{"id":2004,"date":"2025-06-03T13:19:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/openar\/?page_id=2004"},"modified":"2026-10-07T09:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:34:58","slug":"openar10","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/openar\/openar10\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAR 1.0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author: Anonymous student<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommi
Our teacher Tommi Itkonen in action.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of MacGyver. I didn\u2019t really think such people existed until I started my physics studies here at the University of Eastern Finland. I ran into all sorts of self-built gadgets that were meant to demonstrate a wide range of physics phenomena. When I took\u00a0a course in practical electronics<\/a>, it turned out our teacher was the guy who had built all of them. This time he had designed DIY augmented reality (AR) glasses combining components that just happened to be available. Our task was to construct them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"3D
You want to build your own AR-glasses?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Basically, in order to create your own AR glasses, you need a way to reflect an image that brings new information into your field of view without blocking your real-world view. Of course, there are many ways to implement this. Since it was relatively easy to build, I\u2019ll show you how we built such a device. We even did it using low-cost components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image that the eyes receive comes from a small OLED display and goes through a lens. Light first reflects from a mirror and then partially reflects from glass plates into the viewer\u2019s eyes. This works much in the same way as a red dot sight<\/a>, with the exception that it is built for both eyes. The distance of the image we see can be adjusted by changing the angle of the glass plates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Plan
Simplified plan of the glasses we built.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about how light travels from the OLED display to the eyes.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are actually tricking the brain a bit. When we look at an object that is close to us, our eyes have to converge, and the closer the object is, the greater the convergence. When we tilt the glass plates, our eyes have to readjust to focus on the virtual image. Our brain interprets the distance of the image from the amount of movement the eyes have to make, and it has no idea that the image is not really there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about human 3D vision.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To call this augmented reality, we couldn\u2019t just add any random image. We needed to add information, so we added sensors to collect data. One prototype we made was a pair of glasses with an ultrasonic sensor to measure distances. I will present this project here, but don\u2019t let it limit your imagination. With some changes, you can use other sensors, or Bluetooth, phone apps, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to do it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order to build the OpenAR 1.0 glasses, you need a set of components listed below. There are also links to some shops where you can buy them (just to show the kind of parts I mean). The following links will take you to shops such as Thorlabs<\/a>, Thermo Fisher Scientific<\/a>, Partco<\/a>, Arduino Store<\/a>, Distrelec<\/a>, and Biltema<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n