The general operating principle of the technology can be described using the example of a smartphone. His camera works like a “window” – through it we see three-dimensional space, in the coordinate system of which virtual 3D objects are located.
Anything can act as such “additional” content. For example, virtual Pokemon hiding on the streets of the city, parts of a production machine to study it in cross-section, or 3D furniture that a designer places in a real apartment to visualize the interior.
There are two main methods of implementing AR technology: marker-based and markerless.
Marker AR. A special marker appears in the “field of view” of the device’s camera—a mark, an image, or a geometric figure. The program recognizes this marker and activates AR – it creates a three-dimensional model of a virtual object and combines it with a real image, which “pulls up” the marker.
A person’s face or body can also act as a marker – for example, as is the case with masks on social networks.
This method is not always convenient to use. For example, to launch AR, the smartphone must be held quite close to the marker – this is not suitable for large objects.
Markerless AR. Runs on any surface – no markers needed. The camera scans the surrounding space and determines parallel and perpendicular surfaces that can be supplemented with virtual objects.
This method works on any surface, so you can use it without restrictions. But markerless AR is more difficult to implement—more serious software is required to analyze and interpret data.
