With all the biggest names in tech dabbling in some form of augmented reality — and with Apple finally jumping in and making it easier than ever for developers to make their own AR apps — it might not be long before it’s part of our every day lives. But actually using AR is often a cumbersome process, and if you don’t want to be forced into wearing a headset or goggles, or staring through your smartphone screen, researchers think they might have the solution, and it’s so small you can plug it right into a light socket.
The Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University has developed a relatively small augmented reality projector that can beam a fully interactive display onto virtually any surface. The system, which the researchers have taken to calling Desktopography, combines a computer, depth sensor, and projector into a single unit. It’s small enough that it can be plugged into a light socket, and the current prototype of the hardware is actually really impressive.
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Source: BGR