March 15, 2011

Mirage HMD Augmented Reality System

by Thomas K. Carpenter in augmented reality, Industrial AR | 2 Comments

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The HMDs are here!

Okay, maybe it’s not that exciting, especially when you realize that the Mirage from Arcane Technologies is not a stylish pair of glasses or even some retro steampunk goggles outfitted with AR HMD gear. The unit looks so bulky and bland that not even Lady Gaga could make it trendy.

But it IS an AR HMD.

But really it’s made for industrial usage and not everyday street wear. Though I suppose, a truly hardcore AR enthusiast could augment their home and wear them safety inside without worrying about losing a chance to ever have another date. Again. Ever.

The Mirage ^TM Augmented Reality System is a complete solution allowing you to create your own AR experience by inserting virtual content into the real environment. It includes a high-end stereoscopic OLED video see-through HMD and the MirageBuilder ^TM AR authoring software that work together to track different targets and display overlay near or onto them. The stereoscopic display allows the user to perceive depths for the most realistic experience and OLED technology offers the best color image quality available in head mounted displays today.

The Mirage ^TM HMD includes two cameras that are placed in front of the OLED ocular displays. The cameras send the images of the surroundings to the attached computer and the software uses image processing algorithms to detect marker patterns in the image. If one or more marker patterns are detected, those patterns are used to compute the 3D pose of the associated contents and then the overlay is drawn over the camera images for both eyes. The images are then sent back to the OLED ocular displays in front of both eyes. The result is a highly realistic and accurate stereoscopic realtime AR experience !

The system comes with authoring software so you can customize your markers. I’d be curious if you could also use third party software like the Kinect to make it even groovier. The Mirage + Kinect could become quite an indie hardcore hit. However, since they don’t list the price on their website, I assume the cost is greater than even the most hardcore could afford.

Still, it IS another AR HMD on the market and to me we’re another step closer to stylish low-cost AR HMDs. I’m still predicting 2015 as my arrival date for said glasses, but hopefully someone will surprise me and deliver a product sooner.

About

Thomas K. Carpenter

Thomas K. Carpenter is a full time urban fantasy author with over 60 independently published titles. His bestselling, multi-series universe, The Hundred Halls, has over 35 books and counting. His stories focus on fantastic families, magical academies, and epic adventures.

Hello Thomas.

I’m an AR enthusiast as well. Check out my site.

I think 2015 is a perfectly viable date for an AR HMD. I’m hoping.

I hope that I’m wrong and it’s MUCH earlier. Nice job on the website. 🙂