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How does Augmented Reality (AR) work?

Augmented Reality is advancing rapidly in all aspects of life. This fact is explored in this article.

Image: Visitors try on a Microsoft HoloLens virtual reality headset at the Viva Technology show in Paris, France

With each step forward in the digital revolution, the “matrix” becomes less like a story and more like a reality. This is partly because hardware engineers and software developers continue to refine their augmented reality technologies, always blurring the line between real and virtual life, no matter how hard Keanu Reeves tries to differentiate the two. . Augmented Reality (AR) seems to be the Reality for all of us soon.

Augmented Reality combines interactive digital elements in our real-world environments, such as stunning visual coverage, buzzing touch feedback, or other sensory predictions. If you’ve experienced Pokémon Go, you’ve seen augmented reality in action.

This mobile game (which was once very popular) allowed users to see the world around them through their smartphone cameras while displaying game items, including on-screen symbols, points, and the ever-elusive Pokémon creatures. They leave in the form of coatings that make them look right in your real neighborhood. The game’s design was so immersive that it allowed millions of children and adults alike to walk (and stumble carelessly) in the backyard of their real world in search of virtual prizes.

Google SkyMap is another well-known AR application.

When you point your smartphone or tablet camera at the sky, it covers information about constellations, planets, and more. Wikitude is a program that searches for information about a landmark or object using your smartphone camera and points to it. Need help visualizing new furniture in your living room? Before buying a new sofa, the IKEA Place app covers that space so you can make sure it fits.

But AR is more than just fun on a smartphone. It is a technology used in more serious cases, from trade to war and medicine.

The possibilities of AR technology are unlimited. The only ambiguity is how easily and quickly developers will integrate these features into the devices we use daily.

Increasing our world

The main idea of ​​Augmented Reality is to place graphics, sound, and other sensory enhancements in a real-world environment in real-time or in the moment. It seems very simple. Besides, haven’t TV networks been doing this with graphics for decades? However, Augmented Reality is more advanced than any other technology you’ve seen on television. However, some new television effects, such as RACEf / x and the first line down in US football television games, both created by Sportvision, are close to it. But these systems only display graphics for one view. The next generation of augmented reality systems displays graphics for every viewer.

Some of the most exciting augmented reality work started in research laboratories at universities worldwide. In February 2009, fans at Twitter at the TED conference all took to Twitter as Patti Moss. And Pranav Mystery introduced a groundbreaking augmented reality system. They had developed as part of MIT Media Lab’s fluid intermediary group. They called it SixthSense, and although the project has stalled. It provides a good overview of how to find the basic components found in many augmented reality systems:

  • Camera
  • Small projector
  • Smartphones
  • Mirror

Augmented Reality on smartphones

Image: Pokémon Go. The augmented reality game Pokemon Go will be played by Nintendo at the Trocadero against the Eiffel Tower on September 8, 2016, in Paris. This game allows players to hunt virtual creatures scattered on their smartphones or tablets in public spaces.

In the Netherlands, mobile phone owners can download Layar’s app, which uses the phone’s camera and GPS capabilities to gather information about the surrounding area. Layar then displays information about restaurants or other sites in the area and places this information on the phone screen. You can even pick up the phone at a building, and Layar will tell you if companies are hiring in that building. Or he may be able to find photos of the building on Flickr or find its history on Wikipedia.

Layar is not the only application of its kind. In October 2018, Mural Arts Philadelphia created a giant interactive outdoor mural. Viewers would point their smartphones at parts of the mural and then view the various holograms and listen to the music that matched them to experience a completely immersive art experience. And in a science-fiction dream come true, moviegoers can now perform Holochess “Star Wars” directly on their phones with full graphics and futuristic sounds.

Healthcare professionals may soon be relying on a smartphone-powered AR. A company called Tissue Analytics is developing an app that helps doctors. And nurses use their phones to quickly identify various types of wounds for faster diagnosis and more efficient care.

Augmented Reality in the Army

Image: Aggressive gun controller video game. Jakub Ginda uses a US Army elite assault rifle controller to play a video game. Many military applications have been found for first-person shooter video games.

The military was one of the first adopters of gaming technology. Who saw the training of soldiers for the war in a realistic but safe environment. And the military will probably do the same with AR.

Soldiers plunge into a more immersive battlefield setting, highlighted by helmet screens, smart glasses, and more.

A Canadian company has sold augmented reality devices to the US military. The company is producing a display on the head – a device supposed to bring us virtual Reality – that puts information on your world. Consider a group of soldiers conducting reconnaissance operations in an opposition hideout. An augmented reality head-up display can cover maps or satellite or UAV views directly in soldiers’ field of view.

We have identified some of the many currents and growing augmented reality applications. Let’s look at the limitations of this technology and what it will have in the future.

AR Mobile Revolution

We can continue with examples of smartphone-based augmented reality apps, but these apps come and go quickly. Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that the developers are so confident in the success of AR that they are building devices to enhance the AR experience.

Two powerful technology leaders – Apple and Google – continue to refine their mobile devices to meet the needs of AR-specific software. These Pocket PCs with faster processors for the iPhone, iPad, and the entire Galaxy of Android-based smartphones are now powerful enough to run various data-intensive applications, including AR-enabled applications. With the inevitable expansion of 5G data networks faster. These devices can send and receive amazing amounts of data, making AR faster and better than ever.

Limitations and the Future of Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality still has some challenges to overcome. For example, people may not want to rely on their smartphones, which often have small screens that store information. For this reason, wearable devices such as augmented reality lenses and goggles provide users with a more comfortable and wider view of the world around them.

Shortly, you may be able to play a real-time strategy game on your computer, or you may invite a friend over, put on your augmented reality glasses, and play at the table in front of you.

There is such a thing as too much information. Just as addiction to smartphones and the Internet is worrying, over-reliance on augmented Reality can mean that people are losing what is right in front of them. Some people may prefer to use their iPhone AR apps instead of an experienced tour guide even if they can provide a personal interaction experience and touch that is not available in a computer app. And there are times when a real license plate on a building is preferred to a virtual license plate that is only accessible to people with certain technologies.

There are also privacy concerns. Image recognition software with AR will soon allow us to point our phones at people, even strangers. And instantly see their Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, LinkedIn, or other online profile information. With many of these services, people can voluntarily put their information online. But meeting someone who immediately has a lot of information about your life and background may be an unwelcome shock.

Despite these concerns, imagine the possibilities: You may learn things about the city you have lived in for years just by pointing your AR phone at a park or building nearby. If you work in construction, you can save materials by using virtual markers to determine where the beam should be placed or which structural support to check.

Archaeologists working shifts to collect dinosaur skeletons can place virtual “notes” on team bones, artists can create virtual graffiti. And doctors can create digital images of radiation for more realism. X covers a patient on a mannequin.

Conclusion

Over the next few years, we will likely see leaps in the evolution of the AR concept in terms of software-hardware. And a large number of new applications. We can say that the future of augmented reality is so bright that we will also need AR shadows and glasses.