Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR), a technology that blends real-world image with computer-generated image, all rendered in real time. Video games and cell phones are increasingly making use of Augmented Reality.
This technology captures images, with a video camera, from the real world and add elements such as text descriptions, GPS data, graphics and sounds. This is not a simple video editing, because all this is done the moment the images are captured. A software does the image recognition and add information based on the captured image. Below is an example of Augmented Reality:
Figure 1 - Information about the Statue of Liberty In Figure 1, when the phone´s camera is pointed at the Statue of Liberty, A Augmented Reality software recognizes the image and add text with details about the statue.
As we see, with the help of Augmented Reality technology, the information about the user´s real world can become more interactive.
This is an example of a mobile application that allows you to add information into the image captured. Some manufacturers like Motorola, Nokia, among others, on their Web sites offer software that can perform this task. Many Augmented Reality software uses GPS and image recognition software (software that can process and identify elements within the image as the face of a person, objects, buildings, etc.).. For these reasons it is possible to add information to the image elements.
In Holland, you can download a mobile application called Layar. This application is able to identify restaurants, bars and other places in the neighborhood overlapping information about them on the phone display. In addition to recognizing nearby establishments there are additional features that can be displayed, such as:
- Shortcut to phone call
- Shortcut to access the website
- Comments from people who went through the same place
Soon, through augmented reality, you can point the phone´s camera to people around you, and information about the profiles of those on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks added to the image will appear. This software, which search for the image of a person already exists, but do this through mobile phone is not feasible due to its processing speed and network connection.
Finally, there are numerous other applications of augmented reality that go beyond those presented here. A good reference is the website of wikipedia.
by Eng. Geraldo Novais is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
