Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a concept which on first approach may seem to be a technology for the distant future, or something of a work of fiction; the idea that computers can interact seamlessly with humans and their environments. The idea that there could be something of a merge between aspects of virtual reality, and true reality would have been thought to be only for movies and computer games by the average person a decade or so ago, but now augmented reality has become a reality, and evidence of its progression can be seen in early technologies and computer systems that interact with humans. Augmenting reality can take several forms, but it usually encompasses combining a ‘real world ' or true reality view or image with a computer generated virtual image or environment. On the topic of virtual reality, this is often something that is confused with augmented reality. Virtual reality is where a user is immersed into an artificially created environment. Virtual reality requires the computer to produce highly realistic visuals and ambience to provide the user with a realistic experience, and must also provide sufficient interaction with the user to make the simulation more apparent. One feature which highlights the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality is that the virtual environment has the ability (and is in fact a requirement) to completely immerse the user in the virtual environment and block out any ambient features of the real world. As explained earlier, augmented reality utilises aspects of a ‘virtual ' environment and merges this with the real world environments.

So why augment reality in any case? This idea can be derived from how Ambient systems have been, and currently are influencing and becoming part of our daily routines and lifestyles. Taking ambient intelligence one step further, we can see how the notion of the disappearing computer [5], which is how computers have become able to interact so seamlessly with our everyday

Bibliography: [1] Vallino, J 2002, Introduction to Augmented Reality, http://www.se.rit.edu/~jrv/research/ar/introduction.html [2] Bonsor, K, How Augmented Reality Will Work http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm [3] Vicente, K 2003, The Human Factor, Routledge, USA [4] McCarthy, J & Wright, P 2004, Technology as Experience, MIT, USA [5] Harrison, M 2006, Augmenting Reality (lecture) [6] Vallino, J 2006, Registration Errors in Augmented Reality, http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/azuma_AR.html [7] Chivers, M 2003, Differential GPS Explained, http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0103/differential1of2.html