Virtual Fixtures – first A.R. system, 1992, U.S. Air Force, WPAFB
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a
real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real-world
are "augmented" by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes
across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory, and olfactory.
The overlaid sensory information can be constructive (i.e. additive to
the natural environment) or destructive (i.e. masking of the natural
environment) and is seamlessly interwoven with the physical world such
that it is perceived as an immersive aspect of the real environment. In this way, augmented reality alters one's ongoing perception of a real-world environment, whereas virtual reality completely replaces the user's real-world environment with a simulated one. Augmented reality is related to two largely synonymous terms: mixed reality and computer-mediated reality.
The primary value of augmented reality is that it brings
components of the digital world into a person's perception of the real
world, and does so not as a simple display of data, but through the
integration of immersive sensations that are perceived as natural parts
of an environment. The first functional AR systems that provided
immersive mixed reality experiences for users were invented in the early
1990s, starting with the Virtual Fixtures system developed at the U.S. Air Force's Armstrong Laboratory in 1992.
The first commercial augmented reality experiences were used largely
in the entertainment and gaming businesses, but now other industries are
also getting interested about AR's possibilities for example in
knowledge sharing, educating, managing the information flood and
organizing distant meetings. Augmented reality is also transforming the
world of education, where content may be accessed by scanning or viewing
an image with a mobile device or by bringing immersive, markerless AR
experiences to the classroom. Another example is an AR helmet for construction workers which display information about the construction sites.
Augmented reality is used to enhance natural environments or
situations and offer perceptually enriched experiences. With the help of
advanced AR technologies (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive
and digitally manipulable. Information about the environment and its
objects is overlaid on the real world. This information can be virtual
or real, e.g. seeing other real sensed or measured information such as
electromagnetic radio waves overlaid in exact alignment with where they
actually are in space.
Augmented reality also has a lot of potential in the gathering and
sharing of tacit knowledge. Augmentation techniques are typically
performed in real time and in semantic context with environmental
elements. Immersive perceptual information is sometimes combined with
supplemental information like scores over a live video feed of a
sporting event. This combines the benefits of both augmented reality
technology and heads up display technology (HUD).
Technology
A Microsoft HoloLens being worn by a man
Hardware
Hardware components for augmented reality are: processor, display, sensors and input devices. Modern mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablet computers contain these elements which often include a camera and MEMS sensors such as accelerometer, GPS, and solid state compass, making them suitable AR platforms.
There are 2 technologies: diffractive waveguides and reflective waveguides.
Augmented reality systems guru Karl Guttag compared the optics of
diffractive waveguides against the competing technology, reflective
waveguides.
Display
Various technologies are used in augmented reality rendering, including optical projection systems, monitors, handheld devices, and display systems worn on the human body.
A head-mounted display
(HMD) is a display device worn on the forehead, such as a harness or
helmet. HMDs place images of both the physical world and virtual objects
over the user's field of view. Modern HMDs often employ sensors for six
degrees of freedom
monitoring that allow the system to align virtual information to the
physical world and adjust accordingly with the user's head movements. HMDs can provide VR users with mobile and collaborative experiences. Specific providers, such as uSens and Gestigon, include gesture controls for full virtual immersion.
In January 2015, Meta launched a project led by Horizons Ventures, Tim Draper, Alexis Ohanian, BOE Optoelectronics and Garry Tan. On February 17, 2016, Meta announced their second-generation product at TED, Meta 2. The Meta 2 head-mounted display headset uses a sensory array for hand interactions and positional tracking,
visual field view of 90 degrees (diagonal), and resolution display of
2560 x 1440 (20 pixels per degree), which is considered the largest field of view (FOV) currently available.
Eyeglasses
Smartglasses for augmented reality
AR displays can be rendered on devices resembling eyeglasses.
Versions include eyewear that employs cameras to intercept the real
world view and re-display its augmented view through the eyepieces and devices in which the AR imagery is projected through or reflected off the surfaces of the eyewear's lenspieces.
HUD
Headset computer
A head-up display (HUD) is a transparent display that presents data
without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. A
precursor technology to augmented reality, heads-up displays were first
developed for pilots in the 1950s, projecting simple flight data into
their line of sight, thereby enabling them to keep their "heads up" and
not look down at the instruments. Near-eye augmented reality devices can
be used as portable head-up displays as they can show data,
information, and images while the user views the real world. Many
definitions of augmented reality only define it as overlaying the
information.
