posted by admin on Jun 6
Imagine holding up a box of LEGO to a screen – and seeing a 3D image of the fully assembled model!
That is exactly what you can do right now, not just with that one ‘toy’ brand but with dozens of others – and the technology doesn’t just stop at games and gadgets – this new world of imaging could be appearing right in front of you in the street!
Soon, we won’t have to just guess what things will look like when made, we won’t have to guess where that repair store is on a busy high street – and you won’t even have to take your chances in a new restaurant without seeing the reviews of it’s past customers!
Augmented Reality (AG) – although first invented in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland – was truely brought to life in 1999 with the use of software that detected and reacted to ‘markers’ for image tracking. Then it was developed the following year as a great way to bring text books to life with 3-dimensional images being more helpful than flat pictures – and basically – why stop there?
AG has been used for years on the TV – and watching the football teams pop up on screen as the players ‘warm up’ is a classic example; and showing the ’finish line’ over the river in a boat race is another ‘everyday’ use. But we didn’t want an inanimate object – we wanted to be in charge of the images.
Initially driven by sales of merchandise, these AG software packages allowed consumers to ‘play’ with their gadget before buying it so to speak. They could see images of their preferred product and even turn it around to see it from all angles before spending any money – even comparing the finished product to a similar one.
This is a huge step forward from the AG systems that need head mounted displays (HMD’s) to work. Think back to when we thought that seeing computer information on the inside of your glasses was amazing – now it looks like you don’t even need the glasses!
The Future:
Well, think about films where computer screens seem to be on a whole table, the wall or even ‘floating’ in mid air and you can use your hands to move sections of it. This could be coming very soon.
There are currently people working on whole room set-ups (spatial displays) that will allow you to overlay certain images into the space given – say for example looking at a new bathroom suite in your actual bathroom – try before you buy type of thing! A new kitchen, lounge, office suite – the list is endless once you think about it. But obviously it will have scientific uses first, like designing new hospitals, spaceships and whole environments maybe?
It is already being used in manufacturing – where the HMD’s contain step by step instructions that are triggered by the component parts and medical breakthroughs are also allowing layers of the human body to be seen simultaneously by surgeons to complete operations faster and safer.
So rather than a virtual reality – where you step into a computer generated world – this new reality is where the computers move into your world, and hopefully improve it!
However, I can imagine a hacker getting in to one of the programs and then a HMD AG fan could find New York City with wild animals or even aliens around every corner!
Source: BBC Focus Magazine.
