There is amazing childlike joy with Augmented Reality!
As a kid, I used to roam the woods. There was something magical about sliding under the neighbor’s barbwire fence and entering a world of the unknown. Every time, I crossed over, a new adventure would occur. Whether it was running into a smiling, hissing opossum, or having a run in with a hornet’s nest, I would walk and explore under every leaf, look under every rock, and splash in every creek. Often, I would build forts and imagine being in an enchanted world where my imagination would run wild. From demons of the forest to fairies who would guide me along in the journey to bigfoot watching me from a distance, each adventure allowed me to explore and imagine different worlds of fantasy and make believe and push my young mind into creative realms.
Now, as a 42 year old adult, I have recaptured that imagination and fun of make believing there is a world beyond our mind’s eye. I have found this in augmented reality. There is this cool and unreal opportunity to show people a new and creative medium within a hidden world through a portal known as your smart phone. When they see they can create in all space and anything they dream up can be brought to life, that kid in them emerges and the suppressed imaginations of their childhood come back to life. Artists try to translate this. Movie makers try to interpret this. Augmented reality gives everyone the occasion to break through to that inspired child deep inside. Our primal instinct is to imagine and create. Now, there is no limitation to what we can produce in a digital world and with digital overlays in the real world.
Whether it is full emersion with virtual reality or a metaverse, or if it is incorporating digital overlays of augmented reality into our real world, there is a creative storm coming where the world we live in is going to change and awaken some of the most creative attributes ever seen in humanity for the betterment of humanity.
Prepare to be amazed, enlightened, intrigued, but most of all, prepare your inner child. That small visionary from your childhood is going to love this voyage which is already taking off.
Have you been introduced to augmented reality (AR)? If you are in your 40’s, perhaps AR was first introduced to you in the movies when watching Star Wars (1977), when Princess Leia was projected from R2-D2 to deliver a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. There is a good possibility your first introduction to AR was when the shark in Jaws 19 came out and tried to eat Marty McFly in Back to the Future 2 (1989). Science fiction movies have provided a gateway to the possibilities of what exists today and what will exist in the future. If you are a bit younger, maybe the introduction to real use AR apps Snapchat (2011) or Pokemon Go (2016) hold more clout to what AR is to you. No matter your age, augmented reality is becoming a real part of our everyday lives. There are use cases which are going to shape the future of technology. From health and wellness to manufacturing training, augmented reality is being integrated into our lives.
Every industry has numerous practical uses for augmented reality. Some industries are currently using augmented reality. With a 70% memory retention rate, there are plenty of use cases as to why augmented reality will be further injected into our future.
The Mirror home workout is a smart gym. Using biometric integrations as well as instructor guided videos, the Mirror smart gym provides real time feedback during your workout. Powered by camera technology and machine learning, the Mirror smart gym provides an augmented reality experience where you have a personal trainer shaping your body and your life.
Another great use case for AR is 3D representations projected on the anatomy of a patient while a surgeon operates. AR improves the surgeon’s senses and perception during surgery to make the surgery quicker as well as more precise. Being able to see an AR representation of the patient’s anatomy projected onto the patient even before the first incision is visionary medical advancement for the betterment of all going under the knife and the doctors performing the operation.
Entertainment
When thinking about AR in entertainment, the first thing that comes to mind is gaming. While AR finds deep roots in 3D design for gaming, there are other concepts in entertainment which AR is being used. Sports entertainment is a great example of AR integration to society. There are subtle AR uses which have already been assimilated into the sports arena. In college and professional televised football games, have you ever really considered how there is a line of scrimmage marker and first down marker on the field while watching the game on TV? What about when the announcers are drawing out plays of where the players are going on a replay? These are two great examples of how AR is being used in sports entertainment and how we are accepting the uses as each one is introduced.
Manufacturing
Engineers who work in CAD (computer aided design) are already taking their designs and developing them into AR practical uses. Imagine being an engineer drawing up CAD plans for another company’s product. You could draw up the plans and send the plans over to the company purchasing the product. Then, they could take those plans and do an AR overlay of the product or expand the product to make certain it fits and review if the design needs to be modified. This is all before the first prototype is complete. The prototype becomes an AR file which can be created and used without extensive labor in material prototyping or shipping and receiving of the prototypes.
Another use case for manufacturing is training. Training and on-boarding are big expenses for companies. With the retention rate of AR, training new workers will become easier and quicker. Increasing training retention and on-boarding practices will save companies millions in dollars of overhead. Imagine employees who started the first day, wore an AR headgear which showed them the directions of how to operate a machine. You would no longer have to pull an experienced employee to train an individual in operations. Also, the machine would be intuitive to the training, where it would not operate unless they followed the training sequence projected in AR. This could also be used to retrain new operational sequences needing to be implemented.
Tourism
Having lived and worked in Sevier County, Tennessee, home of Dollywood, the Smoky Mountains, and many touristy attractions, I can see the vast uses for AR in the tourist industry. One such use is the introduction to an attraction without being next to it. You put the attraction in the hands of those who want to see it or experience it. Imagine a roller coaster projected in AR to see what all loops and turns it does. Imagine a show being projected to experience the live feel of entertainers performing where-ever you are. Tourism has a great opportunity to really dive into AR for the future of tourism. I want to share many more use cases, but really want you to use your imagination of “what if…” to see what you can come up with. If you want to share, please do!
Construction
Augmented Reality has some use cases now in construction which are amazing. The one I like the best is having an AR house and being able to place that house anywhere. If you have land and you want to build a house, envision taking an AR house (full size) and placing that house on your property without disturbing the first blade of grass. You can get a full view of how the house would look before construction. You could turn it to see how the sunlight would enter the house. You could walk through it to see how the walls, floors, and ceiling would be laid out. AR housing is truly a unique experience for its viewers.
Another use case is renovations. Being able to see a finished renovation overlay before the first instance of demolition is done, is really a great vision for the homeowners. The visual impact of seeing the overlay on a new countertop, or new cabinets, or new bathroom, is really a fantastic understanding for the homeowner to increase commitment of the project.
Education
One of my favorite use cases for AR is storytelling. As children, we imagine what it would be like for the characters to jump off the page and interact with our everyday lives. Most children have imaginary friends they connect with as their minds develop. The concept of bringing characters into the real world through augmented reality is truly phenomenal. Stories like Winnie the Pooh, where Winnie could be right in front of you telling stories about Christopher Robin. Think of the whole cast of characters coming to life in a nursery while telling the story of Hundred Acre Wood.
In addition to storytelling, augmented reality has a place in education based on bottom brain functions of children and healthy brain development. Bottom brain function manages information from the senses and combines it with information previously stored in memory. Proper bottom brain function is an integral part of early childhood progression. Augmented reality provides advanced bottom brain functions through experience and retention. Ultimately, AR makes us more instinctual swifter.
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