CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Top 8 Uses for Augmented Reality

GMW3: Augmented reality (AR) is a technology with a dizzying range of potential applications. And as new and more powerful AR hardware enters the market (such as Apple’s mooted glasses), we’re likely to see even more uses for AR.

7 comments:

Jessica Williams said...

I had honestly not even thought about the practical applications of Augmented Reality before. The construction and design aspects would honestly probably be very useful for prop and set designers designing for a show. I couldn’t help but think that the navigation application was really reminiscent of the way that video games railroad players to their next quest what with those huge arrows that pop up and block off any alternate paths. I will say that I wicked don’t trust the surgery aspect of augmented reality until the technology becomes more advanced and more deeply ingrained into society and everyday uses. I also don’t fully trust the Try- On option just because I know how fickle these things can be although it is a lot lower stakes than the surgery I must admit. The Education aspect is especially interesting given zoom school that has been so prevalent in the last few years what with the pandemic.

Lilian Nara Kim said...

As a kid, I loved anything behind the scenes. Whether it was a documentary about movies, stage productions, or even airports, I loved seeing how everything worked without the general public knowing. It made me feel like I am a part of something secret and cool. I think this was a really fun article to read because it brought out the kid in me. I think how the explosions are made are especially cool. It takes a great deal of planning, knowledge, and a little bit of creativity and insanity to pull something off like that. It also allows me to explore other careers in the industry I never knew existed. I think something like this is so cool and something that is always changing as new technologies allow for cooler, more specific effects. One of the reasons I chose CMU was because of how connected it was to the growing technology industry. I think even things that seem separate from theatre and TV can fit in perfectly with it.

Olivia Curry said...

Personally, I am most excited by the idea of being able to try on clothes without leaving the comfort of my room. In the past some fashion retailers have used technology to generate an approximation of the customer’s body using measurements, which allows you to see how the clothes might look on you and help you pick out the right size. Augmented reality takes that idea a step further, and could even help you pretend to own items you might not want to actually buy. I never even considered the use of augmented reality during surgery, but it sounds like it could be helpful as long as the surgeon has been able to practice extensively with the technology. I could see it being a hindrance instead of an advantage if the surgeon is unfamiliar with it. I could also see augmented reality being used to educate healthcare professionals, and I am sure its development was accelerated due to covid.

DMSunderland said...

The construction and design aspects of augmented reality are what I find most interesting. It blows my mind that a computer can take that much data in real time and accurately overlay anything over a projected image. I will say that I think the tech has a really long way to go as far as visualization goes. The idea of holding a tablet or something similar and actually editing the position of whatever is on screen as on might do with AutoCAD or Vectorworks seems uncomfortable at best and frustrating at worse. But who knows, I'm sure AR / VR is going to be the thing that I never really "take the leap" into as I enjoy sitting at a desktop too much and don't really like working from my phone or laptop. Lowkey I'd have an office desktop if I wasn't so sure it'd get trashed here.


I'm interested in seeing where this tech goes. The big breakthrough would be someone developing a GUI that allows someone to "lock" an image and then allow you to alter the elements within the image before having it applied to the overall space that is being augmented.

And maybe this already exists. I don't really delve into AR / VR very much.

Phoebe Huggett said...

I’d definitely primarily thought about AR as a commercialized or fun thing in the past. We seemed so far from anything incredibly practical that I’d brushed it off a bit but it makes sense that industries would invest money and time into researching this technology to help in construction or other industry because of how valuable it can be to them, though I’m curious about the differences in quality, ability and accessibility of this technology when it comes to industry vs. commercialized versions simply because of the precision necessary to use it. What are the apparatus being used there is my question, I can’t imagine too many large companies are having workers look through the accuracy of a phone to ensure they are building and installing the project correctly. This article also pushed the envelope of augmented reality, I wouldn’t personally really call directions on a map or someone giving you advice AR, though they technically fall under its general purview.

Kyle Musgrove said...

Especially in the past few years, things like AR and VR have emerged from the realm of novelties and much more into the realm of practical tools to use for a variety of media with a wide range of potential applications. Sure, the technology is still pretty new, even with all of the advancements that have been made in the past 10 years, but already it has shown just how far it can go if it is given the proper amount of time and resources to get off the ground. Especially for AR, the potential benefits of being able to see the virtual applied to reality in real-time, and in real space, are staggering. It would certainly give rise to a level of creativity and productivity that we haven't seen since the dawn of computers themselves. Not only that, but being able to place objects virtually into a space would save an incredible amount of time, since you'd be able to accurately visualize just how something would look just at the press of a button.

Selina Wang said...

Augmented Reality is a relatively mature technology now. The article lists several areas where the technology is applied and while it is pretty general, I think it does cover the major aspects. Gaming and navigation are two of the most common areas we see AR in our daily life. I feel like they are so common and immersed in our lives now we sometimes just pass them by without giving them much thought. I know AR is rising in popularity for design and educational purposes but from my own experience, there is still a gap before it is fully accepted and utilised. Applying AR in surgery is optimistic and certainly something worth looking towards. I imagine there is still a lot of development needed for the technology to be fully mature and ready for everyday application, but I can only imagine it being very helpful. In terms of design and construction, I can see how the theatre industry could also use AR to aid the process.