Augmented Reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements and objects are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. Under AR, a view of reality is modified (possibly augmented) by a computer to enhance a user's current perception of reality. Augmentation is conventionally done in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements and objects, such as sports scores on TV during a match. By overlaying artificial information about the environment and its objects onto the real world, advanced AR technologies makes the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulatable.
Current AR systems or simply augmented systems are restricted to only allow for one single user/subject to interact with the objects or video streams in the augmented object experience. As a result, a user of the AR system does not have a way to share his/her augmented object, video stream and/or experience with additional users on the same, similar or different AR system in real-time. In the non-limiting example of virtual shopping, when a user interacts with a virtual or augmented reality shopping application, the user can only see the object or video stream that he/she is interacting with. If the user is trying on virtual clothes or accessories in a virtual fitting room, for example, only he/she can view the effects from his/her own interface module or system. This creates a scenario where the user has to record video or take a photo of his/her AR experience in order to share such AR experience with others.
Additionally, current systems do not support simultaneously synchronizing an augmented video stream with the video streams from other users in communication. For a non-limiting example, current video chat systems such as Skype, allow two users to connect basic video streams to see and chat with one another. These video chat systems, however, do not allow synchronization of augmented objects in the shared video streams that can be interacted with by other users.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.