What is Augmented Reality and how might it be used?

Augmented reality is one of the newest emerging emerging technologies in the electronics industry. It portrays graphics, audio and other sense enhancements from computer screens onto real environments. Augmented reality  is much more advanced than the static graphics technologies that are used within in televisions. Augmented reality systems superimpose graphics for every perspective and adjust to every movement of the user's head and eyes.Last but not the least; augmented reality systems will need highly mobile computers. As of now, available mobile computers that can be used for this new technology are still not sufficiently powerful to create the needed stereo 3-D graphics.

There are three basic components of an augmented reality system, first the head-mounted display, this will enable the user to view  graphics and text created by the system. A tracking and orientation system, this finds out the users location in reference to his surroundings and also tracks the users's head and eye movements. Mobile computers for the hardware, this is needed to power and run the system but as of now we do not have the technology needed to create the required stereo 3-D graphics.


There are many different applications that augmented reality can be used for, such as:


- Gaming and Entertainment
For gaming this technology will allow the users of the game to experience life like environments making them think they are actually one of the characters.


- Education
Augmented reality systems will allow students to view historic time lines in a panoramic recreation of events. Students could also use this system to gain a deeper understanding on things like the formation of clouds or he structure of the universe.


- Security & Defense
The main use of augmented reality in the army is providing foot soldiers with crucial information about his or hers surroundings as well as helping them tell the difference between friendly troops and enemy Troops :/.

What is RFID and how is it being used?

RFID stands for  Radio-frequency identification it is a communication technology that exchanges data via electromagnetic waves to exchange data between a terminal and an object.

RFID tags are used for many different jobs for example Tesco, in the UK put RFID tags on there trolleys so that if they get nicked, they know where they are. Animal aid agencies in India put RFID tags in their elephants so they can track and prevent illegal trafficking. Another great use is for clubbers at holiday hotspots, the customers can now be injected with RFID tags which then turn into wallets!

RFID tags are made p of two different parts, one is an integrated circuit which stores and processes information and the other is an antenna for receiving and transmitting signals. There are three different types of RFID tags. The first type is a passive RFID tag, this has no power source and requires an external electromagnetic field to initiate a signal. The second type is an active RFID tag, which has a battery and transmits signals once it has found the object it is meant to be transmitting those signals to. The third and last type is a battery assisted (BAP) RFID tag, this needs an external source to start the signal sending but it has a significant higher forward link capability providing much further range.