Finnish industrial-grade virtual and augmented reality company, Varjo, announced updates to its XR-1 Developer Edition AR headset which includes real-time chroma-keying and marker tracking technologies as early access features. Chroma key is a term used in film production which describes the ‘green screen’ process. It is used to replace specially painted backgrounds and objects with simulated objects. This is the same type of technology that allows actors to perform inside a building but on film, it appears as if they are on an alien spaceship, for example.
This technology is combined with real-time marker tracking which allows professional and enterprise users to anchor any virtual objects onto real objects using visual markers with perfect accuracy down to the last pixel. This will make it possible for professionals to replace specially painted objects with virtual objects. For example, a chroma-keyed dashboard of a car would become fully featured for a designer wearing AR glasses. It will make it easier for designers and other professionals to visualize and interact with the user interfaces that they design and it allows them to adopt a more hands-on approach to their design.
Urho Konttori, co-founder and chief product officer of Varjo, stated that the XR-1 Developer Edition Headset has become one of the most in-demand products since its release in December. He further said that it has already transformed the professional users are designing and conducting research. He also mentioned that they jumped at the challenge when their customers demanded a seamless enterprise solution. Bob Vaughn, product manager at a leading company in aviation training, FlightSafety International, praised the product saying that Varjo took a standard technique and turned it into a useful feature for dynamic mixed reality solutions.
Chroma key allows virtual content to be sealed perfectly by other real-world objects which allow for even more interaction. Chroma key only affects the elements that would be replaced by virtual counterparts so it makes it easy to mark the elements that need to be replaced and it does so without the need for further expensive development. Training and simulation, for example, can benefit from this technology. A trainee could sit between the equipment and a replica of the actual scenario of mechanism that needs to be mastered can be produced. This will come to life by putting on the AR glasses and the trainee will be transported to a virtual environment as if they were there. This was especially useful for FlightSafety International and its training purposes.
The chroma key technology and the advanced marker tracking are available as part of an early access package for all users of the XR-1 Developer Edition Headset. Varjo is planning on hosting a demonstration of the technology at the Defense Simulation Education and Training trade show on 10 and 11 March in Bristol, England. More information and an explanation of Varjo’s chroma key and market tracking technology will be available on the company’s website.
March 10, 2020
