welcome to augmented reality – your view of the world is about to change forever

Imagine walking down the street and seeing turn-by-turn directions floating before your eyes. Or time-travelling to ancient Rome, playing a historic role, within the confines of your living room. Perhaps previewing a new pair of glasses on your own face or assembling a piece of furniture with a holographic aid. These emerging applications are powered by one of technology‘s most promising areas – augmented reality.

In this article, we‘ll explore the explosive growth of augmented reality technology. You‘ll learn what‘s driving recent investment and developments in AR, and how major platforms are being created for next gen experiences. We‘ll also compare different tools enabling businesses and individuals like yourself to build immersive augmented worlds. Finally, I‘ll share the best ways to start experiencing AR on your devices.

An Introduction to Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) blends digital information into the user‘s view and perception of the real world. Unlike virtual reality which simulates lifelike replicas of reality, AR overlays virtual objects on top of your natural surroundings.

AR layers can include sounds, graphics, video, text, sensors and touch feedback. They are anchored to places or objects seen through your devices – whether smartphones, headsets or soon even contact lenses! This creates a combined augmented environment or "spatial computing" experience blending physical and digital.

Current popular examples of consumer AR include games like Pokemon Go, informational place overviews in Google Maps, furniture you can preview in your home with apps like IKEA Place, and virtual try-on for makeup or accessories. But these provide just a small glimpse of the future possibilities of AR across every domain.

Now, significant advancements in core technologies like computer vision, dedicated chipsets, and 5G connectivity have tipped us over an inflection point. AR is racing into the mainstream in the 2020s – not just for fun mobile apps but as a part of everyday work and life.

Tracking the Explosive Growth of AR Investment and Adoption

Both investors and major companies see nearly endless opportunities to create utility and engagement via augmented experiences. This confluence is demonstrated in record levels of funding for AR startups and numerous new product launches:

Date Augmented Reality Growth Milestone
Q1 and Q2 2021 $1.5 billion in VC funding invested in AR companies
March 2021 Facebook launches Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses with embedded cameras and speakers
May 2021 Snap acquires AR display startup WaveOptics for over $500 million
March 2021 Niantic raises $300m at nearly $9B valuation based on AR gaming portfolio
April 2021 Microsoft Mesh launched for enterprise collaboration via holograms
May 2021 Apple job listings indicate work on AR headset

Augmented reality is projected to expand rapidly from tens of millions of current users to over 1 billion by 2024. Nearly every industry vertical stands to benefit from AR capabilities:

  • Retail – virtual try-ons, product previews
  • Healthcare – digital overlays for procedures, patient education
  • Manufacturing and field service – providing remote guidance for technicians
  • Tourism – immersive cultural and location-based experiences
  • Sports, concerts & events – telepresence and added informational layers

As more life and business activities have elements enhanced by AR overlays, the technology promises to become as ubiquitous as the mobile phone.

Understanding the Major Augmented Reality Platforms and Frameworks

A key driver of AR proliferation is the availability of robust toolkits for developers to build the next generation of augmented apps and experiences. The major mobile platform vendors Apple, Google and Microsoft provide complementary solutions:

Platform Description Use Cases
Apple ARKit Tools for building AR iOS apps Tight integration with iPhone/iPad and new protocols like FaceID unlock extensive capabilities
Google ARCore Brings AR capability to Android/iOS devices Leverages Google‘s computer vision, environmental understanding and machine learning expertise
Microsoft Mixed Reality Toolkit Open source toolkit for cross platform AR/VR/MR development MR tools plus backend services like Azure Spatial Anchors enable persistent coordinate systems across multiple sessions or users

These toolkits provide critical abilities like environmental mapping, occlusion handling and cross-device synchronization. They build AR functionality on top of more generalized 3D engines like Unity and Unreal. For custom experiences beyond basic mobile apps, game engines offer more control.

Now let‘s explore some versatile platforms for creating augmented reality projects without intensive coding or 3D expertise.

