The AREA members and staff have compiled the following list of key Augmented Reality terms and their definitions to help enterprises understand what distinguishes AR from other technologies. Our goal is to provide a helpful reference for anyone at any level who is learning about AR-specific tools and concepts.
Augmented Reality Authoring Systems are software programs that enable a user to create AR experiences. An AR Authoring System combines trackables (created using features of the real world and a tracking library) with digital content that is encoded into presentation data and then assigned interactive functions (e.g., see more details, show relevant info, move and freeze in position, hide/close). The AR authoring system uses databases to store the scene elements – trackables, presentation data and interactions.
AR Execution Engines are the software components that present the AR experience to, and manage the interactions with, the user while recognizing and tracking the real world.
An AR Software Development Kit (SDK) is an all-inclusive software package for creating AR applications. An AR SDK may include: 2D and 3D tracking technology, image recognition and tracking, geo-location capabilities, support for cloud storage of objects, support for the Unity game engine, SLAM support, wearables support, and Application Programming Interfaces for different computer languages.
