What is the Augmented Reality (AR) Cloud

Introduction

Augmented Reality (AR) is the real-time integration of digital information with the user’s environment. Unlike Virtual Reality (VR), which creates a completely artificial environment, Augmented Reality (AR) users interact with a real-world environment that has generated perceptual information superimposed on top of it.

Augmented reality alters natural environments or provides users with additional information visually. The primary advantage of AR is that it blends digital and three-dimensional (3D) components with a person’s perception of the real world. AR has a wide range of applications, from decision-making to entertainment.

AR provides the user with visual elements, sound, and other sensory information via a device such as a smartphone or glasses. This data is superimposed on the device to create an intertwined experience in which digital data alters the user’s perception of reality. Overlaid information can be used to supplement or mask a natural environment. This article covers detailed knowledge of the Augmented Reality (AR) Cloud.

What is the Cloud?

The term “cloud“ refers to Internet-accessible servers and the software and databases on those servers. Cloud servers are housed in datacenters worldwide. Users and businesses who use cloud computing do not have to manage physical servers or run software applications on their machines.

How Does Augmented Reality Work?

The augmented reality cloud is an abstract medium for physical spaces, objects, and humans in which digital content and experiences can be tailored to the individual user. The seamless and ubiquitous delivery of relevant information overlaid on such an abstraction layer allows consumers to make well-informed decisions for shopping and navigation, among other use cases.

While dedicated augmented reality solutions for the engineering, manufacturing, and healthcare industries are widely used, scalable augmented reality experiences for the general consumer user base have yet to be available. Gartner predicts that AR Cloud will be available within 6–8 years, reversing this trend.

AR Cloud is much more than a technology. It focuses on user enablement and seamless experiences through new technologies, business models, and services. The first generation of AR technologies was primarily designed for the entertainment and gaming markets.

Why Augmented Reality (AR) Cloud is important?

The Augmented Reality (AR) Cloud does not create artificial environments but can interact with existing ones and overlay features on top of them. The creation and advancement of a three-dimensional (3D) physical model has traditionally been considered an essential component of the design process.

The AR Cloud preserves the real world by superimposing digital content on it. Many traditional tools will still be useful to designers of AR Cloud software and apps, such as paper and video prototyping, understanding existing mental models, and extracting. AR models of the featured components can be viewed on iOS devices.

AR Cloud is expanding its methods for delivering digital 3D models and data. It introduces a specific use of computer-based 3D design for the design development process. The use of AR Cloud technology to create virtual product models addresses the inherent challenges of delivering physical models while facilitating feedback sharing with all stakeholders involved in the design process.

The AR Cloud will be one of the most important infrastructures in computing history, serving as both a spatial map and a living history or soft copy of the world. Similarly, AR Cloud transforms into a piece of human life.

AR Use Cases

AR can be used for the following purposes:

• Navigation

Augmented reality can also display information about nearby businesses when used for navigation.

• Tools and Measurement

AR can be used on mobile devices to measure various 3D points in the user’s environment.

• Architecture

AR can assist architects in visualizing a construction project.

• Archaeology

AR has aided archaeological research by assisting archaeologists in site reconstruction. 3D models allow museum visitors and future archaeologists to visit an excavation site virtually.

Difference between AR, VR & MR

Augmented Reality (AR) involves the addition of digital objects to the real world. Some digital objects, such as the top of a table or another person’s face, can be viewed and imposed on the real world. The majority of augmented reality apps are compatible with smartphones.

Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, replaces a person’s view of the real world and provides an immersive experience in a virtual world made up of computer-generated imagery. A user enters this world through a headset device. VR has numerous applications in education, entertainment, and therapy.

Mixed Reality (MR), called hybrid reality, combines augmented and virtual reality. Translucent digital devices for experiencing MR, such as the Microsoft HoloLens, are common. Mixed reality allows digital objects and users to interact in real-time.

The AR Cloud and the Next Computational Revolution

According to technological experts such as Ray Kurzweil, the AR Cloud will be the platform that shifts the augmented reality paradigm.

AR-based apps were difficult to develop and distribute and were not in high demand until 2017 when companies such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, ARCore, and ARStudio became interested in the technology’s potential.

Conclusion

Most data and information from various research and analysis methods convince us that AR technology applies to the architecture industry and sectors related to architecture and design, such as construction and visualization. AR is rather new and innovative in every way.

The Augmented Reality (AR) cloud, available by every user from any device, location, and time, is frequently referred to as the world’s digital twin, according to ABI research.

It is anticipated that the AR cloud will play a catalytic role in how people interact with and seek information while simultaneously transforming how businesses conduct their operations and interact with clients and staff in real and digital forms.