You may have heard the term Augmented Reality. But what does it mean? What does it do? It is clear that AR is a very intriquing innovation. It can enhance the live view of the real world with computered generated digital content that appears "on top" of the physical object.

Augmented Reality in Action

For me the standard definition of AR, an enhanced version of reality created by using technology to overlay digital information on an image of something viewed on a device such as a tablet or smartphone, didn't really click with me. On the other hand watching some examples of what augmented reality experiences can do helped me understand.

This particular video is what first brought the concept of augmented reality to life for me. This is just so cool. It makes you think of all that could be done. Here you can see an AR experience created for a store setting. The shopper takes the box of an unassembled product up to a scanner. This scanner then shows them what the product will look like when it is constructed.

This is when it started to click for me. I watched more videos and saw interactive catalogs. Imagine shopping for furniture for your home and actually seeing how that item will fit in to your decor. It's amazing. It also seems like something way out of my league technically speaking. As in, not something I'd be able to consider. Then I heard about Augmented Reality solutions from Metaio. They help people create real augmented reality experiences and they break it down in a way that is simple and conducive to learning. Metaio can be basic enough for a beginner and also advanced enough to achieve much more advanced experiences.

Making Your Own AR Experiences

Metaio’s AR software utilizes a drag and drop interface that is meant to introduce anyone into the world of augmented reality. This means you can create augmented reality experiences in as little as a few minutes. Metaio’s software development kit (SDK) is also compatible with the Unity game development platform. The software give you the option to use native code for iOS, Android and Window’s PC. Meaning anyone familiar with these platforms can easily create augmented reality applications using Metaio. Pretty sweet.