Augmented Reality – What is it?



As you can probably deduce this means many things qualify as augmented reality. The heads up displays we see in some aircraft and cars that may show you things like “distance to a target”, GPS position or your current speed are a form of augmented reality. Events with digital avatars of deceased musicians such as Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur projected onto a screen using the Pepper’s Ghost illusion would also qualify under a broad definition of augmented reality.


How Does Augmented Reality Work?





Using a smartphone or tablet computer as a “magic window” into the augmented world is one way we can relay this digital info to our eyes, but there are many other ways to achieve this.


Projection mapping for augmented reality

Projection mapping as an augmented reality method has a lot of potential, but it requires a controlled and mapped space in order to work. The method that is most likely to supplant smartphone augmented reality as a common implementation outside of the laboratory is one that uses head mounted systems. This is where virtual and augmented reality really begin to converge, as there is no real reasons why the head mounted systems used by both technologies cannot be cross-functional. Indeed, head mounted systems that use smartphones to work often have something known as a camera “pass-through”. In other words, although you can’t see anything other than the screen of the head mounted display (HMD) it can show you the outside world via the rear-facing camera of the phone. This of course allows for augmented reality without the need for a handheld device. However, unless specially designed against it, this method leaves one feeling a bit disconnected from the experience, since the camera’s perspective and lack of depth perception don’t quite gel compared to what the naked eye sees.

One way to get around this is by using a system as found in the Google Glass and Microsoft Hololens. Both of these devices use something known as a “prism projector”. The eyes of the user look out at the world unimpeded, but digital imagery is projected into the prism projection system that sits between the eye and the outside world, making it appear as if those objects are really there, sitting on a table or hanging against the wall. The way this HMD achieves this is complex and fascinating and it discussed more completely in our Hololens article.


Applications of Augmented Reality



The two biggest mainstream video game consoles, the Xbox and Playstation, have included augmented reality capabilities for the last two console generations. These game in the form of the Kinect (for the Xbox) and Playstation Eye or Camera (for the Playstation 3 and 4 respectively). Because you’re facing both the camera and the screen in these implementations are more like augmented reality mirrors, where you see yourself “in” the game and can interact with game characters that look to be in the same room as you.



In medical practice augmented reality can project information directly onto the body of a patient. For example, the Veinviewer system projects a real-time image of infrared vein scans directly onto the patient’s skin. Creating the impression that the skin is transparent. This allows the clinician to “see” the veins directly.



Another useful type of app is a golf GPRS system which helps golfers around a course. It displays yardages for each of the 18 holes, shows where the hazards are, e.g. bunkers and advice and support on improving your game. If you are golfer then this app will appeal to you immensely – look for the Golfscape Augmented Reality Rangefinder from the Apple store.




A few of these topics such as augmented reality games contain a series of smaller sub-articles, for example augmented reality games for the iPhone.

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