Augmented Reality Devices: Features
Unlike virtual reality, where manufacturers generally build towards one form factor (a headset that covers the head/eyes, headphones, and a pair of controllers), augmented reality is still trying to find the form factor that fits it best. From glasses to headphones, from large tablets to mobile phones to projectors and head-up displays (HUDs), augmented reality is available today in a number of different forms.
It’s entirely possible that any or all of these form factors would work well with AR implementations. It’s also possible that none of these are the right form factor for AR, and that some other implementations will be released and prevail as the best way to experience them. (Contacts that can be worn in augmented reality, perhaps?) Only time will tell, but in the meantime, users can take stock of some of the most popular executions currently available.
Due to the variety of AR form factors, AR experiences cannot be clearly separated into high/medium/low level experiences. The current augmented reality experience varies greatly across each form factor, and each form factor serves a different market.
Augmented Reality: Mobile Devices
Although it can be said to be minimal for augmented reality experiences, mobile devices currently cover the largest segment of the augmented reality market. Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Yelp, and Pokémon Go have offered rudimentary forms of augmented reality for quite some time now, although most users may not have realized this. Every time you find yourself adding bunny ears to your Snapchat photo or find a Pikachu wandering through your local park, you’ve been using a rudimentary form of mobile augmented reality. The image below shows a user video (real world) powered by a digital overlay within Instagram.
While creating augmented reality experiences on mobile devices has been possible in the past, the release of ARKit and ARCore has made doing so much easier for developers. ARKit and ARCore are the primary development packages for building AR-based apps for iOS and Android, respectively. They have a similar feature set that focuses on making digital holograms placed in the user’s environment simple for developers, and making these holograms look more realistic to the end user – features such as plane detection (to allow objects to be correctly positioned in space) or ambient light estimation (which detects real-world lighting It allows developers to mimic that lighting on their digital holograms).
ARKit and ARCore are not devices; They are software development packages that developers use to write applications for specific devices. They interact with iOS and Android devices, but no two technologies aren’t the same hardware, and that’s a good thing. Instead of having to purchase a separate device to experience mobile augmented reality apps from Apple and Google, you can try it out with your existing mobile device, provided it meets the minimum technical requirements for ARCore or ARKit.
augmented reality headphones
Mobile is the entry point for many augmented reality users, but it offers the lowest possible experience. Mobile phone form factor can lead to inappropriate user experience. The user is asked to hold the device constantly and take a picture of the physical world, on which digital zoom is placed. In addition, the form factors of current mobile devices only provide a small window (screen size) into the combined real and digital worlds, much smaller than the user’s full field of view.
The headset can provide a more immersive user experience for augmented reality applications. Some examples include Microsoft HoloLens, Meta 2, and Magic Leap. This brings us to the first hiccup with regard to AR headsets — and speaks to how far behind AR headsets in their development cycle compared to VR headsets as of this writing.
While these three are probably the three most popular augmented reality headsets, none of them are a mass consumer device yet. HoloLens are available now, but they are marketed to businesses and organizations, not consumers. Meta 2 is now available, but only as a developer, not a full version. And while a lot has been made of Magic Leap, its impressive team and investor group, as of this writing, the Creator Edition of its headphones has yet to ship to developers (although Magic Leap has announced a shipment date for 2018).
At a high level, many augmented reality headsets appear to take the form of large headbands or helmets with a transparent visor attached to the front. The headset displays images on the surface of the glasses to encapsulate reality with digital content. The Magic Leap One takes a slightly different approach; Form factor of a pair of glasses and light fields to display content to its users.
Some headphones (such as the HoloLens) are completely self-contained units, offering greater freedom of movement at the expense of processing power. Others (like Meta 2) keep you tied to a PC to run the experience, sacrificing movement for the processing power that a desktop PC can provide. The Magic Leap One exists as a bridge between the two, requiring a Lightpack (a small wearable computer) to power its Lightwear goggles.
Windows Mixed Reality headphones could be an interesting addition to this collection. With its approach to virtual and augmented reality, Microsoft appears to be signaling the belief that the virtual and augmented reality experience will eventually merge together. Instead of projecting onto a transparent lens, as HoloLens and Meta 2 do, current Windows Mixed Reality headsets include front cameras that can act as a corridor for an augmented reality experience.
However, this functionality has not yet been developed. As of this writing, Windows Mixed Reality headsets only work as VR devices, without augmented reality features. Microsoft’s naming and positioning seem to indicate that these devices will eventually function as more than just VR headsets, but only time will tell if that’s really the case.
The table below compares the “Big Three” speakers in augmented reality. As you can see, there are currently no strict specifications for the final form factor of the Magic Leap versus the more established headphones from Microsoft and Meta.
augmented reality glasses
In the near future, the best way to experience augmented reality may be to wear simple glasses. The HoloLens and Meta 2 are currently in line with the larger mask lines; There is still a compelling version of augmented reality glasses. The Magic Leap One brings us closer, but it’s still a fairly bulky pair of goggles. Google Glass and the recently released Intel Vaunt are two of the most famous examples of a simple implementation of augmented reality glasses.
However, the current implementation of glasses such as Google Glass is nothing more than a wearable display. They lack a large field of view, graphic capabilities, the ability to “place” digital content in the physical environment, have very limited resolution and very little interaction. The image below shows a person using the touchpad on the side of their Google Glass to scroll through a timeline of on-screen content, located in the small mirror in front of the user’s eye.
Although interesting in their own right, HUDs like Google Glass are often not considered true augmented reality devices. With the launch of ARKit and Apple CEO Tim Cook’s praise of augmented reality as the future of technology, speculation abounds about Apple’s plans to produce its own pair of augmented reality glasses. This has not yet been confirmed by Apple. Currently, the availability of augmented reality content is limited to augmented reality for mobile devices and a small number of augmented reality headsets.