What augmented reality is
- Augmented reality (AR) adds digital content, such as images, 3D models, text or sound, on top of the real world. It is usually seen through the camera of a phone or tablet, or through a headset.
- Virtual reality (VR) is different: it replaces the real world with a completely computer-generated one, usually through a headset.
How AR works
- The device's camera sees the real world, and its sensors (such as GPS, a gyroscope and an accelerometer) track where it is and how it moves. Software places the digital content in the right place.
- Marker-based AR shows content when the camera recognises a marker, such as an image or a QR code. Markerless AR places content on surfaces the device detects, or uses GPS to place it at a location (location-based AR).
Uses of AR
- Shops: trying on clothes, or seeing how furniture would look in your room. Education: exploring 3D models of the heart or the planets. Entertainment: games such as Pokémon GO, and filters on social media.
- Navigation: arrows over a live camera view. Industry: repair instructions shown over machinery. Museums and tourism: extra information about exhibits and places.
Designing an AR prototype
- Start with the client's requirements, the purpose and the target audience.
- Plan with design tools, such as storyboards or visualisation diagrams, and list the assets you need: images, 3D models, sound, video and text.
- Check the law: assets may be protected by copyright, so use your own, or ones you have permission or a suitable licence to use. Record where each asset came from in an asset log.
- Build the prototype, test it against the requirements, and use feedback from users to improve it.
Key terms
- Augmented reality
- Digital content shown on top of a view of the real world.
- Virtual reality
- A completely computer-generated world that replaces the real one.
- Marker-based AR
- AR that shows content when the camera recognises a marker, such as an image.
- Markerless AR
- AR that places content using detected surfaces or GPS, without a marker.
- Location-based AR
- AR that uses GPS to show content at particular places.
- Asset
- A resource used in a product, such as an image, 3D model or sound.
- Prototype
- An early working version of a product, used to test ideas.
- Asset log
- A record of each asset used and where it came from.
Practise Using augmented reality to present information: 12 questions