Augmented Reality (AR) Proof of Concept (POC)

 This is a short summary of the research and design aspect of prototyping apps for possible use in military programs. Although the following was a culmination of weeks of research on my own time, the applications of AR are still countless.

The Project

Many projects start with the, "Why", and "How". So the reason I wanted to build this project was for my own gratification, to understand some of the concepts of AR development and to use Unity 3D. I would have liked to see our soldiers or maybe even regular people, to check on situations in their surroundings by interpreting data and stimuli into a very condensed but readable display. I know that I am not the only one to think of "Iron Man" when it comes to situational awareness displays. But what if we were wearing VR googles with cameras? Could we use those cameras to take in information that we were otherwise blind to? The ability to use a VR headset and pay attention to the world would be pretty awesome.

I would have like to see this AR app with the help of cameras, to display data on a person's arm, body, or other limbs. As well as displaying information about objects that are surrounding the user, buildings, vehicles, signs, and posters.

Starting with Unity I was able to find a plugin that helped with the process of accepting image data and displaying a model. Just like the promotional games where you could point your phone's camera at a poster and your favorite character would stand next to you.

Next the image that I chose to use was a logo from the Army Futures Command (AFC). When the image is recognized I had a large wheel vehicle appear. Magic!

I have a few videos demonstrating the proof of concept that I can share below.


Previewing the app on Unity 3D using vuforia and a webcam



Demonstration 2, on a Android device. The app asks "Scan Logo" then process to add the model when it recognizes the AFC logo.


Continuing this project in the future, I would have the app "look" for QR codes that would then connect to a database. I think that with ML the possibilities would be as far as the imagination could take us.




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