Display techniques in Augmented Reality

This Wiki entry is based on the article by Niteesh Yadav, reproduced here with the permission of the author.

There are three basic techniques for showing visuals in AR which depend on the proximity of display mediums (see figure 1). Handheld AR is a common method that uses smartphones and tablets to show AR content, it gained popularity after the release of gaming applications like Pokémon Go and Ingress. Another is using headsets that are classified as optical see-through (OST) and video see-through (VST). OSTs are often termed as true AR at the moment (e.g. Hololens, Google Glass). New technologies that are in development include spatial see-through displays which project content in 3D free space using plasma in the air and retinal displays which projects directly on users’ retina. To limit the scope of these articles I will focus on headset based techniques which pose more typographic challenges as compared to any other mediums already in use, like smartphones. (The handheld smartphone-based AR doesn’t bring any major shift since the users see the screen in a conventional way by holding it in front of them.)

Figure 1: Diagram showing three different techniques and the position of the medium to present the Augmented content over the real world environment. Widely used medium for Spatial AR: Projectors, Hand-held AR: Smartphones and tablets, Head-attached AR: AR and VR headsets.

LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

https://blog.prototypr.io/understanding-display-techniques-in-augmented-reality-c258b911b5c9