What is Augmented Reality

-: Hey, what's up guys? Welcome back. In this video, I'll explain you the concept of Augmented Reality. So according to Wikipedia's definition, "Augmented reality is a technology that superimposes computer generated images on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view." Now obviously, the above definition was a bit difficult to understand. So let me explain Augmented Reality or AR, in simple terms. The word augmented is basically originated from the word augment, which means to add something. So in Augmented Reality technology, we are augmenting something or we are adding something inside the real world. That is, we are adding a computer generated 2D graphics or 3D objects inside a real world. Now for viewing these computer generated graphics, you either acquire an handheld device, for example a smartphone, or an head's up display. For example, Microsoft HoloLens or Meta 2. Devices like HoloLens, put Augmented Reality objects straight in front of your face. The HoloLens and Meta 2 head's up display are way too costly when compared with smartphone devices. HoloLens is currently priced at $3,000, and Meta 2 is priced at $1,500. The best example of Augmented Reality is the Pokemon GO game. In this game, you first have to move to a particular location where the Pokemon is located. And upon reaching that place, you can see a Pokemon image inside your smartphone through the smartphone's camera. For experiencing Augmented Reality inside your smartphone, your smartphone must contain a camera sensor, GPS sensor, accelerometer sensor, and compass sensor. On top of this, your smartphone should also have significant processing power. That is, it must have good CPU, GPU, RAM, et cetera. The head's up devices like HoloLens, also consist of all these sensors. So after explaining you Augmented Reality in simple terms, next, let's look at the different types of Augmented Reality. So Augmented Reality can be classified in four types. Marker-based Augmented Reality, Markerless Augmented Reality, Projection-based Augmented Reality, and Superimposition-based Augmented Reality. In Marker-based Augmented Reality system, you have to keep a marker in front of the smartphone's camera. The marker can be in the form of a QR code or a 2D image. When this marker is recognized by the camera, we can see a digital 3D object or virtual object on top of this marker. Marker-based Augmented Reality system is also referred as Image Recognition Augmented Reality, as we are basically recognizing an image over here. Next, we have the Markerless Augmented Reality. Markerless Augmented reality, as the name suggest, do not require any marker or image for its working. But instead, it detects the surface plane, that is the floor, and on top of the surface plane, we can place augmented objects. Markerless Augmented Reality is also used in Location-based AR applications. Pokemon GO is the best example of Markerless AR, as the Pokemon GO takes input from the GPS sensor of your smartphone. And when you reach at the place where the Pokemon is shown in the map, you can see the digital Pokemon image. Next, we have the Projection-based Augmented Reality. So Projection-based Augmented Reality basically requires a small projector, and this projector projects light on any surface. Google Glass is example of Projection-based AR. Google Glass consisted of a mini projector which project light on a small prism. And because of this, we were able to see augmented data like time, weather information, and even location data in front of our eyes. A couple of years back, I had written an article on my website covering the working of the Google class. You can check the link in the resource section to know more about the working of the Google Glass. The fourth type of Augmented Reality, is Superimposition-based Augmented Reality. Superimposition-based Augmented Reality, is also called as Object Tracking Augmented Reality. In Superimposition-based Augmented Reality, we replace the original view of the object with a new augmented view. For example, projecting a car 3D model on top of an actual car object. So guys, I hope from this video, you would have understood the basics of Augmented Reality. And in the next video, I'll first explain you what is Virtual Reality, and then we will look at the differences between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.