Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Layar is a good example of a popular consumer mobile AR browser that allows
developers to geotag a location with images, text, sound or other media (Layar).
When a user is exploring the physical world through their phone or tablet, they
are able to view nearby AR content overlaid on top of a real-time video feed via
the device's camera. Layar enables developers to encourage end-users to easily
share their AR experiences with friends on various social media platforms such
as Facebook and Twitter.
Over time, Layar has changed its business model as to how to best support mobile
AR technologies. They have added computer vision based scanning to their toolkit
of sensing technologies. So instead of finding content solely based on your physical
location, you can now point your phone or tablet's camera at an image target.
Historically, AR marker targets tended to be black and white geometric patterns
that resembled 2D bar charts. Nowadays, Layar and many other computer vision
manufacturers use markerless targets that can be defined by any natural image
as long as it adheres to a few basic technical requirements such as non-repeating
patterns, no motion blur, avoiding reflections and transparencies and has generally
flat illumination. This new sensing platform enabled Layar and others to support AR
experiences within interior spaces where GPS satellites would not work reliably.
However, from a demographics perspective, this new feature provides for countless
new advertising and marketing opportunities as now companies can integrate mobile
AR with their brand experience much easier.
Qualcomm's AR Software Development Kit, Vuforia, enables Android and
iPhone developers to incorporate sophisticated natural image based tracking into
their mobile AR applications (
Qualcomm Vuforia
). Vuforia also requires developers
to specify an image target that users can then point their mobile phone or tablet
towards to view a real-time augment. However, Vuforia also adds extended tracking
to enable users to have continuous visual experiences even when the tracked target
is outside of the camera view. While this might seem to be a trivial technicality, it
provides for a much more seamless and immersive AR experience since now you
aren't required to keep your mobile device pointed at a particular physical object,
but instead one can simply use their phone or tablet to explore the entire surrounding
environment as well.
It's important to understand that Layar and Vuforia have taken different
approaches to mobile AR development and publishing. As an AR browser, Layar
requires that end users install a single official Layar application onto their smart
device. Once the user has installed this app, they have access to all of the AR
“channels” that developers have published using the Layar platform. Users can
either scan an image target or search through keywords and categories to find
results of what AR content might exist near them. Vuforia on the other hand is
meant to be packaged as a custom application for each AR experience. This means
that end users must download and install a different app for every application built
using Vuforia. However, it also provides developers with much more control over
the application and enables apps to utilize all available Android or iPhone services
and libraries to build a highly rich and engaging mobile experience.
