What do Pokemon Go, the IKEA mobile app and Google Pixel’s Star Wars stickers all have in common? They all use Augmented Reality (AR) technology.
Similar to Virtual Reality, AR is categorised as an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real-world are augmented by computer-generated perceptual information.
AR works by responding with purpose-built programmes and apps, or real-life objects such as QR codes and scanners to overlay augmented objects in a physical location. It blends the virtual world with the actual world, and is synonymous with mixed reality and computer-mediated reality.
The first description of AR as it is known today was in Virtual Light, the 1994 novel by William Gibson. In 2011, AR was blended with poetry by ni ka from Sekai Camera in Tokyo, Japan. The prose of these AR poems came from Paul Celan’s Die Niemandsrose, expressing the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Following this, AR has become increasingly popular in a number of different sectors to inform others of different information, products, and services in an engaging and eye-catching spectacle
By augmenting archaeological features onto the modern landscape, AR allows archaeologists to formulate possible site configurations from extant structures.
Computer generated models of ruins, buildings, landscapes or even ancient people have been recycled into early archaeological AR applications to allow people to explore environments, rebuild pieces of history, and decide how to excavate challenging ruins.
AR can aid in visualizing building projects in the world of architecture. Computer-generated images of a structure can be superimposed into a real-life local view of a property before the physical building is constructed there.
The technology can also be employed within an architect’s workspace, rendering animated 3D visualizations of their 2D drawings. Architecture sightseeing can be enhanced with AR applications, allowing users viewing a building’s exterior to virtually see through its walls, viewing its interior objects and layout.
With the continual improvements to GPS accuracy, businesses are able to use augmented reality to visualize models of construction sites, underground structures, cables and pipes using mobile devices.
AR can be used to solve on-site construction challenges, and to enhance promotional materials.
The technology can aid in the progression of visual art in museums by allowing museum visitors to view artwork in galleries in a multidimensional way through their phone screens.
It allows individuals to see hidden aspects and information about the paintings, and to be able to have an interactive technological experience with artwork as well.
In educational settings, AR has been used to complement a standard curriculum. Text, graphics, video, and audio may be superimposed into a student’s real-time environment. Textbooks, flashcards and other educational reading material may contain embedded markers or triggers that, when scanned by an AR device, produced supplementary information to the student rendered in a multimedia format.
As AR evolves, students can participate interactively and interact with knowledge more authentically. Instead of remaining passive recipients, students can become active learners, able to interact with their learning environment. Computer-generated simulations of historical events allow students to explore and learning details of each significant area of the event site, and can even transport them into outer space.
To learn more about Augmented Reality and how we can create an AR experience for your business, contact ITR today.