I gave lecture on Augmented Reality some time ago, introducing framework how I personally see VR/AR when developing different kind of systems mostly for industry. And since this community is on the VR side I thought this could be interesting also for you all.
Anyhow I think the principles of this framework are also applicable to whatever kind of applications you develop. Even VR/AR games and where you put the challenges or push your player to the limits, for example Cymatic Bruce experience in Portal 2 when jumping off the cliff down to grab a box etc. Or when it comes to the use of Google Glass in comparison to Meta 1 for some GPS based adventure game or educational app.
I hope this lecture provides some structure when you try to understand what makes VR / AR games or applications either fun and engaging or from serious games point of view what makes them useful (Since you can do basically everything but that does not warrant value for industry).
In the recent Augmented World Expo 2013, many of the key players in AR field debated whether Google Glass is AR solution at all, or if Meta 1 is the true AR system. This debate also revolved around work conducted by Steve Mann on the perceptual enhancements. And I hope if you see my lecture it should become obvious that this starts to look like apples vs oranges kind of debate, hence not very constructive or useful arguments.
Please feel free to throw feedback. As I say in the video description this should also stir some discussion within the AR community what we are trying to achieve with our technology 🙂
Simply put, Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes digital content and information onto a user’s real-life scenario to enhance their virtual experience of the existing physical environment. The improved version of the physical world is attained by leveraging the capabilities of the computer-generated display, visuals, sound, text, and graphics which augments the user’s real-world experience.
Augmented Reality will allow you to search things visually by simply pointing out mobile cameras toward objects in real-life surroundings. The Live View feature in Google Maps is a leading example of how AR allows users to visualize their destinations in the real world. Nintendo’s Pokémon Go App and the photo filters on Facebook and Snapchat are some of the popular examples of AR today.
The term "augmented reality" (AR) refers to the process of superimposing computer-generated data onto a user's actual surroundings. When using AR, users are immersed in the real world but have synthetic perceptual information superimposed on top, as opposed to VR's completely constructed environment.
