What is Augmented Reality?

The simplest way of explaining Augmented Reality (AR) is to imagine that virtual images and sounds are stickers and reality is a wall. The composite product of pasting those stickers onto the wall is Augmented Reality (AR).  As its name implies, Augmented Reality (AR) is essentially information superimposed(augmented) onto real life.

To be specific, AR involves, inter alia, computer-generated audiovisuals, data, instructions and/or GPS data which are streamed live (real-time) over the view of the real world. It empowers people, and streamlines processes. You have probably already used AR applications on your smartphone. For example, when you point your mobile phone at the scenery of a city, the mobile phone app recognises the city view, searches the internet for information relating to that view and then proceeds to paste them over the mobile phone screen. If you want to get to that location, GPS data is utilised to guide you, even via audio instructions, on how to get there. The technology seems to be getting more sophisticated!