Bright Ideas: Augmented reality

HIT Lab NZ has developed 3D comics with pop-up virtual images. Photo / Supplied

Mark Billinghurst
Director, Human Interface Technology Laboratory

Virtual reality is so 90s. The buzzword these days is augmented reality and Canterbury University's Human Interface Technology Laboratory, also known as HIT Lab NZ, is at the forefront of the field.

Around 40 staff and students use the lab, making it the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest in the world.

Director Mark Billinghurst admits he never quite over seeing the original Star Wars trilogy as a boy, and in one way or another has been trying to create some of its holographic tricks ever since.

In a nutshell, augmented reality is about creating a virtual image in the real world. How HIT Lab does this is complicated, but it essentially involves using a specially-developed square-shaped marker as a reference point to instantly build up a virtual image.

Recently, however, the lab has been able to do away with the marker and it has high hopes for what is known as "markerless tracking" in the future.

So far, the technology has been used for medical trials and the team has managed to create a "magic book" - a pop-up comic containing virtual 3D images. And the images can be animated as well.

In fact, the lab has created a simple piece of software aimed at children, which can be downloaded free on the internet.

According to Billinghurst, it is the most popular AR download in the world.

The US Postal Service uses similar software on its website so customers can judge how big a package they will need for their goods.

It is also being used for educational purposes and by museums, including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne.

Future uses may include incorporating AR into textbooks, documentation, gaming and flexible displays.

But in the meantime, cellphones are likely to be the most popular medium. It is already possible for two people to play virtual tennis with their mobile phones, complete with realistic sounds and vibration.

The lab recently won an international award for the best mobile game in the world that wasn't from a professional games company.

Billinghurst's six tips for future inventors are simple: follow your passion, find playmates smarter than you, solve important problems, build toys, share your toys and make magic. It is, at the very least, a recipe for an interesting life.

To download your own AR software, go to www.hitlabnz.org/wiki/BuildAR