Understanding the different types of AR devices

Mainly the below 

Heads up display (HUD) 

Heads up displays were mainly invented for mission critical applications like flight controllers and weapons system dashboards.

A regular HUD contains three main components; a projector unit, a viewing glass (combiner) and a computer (symbol generator). HUDs help increase situational awareness by reducing the shift of focus for pilots. Increasingly heads up displays have been finding ways into new automobile designs.

Helmet mounted displays

elmet mounted displays which use the same underlying principles of heads up displays are being used in aviation and other industries.

Holographic displays

Popularized in the Star wars series, Minority report and the Iron man series in the recent times, these type of displays use light diffraction to generate three dimensional forms of objects in real space. The fact that holographic displays do not require users to wear any gear to view them is one of their greatest advantages. These type of displays have always been in the realm of science fiction and have recently started gaining traction with products like Looking Glass and Holovect.

Smart glasses

these are glasses that augment your vision. Smart glasses are of two types:

Optical see through

In Optical see through glasses, the user views reality directly through optical elements such as holographic wave guides and other systems that enable graphical overlay on the real world.

Microsoft’s Hololens, Magic Leap One and the Google Glass are recent examples of optical see through smart glasses.

Video see through

With these type of smart glasses, the user views reality that is first captured by one or two cameras mounted on the display. These camera views are then combined with computer generated imagery for the user to see. The HTC Vive VR headset has an inbuilt camera which is often used for creating AR experiences on the device.

Handheld AR

Although handheld AR is a type of video see through, it deserves special mention. The rise of handheld AR is the tipping point for the technology being truly pervasive. Augmented reality libraries like ARKit, ARCore, MRKit, have enabled sophisticated computer vision algorithms to be available for anyone to use. In handheld or mobile AR, all you need is a smartphone to have access to a host of AR experiences.

A brief note on VR

Virtual Reality could be awarded the prize for the most popular oxymoron. It provides the user an immersive experience within a 3D computer generated model or simulation. VR is generally accomplished with the use of head mounted displays (HMDs) or full immersive projection based systems. Google’s introduction of the smartphone based VR experience using cardboard, biconvex plastic lenses, and few other cheap components was a game changer. Anyone with 15$ and a smartphone had access to VR experiences earlier reserved for tech elites in industry and academia. It has been regarded as one of the most intelligent and high-impact moves that enabled a wider adoption and awareness of the technology.

Despite the hype around Virtual reality, it is almost certain that Augmented reality will be the more widely adopted one. Like the smartphone, it makes technology a part of the daily life of users without obstructing reality.

References

https://uxdesign.cc/augmented-reality-device-types-a7668b15bf7a