Augmented reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data. At present, most AR research is concerned with the use of live video imagery which is digitally processed and "augmented" by the addition of computer generated graphics. Advanced research includes the use of motion tracking data, fiducial marker recognition using machine vision, and the construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators.

Contents

1 History of AR 2 AR as a transformative technology 3 AR and ubiquitous computing 4 Applications 5 References 6 External links

History of AR

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In the original publication (Wellner et al., 1993) which coined the term, (Computer-) Augmented Reality (abbreviated AR) was introduced as the opposite of virtual reality: instead of diving the user into a synthesized, purely informational environment, the goal of AR is to augment the real world with information handling capabilities. Others define VR as a special case of AR, in the sense that AR adds to what VR already does. Additionally, augmented reality is itself a special case of the more general concept of mediated reality (med-R), in the sense that mediated reality (http://wearcam.org/presence_connect/) allows for the perception of reality to be augmented, deliberately diminished, or otherwise modified.

Pierre Wellner's digital desk (http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/159544.159630) (see also the video (http://www.ipo.tue.nl/homepages/mrauterb/presentations/Build-It_Story/tsld002.htm)) can be considered as AR's seminal research work. On the digital desk, besides being subject to the laws of physics, real objects can now react to information streams they become sensitive to (people, the environment or other augmented objects creating those streams). In a semantic sense, AR allows physical objects to supplement their "ergotic" (physical) properties with a semiotic dimension.

AR as a transformative technology

For many of those interested in AR, one of its most important characteristics is the way in which it makes possible a transformation of the locus of interaction. The interactive system is no more a precise location, but the whole environment; interaction is no more understood as a face-to-screen exchange, but dissolves itself in the surrounding space and objects. Using an information system is no more exclusively a conscious and intentional act.

AR and ubiquitous computing

AR has clear connections with the Ubiquitous computing (abbreviated UC) and Wearable computers domains. Mark Weiser stated that "embodied virtuality", the original term he used before coining "ubiquitous computing", intended to express the exact opposite to the concept of virtual reality (Mark Weiser's personal communication, Boston, March 1993). The most salient distinction to be made between AR and UC is that UC does not focus on the disappearance of conscious and intentional interaction with an information system as much as AR does: UC systems such as pervasive computing devices usually maintain the notion of explicit and intentional interaction which often blurs in typical AR work such as Ronald Azuma's work. The theory of Humanistic Intelligence (HI (http://wearcam.org/hi.htm)), however, also challenges this semiotic notion of signifier and signified. In particular, HI is intelligence that arises from the human being in the feedback loop of a computational process in which the human is inextricably intertwined, and does not typically require conscious thought or effort. In this way, HI, which arises from wearable Computer Mediated Reality, shares a lot in common with AR.

As compared to UC, Ronald Azuma's definition is more focused and covers a subset of AR's original goal, but it has come to be understood as representing the whole domain of AR: Augmented reality is an environment that includes both virtual reality and real-world elements. For instance, an AR user might wear translucent goggles; through these, he could see the real world, as well as computer-generated images projected on top of that world. Azuma defines an augmented reality system as one that

• combines real and virtual
• is interactive in real time
• is registered in 3D

This definition is now often used in some parts of the research literature (Azuma, 1997).

Applications

One example of AR is the yellow first-down line seen in television broadcasts of football games. The real-world elements are the football field and players, and the virtual element is the yellow line, which is drawn over the image by computers in real time. (Note that this example is not an augmented reality according to the definition above, because there is no interactive element). Some other examples of AR applications include:

• Interactive three-dimensional maps that could be collaboratively modified and analyzed (e.g., for prospecting)
• Visualization of hidden features (e.g., a doctor could "see" the fetus inside the mother's womb)
• Assisting difficult tasks (e.g., the system could "label" the parts of a system in order to facilitate the mechanic's work)
• Teleconferencing with both real and virtual participants
• Entertainment (allowing computer-generated imagery to interact with live entertainers)
• Games (e.g., arquake)
• LifeClipper

References

• Wellner, P., Mackay, W. & Gold, R. Eds. Special issue on computer augmented environments: back to the real world (http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/159544.159555). Communications of the ACM, Volume 36, Issue 7 (July 1993).
• Azuma, Ronald T. A Survey of Augmented Reality. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 6, 4 (August 1997), 355 - 385
• Starner, T., Mann S., Rhodes B., Levine J., Healey J., Kirsch D., Picard R., Pentland A. Augmented Reality Through Wearable Computing. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 6, 4 (August 1997), 386-398
• J. Pair, J. Wilson, J. Chastine, M. Gandy. The Duran Duran Project: The Augmented Reality Toolkit in Live Performance. The First IEEE International Augmented Reality Toolkit Workshop, 2002.

External links

• ARTESAS (http://www.artesas.de): Advanced Augmented Reality Technologies for Industrial Service Applications
• Interactive Paper (http://www.globis.ethz.ch/research/paper/), ETH Zurich
• IPF (http://www.ipf.uni-karlsruhe.de): Augmented Reality for Disaster Management Universität Karlsruhe(TH)
• HowStuffWorks: How Augmented Reality Will Work (http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm)
• Resources Page: Jim Vallinos AR (http://www.se.rit.edu/~jrv/research/ar/)
• Augmented Reality at the TU Munich (http://wwwbruegge.in.tum.de/DWARF/AugmentedReality)
• The Handheld Augmented Reality Project (http://studierstube.org/handheld_ar)
• Designing Augmented Reality Environments (http://www.daimi.au.dk/~dare2000/). Conference held in 2000.
• the Augmented Round Table for arcHitectural design and URban planning. ARTHUR (http://www.vr.ucl.ac.uk/projects/arthur/)de:Erweiterte Realität

es:Realidad Aumentada fr:Réalité augmentée ja:拡張現実