Upcoming Technology - Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality

The majority of the world got a HUGE first glimpse and trial of what Augmented Reality (AR) is really like when Pokemon GO first came out in July 2016.  Prior to that AR was a very niche technology which expert were doubtful would ever become part of people's every day lives. Since the popularity of Pokemon GO, there have been multiple apps and a variety of technology available which implements AR across many different markets. As this technology becomes more widely used, AR is becoming more and more attractive to investors and consequently more research and development is going towards the booming technology.

Augmented Reality, aims to enhance our everyday lives by using technology to impose a user-generated image on your view of the "real world", which allows for increased interaction and a composite view of both. 

Apple has been a key company in the development and mainstreaming of AR. Their goal is to be able to normalise AR and implement it into every day living; this is one of their key goals with the new drop of the iOS 11. If one goes to the Apple App Store now there is a section specifically dedicated for AR apps and games. Apple's goal is to be able to bring AR to hundreds of thousands of users globally on devices that most people already have. 

What AR will look like in the future

There are already many futuristic type of AR apps available for download and some others that will be available soon, such as the IKEA app. Apps such as the one mentioned, will allow for users to be able to purchase before buying, for example, the IKEA app allows the user to place the product in the consumer's home to "test" if the product fits and if they want to purchase it or not. This will hopefully soon also be a theme that will be applied when shopping for clothing; many people choose not to buy items online, as they do not know what the item will look like on if they aren't able to try it. If business' invest in having a virtual change room where people can try on these clothing items, it would boom the e-commerce industry even further.

Likewise this technloogy will be useful for learning and teaching purposes. For example, in Australia there is a project that uses AR to display an image of an extinct animal. These types of use for AR will hopefully become increasingly common and should be able to be used in zoo's, museums and historically renowned areas. For example Rome's Colosseum could use this technology and when tourists arrive they can use their smartphones to see what it looked like 500 years ago, what the people wore and maybe even a remake of the events that took place at the time. 

Moreover, besides using devices such as smartphones or tablets to implement AR into our every day lives, other companies such as Upskill, are trying to develop platforms compatible with smart glasses, this could change the "game" in terms of a much more user friendly approach, however, it would also allow for this technology to become a much more "everyday" thing. Eventually we might even see this smart technology built into contacts! That is a very futuristic thought and one that our generation might never get to experience, but it would be interesting to live in a world where AR becomes part of our daily reality and almost a requirement to stay "in the loop".

Alessandra

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfMCTOQd6A#action=share

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/10/upskill-skylight-update-aimed-at-bringing-augmented-reality-to-mainstream/?ncid=mobilenavtrend

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/08/apple-aims-to-take-augmented-reality-mainstream.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-04/augmented-reality-project-aims-to-enhance-tasmanian-tourism/8775796
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfP6KEzyOUUqp1HriFj7n-KaPLNKyR003-ACe8N3s-K0DwuNMQPQEXDNvF7epmXFEHXC1quUpOSc3fcoPrFXCoV7Fy3C-prfnCda7dBAlRuMNMkqqWDRfeqqgUZZbUsMtwx0MunWXla0/s1600/cara+bermain+pokemon+go+1.jpg
http://img.zebulon.fr/150x100/casque-realite-virtuelle-microsoft-windows-10-hololens-1436442601_150x100.jpg
https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/augmented-reality-iphone.jpg?quality=98&strip=all&w=344&h=200&crop=1
https://amasf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ikea1.jpg
http://www.juic3dit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/how-augmented-reality-can-help-in-history-lessons.jpg
https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/skylight_material-handling.png