Just like many others, my first conscious recollection of AR is in the form of a yellow line. Back in 1998, the NFL added the first-down line to their live broadcast workflow; this introduced the idea of using computers to augment and edit reality to a mass audience. For perspective from the tech sector, that was three years before the iPod was introduced — and nine years ahead of the iPhone. Other applications — for instance, glass cockpits in aircraft — go back even further. What that tells us is that AR is resilient; it has continued to pop up in whatever form the technology allows, for decades now. Why? Because humans want AR in their lives.
AR is often compared to VR. However, this is somewhat misleading; AR integrates itself into your life in a way VR never can. While I’ll watch a short VR clip from time to time, I do not use it regularly or frequently. Countless people I know have never put on a headset. However, I use some form of AR every day — often without being consciously aware that I am using it. For instance, my car projects where my vehicle is backing into and displays it over the backup camera video on my dashboard. In broadcast television, advertising banners are projected behind home plate that aren’t actually on the field. And obviously, there are selfie filters; I look damn cute in dog ears.
Now, if you were to jump in your time machine to the year 2030, how will you be watching the Super Bowl? Or, more accurately, how will you be experiencing the Super Bowl, or movies, or the news? Can you imagine how many new ways will there be to bring experiences home with you?
We are focused on developing tools to enable creatives to deliver those future experiences. But we aren’t going to wait around for AR glasses to arrive; as we’ve said, AR is here today.
Today, we can augment everyone’s reality through mobile phones. With our media, technology, brand, and partnerships, Jaunt R&D is set out to launch a new generation of products aimed at creating and distributing immersive content that people want, today.
This is the second post in a series of blogs from the Jaunt R&D team that will share more about the problems we are solving and how we’re working to help build the future of media. Stay tuned for our next update on the Jaunt Blog.
Interested in joining us? Explore job opportunities with our R&D team here: https://www.jauntvr.com/careers/