Oct 9, 2011
Augmented Reality
You’ve probably seen examples of Augmented Reality (AR) in movies without realizing that it was called augmented reality. Even if you did know what it was called, you probably thought it was more Hollywood magic than something you could use. An early example of augmented reality from a movie that comes to mind is The Terminator (1984).
I’ve borrowed the image of the movie poster to give us a frame of reference. There are a lot of inconsistencies in this example due to Hollywood’s artistic license, but let’s ignore how Arnold got the glasses for now. We’ll just focus on the red lettering on the glasses. This represents his ability to have view data over his field of vision. If you’ve seen the movie, you may remember the scene when the Terminator walks into a bar full of burly bikers. The Terminator stands there, completely naked, and scans the room. At that moment, he’s clothes shopping. He examines each biker in the room, the height, weight and clothes size of each one is painted in his field of view. When he finds one that’s just the right size, that biker is no longer standing and Arnold is no longer naked.
Ok, for those of you who’ve seen the movie, you’re probably thinking… “it couldn’t’ have been the glasses. He took those off from the barkeep. Didn’t he?” Again, remember we’re talking about a Hollywood movie that used a lot artistic license. So, let’s not get into a debate over the details of a fictional movie. Let’s take a look at some real-world examples of Augmented Reality in use today.
Real-World Examples of Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is still a fairly new technology that’s poised to break out in the next few years. We see and use it a lot right now. But its most often delivered to us from some huge corporation that had the funds to invest in the high-cost equipment required to create augmented reality a few years back.
Sports
One place where we expect to see Augmented Reality is in sports: like Football games, Ice Hockey, and Swimming. In Football, the objective is to take control of the oppositions territory. So, the territorial boundaries, like first down lines are painted on the screen along with yards gained and yards remaining.
In games like ice hockey, where the objective of the game is to shoot a small object into the opponents net, augmented reality paints the trajectories so the tiny object is easier to see. Another, fortunately subtle, example of augmented reality we see when watching sports is ads or sponsor’s messages that appear to exist on or around the field of play.
Video Games
As the cost of augmented reality has come down and the equipment needed to produce it has gotten smaller, we experience augmented reality in environments we control, like our video games. For example, first-person shooter video games simulate a our viewpoint using augmented reality. The game software paints visual clues like direction and distance of our target, the current state of our shooter equipment, and remaining ammunition, power, etc. This type of augmented reality is often done using a heads-up display, which brings us back to Arnold, The Terminator, his glasses, and leads us into the hardware needed for augmented reality.
Hardware
When the original Terminator was released, back in 1984, the hardware required for real-time augmented reality was, for all practical purposes, science fiction. However today, most of us carry around the hardware we need for augmented reality in our pocket or purse. All that is really needed for augmented reality is found in our everyday SmartPhones.
- a CPU (processor),
- display of some sort,
- sensors – accelerometer, GPS, camera compass
I spend a lot of time designing systems that use iPhones and iPads. These are excellent examples of portable, viable, augmented-reality-capable-devices. There are millions of them in the hands of your clients and customers right now… Today!
What’s next? How to use Augmented Reality to leapfrog your competition!
Now we have a common foundation of understanding about Augmented Reality. We have talked about how it has been infused into our consciousness over the last few decades. We are ready to move forward. Next we examine ways that you can take strategic steps today in augmented reality. These small steps will allow you to leapfrog your competition by a few years. Over the next few posts, we’ll take a look at:
- Augmented Reality Display Types
- Augmented Reality Sensors
- Augmented Reality Ideas
- Examine examples of my Real Business Apps in use today…
Joseph A. Moniz toll free – 1 (877) Joe Moniz
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