Augmented Reality – Latest Trends & Innovations

Image source: www.starlive.nl

Augmented reality, a technology with an ability that lets users presume non-existing things as real or an illusion that allow users to see a computer generated image in the view of real world with the help of supplemented sound, video, and graphics etc. The first augmented head mounted display was discovered by scientist Ivan Sutherlands in 1968. 

Till then, the technology has gone through many modifications and now it has become a part of our daily lives. Whether it is gaming, retail, healthcare, education, head-mounted devices, handheld devices, online shopping, computer software or anything else, there is hardly any field left which is not experimenting with augmented reality. A kind of race is happening among big technology companies to develop something more interesting, advanced and useful than the opponent company with the technology.

Recently, many new innovations have occurred in the field of augmented reality. Not only the big giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Google are experimenting with the technology, but there are many other companies as well that want to try their hands on it.

Image source:slidesharecdn.com 

As it is visible in the image given above that revenues associated with augmented reality have increased in a dramatic manner within the last few years. The trend is likely to continue for the upcoming years as well. Let’s now talk about some of the interesting and most recent inventions done by tech giants.

Latest Trends in Augmented Reality

Google: According to the latest news from Engadget.com Google has recently published a patent application that was filed by the company more than a year ago, i.e. in March 2014. The company intends to make a wearable device that will be easier to wear, efficient and will produce more real and involving experience than ever before.

The company’s interest in this technology can also be perceived by looking at its investment of $542 million in Magic Leap (a private company dedicated to bring innovations in virtual and augmented reality), as mentioned in news given by techcrunch.com. 

Apple: As per the latest update Apple has  bigger plans to register a strong presence in this field. If speculations are to be believed Apple is working on its augmented reality headset, as mentioned in techtimes.com. The company intends to make its own augmented reality system, for which the hiring of augmented & virtual reality experts has started already (including ex-project manager of Microsoft’s Hololens).

Earlier this year the company also acquired an augmented reality start-up company named Metaio that is based in Germany. It seems like Apple is soon going to make an important announcement of release of any device or application based on augmented reality.

Microsoft: Microsoft is passionately working on its augmented reality project that is HoloLens. It is an augmented reality headset that will enable high-definition holograms to come to life. Real world integrated with augmented reality is also called the mixed reality. The headset is likely to roll out in the market next year, i.e. in 2016.

Microsoft’s Mobile Fusion app is also a well-known project to bring augmented reality experience into the users’ personal devices by letting them click a 3d image of any object.

Disney: Disney research team has proved that augmented reality is not only something that is related to adults. But, children can also enjoy the best of this technology in their coloring notebooks. The new technology will project coloring book characters in 3D and let children enjoy real characters while doing work.

Look out for this amazing technology in the given video:

Nintendo: A well-known name in the world of gaming is working in collaboration with Pokémon Company to bring augmented reality gaming experience to the personal devices or smartphones of users. ‘Pokémon Go’ will be the name of the game that allows people to hunt for Pokémon in real life. The game is likely to spin out in the market sometime in the next year, i.e. in 2016. 

Explore the real gaming experience here:

How it is going to benefit Users?

With the invention of different augmented reality devices, users will be able to enjoy a new dimension of technology. A technology that makes everything look real that will definitely enhance the gaming experience. It can help students to better understand things by experiencing them virtually. It can prove to be a boon for healthcare to simplify operations. It can produce a real time shopping experience and much more. Overall, the possibilities are endless and users will get a lot of benefit with the technology.

Scope of Augmented Reality

If we take a look at the present scenario and talk about the future scope of augmented reality, it would not be wrong to say that the future is holding immense possibilities for the technology. It may started with a slow speed, but the development of the technology has now speed up. As given in the above mentioned information that some of the prominent tech companies are working hard and spending a lot for making a wonderful product for attracting more and more users.

We will surely see launch and declarations of different augmented reality based devices, tools or applications in coming years. The trend or craze of this technology seems to grow a lot in the near future.