Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data.  It is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one AR technology includes head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing sensors and actuators.

Video games have been entertaining us for nearly 30 years, ever since Pong was introduced to arcades in the early 1970s.Computer graphics have become much more sophisticated since then, and game graphics are pushing the barriers of photorealism. Now, researchers and engineers are pulling graphics out of your television screen or computer display and integrating them into real-world environments. This new technology, called Augmented Reality, blurs the line between what's real and what's computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.

On the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Both video games and cell phones are driving the development of augmented reality. Everyone from tourists, to soldiers, to someone looking for the closest subway stop can now benefit from the ability to place computer-generated graphics in their field of vision.

Augmented reality is changing the way we view the world -- or at least the way its users see the world. Picture yourself walking or driving down the street. With augmented-reality displays, which will eventually look much like a normal pair of glasses, informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio will coincide with whatever you see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the movements of your head. Similar devices and applications already exist, particularly on smart phones like the iPhone.

Applications:

Advertising: Usage of AR to promote products via interactive AR applications is becoming common now. For example Nissan(2008 LA Auto Show), Best Buy(2009) and others used webcam based AR to connect 3D models with printed materials. There are numerous examples of connecting mobile AR to outdoor advertising.

Navigation: AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices. For example, building navigation can be enhanced to aid in maintaining industrial plants

Military and emergency services: Wearable AR can provide information such as instructions, maps, enemy locations, and fire cells.

Art: AR can help create art in real time integrating reality such as painting, drawing and modeling.

Entertainment and Education: AR can create virtual objects in museums and exhibitions, theme park attractions, games and books.

Collaboration: AR can help facilitate collaboration among distributed team members via conferences with real and virtual participants

Translation: AR systems can provide dynamic subtitles in the user's language

Possible Enactments:

Devices: Create new applications that are physically impossible in "real" hardware, such as 3D objects interactively changing their shape and appearance based on the current task or need.

Multi-screen simulation: Display multiple application windows as virtual monitors in real space and switch among them with gestures and/or redirecting head and eyes. A single pair of glasses could "surround" a user with application windows.

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