Augmented reality - what do developers offer today?

Augmented reality technology is now actively developing. In itself, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) is the imposition of virtual layers that the computer has created on the ordinary reality in which we exist. The most indicative (and one of the earliest) examples of augmented reality is the “picture” that Terminator saw from “Terminator-2”.



The term itself was proposed in 1990 by Boeing employee Tom Codel. The idea of ​​augmented reality is now developing even more actively than the idea of ​​virtual reality.



Apple has declared the augmented reality trend of the near and more distant future. The company built AR capabilities into its mobile operating system, stating that from now on mobile devices are inextricably linked with AR. It is possible that this will happen.



There are many applications of augmented reality. This design in design, and sports, and military affairs, medicine, and, of course, games (like the whole field of entertainment). According to forecasts, the volume of the augmented and virtual reality market together will increase to $ 150 billion by 2020. One may think that the most money will be invested in entertainment.

This is in the future, but what now?

Currently, more and more companies are using augmented reality in their applications and hardware.



The easiest way is to use the AR capabilities in mobile applications - in this case, the hardware basis is already there, you do not need to take care of this, it only remains to write the software part.



A good example (and one of the first successful commercial projects) is the HoloGrid game : Monster Battle . This is a game with a set of cards, the main action takes place in augmented reality, where the figures are "live" monsters. The idea of ​​this game appeared in 2016 and at the same time the developers were able to collect $ 100,000. Two people can play here using two mobile devices.



There are educational projects filed in a game form. One such now collects funds for Kickstarter. It is called Imagina Books.





The project envisages the creation of a whole series of educational books that are adapted to augmented reality. You need to bring a tablet or phone with a pre-installed application on the book page with an illustration, for example, of the brain, and voila - this body can be viewed from all sides on the screen. Of course, the creators did without excessive realism, so as not to injure children.



Another project is the aquadron Ziphius . It is a real, not a virtual device, which is perfectly kept on the water. It is controlled using a mobile phone or tablet. But the software is equipped with an augmented reality function, which allows you to turn a typical drone swim a couple of hundred meters into a real adventure. He can be a pirate, a ninja and even an acrobat.





With him you can arrange the heats of distillation, and you can play in augmented reality. By the way, the drone has the ability to observe the reality both under water and above its surface.



Amusement can be a toy weapon. For example, an AR 4D Magic Gun interactive pistol . This is a modern device that will allow you to do it yourself, using the gun itself and a smartphone (with the application). Inside there is a gyroscope and an accelerometer, so positioning and following the target do not pose a problem here.





There are 10 applications at the moment, but their number is gradually expanding. One of the most popular applications is Zombie Fighting. We tried this gun in action and, yes, playing with it is fun.



Another educational project is Orboot . This is a globe, but not an ordinary one, but an augmented reality globe. It is necessary to bring a tablet or phone with a pre-installed application on any part of the globe, and you can see the animals that live in this part of the world, sights or dishes that are popular among residents. In addition, the user of the application will get acquainted with inventions created at different times by representatives of a particular country, the wonders of nature or the culture and art of different countries.





Actually, all this can be interesting not only for children, but also for adults.



By the way, there is one more “iron” project. This is an augmented reality helmet called Seer . This device works in the style of "Iron Man", more precisely, his helmet. According to the developers, a similar technology is used in the helmets of military pilots, but those helmets cost about $ 200,000, but the cost of Seer is $ 119.





The user practically does not see the display itself, everything is done so that both the augmented and ordinary reality are felt by the person as a whole. The video shown above refers to CES 2015, and now the helmet has become even more advanced.



In general, there are many other projects from the AR-sphere, but they are practically no different from those described above. Most often, these are games, less often - something “iron”, as a rule - glasses or a helmet (Google Glass and others like them are a vivid example of such projects). From the total number of knocked out a water drone and a pistol, but this is more likely an exception.



Anyway, the ecosystem of applications and hardware for AR is gradually growing. Taking into account the fact that Apple is beginning a stormy work in this direction, in the near future we can expect the penetration of AR into many areas of our life. In the meantime, we wait - and you can play :)

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