Cati Gayá
Cati Gayá
@cati.gaya
Staff Plus
Film & video

What is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work?

  • by Cati Gayá @cati.gaya

Multimedia artist Solimán López explains the basis of the technology that allows us to merge real and virtual worlds

From its origins in the Sensorama project to its popularization by the global phenomenon Pokémon Go, augmented reality has long been a part of our lives. But what exactly is it? How can we define it?

Solimán López (@solimanlopez), multimedia artist and founder of Harddiskmuseum, explains what augmented reality is and how it works in the following video:

Concept origins

The beginnings of augmented reality can be found in the 1962 Sensorama project, one of the first known examples of multi-sensorial immersion. However, it was not until 1992 that Tom Caudell first definited augmented reality content displayed through a device to mix a real-world experience with a digital one.

What do you need for augmented reality?

A device to capture the real image (such as a mobile phone) and a software that can simultaneously process this information and add virtual elements that will transform what is seen. Beyond these components, there are different types of augmented reality: that which is connected to geolocation, and that which is based on markers.

What is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work?  3

The evolution of markers is easy to follow: an example of their use is the barcode, which consists of an image assigned to a database that is linked to virtual content, or QR codes, a visual progression of barcodes.

Today, technology has advanced so much that we can use three-dimensional objects such as a human face as markers. This evolution is what allows us to use the popular augmented reality filters for social networks, which project a series of previously developed virtual elements onto our faces.

What is Augmented Reality and How Does It Work?  5

If you want to learn how to develop and publish filters for social networks and open the door to a new reality, discover Solimán López' online course Artistic Augmented Reality Filter Creation.

You may be interested in:

- Illustrated Filters for Facebook and Instagram Stories, a course by Beatriz Ramo (Naranjalidad)
- Creation of Animated Short Films in 3D for Social Media, a course by Buda.tv
- Augmented Reality Filters for Instagram and Facebook, a course by Paul Brown

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