Augmented reality (AR) has risen to prominence recently, with the entry of tech giants Apple into the AR market, along with technology like Google’s Tango platform also getting attention. AR has primarily been associated with smartphone and mobile technology, which limits the graphical capabilities of AR. Or at least it did until the unveiling of the new Octosense technology.
Two new technologies introduced by Octosense could see a considerable rise in the graphical capabilities and realism of AR experiences. The newly released real-time shading technology allows existing hardware to run highly realistic 3D content in real time, achieving a level of detail that is usually reserved for desktop PCs and powerful current-gen consoles. The company claim that the 3D AR content produced by the Octosense solution requires less processing and graphical power than the type of 3D graphics that are currently in use on mobile devices today.
In addition, Octosense have introduced a markerless tracking system for AR use. Unlike current AR experiences, no specific marker pattern is needed to orient the AR content into the correct space. The technology can also provide motion tracking using a single RGB smartphone camera, so no special motion sensors are needed. The technology can track the movement of the phone and recognise suitable flat areas, pinning objects to a specific point and changing scale and perspective as the user moves the devices, giving the appearance that the AR content is reacting dynamically to the world around it.
“Major advances in mixed and augmented reality always seemed unachievable,” said Octosense CEO Deve Ouazanan. “Today, with our extraordinary team members, we’ve already made amazing progress and are now working to release the first realistic personal digital assistant. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our R&D department is already setting its sights on what can be achieved in terms of realism and natural facial movement, as we create the next generation of mixed reality.”
It is not known if and when this technology will be integrated into smartphones of the future, VRFocus will report on any further developments.