Pikachu has inspired an augmented reality resurgence, but some of the AR headsets on show in Shanghai struggle to make the grade.
While virtual reality gets more attention, augmented reality seems to have more real-world applications – as it superimposes extra detail over your view of the actual world rather than whisking you away to a VR fantasy world.
Augmented reality is certainly making its presence felt at this week's CES Asia technology show in Shanghai. AR has stepped out of the shadows and is just as prevalent on the exhibition floor as VR. Unfortunately some AR experiences fail to impress if you've already sampled the top-of-the-line AR headsets.
Jumping at shadows
At first glance Shadow Creator's Halomini looks for all the world like Microsoft's HoloLens, but with a 7500 Yuan (AU$1500) price tag it's around half the price of Microsoft's slick augmented reality headset. Like the HoloLens, the Halomini is completely wireless with a built-in computer – although it runs on Android 6.0 instead of Windows. Unlike the HoloLens, the Halomini only features a single tracking camera on the front so it knows what you're looking at.
Like the HoloLens, the Halomini projects images onto the visor in front of your eyes, a bit like a fighter pilot's heads-up display which adds tactical information to their view of the sky. The Halomini matches the HoloLens' narrow 40-degree horizontal field of vision, but Shadow Creator is preparing to release the new Air model which is lighter, looks more like traditional glasses and offers a wider 60-degree field of vision.
At this point Shadow Creator's AR headsets seem to be shaping up as serious rivals to Microsoft's HoloLens, but once you don the Halomini headset you realise that Microsoft doesn't have much to fear at this point.
Seeing double
It's very difficult to align the Halomini with your view of the real world, partly due to its reliance on a single tracking camera and partly due to the way the software works. The problems become clear when looking at Shadow Creator's AR demonstration samples such as a picture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
To make things complicated, some Halomini apps can work in two modes. They can superimpose virtual objects over your view of the real world (like a HoloLens), or else they can superimpose everything the tracking camera can see onto the visor – which is how the Halomini was configured the first time I tested it. Unfortunately this mode really shows up the headset's shortcomings.
In theory the view from the tracking camera and your real-world view should line up perfectly, but they don't. The tracking camera is located above your eyes and thus has a slightly different view of the world. The Halomini tries to compensate for this but doesn't do a great job, plus it struggles to produce a clear image in a brightly lit room.
The Halomini also lacks the multiple infrared sensors which Microsoft's HoloLens and Google's Project Tango use to gain a sense of depth. With the Halomini this appears to be an optional extra which you can attach to the headset, but it works in conjunction with an external sensor which hinders your ability to wander around.
As a result of the Halomini's underwhelming tracking abilities you're left seeing double – it's not like going cross-eyed but more like seeing a picture-in-picture view of the world with the camera's point of view floating in front of your eyes slightly above the centre of your vision and out of alignment with the real world. The AR content is only visible in this small, misaligned ghostly view of the world.
Look again
The staff working on the Shadow Creator stand repeatedly assured me that this was how the view through the Halomini should look, but I feared something had been lost in translation.
I persevered until I found someone who explained that it was possible to change the settings so it didn't display the view from the tracking camera and instead only superimposed virtual objects onto the visor. Of course these objects still weren't aligned properly with the real world, but it was less obvious without the full tracking camera's view as a reference point.
Shadow Creator envisions engineers using Halomini to help with repairs and maintenance, but it's hard to see it making much headway when it offers such a disappointing user experience.
Shadow Creator also imagines people wearing them in public, but they're quite cumbersome and it would be rather disorienting to walk down the street wearing one. You're better off using your smartphone, Google's Tango is going from strength the strength and Apple revealed at WWDC that it's lifting its AR game.
Meanwhile the fast-action AR shoot 'em up games you can play on HoloLens would be useless on the Halomini, because it's not accurate enough to line up with the real world and it's too slow to respond when you turn your head. You'd only find the Halomini useful if it didn't matter where virtual objects appeared to float in the real world.
Maybe next year
When I pointed out the Halomini's shortcomings compared to the HoloLens I was told it would improve in a few months, that there were issues with the SDK and that some of the Halomini apps weren't as good as others. None of this left me confident to invest in a Halomini today.
Shadow Creator's upcoming Air headset has a faster processor and wider field of view than the Halomini, along with two tracking cameras, but the Air models on display weren't set up with AR demos for comparison. From speaking to the staff on the stand, I got the impression that the tracking issues won't be completely resolved with the Air headset.
The world of augmented reality is certainly full of potential, but Shadow Creator needs to lift its game if it wants to keep up with the likes of Microsoft, Google and Apple.
Adam Turner travelled to CES Asia in Shanghai as a guest of CES.
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