Augmented and Virtual Reality...An attempt to understand this wonderful tech

Augmented reality i think is not a technology that started as recent as it`s present popularity suggests, because when one goes back a little bit in the time past, you find out that some gadgets used by some fighter jets in the 1990`s had some element of Augmented reality in it. 

We can i argue that it`s barely the sophisticated tech we have now that was in use then, the truth is that it might not have been what we have now in this present time, but the technique was in use in the fighter jets heads up displays. 

Now augmented reality can be defined in no so technical terms as placing information on the world we see, to improve vastly what we see, i will use a particular word i saw in livescience site, which to me best describe what augmented reality is all about. 

So it means superimposition of information on the world we see, the reality we see, information is superimposed to give us more options in the things we see. An instant example comes to mind if you have watched the Iron Man or the Avengers, where Tony Stark and his friend used it when in their Iron man suits.

Iron man`s Stark with the AR in his suit

When we look at the picture illustration above, it should give us the clearest indication of what AR (Augmented Reality ) is all about. Scientists are still exploring more ways they can integrate this tech in most of the devices we use today, like our smartphones, tablets, etc. and by way of transitioning it into our lives. 

A company (Vito Tech) produced an app called Star Walk app, which allows a user to focuse a camera built into their phone or tablet at the sky and see the names of the stars and planets superimposed on the image (sky), which is one the many ways AR has entered the smatphones and tablets.

So i defined before that this tech has its primary objective of enhancing the options of what you view with the ordinary eyes or better still creates a convenient and natural absorbing environment.

Augmented Reality will not just be confined to Smartphones and tablet only, as it will touch other parts of technology, like it`s presently entering into AR earbuds, which gives you the power to adjust the sounds reaching your ear from the surroundings, thereby giving the user varying options about the sounds that permeats through the ear. 

When we look at the image above, we will realise that Augmented Reality is making inroad into contact lenses, and wearables that will highly integrate this great technology into human everyday life, like the smart glasses being developed for blind people.
 I will continue with Virtual Reality in the next post.