In the latest megahit movie “The Avengers,” there is a scene where one of the lead stars Iron Man swings his arms in the air to make a complex calculation using supercomputers. Experts say this may no longer a movie but may become a reality in the near future as global tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Apple are jumping into the augmented reality market in recent years.
Augmented reality is a live view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. The technology, which pulls the virtual reality on the computer to the real world, is different from the existing web, which only enables users to communication within a virtual world.
According to San Francisco-based consulting firm Venture Beat, the augmented reality and virtual reality market combined would reach $150 billion by 2020. The AR market will grow to $120 billion while VR market will reach $30 billion.
“The augmented reality and virtual reality market in 2015 is similar to the smartphone market where iPhone is not yet unveiled,” said Tim Merel, Managing director of Digi-Capital, which advises mobile apps and services companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
“Catalyst is needed for market growth like Apple’s iPhone,” he added.
Global tech giants are competitively unveiling their prototype products to occupy the market in advance.
An American multinational technology company Microsoft introduced its HoloLens at its "Windows 10: The Next Chapter" press event in January. Microsoft HoloLens is a smart glasses unit that is a cordless, self-contained Windows 10 computer. As it is equipped with central processing unit and graphics processing unit, it can be independently operated without being connected into computers or smartphones. When users wear the HoloLens, the surrounding space is filled with 3D holograms, which are interacting with voice and motions.
In the demonstration video published by Microsoft, a motorcycle designer freely changes colors and sizes of motorcycles in his HoloLens. When he touches, the color changes, and when he bends and stretches out his finger, the height of the motorcycle’s saddle changes. This technology enables people to change their house interiors without separately buying wallpaper or furniture.
A global smartphone leader Apple also announced that it obtained a patent about head-mount display this February. It already acquired a 3D motion sensor provider PrimeSense, which has augmented reality technologies. It is reportedly to unveil next-generation wearable devices following its flagship products iPhone and AppleWatch. Market watchers say the thing that Apple, the leader of the smart eco-system, showing an interest in augmented reality business is a good sign for the industry to grow in the future.
Virtual headset provider Oculus, which was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion last year, is also ramping up its efforts to develop augmented reality technology, analysts said.
Recently, Oculus bought Surreal Vision, a small company in the U.K. that works on bringing the real-world into an interactive virtual world. Surreal Vision possess SLAM++ technology, which identifies the location of things by tracking them on the screen. Oculus is reportedly to improve the location accuracy of virtual graphics on augmented reality devices by taking advantage of the technologies.
In order for the augmented reality technology to be realized, devices controlling the technologies should be developed hand-in-hand. Smartphones which can connect with various devices through apps are the best examples. Also, head mounted display for helmets or eyeglasses like a hero of Iron Man should also be developed.
Many global tech companies are developing such devices including Google’s Google Glass, Samsung’s Samsung Gear VR and Sony’s Project Morpheus. In South Korea, researchers from KAIST developed K-Glass 2 to control augmented reality by recognizing users’ eyes recently.
By Yeon Choul-woong