This is basically what a head-up display does; however, practically
speaking, augmented reality is expected to include registration and
tracking between the superimposed perceptions, sensations, information,
data, and images and some portion of the real world.
A number of smartglasses
have been launched for augmented reality. Due to encumbered control,
smartglasses are primarily designed for micro-interaction like reading a
text message but still far from more well-rounded applications of
augmented reality.
Contact lenses
Contact lenses that display AR imaging are in development. These bionic contact lenses
might contain the elements for display embedded into the lens including
integrated circuitry, LEDs and an antenna for wireless communication.
The first contact lens display was reported in 1999, then 11 years later in 2010-2011.
Another version of contact lenses, in development for the U.S.
military, is designed to function with AR spectacles, allowing soldiers
to focus on close-to-the-eye AR images on the spectacles and distant
real world objects at the same time.
The futuristic short film Sight features contact lens-like augmented reality devices.
Many scientists have been working on contact lenses capable of
many different technological feats. The company Samsung has been working
on a contact lens as well. This lens, when finished, is meant to have a
built-in camera on the lens itself.
The design is intended to have you blink to control its interface for
recording purposes. It is also intended to be linked with your
smartphone to review footage, and control it separately. When
successful, the lens would feature a camera, or sensor inside of it. It
is said that it could be anything from a light sensor, to a temperature
sensor.
In Augmented Reality, the distinction is made between two distinct modes of tracking, known as marker and markerless. Marker are visual cues which trigger the display of the virtual information.
A piece of paper with some distinct geometries can be used. The camera
recognizes the geometries by identifying specific points in the drawing.
Markerless tracking, also called instant tracking, does not use
markers. Instead the user positions the object in the camera view
preferably in a horizontal plane. It uses sensors in mobile devices to
accurately detect the real-world environment, such as the locations of
walls and points of intersection.
Virtual retinal display
A virtual retinal display (VRD) is a personal display device under development at the University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Laboratory under Dr. Thomas A. Furness III. With this technology, a display is scanned directly onto the retina
of a viewer's eye. This results in bright images with high resolution
and high contrast. The viewer sees what appears to be a conventional
display floating in space.
Several of tests were done in order to analyze the safety of the VRD.
In one test, patients with partial loss of vision were selected to view
images using the technology having either macular degeneration (a
disease that degenerates the retina) or keratoconus. In the macular
degeneration group, 5 out of 8 subjects preferred the VRD images to the
CRT or paper images and thought they were better and brighter and were
able to see equal or better resolution levels. The Kerocunus patients
could all resolve smaller lines in several line tests using the VDR as
opposed to their own correction. They also found the VDR images to be
easier to view and sharper. As a result of these several tests, virtual
retinal display is considered safe technology.
Virtual retinal display creates images that can be seen in
ambient daylight and ambient roomlight. The VRD is considered a
preferred candidate to use in a surgical display due to its combination
of high resolution and high contrast and brightness. Additional tests
show high potential for VRD to be used as a display technology for
patients that have low vision.
EyeTap
The EyeTap (also known as Generation-2 Glass)
captures rays of light that would otherwise pass through the center of
the lens of the eye of the wearer, and substitutes synthetic
computer-controlled light for each ray of real light.
The Generation-4 Glass
(Laser EyeTap) is similar to the VRD (i.e. it uses a
computer-controlled laser light source) except that it also has infinite
depth of focus and causes the eye itself to, in effect, function as
both a camera and a display by way of exact alignment with the eye and
resynthesis (in laser light) of rays of light entering the eye.
Handheld
A
Handheld display employs a small display that fits in a user's hand. All
handheld AR solutions to date opt for video see-through. Initially
handheld AR employed fiducial markers, and later GPS units and MEMS sensors such as digital compasses and six degrees of freedom accelerometer–gyroscope. Today SLAM
markerless trackers such as PTAM are starting to come into use.
Handheld display AR promises to be the first commercial success for AR
technologies. The two main advantages of handheld AR are the portable
nature of handheld devices and the ubiquitous nature of camera phones.
The disadvantages are the physical constraints of the user having to
hold the handheld device out in front of them at all times, as well as
the distorting effect of classically wide-angled mobile phone cameras
when compared to the real world as viewed through the eye.
Games such as Pokémon Go and Ingress utilize an Image Linked Map (ILM) interface, where approved geotagged locations appear on a stylized map for the user to interact with.
