Markerlös

Markerlös is a term used in German-language discussions to refer to markerless approaches in vision-based technologies. The expression is not part of an official standard and can function as a generic descriptor or, in some cases, as a brand name. Its precise meaning is dependent on the context in which it is used.

In technology contexts, markerless describes methods that do not rely on predefined physical markers to determine position, orientation, or identity. Instead, they use features in the environment, depth sensing, or techniques such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to estimate pose and build a model of the surroundings. Markerless systems aim for greater flexibility and ease of deployment, especially on consumer devices and in dynamic environments.

Applications include augmented reality on smartphones and tablets without marker targets, robotics navigation and manipulation, motion capture without markers, and 3D reconstruction. Challenges involve computational demands, sensitivity to lighting and texture, drift in pose estimation, and the need for robust feature tracking under real-world conditions.

Etymology and usage: the compound resembles German formations for technology terms and is often interpreted as a shorthand for “markerless.” Because Markerlös is not a standardized term, it may appear in product names or project titles rather than as a formal technical designation.

Related topics include marker-based tracking, markerless augmented reality, SLAM, and pose estimation.