Augmented reality is a revolutionary technology that takes information from digital sources and superimposes it in the real physical world. For the past few years it grew slowly and covered things like gaming, education, healthcare, marketing. Thus, the further we move through the process, AR is becoming more evident in our daily life, making a picture of the future interesting. In this article we attempt to scrutinize how AR changes our daily practices and what role it plays in the creation of a new world around us.
Augmented Reality and its uses
AR technology superimposes virtual objects on real-world scenarios and can be accessed using handheld devices such as smart phones, tablets or head mounted display devices. It employs various tangible devices such as sensors, cameras, and computers to map out the operating environment and the user, and subsequently project digital content along the mapped out environment. This technology has many different uses which include; fun and games, and business and professions.
Games like Pokémon Go, where you were able to catch imaginary animals in real places, are bringing the AR to the gaming industry. In education, some examples of AR apps are SketchyMed or BrainHQ; that is changing how a person learns through an application from passive learning to an enhanced way of learning. In health care, the applications of AR are clear, for instance, the AR-guided surgery system that enables a surgeon to see structures inside the body during a surgery hence avoiding major operations. In addition, marketing and advertising organisations are incorporating the application to AR, enhancing consumer engagement in advertising and marketing promotions.
Enhancing Everyday Life
Due to the improvement of the hardware integration of AR and making it possible for the technology market to be more accessible and cheap, its implication to most aspects of life is continuing to increase in its influence. AR is already in our daily lives in several ways, such as navigation, communication, shopping andDIY home improvement.
Navigation: Such opportunities with AR we already receive, as real-time directions, traffic information, or the overlying marks of restaurants on the smartphone screen. Google map, Waze and Apple Maps third party apps that utilizes AR to provide accurate and simple directions. This leads to safer and more efficient travelling and this in part due to the perception of the surrounding environment.
Communication: AR is also affecting human communication and information in general exchange and consumption. Through use of augmented reality in video calls or simply messaging apps we can be able to meet virtually or even see virtual environment during communication. For example, when a user is conversing through a video call with a friend, the user is likely to share a visual recipe that would add to the activity’s value.
Shopping: The use of AR in the retail industry is something that is growing because it allows for better selling experiences to the consumer. AR enables customers to understand how the products in question would look in their homes; For example, customers and be able to ‘wear’ clothes virtually or even ‘place’ furniture in their homes. Many of the well-known brands, such as IKEA now have AR features in their applications and on the web site and this changes the way of shopping.
Home Improvement: It is also used by homeowners to offer directions for improvement or repair works on house improvements and other related projects. One example is the iHandy Level app, which allows users to tap on an object in the home before using the app to level things out for a DIY project, and in apps like Houzz, the AR layer can be used to see your different pieces of furniture or decor prior to buying.
Revolutionizing Industries
As it has been seen that AR is already continually contributing to different sectors, its full potential is yet to be realized. Most industries are experiencing the dawn of a new era of change with AR technology.
1. Education: One of its strengths of AR is the ability to provide materials and adjust their complexity according to the learners involved. Furthermore, using Augmented Reality, students can carry out such concepts as simulations and virtual field trips within a class, thus not having to travel physically to understand a concept.
2. Healthcare: Even in the future the application of augmented reality will be an essential part of the development of healthcare, effective patient treatment, and education of medical personnel. As the Abdomen model improves the presentation of the internal body structures and gives real time data, the doctors and nurses can make better decisions to improve the outcome of the surgery processes. Moreover, trainee can also gains better understanding on human anatomy and medical processes through the use of AR applications.
3. Manufacturing: AR has the potential of revolutionizing the manufacturing industry by offering virtual support, increase the working efficiency and decrease the rate of errors. For example, AR can assist the employees in enabling them to perform the correct sequences of an intricate assembly procedure, real-time data visualization can assist in identifying areas that contain bottlenecks or possible risks.
4. Autonomous Vehicles: AR plays a critical role in building self-driving cars; the software must be able to comprehend the environment and follow it. Self-driving cars work by analyzing large quantities of data and superimposing meaningful info to self-drive and recognize road hazards and other entities to make decisions on their own.
Conclusion
The above examples show that using AR technology to integrate the AR into people’s lives isn’t just possible but it can change living fundamentally. It can be used in movement through cities, in increasing efficiency of classes, in making patients’ treatment better. As with any technology, as it advances, so does augmented reality and thus auguring well for the future and our daily use it.
The best approach for companies to take as they embark on this new phase of augmented reality is to look at the prospects in the sphere and realize the difficulties that can be expected. It is important for society to take responsibility for the proper invention of AR technology projecting all aspects of social impact, such as confidentiality and security for users together with possible consequences of having more connected society. In this way, we are able to take advantage of the potential afforded by AR and build a brighter, optimised and enriching future.
