Varjo, a Finnish maker of industrial-grade virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, today announced updates to its XR-1 Developer Edition AR headset that include real-time chroma keying and marker tracking technology as early access features.

In film, chroma key is used in a process known as “green-screening,” which is used to replace specially painted backgrounds and objects with simulated objects. It’s the same technology that allows actors to perform on set inside an otherwise ordinary building but appear to be on the deck of a sailing ship in the midst of a storm or on an alien planet during post-production.

Combined with real-time marker tracking, professional and enterprise users can anchor any virtual objects onto real objects using visual markers with pixel-perfect accuracy. That will allow professionals to have specially painted items that can be entirely replaced by virtual objects.

For example, the otherwise plain chroma-keyed dashboard of a car would become visibly fully featured for a designer wearing AR glasses. That would make it even easier for designers, architects, engineers and other professionals to both visualize and directly interact with the user interfaces they design in an immersive hands-on fashion.

“Since its commercial launch in December 2019, Varjo’s XR-1 Developer Edition has quickly become the most demanded mixed reality product for professional users, transforming the way companies train, design and conduct research in immersive environments,” said Urho Konttori, co-founder and chief product officer of Varjo. “When our customers asked us to create a seamless solution for blending the real and virtual worlds, we immediately jumped to the challenge.”

With chroma key, virtual content can also be occluded perfectly by other real-world objects or hands, thus allowing even more intuitive interactions. Since the chroma key only affects the elements that would be replaced by virtual counterparts, it allows easy marking of the elements that need to be replaced and does so without the need for advanced or expensive development.

For example, training and simulation could benefit from a trainee actually sitting amidst the equipment needed, such as in aviation. A replica cockpit of a plane or a helicopter could be made – left featureless except for chroma-keyed portions and tracking markers – and then come to life in the AR glasses, showing a realistic readout and scenery outside as if the pilot were actually flying.

“With chroma key, Varjo took an industry-standard technique and turned it into a useful new feature for dynamic mixed reality simulations,” said Bob Vaughn, product manager at FlightSafety International, a worldwide leader in aviation training.

Both the new chroma-keying technology and advanced marker tracking are available in early access for all users of the XR-1 Developer Edition headset.

Varjo intends to demonstrate the new technology at the Defense Simulation Education and Training trade show on March 10 and 11 in Bristol, England. Further details about the new chroma key and marker tracking technology are available on Varjo’s website.

Photo: Varjo