Augmented reality
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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.
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[edit] 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 longer a precise location, but the whole environment; interaction is no longer simply a face-to-screen exchange, but dissolves itself in the surrounding space and objects. Using an information system is no longer exclusively a conscious and intentional act.
[edit] Outdoor AR
A new and major area of current research is into the use of Augmented Reality in the outdoors. The use of GPS and orientation sensors allow for backpack computing systems to take AR outdoors. Early systems have been developed at Columbia University (MARS system) and the University of South Australia (Tinmith system). ARQuake is a good example of the use of outdoor AR.
[edit] 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]), however, also challenges this semiotic notion of signifier and signified. [1] 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).
[edit] Current and potential uses
Current examples of AR are the yellow first-down line seen in television broadcasts of American football games, and the colored trail showing location and direction of the puck in TV broadcasts of hockey 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)
- Television broadcasts in which captions point out which cars in an auto race are where
- 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)
- Enhanced sightseeing : labels or any text related to the objects/places seen, rebuilt ruins, building or even landscape as seen in the past. Combined with a wireless network the amount of data displayed is limitless (encyclopedic articles, news, etc...).
- Teleconferencing with both real and virtual participants
- Entertainment (allowing computer-generated imagery to interact with live entertainers)
- Games (e.g., arquake)
[edit] Specific applications
- LifeClipper, a wearable AR system
- Characteroke, a portable AR display costume, whereby the head and neck are concealed behind an active flat panel display.
- MARISIL, a media phone user interface based on AR
[edit] Popular Culture
Pop group Duran Duran included interactive AR projections into their stage show during their 2000 Pop Trash concert tour.[2]
[edit] Anime
Gundam, Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Hoshi no koe and Martian Successor Nadesico amongst others depict 360° augmented reality cockpits that are used to display information.
[edit] Science Fiction
In the Star Trek universe, the Cardassian militia used a sort of augmented display to view the real world and what was outside the ship, integrating with the star ship's main sensors to gain an outside view of the star ship.
The television series Firefly depicts numerous AR applications, including a real-time medical scanner which allows a doctor to use his hands to manipulate a detailed and labeled projection of a patient's brain.
[edit] Games
The popular Cyberpunk roleplaying game Shadowrun shows augmented reality as the next step up in cyber-communications, with characters rigging vehicles and drones using AR, and the Matrix brought forth even further into the real world. Also, the Transhuman Space spin-off from the GURPS roleplaying game describes a lot of augmented reality implications in a possible future.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mann, Steve. "Intelligence: WearComp as a new framework for Intelligent Signal Processing", Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 86, No. 11, November, 1998.
- ^ Pair, J., Wilson, J., Chastine, J., Gandy, M. "The Duran Duran Project: The Augmented Reality Toolkit in Live Performance." The First IEEE International Augmented Reality Toolkit Workshop, 2002. (photos and video)
[edit] References
- Wellner, P., Mackay, W. & Gold, R. Eds. Special issue on computer augmented environments: back to the real world. 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
- Ramesh Raskar, Spatially Augmented Reality, First International Workshop on Augmented Reality, Sept 1998
- S. K. Feiner. "Augmented Reality: A New Way of Seeing: Computer scientists are developing systems that can enhance and enrich a user's view of the world." Scientific American, April 2002 [1]
- Oliver Bimber and Ramesh Raskar, Spatial Augmented Reality: Merging Real and Virtual Worlds, A K Peters, July 2005, 360 pages
- Rolf R. Hainich, The End of Hardware - A Novel Approach to Augmented reality, Booksurge, March 2006, 248 pages
- Michael Haller, Mark Billinghurst, Bruce Thomas, Emerging Technologies of Augmented Reality: Interfaces and Design, Idea Group Publishing, Nov 2006, 300 pages
[edit] Book
- Oliver Bimber and Ramesh Raskar, Spatial Augmented Reality: Merging Real and Virtual Worlds, A K Peters, July 2005, 360 pages
[edit] External links
- Video demonstrations of Augmented Reality and hybrid vision-assisted tracking at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- HIT Lab NZ Human Interface Technology Lab. New Zealand
- HIT Lab Seattle Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Human-machine Interface
- Ron Azuma has done some interesting work in resolving the registration issue.
- David Drascic of the University of Toronto is a developer of ARGOS: A Display System for Augmenting Reality. David also has a number of AR related papers on line, accessible from his home page.
- Networked Augmented Reality (AR) Future by Matt Groves
- ATR Lab. Japan Augmented Reality
- Carnegie-Mellon Entertainment Technology lab
- Augmented Environments Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Interactive Paper, ETH Zürich
- IPF: Augmented Reality for Disaster Management Universität Karlsruhe(TH)
- HowStuffWorks: How Augmented Reality Will Work
- Resources Page: Jim Vallinos AR
- Augmented Reality at the TU Munich
- STUDIERSTUBE Augmented Reality Project
- The Handheld Augmented Reality Project
- the Augmented Round Table for arcHitectural design and URban planning. ARTHUR
- OpenIllusionist: A framework for rapid development of augmented environments
- Columbia University Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Lab
- New Scientist: Article on a system that makes use of Augmented Reality
- Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRT) - University College London
- ARTag marker system and SDK - by Dr. Mark Fiala at the National Research Council of Canada
- Augmented Reality Toolkit (ART) - Multi-plataform Augmented Reality libraries
- Wearable Full-Stereo Outdoor Augmented Reality System - Wearable full-stereo outdoor augmented reality system, designed by Dr. Charles B. Owen