Top AR SaaS Tools Empowering Students, Enterprise and Marketers

Here we‘ll learn about all-in-one SaaS platforms tailored for non technical users to develop augmented reality applications across education, commerce, training and more:

CoSpaces Edu πŸŽ’

  • Helps teachers and students jump into creating collaborative AR/VR educational projects without coding
  • Includes 3D assets, templates and examples for learning scenarios in science, math, history
  • Output can be quickly viewed in browsers or VR headsets like Oculus Go

CoSpaces Edu makes bringing augmented lessons and exhibits to life easy for instructors and schools

Fectar πŸ“Š

  • Enables non-developers to rapidly build augmented reality prototypes, demos and simulations
  • Great for AR proofs of concept – from pitches to training
  • Catalog of customizable templates cover business presentations, complex work instructions and more
  • Output deployable on phones, tablets or projected life-size

Fectar drives business adoption of augmented reality without intensive app development

Vuforia Enterprise AR βš™οΈ

  • Industry-leading enterprise AR platform trusted by advanced manufacturers, healthcare providers and more
  • Optimized for unique challenges from complex CAD models to detailed work instructions
  • Integrates with existing enterprise systems and IoT data flows
  • Role-based access and robust security for controlled experiences

Vuforia Enterprise AR powers industry solutions like Pratt & Whitney aircraft manufacturing

Zapworks 🎨

  • Collaborative suite tailored for creative teams to conceptualize, manage and publish AR
  • Options range from no-code editors for basic mobile AR up to JS APIs for advanced interactions
  • Drag and drop workflow streamlines asset management and iteration
  • Output web experiences or native iOS/Android apps

ZapWorks lets collaborative teams efficiently build robust augmented reality applications

These services demonstrate how AR creation is becoming democratized beyond specialized developers.

Of course numerous other enterprise tools and cloud services like Amazon Sumerian exist as well to build multi-user applications. Augmented reality is now viable and valuable across domains with the proper enabling technologies.

Getting Started with Augmented Reality Experiences

Here are suggestions if you want to start dabbling in augmented reality apps and capabilities yourself on consumer devices:

On Mobile

  • Try out Snapchat or Instagram AR filters and lens effects including face morphs. TikTok also offers special effects applied algorithmically to videos.
  • Launch Google Maps or Search on Android/iOS and explore early AR directions or place overlays
  • Download furniture and makeup preview apps with virtual try-ons like IKEA Place and Sephora to see early commercial use cases
  • For iPad and iPhone, find AR games like Pokemon Go or Knight Bust that integrate the environment

On Dedicated AR Headsets

  • If you can get access to Microsoft HoloLens or Magic Leap demos, spend time with some retail execution apps. Visualize digital synergies like store layout planning, spatial product libraries, 3D design layering and work instructions.
  • See if any local companies offer interactive augmented tours or activities for the public to highlight the technology.
  • Check out tools like Fectar that now enable using your phone as an AR headset via QR codes placed in the real world.

Learning Development

  • Start experimenting with mobile AR using Unity and AR Foundation. Great beginner tutorials exist.
  • For native iOS Swift dev, leverage ARKit. Android offers ARCore.
  • Options for low cost AR glasses hardware like Nreal Light for testing tethered experiences.
  • Get inspired by tons of community developer projects on GitHub!

See the blog for links to development resources and code repositories across platforms.

The world of augmented reality spans from basic smartphone apps to highly complex enterprise deployments requiring their own backend services. Keep tabs on news and company innovations to see what may impact your own industry soon.

Our augmented reality journey is only beginning…

As this article has shown, AR innovation is accelerating to debut incredible new interfaces and enhanced experiences of our physical spaces. 5G networks, improved displays and optics, and ubiquitous environmental sensing will all compound adoption. Just as the smartphone redefined society in unforeseeable ways, augmented reality promises unprecedented digital synergies with the tangible world.

Are you ready to join the movement spearheading our augmented future? The diverse AR opportunities across sectors still remain widely untapped, constrained mostly by imagination rather than any technical limits. Why not start bringing your own augmented ideas to reality using the tools and guidance above? The only remaining question is what you will help dream up next!

I hope this guide has "augmented" your perspective of emerging realities – now go explore for yourself!