What is Augmented Reality?
If virtual reality is the idea of taking you into a completely fabricated virtual world, then what is augmented reality? Furthermore, what uses does this tech have in modern life? Both these questions will be answered for you in this article!
What is Augmented Reality (AR)?
The easiest way to explain this technology is that it brings parts of a virtual world into our own reality. To make this work, you need some sort of viewing lens to look through – like your phone camera or a headset designed for AR. When you look through the lens you will see the normal world, but with computer-generated imagery that makes it seem like other things are there.
When people were working on this technology, they did so with the intention of enhancing our physical world.
Augmented Reality Applications
Perhaps the best way to truly explain AR technology is to look at how it’s applied in the real world. There are so many ways augmented reality can be used right now. The most common of which is by generating superimposed images and showing them to someone that looks through their phone camera. As an example, there’s an app by Ikea that lets you look at your phone screen to see your bedroom and then place computer-generated images of furniture in the room. The idea here is that it helps you see what things look like before you go and buy them.
Another example is augmented reality that shows shop names and reviews when you walk down a street and look through your phone camera. This helps people find what they’re looking for if they’re seeking out a place to eat/drink.
One of our favorite examples of augmented reality came from Microsoft and their HoloLens device. This is a headset that utilizes both augmented and virtual reality, but the AR aspect is genius. When you look through the headset you can project things onto walls in your home, or tables, etc. This has so many uses for businesses in the future. You could project product designs on a table and play around to see how things will look before they are produced.
Who will benefit from AR?
Pretty much anyone from consumers to businesses will benefit from this. Companies are already developing AR apps that help them market their organization, and this technology makes so many things more convenient for consumers. To put it simply; the possibilities with AR are endless – and that’s very exciting!
To sum everything up; augmented reality is a technology that’s used to alter the reality we see in front of us. This is done mainly by using mobile devices and the cameras attached to them, but there are also some AR headsets out there too. It has uses in real estate, marketing, entertainment, and general business, among others. This is very much a new piece of tech, and we will certainly see big things from it in the coming months and years!
