Technology moves fast, so before the real adoption of augmented reality starts, the progress is made on phones and tablets – with new development kits like ARCore from Google and ARKit from Apple.
What is augmented reality?
If you know or even tried augmented reality you can skip this part. Augmented reality, or AR in short, is the combination of real and virtual worlds.
It’s basically some 3D models overlayed over the camera image.
This can be used in a lot of different ways. It can really look like the Object is there in front of you.
The first time wow-effect is incredible.
Monitors floating around in the office and playing chess on the table without the board. Stuff we thought was only able to exist in movies, can now be easily created.
There are a lot of good augmented reality apps around. Many are very popular.
You can go to your app store right now, search for augmented reality apps and be introduced to many great experiences.
The amount of different things you can do with the idea is crazy.
You likely have already seen it used in Snapchat filters, or in games like Pokémon GO.
You have also likely heard about virtual reality. Virtual reality sounds similar, but they are not the same – and that is good.
Virtual reality takes over your vision and simulates a different environment. It is great for consuming content and playing games.
For the day to day life it is not that useful. But who uses augmented reality for anything else than playing around with furniture in the ikea app or impressing their colleagues?
That’s where augmented reality glasses come into play.
Augmented reality glasses?
There will be a thing that pushes the adoption of augmented reality to the masses. And that will be, when the big companies invest in augmented reality glasses. You have seen prototypes like the Google Glasses, Microsoft HoloLens 1 & 2 and even the Magic Leap.
But never before were the processors and small devices this powerful. With this new technological progress, new, smaller and more capable augmented reality glasses will soon be released. It is likely that soon everyday life will be unimaginable without them.
Think about walking around and reading an e-mail, while letting Google Maps navigate you around. All info virtually displayed in your glasses, integrated into the environment. And if you want you can always switch to an virtual reality mode, for when you want to watch a nice Netflix movie.
A different, more important use, is in the medical field. Doctors can use it to display critical information, directly to where its needed.
Engineers can use it to note information or even guide someone else.
The demo
appsforglasses.com will be the home for many great things. While the real awesome stuff is currently being worked on, a little demo configurator is available now, completely online in your browser and free to use.
You can now see how a picture would look on your wall without actually having it.
The first thing you need to do is select an image file. You can upload one from your device, or you can choose one of our example image. An image can be cropped and edited after uploading.
The next step is setting the real world scale. This is important, because – depending on your device – it can be impossible to do later. If you want it to be 1 meter wide you just adjust the slider to 100 cm. It’s as simple as that.
Now you can just export it and after converting, you will be directed to the export.
You will see a preview of the picture and if you have a modern phone, there will be a button with the text “Activate AR” visible. This will open the augmented reality dialog, which comes with your operating system or browser (These native apps are called SceneViewer for Android and QuickLook for iOS). If you just want to try the AR part without the configurator, you can view an already configurated example export.
If hold your phone camera correctly and have it facing a wall, the picture will appear.
Just like magic!
The website will serve as a platform for big ideas. Many different concepts with great potential will follow. The next step in our roadmap is the possibility to create complex product configurators with a direct integration into online E-Commerce websites. The first step will be a SquareSpace plugin.
When augmented reality glasses will be integrated in our life, choosing and configurating products on your table can be a great way to shop online. It enables the shop owners a new and futureproof way to display products. And it will always have the wow-effect.
Most products can be modelled in 3D and if correctly converted, displayed in augmented reality. An example would be a customizable bike, or a nice coffee machine.
In preparation for the many apps that will be created for the augmented reality glasses, Apple, Google, Microsoft and many more created platforms and creation kits for use in apps. So naturally most AR apps are for phones. Phones will get better hardware and software, just so developers will jump on the train and fill the app store with high quality apps. The tools which these apps are created with, enable a quick transition to the glasses later. That’s why it is important to select the right platforms and technologies you bet on, when you expand into the new world of augmented reality.
The Design
There is no better way to interact with a machine than with physical elements and buttons. Completely new user interfaces will have to be created. They will be nothing like what they are now. A checkbox for example could be integrated as a virtual toggle button.
The future is lead by art and good design. The focus should be on making tools that make it easier to create content for new technologies like AR or MR (Mixed reality).
Experiments in collaboration with businesses with different ideas should be supported.
If you have any questions or feedback, you can send an e-mail to hello@appsforglasses.com
or use the contact form.