Augmented Reality (AR) consists in adding localized virtual information to the world around us. Data then seems to be "attached" to a physical point of interest. Various devices can be used (glasses, helmet, tablet, smartphone) to overlay data in real time, such as texts, objects, or animations. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not cut the user from the outside world; on the contrary, it enriches it. Augmented reality is now a reference in many industrial fields.
Do you remember road maps? GPS transformed driving by providing the right information at the right time. Now imagine that navigation is not displayed on a screen, but directly on your windshield. You turn right: the arrow is located on the road to take. You now have the information in the right place. In a stressful situation, this can make all the difference. Optimizing the perception of information and its handling is a major challenge in any dynamic and complex situation.
This advantage is exactly the same in operational situations. By optimizing the perception of information within its context, we relieve the operator's cognitive load. Less misinterpretation, more reliability, more safety!
Augmented reality reduces the cognitive distance between an operator and digital information. Recalibrating the latter on a fixed point of the real space creates in fact a semantic relation between the two; and it becomes possible to submit the virtual data to our spatialization abilities.
For this reason, augmented reality is already firmly established in large companies, especially for remote maintenance, for the visualization of building data, etc. But through the implementation on smartphones, augmented reality can also be a mass channel, allowing to enrich contents (and in the case of a commercial site, to increase sales), or to communicate in an innovative way.
This is the most widespread and economical type of augmented reality to develop. The video stream of the tablet is used to add digital information, which is displayed on the screen. The tablet becomes a kind of window on a mixed world.
These glasses have special lenses that allow digital information to be displayed directly in the field of vision. These devices have the advantage of leaving the hands free, which is appreciated in many activities.
In Spatial Augmented Reality, digital information is directly projected onto the real world. Less invasive than other methods, spatial augmented reality is perfectly adapted when a shared augmented visualisation is needed.
Recalibrating information in the real world is a powerful principle, and technically simple content (texts, symbols...) can already provide significant added value.
The various AR solutions allow for a wide variety of applications, in situations that can be just as diverse. Augmented reality glasses, although popular, are not necessarily the most appropriate solution for an industrial situation. A thorough design is necessary, taking into account the technical and human constraints of the context.
