# Augmented reality

> Digital images laid on top of the real world you are looking at.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Hardware
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/augmented-reality/
- In Spanish: [Realidad aumentada](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/augmented-reality/)

**Augmented reality** (AR) adds computer-made images to your view of the real world, instead of replacing it. You look at your room through a phone camera or through special glasses, and the device draws extra things on top: an arrow on the street showing where to turn, a virtual sofa standing on your actual floor, the name of each star in the night sky.

To make the drawing stick to the right spot, the device has to understand the space around it. It uses the camera, motion sensors and sometimes a depth sensor like lidar to find floors, walls and objects and to track how you move. That is what lets a virtual object stay put while you walk around it. Most people have met AR through phone apps and games like Pokémon Go, and through filters that put hats or masks on faces in video calls.

The long-term goal is AR glasses you would wear all day, showing directions, messages or translations in front of your eyes. Several companies sell early versions, but making glasses light, bright enough to read outdoors and with a battery that lasts is still hard. The line with virtual reality is blurring too: some headsets show the real room through cameras and add digital objects on top, often called mixed reality.

## An analogy

Sticky notes that you can put on the real world: on a wall, on a street corner, on a sofa that is not there yet. Everyone with the right glasses or app can read them.

## Keep in mind

- Adds digital content to the real world, rather than replacing it like VR.
- Needs to map the space with cameras and sensors so objects stay in place.
- Most common today on phones: games, face filters, furniture previews, navigation.
- Everyday AR glasses exist but still struggle with weight, brightness and battery.

## Go deeper

- [Augmented reality on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality)
- [Augmented reality (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/)

## Related terms

- [Sensor](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/sensor/): A component that measures something in the physical world and turns it into a signal.
- [Lidar](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/lidar/): A sensor that measures distances by timing laser pulses that bounce back.
- [Mobile app](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/mobile-app/): A program made to run on a phone or tablet, usually installed from an app store.
- [Go](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/go/): A simple, fast programming language from Google, built for servers and cloud tools.
- [Lithium-ion battery](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/lithium-ion-battery/): The rechargeable battery inside phones, laptops and electric cars.
- [Virtual reality](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/virtual-reality/): A headset that replaces what you see with a 3D world that follows your head.