Who knew that Augmented Reality turned 50 in 2018? When Ivan Sutherland created a head-mounted display back in 1968 that used cutting-edge computer graphics of the time to show users simple wireframe drawings, few could’ve predicted that it would be the first building block to what would become an industry worth over $1 billion.
But today technology has advanced to the point where AR can be utilised in a range of businesses. The gaming industry catapulted it into public awareness and captured the imaginations of kids (and big kids) worldwide. They ventured out into the brave new world to pursue 150 cute virtual monsters in Niantic’s wildly successful Pokemon Go, which was released as an app in 2016 and downloaded by over 750 million people within its first year.
Having digital images and information generated and superimposed into reality has proved to be extremely appealing to users, while developers clamber to help the technology realise its benefits across a vast number of different industries. Here, we’ve identified seven areas where AI is soon to make its presence felt.
1. Healthcare
Augmented Reality has the potential to revolutionise the way diagnoses are conducted and how industry professionals are trained.
Patients conditions can be quickly found by overlaying CT scans and other information over their body in real-time. AR could also mean the end of endoscopic cameras and other similarly invasive procedures, thanks to the use of apparatus like Google Glass guiding surgeons while being fed the vital details they need.
There are already two apps on the market that aim to reduce the processes involved in training and surgery greatly. A surgeon can be guided by a more experienced colleague remotely via AR Glasses. The app can project the surgeon’s hands onto the patient as a way of helping them with the process.
AccuVein is another excellent piece of AR in action that helps doctors and nurses locate the veins of patients swiftly and accurately by superimposing their location on top of the individual’s skin.
2. Manufacturing
In the vast world of manufacturing, AR has found great success in instructional projections.
Swedish car manufacturer, Volvo, have been experimenting with using Microsoft’s HoloLens to project visual guides on assembly as the user works on the factory floor. The key aspect of this technology is that it eliminates the need for PDF-based guides that employees are in danger of forgetting when it comes to practical engineering work.
While on warehouse floors, SmartPick has been developed to minimise the time taken to locate inventory and sort packages by overlaying relevant information of any registered item back to a user in AR glasses.
3. Education
A fully immersive learning experience has been made possible by AR. The visual style of Augmented Reality has particularly helped children who are much more comfortable learning through images and video while developmentally challenged kids can benefit by feeling more involved with the experience the technology has to offer too.
The British Museum has been utilising AR since 2009 to create educational games that involve children learning about ancient Greek statues that tell a story via the use of Samsung tablets. Since then, more museums have been following in their footsteps by using applications that tap into a user’s mobile camera to provide information on the artefacts that they are looking at.
AR is able to make learning an interactive experience that stimulates young minds. Through technology like Light Guide Systems PRO, users can point their AR-enabled devices at images to learn all about them, and in the near future, we can expect this quality of learning to come to classrooms en masse.
Augmented Reality can also impact the online courses industry by allowing people to learn through experience. For example, a simple video course on Udemy on how to start a blog can be transformed into something far more interactive with AR.
4. Retail
Augmented Reality is the dream tool for marketers everywhere, and it didn’t take long before the tech was utilised to help sell products. The great thing about combining reality and virtual reality is that products can be superimposed anywhere for the benefit of customers. IKEA has put AR to use by creating 3D models of their catalogue items that can appear instantly in a shopper’s room to help inform their decision – all through combining their app with a smartphone camera.
Likewise, clothing retailer GAP has created augmented reality mannequins that users can place clothes on to see what they look like as if they’re stood in front of you. Here, customers can pick the exact model dimensions and see how clothes fit. Other retailers like UNIQLO have taken the step of superimposing clothes on the customer for an even more immersive AR experience.
5. Gaming and Entertainment
Gaming and AR became formed an almost instant bond that built up to the all-encompassing craze of Niantic’s Pokemon Go. But Eye Toy Play, a game for Sony’s PlayStation 2 placed gamers in a virtual world to perform addictive tasks like window cleaning and fighting imaginary opponents all the way back in 2003.
But with AR hardware ever-improving and similarly so with the wealth of information that can be processed on enabled devices, the future of Augmented Reality gaming promises to interact even deeper with users in the near future.
The same goes for the entertainment industry. InAir is a product from SeeSpace that can bring television to life by overlaying information about any program or movie around the TV set in real-time. When the technology works out what is being watched, users can select from a range of related facts, stats and articles to look at as it hovers next to the show to not interrupt their viewing.
6. Military
Augmented Reality is already being used to enhance military training in ways that improve situational awareness and the processing of information.
Augmented Immersive Team Training (AITT) works by projecting particular training scenarios into combat helmets with AR-enabled goggles to place training scenarios into the user’s field of vision, while the US army has developed Tactical Augmented Reality (TAR) which uses tactical mapping overlays to help soldiers that are training in combative situations.
7. Automotive
We’ve already touched on how AR is helping automotive production lines across the world by providing real-time information and instructions to manufacturers on the factory floor, but the use of Augmented Reality crosses many avenues of the industry to great effect.
In the design process, many automakers are using AR to design cars and see their designs superimposed into real life before getting to work on building prototypes, while many manufacturers use AR constructs in their showrooms for customers to peruse.
Augmented Reality is also starting to become prevalent in the driving experience, with cars using the medium to display information on windscreens – which could soon become a key feature to the future arrival of driverless cars onto the roads.
