Imagine going on a school trip to Pennsylvania, but instead of receiving handouts about the Battle of Gettysburg, you’re given a pair of glasses, and, after putting them on Civil War-era soldiers brush past your side, bullets whizzing your head. History has come to life right before you.
Imagine, walking the streets of London on your first visit. You notice you’re getting hungry and want to find a place to eat. You whip out your iPhone, hold it out in front of you, look through the camera, and the storefronts and street practically come to life. You turn the camera at the facade of a restaurant you see nearby, and at the instant you do so, your iPhone’s GPS and built-in compass immediately recognize which restaurant you’re facing. A marker with the restaurant name and address pops up. Clicking it, you are then presented with the restaurant menu, hours and reviews. Want to get back to your hotel? Point your iPhone’s camera down at the ground and you’ll see all the subway lines (or “Tubes” as the Brits call them) running right beneath you. Google Earth, eat your heart out.
Is this reality? No. This is AUGMENTED REALITY.
What is AR exactly? Its a mesh of the digital world with the physical. It blurs the line between virtual and reality. It is the true representation of technological and societal convergence.
How does it work? Glad you asked! Greg Davis, General Manager of Total Immersion (an augmented reality company), explained in an interview at CES (the Consumer and Electronics Show) 2009, says there are 3 main processes going on beneath the surface of AR. First, software recognizes patterns on preexisting objects using a webcam or other visual device. AR does not require any special barcodes or scanning mechanisms, which is what makes it so amazing. After recognizing the pattern or object, it is tracked in 3D space, moving however you move it. Finally, a 3D object is rendered and can be played and manipulated with (depending on what it is). All of this happens within milliseconds from what the physical object is recognized by the AR software. To really experience AR, check out these videos: here, here, and here.
The opportunities for uses of AR are endless. I already talked about how AR can be implemented in education and tourism, but it is also being developed and used in medicine, marketing, and video games (and many more fields, but I can’t on touch all of them!). Even auto mechanics can put AR to good use!
Stayed tuned for part 2 of this post, where I’ll delve into how exactly augmented reality is being used in medicine, marketing, video games and in the garage! Videos coming too!
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