Introduction to Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), prolonged reality (XR), and mixed reality (MR) have rapidly turn out to be buzzwords, resulting in plenty of experimentation and excitement about future applications. While the technologies are sometimes lumped together, it is crucial to notice the clear distinctions in underlying technologies and use cases. Of the group, AR has probably the most realistic potential inside the near future.
Definition and Applications of AR
According to Eric Abbruzzese, research director with ABI Research, AR is best defined as any device with a screen that allows pass-through or glanceable digital content, which incorporates each mobile devices and smart glasses, and inside smart glasses, this includes mixed reality devices like Microsoft HoloLens and assisted reality devices like RealWear. The enterprise market began stronger with employee enablement and high-value use cases like distant assistance, training, and data capture.
Enterprise Market and AR Adoption
The use of AR within the enterprise market has been significant, with mobile devices being the dominant device used for AR because of cost and ease of integration in comparison with glasses. However, the smart glasses hardware market is getting more competitive, which can help spur adoption as prices fall and knowledge and luxury around smart glasses increase.
Laser-Driven Evolution in AR
Evolutions from inside the photonics community are surfacing as key components as AR technology moves from trendy prototypes to mass production products. Consider, as an example, the potential when using laser beam scanning (LBS). LBS shows considerable benefits over other technologies with respect to achievable form factor, power consumption, weight, brightness, and contrast.
Advantages of Laser Beam Scanning
LBS only generates light and consumes power where information is required, making it more efficient than spatial light modulator-based systems. This is especially significant because the earliest generations of AR smart glasses products mainly show icons and messages. As such, LBS is the important thing to enabling stylish smart glasses for real consumer AR products.
Expert Insights on LBS and µLED
According to Dr. Ulrich Hofmann, founder and managing director of OQmented, LBS beats the µLED-based approaches partly because µLED just isn’t able to demonstrating a mass production-compatible manufacturing process that comes together with a suitably high yield. Additionally, the µLED concept appears to be more inefficient and power-hungry, especially because the pixels get smaller, which limits achievable resolution.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AR has probably the most realistic potential for near-future applications among the many group of AR, VR, XR, and MR. The technology has shown significant promise within the enterprise market, particularly with the usage of mobile devices and smart glasses. The evolution of laser-driven technologies, equivalent to LBS, is anticipated to play an important role within the mass production of AR products, offering benefits by way of form factor, power consumption, and efficiency. As the technology continues to advance, we are able to expect to see more widespread adoption of AR in various industries and applications.