Spatial
Spatial augmented reality (SAR) augments real-world objects and scenes without the use of special displays such as monitors, head-mounted displays
or hand-held devices. SAR makes use of digital projectors to display
graphical information onto physical objects. The key difference in SAR
is that the display is separated from the users of the system. Because
the displays are not associated with each user, SAR scales naturally up
to groups of users, thus allowing for collocated collaboration between
users.
Examples include shader lamps,
mobile projectors, virtual tables, and smart projectors. Shader lamps
mimic and augment reality by projecting imagery onto neutral objects,
providing the opportunity to enhance the object's appearance with
materials of a simple unit - a projector, camera, and sensor.
Other applications include table and wall projections. One
innovation, the Extended Virtual Table, separates the virtual from the
real by including beam-splitter mirrors attached to the ceiling at an adjustable angle.
Virtual showcases, which employ beam-splitter mirrors together with
multiple graphics displays, provide an interactive means of
simultaneously engaging with the virtual and the real. Many more
implementations and configurations make spatial augmented reality
display an increasingly attractive interactive alternative.
A SAR system can display on any number of surfaces of an indoor
setting at once. SAR supports both a graphical visualization and passive
haptic sensation for the end users. Users are able to touch physical objects in a process that provides passive haptic sensation.
Tracking
Modern mobile augmented-reality systems use one or more of the following motion tracking technologies:
digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, accelerometers, GPS, gyroscopes, solid state compasses, RFID.
These technologies offer varying levels of accuracy and precision. The
most important is the position and orientation of the user's head. Tracking the user's hand(s) or a handheld input device can provide a 6DOF interaction technique.
Networking
Mobile
augmented reality applications are gaining popularity due to the wide
adoption of mobile and especially wearable devices. However, they often
rely on computationally intensive computer vision algorithms with
extreme latency requirements. To compensate for the lack of computing
power, offloading data processing to a distant machine is often desired.
Computation offloading introduces new constraints in applications,
especially in terms of latency and bandwidth. Although there are a
plethora of real-time multimedia transport protocols, there is a need
for support from network infrastructure as well.
Input devices
Techniques include speech recognition systems that translate a user's spoken words into computer instructions, and gesture recognition
systems that interpret a user's body movements by visual detection or
from sensors embedded in a peripheral device such as a wand, stylus,
pointer, glove or other body wear. Products which are trying to serve as a controller of AR headsets include Wave by Seebright Inc. and Nimble by Intugine Technologies.
Computer
The
computer analyzes the sensed visual and other data to synthesize and
position augmentations. Computers are responsible for the graphics that
go with augmented reality. Augmented reality uses a computer-generated
image and it has an striking effect on the way the real world is shown.
With the improvement of technology and computers, augmented reality is
going to have a drastic change on our perspective of the real world.
According to Time Magazine, in about 15–20 years it is predicted that
Augmented reality and virtual reality are going to become the primary
use for computer interactions.
Computers are improving at a very fast rate, which means that we are
figuring out new ways to improve other technology. The more that
computers progress, augmented reality will become more flexible and more
common in our society. Computers are the core of augmented reality. The Computer receives data from the sensors which determine the
relative position of objects surface. This translates to an input to the
computer which then outputs to the users by adding something that would
otherwise not be there. The computer comprises memory and a processor.
The computer takes the scanned environment then generates images or a
video and puts it on the receiver for the observer to see. The fixed
marks on an objects surface are stored in the memory of a computer. The
computer also withdrawals from its memory to present images
realistically to the onlooker. The best example of this is of the Pepsi
Max AR Bus Shelter.
Software and algorithms
A
key measure of AR systems is how realistically they integrate
augmentations with the real world. The software must derive real world
coordinates, independent from the camera, from camera images. That
process is called image registration, and uses different methods of computer vision, mostly related to video tracking. Many computer vision methods of augmented reality are inherited from visual odometry.
Usually those methods consist of two parts. The first stage is to detect interest points, fiducial markers or optical flow in the camera images. This step can use feature detection methods like corner detection, blob detection, edge detection or thresholding, and other image processing methods.
The second stage restores a real world coordinate system from the data
obtained in the first stage. Some methods assume objects with known
geometry (or fiducial markers) are present in the scene. In some of
those cases the scene 3D structure should be precalculated beforehand.
If part of the scene is unknown simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) can map relative positions. If no information about scene geometry is available, structure from motion methods like bundle adjustment are used. Mathematical methods used in the second stage include projective (epipolar) geometry, geometric algebra, rotation representation with exponential map, kalman and particle filters, nonlinear optimization, robust statistics.
