Often thought of as some form of futuristic technology, augmentedreality has in fact been around for years. Perhaps the earliest example of ARcan be seen in the first digital HUD displays that started appearing inmilitary fighter jets in the early 1990s. These rudimentary systems gave pilotsquick and easy access to information such as the plane’s altitude, direction,and speed. Fast forward to today and AR technology is all around us, from simplephoto filters on our smartphones to its uses in medicine – it might surpriseyou to learn that most of us use AR daily.
Mobile devices are some of the easiest and most convenientways for people to access augmented reality, however, they’re not the only waythis technology can be harnessed. Thanks to wearable devices like Microsoft’sHoloLens, AR immersion is becoming more convenient and more natural. While itdoesn’t look wearables will be replacing smartphones and mobile devices anytimesoon, both they and the overall technology have huge potential. The followingare just two ways AR is currently being used.
Augmented Reality Wayfinding
The introductionof GPS navigation and GPS-enabled digital maps revolutionized navigation. The factthat we could simply input our destination and follow a digital map, ratherthan rely on intuition and paper maps was a groundbreaking change – and ARwayfinding is taking this to the next level. Contrary to GPS navigation’sreliance on satellites to determine your position, AR wayfinding uses digitalwaypoints in order to determine a user’s location and help them get from pointA to point B. Moreover, AR wayfinding can be incorporated with existing ARtechnologies and functions to further enhance a user’s overall navigationexperience.
The technology canbe used both indoors and outdoors but is particularly useful when helping usersnavigate complex buildings where GPS coverage may be an issue. Users candownload event or building-specific AR wayfinding apps onto their smartphonesand use them to easily navigate to specific areas. Furthermore, AR wayfindingapps can also benefit event organizers and businesses alike as they can helpstreamline foot traffic within a building or a venue, much like traffic alertson GPS navigation apps, and even answer any questions users may frequently askevent or building staff.
AR in Education
It’s a known fact that we all learn differently and, upuntil now, educators or teachers were responsible for choosing a suitableinstruction style based on their students’ needs. AR’s versatility andflexibility have opened a whole new world of possibilities to enhance students’understanding of complex topics and, owing to AR technology’s inclusion ineducation, educators are now able to adapt education and training to suit awide variety of learning styles.
AR’s attention-grabbing nature is especially useful in aneducational setting and its fundamental interactivity enables active learningapproaches, which have been proven to better communicate messages oreducational content. Last but not least, as a result of technological advancesin both hardware and software, AR technology in education is becomingincreasingly cheaper, making it an attractive and cost-effective solution tosolve issues that have been plaguing the education sector for years.
As time goes by, there’s simply no denying that augmented reality is set to become a big part of our future daily lives. If you’re a brand or organization looking to establish your presence, get in touch with Untitled Project today and find out how we can help you stand out from the crowd.
