Since the creation of video games in early 1980’s they have been entertaining us until today. Computer graphics have become times more sophisticated and the way they are made makes them look really close to real-life. Now engineers and researchers are trying to combine both real-life and computer graphics in one. They literally pull graphics out of your computer’s screen or display and integrate them into real-world environments.
This way of seeing the world is called “augmented reality” and it brakes the barrier of real and virtual and enhances the way we see actual things. The difference between “Virtual Reality” and “Augmented Reality” is that the virtual creates spectacular and vast computer-generated environments, while the Augmented brings some additions to our current way of seeing what’s surrounding us, which appeals to me more!
What can it be used for?
With the help of this technology, the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable. Information about the environment and its objects is overlaid on the real world. The electromagnetic radio waves put in exact alignment with where they actually are in space is combined with the information about the real world. One example is an AR Helmet for construction workers which display information about the construction sites.
The first functional AR systems that provided immersive mixed reality experiences for users were invented in the early 1990s, starting with the Virtual Fixtures system developed at the U.S. Air Force’s Armstrong Labs in 1992.Augmented Reality is also transforming the world of education, travel, science, business and daily life where content may be accessed by scanning or viewing an image with a mobile device. Since the creation of AR, it has found its use in many other fields such as archeology, architecture, art, literature, education, emergency units, medicine, video games, military, flight training, navigation, travel, music and way more!
Pokemon Go is a perfect example of how AR is used. We’ve all heard of it.
Display, Eyeglasses, and HUD.
Technologies such as projection systems, handheld devices or monitors could be used for AR, but they have to be a compatible size that could be worn on a man. There is also an HMD technology that places images of both worlds in the user’s viewpoint via special helmet. It has sensors that could monitor and adjust the presented images accordingly with the user’s movements.
Similar to Google Glasses, AR technology has its own glasses created by Horizon Ventures.
It is a headset that consists a head-mounted display that uses sensors for interactions, positioning, and a visual field of 90 degrees. Its resolution is 2560 x 1440, which is said to be the largest field of view available.
There is also a HUD version, which started back in the 1950s as a project for pilots, that could send simple flight data into their sight. Nowadays it consists a transparent display which presents data in front of you without the need to look around.
Google’s AR glasses.
HUD that’s used in cars – Jaguar.
To be honest I prefer Augment Reality instead of Virtual Reality because of the way how AR is used. Virtual Reality’s concept is to create a whole new world (universe) that is unknown to us, while with AR you see the world the same way, just with some additional features. There is no need to create a fully-digital world, because it’s way too unnatural for us. I am not sure how a man’s brain will accept this and what will the consequences and effects be in future? In my opinion, we should stick to AR and continue to use it in positive ways to help us deal with problems, not create such.
