EPSON AUGMENTEDREALITY FACT SHEET

CASE STUDY

AUGMENTED REALITY: IT'S NOT AFUTURISTIC DREAM, IT’S HERE NOW

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You have probably heard of Augmented Reality (AR), but do you really know what it means?

Augmented reality is one of the hottest trends in software development. According to ABI Research, developers’ investments in AR applications are expected to exceed US$2.5 billion in 2018, as AR becomes an every day part of our mobile experiences.

This enthusiastic forecast is partly due to the emergence of head-mounted displays, which are the new El Dorado for augmented reality developers. Products like Epson’s Moverio are unlocking the potential of the technology by putting digital content right in front of a user’s eyes. You do not have to hold your smartphone or tablet anymore; AR becomes hands-free and always-on.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AUGMENTED REALITY?

Augmented reality is a cutting-edge technology that allows for a digitally enhanced view of the real world. With the camera and sensors found in your devices (such as a gyroscope for measuring orientation, and a� GPS for measuring location), AR adds layers of digital information – videos, photos, sounds – directly on top of items in the world around us.

From exploring a new city with helpful tips on the go, to discovering additional content within the pages of a magazine, or learning how to accomplish a difficult task with a real-time tutorial, the possibilities for AR are nearly endless.

WHAT IS ITS BACKGROUND?

This technology looks futuristic, but it’s actually not very new. The term ‘augmented reality’ was first coined in 1990 by Tom Caudell, a former Boeing researcher who developed a complex software solution to help Boeing technicians assemble cables in aircraft.

But AR didn’t become a hot trend until 20 years later when people started to be equipped with smartphones: powerful pocket-sized computers, complete with many sensors that are able to process information from the world surrounding us. This includes:

Visual data from the camera

Positioning from the GPS and compass

Movement from the gyroscope and accelerometer

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Epson - What is Augmented Reality Fact Sheet

Key Facts

Augmented reality is a cutting-edge technology that allows for a digitally enhanced view of the real world

Three kinds of AR - marker-based, location-based and markerless

Head-mounted displays, like Moverio, allows us to unlock the potential of this technology by creating hands-free augmented reality

The BT-200 is now poised to lead the way with AR, being the perfect platform for this technology

Epson’s Moverio unlocks the potential of the technology by putting digital content right in front of a user’s eyes.

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Epson® is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson® Corporation. All other product names and other company names used herein arefor identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Errors and omissionsexcepted, all specifications are subject to change without notice.

By then, the technology had matured and become very precise, allowing devices to perfectly overlay digital elements on top of the real world.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF AUGMENTED REALITY

There are three different kinds of augmented reality:

• Marker-based AR: The most well-known, it utilises special images such as QR or 2D codes that contain a unique ID that produces an AR result when sensed by a camera. You may have encountered this use in magazine adverts where you ‘scan’ the marker� to see a 3D visualisation of a product. But, in order to be used, these visual marks must have been printed previously and also be kept for future uses, limiting their accessibility.

• Location-based AR: Location based AR is achieved thanks to a device’s GPS and compass or connection to a wireless network. The users receive useful and relevant information based on their location. Let’s say you are walking in the streets of an unknown city. This kind of app can be very useful in providing you with information about restaurants, shops, cultural activities and points of interest nearby.

• Markerless AR: With this, any part of the real environment may be used as a target that can be tracked in order to place 3D elements on top of them. It consists of tracking the edges, corners, text or textures of an image or object. Thanks to its camera, your device will then be able to recognise the image or object and overlay digital elements onto it. How? Software tracks every detail that makes this object unique, i.e. its shape, dimensions, etc. Markerless AR will soon allow us to augment almost every object that surrounds us.

FROM A GIMMICK TO LIFE-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY THANKS TO HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS

Even if many of you have heard about this technology, it is likely that only a few of you use it in your everyday life. Why? Because AR has remained largely a gimmick until today. We have previously not been able to develop AR applications that can truly improve our life. Most of the apps developed before now have been small games or marketing apps developed by companies to differentiate their communication efforts.

This state of play was mainly held because� smartphones and tablets are not the right platform for augmented reality.

The introduction of head-mounted displays, like Moverio, allows us to unlock the potential of this technology by creating hands-free augmented reality. The Moverio BT-100 was our first concept product and previously the only binocular see-through display on the consumer market. The BT-200 is now poised to lead the way with AR, being the perfect platform for this technology.

Wearing the BT-200

Moverio BT-200

For more information visit:� www.epson.eu/moverio

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Epson® is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson® Corporation. All other product names and other company names used herein arefor identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Errors and omissionsexcepted, all specifications are subject to change without notice.