AR Fiducial Marker

In AR, a fiducial marker is a visible object placed as a reference point for positional tracking cameras, smartphones, or head-mounted displays. It helps translate spatial references between the concrete and augmented worlds, working as an anchor of scale, location, and orientation, allowing for real-time virtual overlay.

It is often a black-and-white printed marker with specific geometric properties in the concrete environment. Still, it can also be a set of marks in the viewing instrument's reticle. Once the computer vision software recognizes a fiducial marker, it understands the device's relative position to its environment and knows in which direction any virtual intervention is projected.

Recent developments are employing AR fiducial markers in the medical sector to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The use of fiducial markers is non-invasive for multi-modal registration approaches, including electromagnetic or optical tracking technologies.