INTRODUCTION
AT AUGMENTEDPLANET.COM, I have been blogging about the rise in popularity of augmented reality (AR) since April 2009. When I started Augmented Planet, the only augmented reality applications available were either high-budget demos put together by creative agencies to wow their clients or obscure demos created by developers experimenting with the technology. Since those early days, Augmented Planet has documented the rise of augmented reality across the mobile industry and has become the leading blog and news site dedicated to all things augmented reality.
It might surprise you to know that AR isn’t necessarily a new technology. You probably just haven’t noticed it. AR has become popular of late because of iPhone and Android applications such as Layar and Wikitude, two of the most popular mobile AR browsers currently available. They have helped create the AR browser genre, propelling AR to the forefront of everybody’s minds and capturing the attention of developers.
So what exactly is AR? In its simplest form, AR is the art of super-imposing computer graphics over a live view of the real world. AR is used in graphics for televised sporting events, whereby real-time analytical information about the game in progress is displayed on your television. It’s also used with digital cameras that provide real-time information about the battery life, the number of pictures taken, or the local environment lighting level. All of that information is conveniently displayed in the ...
