Augmented Reality has been a developing technology for quite some time. The earliest functional AR systems that provided immersive mixed reality experiences for users were invented in the early 1990s, starting with the Virtual Fixtures system developed at the U.S. Air Force’s Armstrong Laboratory in 1992.
Adobe Flash had AR capabilities. Then it was more of a gimmick lacking the foundation to present a commercial interest. Increasing investment with greater hardware capabilities, brands being a more fearless to invest and VR providing healthy competition it’s seems AR is on the cusp of massive growth. Despite this, Augmented Reality as a medium still has a way to go before we can provide the design polish it lacks.
Design, through all it’s mediums, has seen principles, methods and practice evolve over the past century. Many of the principles set out by legendary designers for layout, graphic design, branding and animation can unravel in a setting with very little context and dynamic environments. Video games and web-design came up against similar difficulties while growing. Augmented Reality is no different. People will be prone to use interactive content in ways the designer never intended it to be used. Every AR experience differs from one another. Devices differ in resolution, hardware and software capabilities. This presents a hurdle of challenges to overcome. Just when it would seem standardisation across the web is harmonising AR and VR start conjure up the chaos again.
One of winners in R&D is Facebook. They have an unlimited resource of enthusiastic users creating content for Instagram at no extra cost. The social media giant is putting new AR content out constantly. A similar strategy used by the legendary games company Valve, who provides the end user with the tools to make the content they consume.
3D software and game engines are building features for AR. Cinema 4D, Unity, Unreal and Blender are all looking to provide tools for content creators. Creating high-end 3D assets for augmented reality has similarities to producing assets for video games. The level of craft in video games today is astonishing when compared to it’s origins. Game developers were renowned for finding clever and creative methods which worked within the limitations of the time period. This will be no different when developing AR content.
The limitations should inform designers, developers and agencies what to pitch to clients. Art directing content with technical limitations can prove challenging. Stylised aesthetics tend to be the safe option when building AR content. Hardware and software is still lacking to build out fully polished photo real content. Research and Development is mandatory to supply the weaponry, knowledge and problem solving skills to overcome challenging curve balls. Particularly when every few weeks there’s new update or feature added to tools.
The accessibility of AR is clear compared to it’s competition. Everyone who owns a midrange smart phone can use Augmented reality. It is an advantage in the testing and design phase. You can borrow people’s phones to test how content renders on several different devices. Testing in different visual settings provides important feedback. Screening every scenarios is impracticable but it will help inform crucial design decisions throughout production.
Much of the content we see is purely entertainment lacking substance but a space exists for AR to operate as a tool. Healthcare, Military and Education have used AR for practical use. It’s understated the practical adoption AR has available.
Retail, Fashion and Luxury brands could play a large role in pushing creative content while also providing the budgets that allow AR content to be contextually integrated into a brand. If brands provide enough resource to build bespoke content outside a container built by a global tech company, it lets designers and developers re-write the rules for AR. A difficult challenge but often silicon valley is leaned on for providing innovation. It can restrict field of view if the only tools in use are built by companies with their own intentions of how AR operates.
Open source technologies can be the platform of unrestricted creativity. The technologies under the hood of Augmented Reality are open source. Open source software continues to raise the bar of innovation but lower the bar of entry for anyone who wants to get involved. This premise only helps accelerate industry growth. Large private tech companies are seeing the value in keeping technologies and tools accessible to everyone for free. In 2019 Epic games invested $1.2 million dollars into Blender. A free 3D modelling tool once seen as a hobbyist application is now packed with features that compete with the best paid for CG software. WebGL, a Javascript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web-browser which is developed by The Khronos Group, a free non for profit organisation.
Understanding the plethora of resources available is eye-opening. It’s places an understanding that Augmented reality is not just restricted to certain platforms and containers. Building new architectures for AR grants integration into any environment.
Looking forward AR may not exist in the form we see it as today. As it’s ubiquity increases it has the potential to embed seamlessly into everyday life. Mixed reality is the premise for seamless integration. Publicly Magic leap and Microsoft are the big players in mixed reality. AR is the foundation for compositing the virtual with the real. As the novelty begins to wear off the appraisal of designing AR content will increase. Like the web did several years ago it will undergo it’s own evaluation of design standards.
Augmented reality will be looked upon as an unhinged universal starting point in emergence of Mixed Reality tech. The disorganized current habitat of AR is where the creativity and discovery lies. Go have fun with it!!!