Far from the virtual reality craze of the mid-90s, augmented reality (AR) is the process of superimposing virtual data onto our existing surroundings. It happens in real time, so is affected by things such as movement. AR can be used in any number of ways, from displaying information about a landmark when you take a picture of it, to creating a video game out of the objects in your own living room.
Manufacturers are experimenting with AR in different ways. Microsoft has had great success with its Kinect video game peripheral and broadcasters often supplement sports matches with augmented reality data. Although AR has been around for many years (the term was allegedly coined in 1990 by an employee at Boeing) it’s only recently that smartphones have become powerful enough to take it out and about.
In most cases, the technology requires a digital camera to map the environment and then accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS to track movement and rotation. All of these can be found on modern smartphones along with enough power to process it all.
It’s still uncertain where this technology will lead, but Google is busy developing Project Glass – an AR enabled set of glasses that it hopes to make commercially available.
Posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 at 4:19 pm under Insider Knowledge. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: AR, augmented reality, Insider Knowledge
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