Many newcomers to the extended reality (XR) landscape are asking the question, "What is Augmented Reality?" The answer to this is simple: it's all around us, literally and figuratively.
Truthfully, it's the most widely-used form of XR, with virtual and mixed reality coming in second and third, respectively. Simply put, AR allows its users to supply digital overlays of data, creative content, or holographic images with unlimited potential. This can include images, animations, text, and documents.
According to a Market Research report, the global AR market is set to top $88.4 billion USD by 2026. The market is set to surpass this after Qualcomm revealed its Snapdragon AR2 platform. This will provide the smart glasses market with a bespoke, lightweight, and snappy processing platform.
Industry verticals worldwide leverage AR to complete incredible tasks such as remote guidance, education, surgery, collaboration, and entertainment. Here's more on what it can do.
What is Augmented Reality, Really?
AR and applications designed for it provide sensory information to users with spatially-anchored data. Data linked to specific positions in the physical world come to life with AR technologies.
For example, devices with global positioning systems (GPS) can place navigational directions in your field of view (FoV), either with smart glasses or smart windshields. Google, Apple, and other map programmes offer this functionality to users.
Smart glass manufacturers and solution providers like Vuzix, Google, Nreal, RealWear, Lenovo, Magic Leap, and others offer full-spectrum devices capable of agile use cases. Many carry bespoke mobile device management (MDM) and customisable platforms for multiple uses.
AR's Humble Origins
Inventors actually created the first immersive device called the Sword of Damocles, which was AR rather than VR. Technologies later improved from the 60s, when AR devices required enormous hardware components. Today's AR devices no longer resemble something in an automotive shop, but rather a device on a bedside desk.
People are now finding AR embedded in many devices. For example, most people can tap the technology with their smartphones to play Pokemon Go, which launched in 2016, or Izumi World in 2022.
In the military, fighter jets can now train with AR technologies from Red 6 against virtual combatants rather than live-fire exercises. This dramatically increases safety for pilots while saving on combustibles and firepower for training exercises.
In 2009, the MIT Media Lab group launched SixthSense, the world’s first wearable gesture interface to overlay digital information on the real world. Google also revealed the world's first smart glasses, Google Glass, in 2013. Despite the project's limited success, it paved the way for a host of fresh innovations.
How Does AR Work?
What is augmented reality, and how does it apply to today's modern-day solutions? To date, the most significant components of an AR device are:
Sensors
AR systems need to quickly relay precise information about the real world. Sensors, cameras, gyroscopes, and other components facilitate this. This real-world data is sent to platforms, apps, and other smart technology for processing and is sometimes enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI).
AR Software
AR software is the platform delivery system, consisting of apps, tools, and software developer kits (SDKs). People find it easier to create their own solutions due to SDKs like Apple's ARKit, Google's ARCore, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Spaces, among others. Other platforms from RealWear, Trimble, and Lenovo's ThinkReality suite provide these for enterprise users for unrivalled flexibility.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
To know what AR is, arguably the leader of XR computing power is Qualcomm, the company behind the cutting-edge Snapdragon AR2 platform. It divides processing power via three components: a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU), and AI chip for enhanced visualisations.
The system, combined with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ and other devices, provides immense upgrades for smart glasses. For example, this includes tethering capabilities with minimal latency, major battery and form factor boosts, and 40 percent more processing power than previous generations.
Lenses and Waveguides
AR and other XR devices are shifting to lens and imaging technologies to augment the real world. Additional head-worn form factors provide either updated pancake lenses or stronger, clearer lens manufacturing techniques for prescription lenses. Luxexcel is a major market leader in this vertical.
