When you read Augmented Reality, you probably think of a very specific kind of AR. What you may not realize is AR can be created using different technological solutions, leading to different advantages and disadvantages. In this post we discuss 5 Augmented Reality display types.
1 Mobile devices
These days almost everyone has at least one mobile device and most are capable of doing Augmented Reality. An easy way to think of AR done this was is as providing a moving window or portal into a world that is a mixture of the real world and a computer generated world. Although augmented indicates it ‘add to’ the real world, with this technology it really can mix, by hiding the real world.
The technological approach used is video-through Augmented Reality. The device’s back camera is turned on and the video image of it is shown live on the screen. The device then can draw it’s graphics on top of that. Because of some technical magic with sensors and code – called SLAM – the device can track its movement in space and even map the real world into 3D objects. The movement allows us to see all side of virtual objects.
The biggest drawback of this solution is that you have to hold the device in your hands when actively exploring. Solutions like Misterine App do allow a compromise, but allowing you to ‘freeze’ the view, real and virtual, at important views. The device can then be set down to perform the action with AR reference image still available.
The huge advantage is that nearly every person has a device available and with them.
Head worn devices
2 Smart glasses – AR informational displays
AR glasses for information display have one huge benefit, the hands are free. You are wearing it and seamlessly using it. Generally, this class of AR glasses has a single display. The important difference to the next class of AR glasses is the displays are intended primarily for text and simple graphics, usually with fairly small display resolutions.
Most have built-in voice recognition these days. Buttons on the headset or on small extra devices provide additional interaction capabilities. They are generally quite light as they are designed for hours of use, up to a full shift of use.
When people think of Augmented Reality and about AR glasses there is confusion between this class of glasses and the next. These are information displays that are worn. While the information is generally about objects in front or around the wearer, that visual information is not intertwined with the object. It does not enhance or augment the object, it only provides the wearer with information, usually textual.
3 3D AR glasses (see-through)
3D AR glasses display graphics in front of both eyes to create a truly 3D view of the graphics. Just like in reality, each eye gets a slightly different view of the virtually generated objects, providing a “stereoscopic” view of the object. In this manner the objects are seen as if they were there. This allows us to augment (add to) what is already there with compute graphics.
At least compared to the MR Headset category, these solutions are light-weight. Most current headsets offload the weight, the batteries, to belt worn devices or your own mobile phone. The processing of the graphics is also done by those devices. Many of these devices now look like a clear sunglasses.
There are two main drawback of this technological solution. The first is that the virtual objects are semi-transparent. They cannot completely block out the objects behind it. The second
The technology is particularly good a presenting abstract information in 3D form. An example of this is showing a ‘ghost’ screw driver that shows the user exactly which bolts they are to loosen. The ghost screw driver is overlaid on the actual object doing its job. It appears to unscrew the bolt and the user can still see the physical bolt. What it doesn’t do well is show you a new kitchen design on top of your old kitchen. You see both which creates visual confusion on multiple levels.
4 MR Headsets (VR + video passthrough)
What today is sometimes marketed as MR Headsets and occasionally AR headsets use a technological approach called video-through AR. Video from cameras placed in front of the eyes provide the view of the real world and we augment it by drawing over the top of the image. This is the same technological approach used in Mobile Devices, but with 2 cameras and the display being directly for each eye. As with the 3D AR glasses, we can get a true 3D impression of the computer generated objects.
Advantages of this method for a head worn devices is that we can generally get full depth information allowing us to ‘hide’ virtual objects behind real objects. This is not possible with the see-through method of other AR glasses. With MR devices, we can hide our current physical kitchen and see the space with the new augmented kitchen.
The main disadvantages of this technology are the increased weight & camera offset. Both the weight and camera offset can lead to increased cyber-sickness and reduce the time users can comfortably experience this type of AR.
5 AR Installations
There are several different technologies we will lump under “installations”. These are larger scale displays and visual effects. They are built into the real world to provide the AR experience instead of being on the individual. In the commercial sphere they are often called AR digital signage.
Examples of such installations include overlays in museums, that augment the display piece with information or even with graphics that display what an object would have looked like originally (particularly when damaged). A commercial use is AR mirrors used in the beauty and fashion industry. These are large scale versions of those AR filters most are familiar with that add silly things to our faces on our phones.
One of the biggest advantage of installations is that they are physically obvious for the person experiencing them. While mobile AR can often achieve the same thing, it is not always obvious for people they can us it. Other advantages include not having people get our their phones, download apps, and having more control of the data being used.
Conclusion
Augmented Reality comes in different flavors and one important factor is the display. In this post we looked at the 5 Augmented Reality display types and discussed their advantages and disadvantages. Picking the right AR display type can enhance effectiveness of AR or distract from its power when the wrong display type is deployed.