Occlusion — The Illusion of Reality
Our visual perception that is imparted on us naturally from birth as we grow to know and understand the dynamics of the physical world is bound by the principal of occlusion. A dog resting in-front of a tree, a partial glimpse of traffic ahead from the driver’s seat side, a dolphin’s fin poking out of the water, all have a commonality that is intuitive to our trained eyes. Our spatial awareness derives from our understanding of the relative positioning of physical objects in relation to our vantage point at any given moment in time. In laymen terms, most would use the terms “in-front,” “behind,” “underneath,” “on-top,” etc. to explain the relative positioning of objects from our point of view — but from a technical perspective, this concept is generally termed Occlusion and presents perhaps the single greatest challenge in AR (Augmented Reality) development.
My company lifecache is a location-based AR experience transforming how people consume content and explore cities. Occlusion is a really important aspect of location-based AR, because it helps to create a more realistic and immersive experience for users. When digital objects are properly occluded by real-world objects, it can help users to better understand the spatial relationships between digital and real objects, and can make the user experience easier and more intuitive as users interact with digital objects as if they were real.
For example, if a user is using lifecache to explore a city and digital Moment or point of interest is overlaid on top of the real-world environment, occlusion can help to create a more believable and immersive experience by accurately rendering the digital Moment in relation to real-world objects such as buildings, trees, and other obstacles. This can help users to better understand the layout and structure of the physical environment they are in and can make it easier for them to navigate and interact with the AR content.
On the other hand, if occlusion is not properly implemented in an outdoor AR experience like lifecache, it can create a disjointed or unrealistic experience for users. For example, if digital objects are not occluded by real-world objects and appear to unnaturally float in front of or behind them, it can disrupt the user’s sense of immersion and make it harder for them to understand and interact with the content journey we would like them to explore. Overall, the proper implementation of occlusion can greatly enhance the outdoor AR experience by creating a more realistic and immersive experience for users.
At lifecache, we’ve worked closely with our partners at Niantic and Magic Leap to explore and iterate on various approaches to occlusion in our location-based AR experiences. This has involved a lot of trial and error, testing and feedback, but we believe that the results have been worth it. By prioritizing occlusion in our experiences, we’ve been able to create more realistic and engaging AR experiences that soon users will be able to enjoy.
Now back to building…
