First and foremost, augmented reality or simply known as AR, is a technology that incorporates digital information with the user’s environment in real time. Essentially, it works in such a way that it showcases elements which are augmented by computer-generated sensory input live in a physical, real-world. AR has the ability to superimpose information on the world we see by turning the surrounding environment into a digital interface simply by placing virtual objects in the real world, in real-time. There is a wide variety of ways that you can experience AR and trust me when I tell you this, each experience will be nothing short of amazing.

The main question in pretty much everyone’s mind is how does AR work? Well, it functions in such a way that it uses a device’s camera, be it a smartphone or a wearable device which contains a certain software that recognises an image and overlays it onto an object. To be more precise, it blends computer-generated video with camera-captured video and what you will notice right away on the display is the introduction of CGI objects that appear to have an absolute location in the real world. Essentially, with augmented reality, you will witness a real-life environment combined with computer generated images which are placed on a wide variety of objects within the real world.

There are indeed many benefits when it comes to AR. You could become a market leader and this is mainly because a lot of companies are not willing to take a leap of faith and investing in AR development as they are a hit-and-miss situation but if you do succeed, you will be one of the very few and that is a huge accomplishment. Secondly, you can save money. It allows companies to be flexible with their budget due to its great scalability. In addition to that, it increases the available information in which it provides richer and wider content on a product or an experience with data, video, sound, graphics, text, so on and so forth. AR also encourages social share whereby users have the ability to share their experiences on social media, thus promoting your product to a wider audience without you even doing anything. Last but not least, errors will be less prone because AR can be done repeatedly in the absence of physically, resource intensive training. Share:

Augmented reality has been in development for many decades before becoming what it is today. It was first introduced in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland. He developed the first head-mounted display system which used computer-generated graphics to show users simple wireframe drawings. However, did you know that the first ever concept of augmented reality was actually discovered in 1901? A man named L. Frank Baum, came up with the idea of an electronic display that places data onto a real-life object. To read more about it, head over to ‘History of AR’ blog post.

In order to get started with AR, you will need the following:

• Planar object detection (can be a marker or previously trained object). SURF/SIFT/FAST descriptors, RANSAC for homography matrix calculation
• Store trained objects in DB (KD-trees)
• Camera position estimation
• Augmenting 3D model with custom objects (OpenGL)

Widely perceived as the technology of the future, Augmented Reality has been making waves into the market place from collaborating with top brands and organisations. A steady influx of applications that take advantage of AR are slowly emerging from being in development for years into becoming revolutionary, ground-breaking applications and is transforming the way people see and learn from their surroundings. However, despite the fact that AR has been around for decades, it is beyond fair to say that we have barely scratched the surface of what AR is capable of. Without a shadow of a doubt, AR will one day become a staple in most businesses as we are finally becoming aware of the importance of AR, beginning to understand better on how to utilise AR and often being reminded on how beneficial it is in our everyday life. Simply put, the future is bright for Augmented Reality.

In the year 1901, L. Frank Baum, an author, first mentions the idea of an electronic display/spectacles that overlays data onto real life, it is named a ‘character marker’. Between 1957 to 1962, Morton Heilig, a cinematographer, invents and patents a simulator called Sensorama that came with visuals, sound, vibration, and smell.

In 1968, Ivan Sutherland creates the head-mounted display and positions it as a window into a virtual world.

In 1980, Steve Mann invents the first ever wearable computer, a computer vision system that had text and graphical overlays on a photographically mediated reality or better known as Augmediated Reality.

In 2013, Google announces an open beta test of the company’s first augmented reality glasses called Google Glass. These pair of glasses were made to be able to connect the Internet through Bluetooth, which has to be connected to the wireless service on a user’s mobile phone first. After that, the glasses will then respond when a user speaks, touches the frame or moves the head. Revolutionary.

2 years later, Microsoft enters the foray of AR with a new concept codenamed HoloLens. HoloLens is an AR headset that utilises various sensors and a processing unit to combine high definition “holograms” with the real world.

It is of no surprise that the general public get confused when asked about the differences between VR and AR. While both augmented and virtual reality may focus primarily on making a more interactive and fun experience for the users, the methods in doing so are vastly different. AR overlays augmented objects onto a real-life environment while enhancing our senses and create a whole new environment to enjoy.

On the other hand, VR places the user in a whole new immersive, simulated environment, creating an encompassing ecosystem and allowing the real word to be forgotten for a period of time. However, the one major selling point of augmented reality is the way the technology enhances the perception of reality. Let’s not forget a third player in this virtual game: Mixed reality(MR). MR is similar to AR in more ways than one, yet the two are not exactly alike for some reason. Although MR combines real and virtual world just like AR does, it takes things one step further and here’s a prime example. It opens the opportunity for the creation of new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects can not only coexist but also interact with each other in real time. In a nutshell, it is pretty obvious to me that our society will be in for a real treat when these technological developments come to fruition.