2012. Optical and Acoustical Methods in Science and Technology. vol 122. Warsaw, Poland: Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology.

[6] Heimgartner, J., 2016. What Is Augmented Reality and How Can Engineers and Designers Use It. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.engineering.com/DesignSoftware/DesignSoftwareArticles/ArticleID/11873/What-Is-Augmented-Reality-and-How-Can-Engineers-and-Designers-Use-It.aspx. [Accessed 27 April 2018].

[5] Augment News. 2018. Infographic: The History of Augmented Reality – Augment News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.augment.com/blog/infographic-lengthy-history-augmented-reality/. [Accessed 27April 2018].