📖Brief History of AR

AR has a history spanning several decades. Through the key milestones, we can see the pioneering efforts in hardware, software, and applications. This history is marked by both failures and successes, reflecting humanity's desire to transform reality into a better life.

In recent years, we’ve witnessed increasingly mature AR hardware, transformative software capabilities, and innovative AR applications. Mass adoption of AR is on the horizon.

1968: Ivan Sutherland, a Harvard professor known as the father of computer graphics, created the first AR head-mounted display called "The Sword of Damocles."

1974: Myron Kruger, a computer researcher and artist, built a laboratory at the University of Connecticut called ‘Videoplace’ that was entirely dedicated to artificial reality.

1990: Tom Caudell, a Boeing researcher, coined the term "augmented reality."

2000: Hirokazu Kato developed an open-source software library called the ARToolKit. This package helps other developers build augmented reality software programs. The library uses video tracking to overlay virtual graphics on top of the real world.

2013: Niantic introduced Ingress, a location-based AR mobile game that transformed the real world into a global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition. It was the first of its kind.

2013: Google made waves with the introduction of Google Glass, a revolutionary concept that aimed to bring augmented reality to our daily lives. These sleek, lightweight glasses featured a small display that overlaid digital information onto the user's field of view. With voice commands and a touch-sensitive frame, Google Glass allows users to capture images, record videos, and access a multitude of apps and information while maintaining a direct connection with the real world through the glasses' lenses.

2016: Pokémon GO enters the world, rapidly becoming a global phenomenon thanks to Niantic. This groundbreaking augmented reality game captivated hundreds of millions of players by encouraging them to explore the real world in search of virtual Pokémon, seamlessly blending gaming with outdoor adventure.

2016: Microsoft starts shipping its version of wearable AR technology called the HoloLens, which is more advanced than the Google Glass, but came with a hefty price tag.

2017: IKEA released its augmented reality app called IKEA Place that changed the retail industry forever. The app allows customers to virtually preview their home decor options before actually making a purchase.

2018: Towards the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, augmented reality experienced a massive boost in public recognition, with Apple and Google introducing their respective AR development kits—ARKit for iOS and ARCore for Android.

2019: Minecraft Earth, an augmented reality and geolocation-based sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive and published by Xbox Game Studios. Players could walk around the real world and experience "chunks" that they could interact with. Each chunk would have randomly generated terrain, mobs, and items that players could collect and mine before moving on. There were even quests in the game called "adventures" that players could complete for rewards.

2020: Google's persistent 'Cloud Anchors' feature was widely accessible for mobile developers on Android, iOS, and Unity. This technology is designed to facilitate the development of collaborative AR applications and games featuring persistent virtual objects. Previously, AR experiences were limited to a single session; once users closed the app, the virtual objects would disappear. With Cloud Anchors, developers can create experiences where these objects remain anchored in the real world, enabling multiple users to interact with them over time.

2023: Peridot, a mobile game developed by Niantic that allows players to raise and care for their own unique creatures called Peridots. It is the first game that truly emphasizes AR gameplay, requiring players to keep their cameras on to pet, play with, and experience the creatures' realness. Peridot is also collaborating with Spectacles (AR glasses developed by Snapchat) to bring AR gaming to wearable devices, creating a truly immersive experience.

2024: Apple launched Vision Pro, marketing it as a "spatial computer" where digital media is integrated with the real world. Physical inputs—such as motion gestures, eye tracking, and speech recognition—can be used to interact with the system.

2024: Meta has released its first AR glasses with a display, combining the look and feel of regular glasses with the immersive capabilities of augmented reality. The Orion integrates the most cutting-edge AR technologies, featuring large holographic displays that allow you to use the physical world as your canvas, contextual AI that can sense and understand its environment, and a light weight of around 100 grams with a separate design for the glasses and battery. The Orion showcases the potential for mass adoption of AR glasses.