For many of us, it’s still an unusual and abstract science-fiction concept, often seen as the stuff of futuristic science-fiction movies. In actual fact, augmented reality, virtual reality, and self-help holograms all already exist today. They’re just not used by most people. Because of our focus being on the future, this is understandable.
When people think about augmented reality, perhaps their first thoughts are of games. But this isn’t what it’s primarily used for. In most cases, people imagine a scene with a car that drives itself around the street. It might be in the shape of a vehicle or even a full-scale home renovation project, complete with air conditioning, heating, windows, etc.
Augmented reality is a bit like self-driving cars, except you’re also in control. It uses camera sensors to allow users to see a scene through the eyes of a computer. The problem that most people have though is that it can be difficult to describe what’s actually seen. This is where smartphone technology comes into play.
Smartphones have the ability to combine digital reality and mobile communication, allowing users to surf the web, access location-based services, check emails, play games, and virtually everything they’d expect from a smartphone. But because these phones are designed to be used while you’re on the go, they have to be able to act like a portable terminal. This means that they must incorporate something that remotely operates the computer it’s connected to. Enter augmented reality and the ability for smartphones to act as computers. The next logical step would be for smart phones to be able to act as computer hardware.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have already succeeded in achieving this through their work on hololens. Hololens is a type of artificial intelligence platform that uses the phone’s camera to map the user’s location in real time. It then merges this with data from the user’s GPS, accelerometer, and inertial navigation system to give the illusion that the user is walking around the room while conversing with other individuals in the same room. Just like smartphones, the data from the devices is fed into an artificial intelligence system, which uses it to map the user’s position in three-dimensional space. This allows the holographic display to change based on the surroundings.
This new technology is particularly useful for business owners. In addition to giving their customers the impression that the business is more accessible and convenient, it also allows them to track their sales and service staff in an efficient manner. Business owners who want to incorporate augmented reality into their smartphones will need to buy hololens compatible smartphones that already have this technology built in. However, if they do not have these devices, they will be able to purchase smartphones that use a technology so that they can display images directly onto their phones.
Augmented reality is advantageous because it lets users do tasks in the real world while interacting with digital information that exists only in the computer. This integration bridges the gap between two worlds, letting users do things in the real world and take virtual experiences with augmented reality in the palm of their hands. This integration could pave the way for more technologically advanced smartphones, which would allow consumers to combine their real world experiences with virtual ones.
The potential applications of this technology are virtually endless. Business owners who want to use augmented reality on their smartphones would simply have to go to any smart phone store and purchase a smartphone with the required hardware and software. Users will then be able to interact with their computers in a way that they would in the real world, using their smartphones’ cameras to take pictures, videos, and experiences in the virtual world. Even without the smart glasses, this technology will still greatly benefit people’s lives. Users may be able to use their phones as a virtual guide, taking them from one location to another, or perhaps allowing them to drive through certain situations or obstacles.