Augmented Reality Is Taking The World By Storm But What Exactly Is This Technology ?

Have you ever missed a friend so much that you can see them in a room next to you, feel them, touch them and even have that odd conversation with them; without them being actually there? That is the human mind creating its own version of Augmented Reality. – AR for short. Simply put in definition, it is the incorporation of digital reality into the real world around us. When we talk about this, it is talking about overlay of some sort of visual digital information and through which one can see the real world. So for instance, the recently added and very popular “3D lenses” feature added to the social media Snap Chat is a very good example of day to day application of Augmented Reality. Even a few cars have this unique ability embedded in their windshield. The consumer electrons and consumer technology trade show that talks place every January in Las Vegas Nevada, has proven that cars indeed have a future that will focus on monitoring the drive surroundings through AR systems than through conventional side mirrors and front mirrors According to Apple CEO, Tim Cook, AR technology will have a bigger impact on the consumer market then virtual reality, as it allows for the blending of real world objects with virtual information without eliminating real world input altogether. Taking further the example of a Car, in an attempt to drive home the point (pun fully intended), AR gives the driver the opportunity to see outside temperature, assist in picking the best lane to use in case of traffic distance and pedestrian warning which will all be visible to the driver, all via the dashboard. It must be noted that this will not be found in low end cars at the moment. Though it has been reported that, BMW, Mercedes–Benz, Audi, Ford and others have already started implementing this “future technology” in their cars.

Furthermore, almost no one is free of the Smart Phone drive these days, and it is the commonest form of AR device that an average individual has, as it has the capability to run AR apps. According to Yue Fei, CTO and co-founder of uSens Inc., a company that creates human-computer interaction applications for AR and VR, “…But smartphone makers are now clamoring to jump on board with the next wave of revolutionary computing devices,” Fei said. “We’ve seen this time and again with hot trends across different industries, where companies fear missing an entire evolution. History has showed that those who do miss out on disruptive trends render themselves obsolete and/or irrelevant.” Typically the way this works is that one holds up the phone with the phone’s back camera pointing away from the holder, representing a view of the world around with the AR app giving off other data that for instance talks about the history of where one is or a story of information of what significant story occurred there last week or even a tour of the entire street.While the Pokémon go craze from last year may have died down, it is a great example of an Augmented Reality App.

There are frames of different applications that can be found for Augmented Reality ranging from entertainment to productivity, to industrial use and even beyond Education, commerce, tourism, music, translation, and indeed for all works of life. ComScore’s Donovan said he expects to see a lot more experimentation with augmented-reality applications on mobile phones over the next 12 to 24 months, with more large-scale consumer services hitting the market in the next few years.

“It’s very early days still for the technology,” he said. “You’ll see some applications, but it could take a couple of years for someone to develop a meaningful use for augmented reality in mobile. But once they do, you’ll see it really take off. And then we’ll go from simply telling apps where we are, as we do today, to apps telling us about the world around us.”

With computer becoming more sophisticated over the years, barriers are being broken down and AR are becoming the norm, this in turn straddles the line between technology and real life, adding to the scenes that are actually real.

Gradually AR stands to replace the way literally interpret the world, as it is information when you need it where machines lack user interface, AR steps in, apply on overlay and giving value in displaying a sort of metaphysical realm in the very physical, wouldn’t you rather by try out?