The AR Design Cheat Sheet
A bookmarkable infographic for your AR design projects
Augmented Reality has a lot of jargon! This visual cheat sheet quickly gets you to the parts that matter most.
Download the AR Cheat Sheet now or read on for a more detailed breakdown.
Realities
Which reality are you in?
- Augmented Reality adds a virtual layer to the real world.
- Virtual Reality replaces the real world with a virtual one.
- Extended Reality is a catch all term for AR, VR & anything in between.
- Mixed Reality (in my opinion) is just a fancy name for AR.
Devices
How do you see the augmented reality?
Mobile AR
AR is seen through a mobile app that utilises the device camera, for example Pokemon Go or IKEA place.
- Pro: Hundreds of millions of compatible devices already out there.
- Con: Has a tiny viewport, so limited view of the augmented world.
Related:
- ARKit (Apple), ARCore (Google) and Vuforia are mobile AR SDKs (software development kits) that do most of the complex AR computation and allow developers to focus on the content.
- Unity3D is a cross-platform games engines commonly used for AR development when paired with an AR SDK.
Web AR
AR seen through a web browser, can be on desktop or mobile.
Pro: No need to install an app.
Con: Not as powerful as mobile AR.
Related:
- AFrame is a Javascript framework for web VR also being used for basic AR.
- 8th Wall is a dedicated AR SDK that works on the web.
- Mozilla’s Firefox Reality browser, Apple’s Quicklook and Google’s WebARonARCore are evolving the capabilities of the browser.
Head-Mounted Displays / Smart Glasses
Rich experiences can be seen through dedicated AR headsets like HoloLens or Magic Leap. Basic visual overlays can be seen through lightweight smart glasses like Focals.
Pro: The most immersive AR experience.
Con: Powerful devices are currently bulky and expensive.
Lenses
Social platforms like Snap or Facebook allow their cameras to be overlaid with AR filters and shared with friends.
Pro: Huge reach opportunity that’s great for brand placement.
Con: Costs a lot of money to get featured.
Tracking
How does the virtual layer connect to the real?
Marker-based
Attach virtual content to a specific thing in the real-world e.g. a QR-code style pattern, an image, a 3D object, a face.
Pro: Good for binding content an a specific trigger.
Con: Requires pre-configuring the marker and then a constant clear view of it.
Markerless
Understanding the real world and using that information to position virtual content in it e.g. placing objects on a table.
Pro: makes virtual content feel like it actually belongs in the world.
Con: still new and not as sophisticated as people would hope.
Related:
- Occlusion means real-world objects realistically mask the virtual ones behind them.
AR Cloud
A global virtual layer, where content can be placed and persist for all users (think GPS on steroids).
Pro: creates a persistent shared virtual layer.
Con: nascent. A dominant network is yet to emerge.
Content
What’s in the virtual layer?
3D Objects
Three-dimensional objects that have width, height and depth — often called Models.
Pro: The world is 3D so can be explored from multiple angles.
Con: Timely to produce or source.
Related:
- Formats: simple models are often .obj (no animation) or .fbx (with animation). For higher fidelity work .gltf is increasingly becoming the standard, though Apple are pushing USDZ as an alternative.
- Meshes are the geometry of the object, made from a mesh of connected polygons/triangles, themselves made from a collection of points in space.
- Materials are settings for an object that control how it is displayed i.e. so it looks like it is made of different materials.
- Textures are the images that are wrapped around a model. Models include UV mappings that define which points on the geometry use which pixels on the texture image.
2D Objects
Flat rectangles that we display an image or video on. Often called panels, quads or planes.
Pro: 2D images are easy to obtain.
Con: Can still feel flat even when in 3D space.
Related:
- A billboard is an image that always rotates to face the camera i.e. you can never see it from the side.
- When an object exists in three-dimensional space we say it is in world-space, when it is stuck on the screen we say it is in screen-space.
Spatial Audio
Sounds can have a position in 3D space, so how clearly we hear it is affected by our distance from it.
Pro: makes virtual sound behave like real-life.
Con: like real life, too much surrounding audio becomes noise.
Interactions
How do users interact with the virtual content?
Touch
Mobile AR still allows the use of the touchscreen and so can support all the same gestures as normal apps.
Pro: familiar and minimal user effort required.
Con: screens are two-dimensional so complex 3D manipulation is hard.
3DOF / 6DOF Controller
A handheld device that the user can move around to control objects in the scene. 3 Degrees of Freedom means it knows it’s position or rotation on the x, y and z axes. 6 degrees means it knows both.
Pro: accurate 3D position and rotation tracking.
Con: requires spare hands (so not really compatible with mobile AR).
Gestures
Using gestures performed by the user to control objects and trigger interactions. Usually hand or facial gestures.
Pro: an intuitive way to interact with content in the real-world.
Con: currently limited support and can also be tiring (remember the Wii).
Gaze
Tracking the user’s gaze to determine their focus and trigger interactions. Rather than actual eye tracking, this is often what the device camera is looking towards.
Pro: an intuitive way to interact with content in the real-world.
Con: less variety in the types of user actions.
Proximity
Tracking the user’s distance from virtual objects and using that to trigger interactions.
Pro: a great way to emphasise content as a user approaches.
Con: less variety in the types of user actions.
Voice
Use voice commands from the user to trigger interactions.
Pro: good for issuing detailed instructions.
Con: possible commands need to be planned out beforehand.
Did I miss anything?
Hopefully you found this useful. If I missed anything, let me know and I’ll add it to the next update.
Written by Jeremiah Alexander, founder of wiARframe — a dedicated tool for AR design and prototyping. Designed by Emmy Phung
