What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is any experience which is artificial and which adds to the already existing reality. Augmented Reality is called AR in short.

There are 2 types of Augmented Reality. Or all experiences can be classified into two types

Markerless AR – no reference needed.
Marker Based AR – reference based.

Markerless AR

This is an experience where there is no support of a marker. What is a marker? A marker is a reference. A reference for dimensions or just the location to place an object. Think of a sphere. A sphere looks like a sphere no matter its size. or where you are looking from. However a rectangular sheet of paper might look like a line or a trapezium based on how you are seeing it.

In Markerless AR, the device you are using or the artificial thing that changes the environment assumes some things. It either assumes your location or orientation etc. If you try to run it / go against the assumption, the Markerless experience will break.

The Markerless AR App augments an object into the real world without any need of reference.

Marker Based AR

This is an experience where a marker or reference is necessary or needed. The marker can be anything, it can be you who inputs a certain orientation. It can be a piece of paper which can be used as a reference. Think of a scale used as a reference. Every distance is compared to the scale and the distance is measured. Similarly, the piece of paper here is used as a reference. The orientation or size of an object is augmented relative to the size and orientation of the piece of paper.

In Marker Based AR, the device you are using does not assume anything. It fixes the position and orientation and size of the object it augments based on the size of the marker. The Marker based AR will never break as it already has a reference.

Marker Based AR app always needs a Marker to augment an object into the real world.