Future of Augmented Reality
There are different trends to watch in the field of augmented reality. Augmented reality has been removed from Gartner’s hype cycle for emerging technologies in 2019 since it is not emerging anymore but a maturing technology (ARPost). Augmented reality is transitioning out of the phase where applications were merely prototypes and marketing gags and into a state where applications help with productivity and are actually used in industry.
Getting Ready for the Mass Consumer Market
Moving beyond use cases in industry, AR is also on its way to the mass consumer market. The introduction of libraries such as ARCore and ARKit increase the amount of potential target devices by bringing AR support to Android and iOS smartphones. Modern smartphones support these libraries and provide a varying range of features. This can lead the way for mass consumer applications, e.g. in the field of healthcare, digital retail, education and gaming.
Moreover, more sophisticated wearable headsets for AR are created which improve on many aspects, such as spatial tracking, display fidelity or comfort of use. Examples for current AR headsets include the Microsoft HoloLens and Epson Moverio BT 300. Everysight Raptor and Solos Smart Glasses are specialized AR headsets for cycling.
The Shift to the Web
A development which has already started is the shift of augmented reality to the Web. Until now, a majority of augmented reality applications are created as native apps for a specific platform. By moving to the Web, augmented reality gets access to the advantages of Web technologies. Web-based applications accessible at any time, platform independent, do not have to be installed on client devices and can be updated easily (Qiao et al., 2019). In combination with technologies such as 5G, it can improve the state of mobile AR by providing AR applications and AR services on the go and without previous setup time.
The current state of this development is manifested in the API specification WebXR (Brandon Jones & Manish Goregaokar, 2020). It is a successor of the previous WebVR API and defines how browsers should support AR and VR applications on the Web. This includes the definition which sensors are required and how their information should be used to realize an XR experience with different devices on the Web. More information about WebXR can be found in the dedicated chapter on AR for the Web.
Collaboration
A large opportunity can be found in collaborative augmented reality. Until now, a majority of augmented reality applications are target a single user and are isolated from other instances of the application. By moving to the Web, the possibility arises to combine AR applications, showing a large number of people the same content, e.g. at the same place in the world.
Ubiquitous Computing
Augmented reality has the potential to lead to an era of ubiquitous computing. As technologies mature, they become less obvious in everyday life by becoming more and more natural and integrated (Weiser, 1999). An example is printed text. When printing was invented, text and scripture were special and rare sights. Nowadays, printed text can be found everywhere. Everyone has access to texts via the Web, we can easily print documents and text can be found on a vast majority of objects in our lives, even on small things like the wrapping paper of candy. Similarly, computer technologies and their user interfaces are predicted to get less obvious and integrate more into our lives (Weiser, 1999). Augmented reality can provide this by mixing the real environment with virtual objects. This allows a seamless integration of an information system which is able to give the user information when they are needed can embed them into the surroundings (Schmalstieg & Reitmayr, 2007). Moreover, it allows for intuitive interactions in the 3D world where users can control applications by interacting with a mixture of real and virtual objects.