POOJA RAI: Introduction to Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality (AR) may not be as exciting as a virtual reality roller coaster ride, but technology is proving itself as a very useful tool in our everyday lives.

From social media filters to surgical procedures, AR is rapidly growing in popularity because it brings elements of the virtual world, into our real world, thus enhancing the things we see, hear, and feel. When compared to other reality technologies, augmented reality lies in the middle of the mixed reality spectrum; between the real world and the virtual world.

What is Augmented Reality?

"Augmented reality is the technology that expands our physical world, adding layers of digital information onto it. Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), AR does not create the whole artificial environments to replace real with virtual one. AR appears in direct view of an existing environment and adds sounds, videos, graphics to it."

What are the types of Augmented Reality?

AR is classified into various categories. Each category is having a different use in the different case. The following are major 4 type of Augmented Reality:

Marker-Based Augmented Reality

Marker-Based AR is also called Image Recognition or Recognition based AR. In simple words, this technology uses the camera in AR device to produce a result. QR and 2D are the examples of the visual marker. The users get the result when camera reader senses the marker.

The marker-based AR technology is having the following uses:

It detects the object in front of the camera and gives information about the detected object on the screen.
It translates the words seen by the camera using Optical Character Recognition technology and shows them with the translated version.
The technology is also useful in education as it can help students to bring their imagination turned into reality.
It also helps in creating 3D simulations of the objects or architectures without building it in physical form.

In this technology, the position and orientation of the object are calculated first and later the gathered information is overlaid by the marker, on the object.

Marker-less Augmented Reality

Marker-less Augmented Reality is also called location-based AR. It is one of the most widely used and implemented type of technology. Marker-less is also known as position based AR and GPS based Augmented Technology.

Marker-Less AR is the only type of AR technology which does not use any kind of recognition system and hence it does not require augmentation. Another difference is, the location-based AR does not know about the object whereas recognition based AR apps do. To provide a fecund result, this technology uses various location tools and helps in recognizing location on your devices.

Projection Augmented Reality

Evident to its name this technology is based on AR projection function, where lights from the device projected on the objects.
There are numerous approaches which make this technology more interesting. One of the approaches is throwing the light onto the surface of the real world and makes it interactive by the human touch with the help of sensors. The projection can also be done in mid-air with the help of laser plasma technology. It helps in studying the structure and configurations of projected images.

Example: "When the light of the calculator is thrown through projection-based AR device on your palm the 12 partitions in your hand will become 12 buttons and a user can touch these buttons and can interact with them."

Superimposition Based Augmented Reality

It is indeed one of the most important types of technology where object recognition plays an important role. In this technology, the augmented image can replace the original image, either partially or fully. The technology is useful in the medical field. A doctor can thoroughly examine patient and gives a proper treatment.

The technology is also helpful in a military application as superimposition based AR can offer multiple views of a target without any distraction. This technology would be a boon for history lovers as a superimposition of ancient images over current one can reveal lots of secret about the past. It can also help in making science education more interesting for example, studying bone structure.

Future of Augmented Reality

AR is having a capability of the real-time interaction between physical and virtual world. Due to this distinct characteristics, a very bright future is assured forAugmented reality. Still, I believe AR is in its infancy stage and proper awareness is must for a bright future.