AR definition
Augmented reality (AR) is technology that overlays digital content, such as images, 3D models, text or instructions, onto a live view of the real world through a smartphone, tablet, headset or smart glasses. Unlike virtual reality, AR keeps users in their physical surroundings and anchors virtual objects to real surfaces and locations.
How does augmented reality work?
An AR device uses its camera and motion sensors, and sometimes a depth sensor such as LiDAR, to understand the space around it. A technique called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) tracks the device's position while detecting floors, walls and tables. The app then renders 3D content that appears fixed to those surfaces, updating perspective, scale and lighting as the user moves, so a virtual sofa seems to sit on a real floor.
Developers build AR with Apple's ARKit, Google's ARCore, Unity's AR Foundation for both, or WebXR to run AR in a browser without an app install. AR experiences range from marker-based content triggered by an image, to markerless placement on surfaces, location-based AR such as Pokémon GO and face-tracking filters in social and camera apps.
Examples of augmented reality
- Retail: placing furniture in a room, as in IKEA's AR app, or virtual try-on for glasses and makeup.
- Field service: remote experts drawing annotations on a technician's live camera view.
- Manufacturing: step-by-step assembly instructions overlaid on the work.
- Navigation: walking directions overlaid on the street, as in Google Maps Live View.
- Education: interactive 3D models of anatomy, planets or machinery.
- Real estate and construction: visualizing designs on site before building.
- Marketing: packaging and print that come alive through the camera.
AR vs VR vs mixed reality
Augmented reality adds digital content to the real world while the user still sees their surroundings. Virtual reality replaces the real world entirely with a simulated one. Mixed reality is a form of AR in which virtual objects understand and interact with the physical space, for example hiding behind a real table or bouncing off walls. Modern headsets blur the lines, switching between passthrough mixed reality and fully virtual experiences.
Mobile AR vs headsets
Smartphones are the largest AR platform by far, since billions of people already carry a capable device and need nothing new. Their limit is that users must hold the phone up, which suits short experiences such as product previews. Headsets such as Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest and Samsung Galaxy XR, using passthrough cameras, and dedicated enterprise smart glasses free the user's hands, which matters for work instructions and remote assistance, but cost more and reach far fewer users.
How to build an AR app
Start from the job the user needs done and the context: indoors or outdoors, hands busy or free, seconds or minutes. Optimize 3D assets carefully, using formats such as glTF and USDZ with sensible polygon counts and texture sizes, since heavy models drain batteries and load slowly. Test on a range of devices and lighting conditions, design clear onboarding for scanning surfaces, and handle tracking loss gracefully.
Nexzem builds AR apps for retail, training and field service with ARKit, ARCore, Unity and WebXR, choosing between app-based and browser-based AR based on how often users will return. Analytics show which products customers view in AR and whether it influences purchases.