Augmented Reality Markup Language (ARML) is a data standard developed within the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), which consists of XML
grammar to describe the location and appearance of virtual objects in
the scene, as well as ECMAScript bindings to allow dynamic access to
properties of virtual objects.
To enable rapid development of augmented reality applications, some software development kits (SDKs) have emerged.
Development
The
implementation of Augmented Reality in consumer products requires
considering the design of the applications and the related constraints
of the technology platform. Since AR system rely heavily on the
immersion of the user and the interaction between the user and the
system, design can facilitate the adoption of virtuality. For most
Augmented Reality systems, a similar design guideline can be followed.
The following lists some considerations for designing Augmented Reality
applications:
Environmental/context design
Context
Design focuses on the end-user's physical surrounding, spatial space,
and accessibility that may play a role when using the AR system.
Designers should be aware of the possible physical scenarios the
end-user may be in such as:
- Public, in which the users uses their whole body to interact with the software
- Personal, in which the user uses a smartphone in a public space
- Intimate, in which the user is sitting with a desktop and is not really in movement
- Private, in which the user has on a wearable.
By evaluating each physical scenario, potential safety hazard can be
avoided and changes can be made to greater improve the end-user's
immersion. UX designers will have to define user journeys for the
relevant physical scenarios and define how the interface will react to
each.
Especially in AR systems, it is vital to also consider the
spatial space and the surrounding elements that change the effectiveness
of the AR technology. Environmental elements such as lighting, and
sound can prevent the sensor of AR devices from detecting necessary data
and ruin the immersion of the end-user.
Another aspect of context design involves the design of the
system's functionality and its ability to accommodate for user
preferences.
While accessibility tools are common in basic application design, some
consideration should be made when designing time-limited prompts (to
prevent unintentional operations), audio cues and overall engagement
time. It is important to note that in some situations, the application's
functionality may hinder the user's ability. For example, applications
that is used for driving should reduce the amount of user interaction
and user audio cues instead.
Interaction design
Interaction design
in augmented reality technology centers on the user's engagement with
the end product to improve the overall user experience and enjoyment.
The purpose of Interaction Design is to avoid alienating or confusing
the user by organising the information presented. Since user interaction
relies on the user's input, designers must make system controls easier
to understand and accessible. A common technique to improve usability
for augmented reality applications is by discovering the frequently
accessed areas in the device's touch display and design the application
to match those areas of control. It is also important to structure the user journey maps
and the flow of information presented which reduce the system's overall
cognitive load and greatly improves the learning curve of the
application.
In interaction design, it is important for developers to utilize
augmented reality technology that complement the system's function or
purpose. For instance, the utilization of exciting AR filters and the design of the unique sharing platform in Snapchat
enables users to better the user's social interactions. In other
applications that require users to understand the focus and intent,
designers can employ a reticle or raycast from the device.
Moreover, augmented reality developers may find it appropriate to have
digital elements scale or react to the direction of the camera and the
context of objects that can are detected.
Augmented reality technology allows to utilize the introduction of 3D space. This means that a user can potentially access multiple copies of 2D interfaces within a single AR application.
Visual design
In general, visual design
is the appearance of the developing application that engages the user.
To improve the graphic interface elements and user interaction,
developers may use visual cues to inform user what elements of UI are
designed to interact with and how to interact with them. Since
navigating in AR application may appear difficult and seem frustrating,
visual cues design can make interactions seem more natural.
In some augmented reality applications that uses a 2D device as
an interactive surface, the 2D control environment does not translate
well in 3D space making users hesitant to explore their surroundings. To
solve this issue, designers should apply visual cues to assist and
encourage users to explore their surroundings.
It is important to note the two main objects in AR when developing VR applications: 3D volumetric
objects that are manipulatable and realistically interact with light
and shadow; and animated media imagery such as images and videos which
are mostly traditional 2D media rendered in a new context for augmented
reality.
When virtual objects are projected onto a real environment, it is
challenging for augmented reality application designers to ensure a
perfectly seamless integration relative to the real-world environment,
especially with 2D objects. As such, designers can add weight to
objects, use depths maps, and choose different material properties that
highlight the object's presence in the real world. Another visual design
that can be applied is using different lighting
techniques or casting shadows to improve overall depth judgment. For
instance, a common lighting technique is simply placing a light source
overhead at the 12 o’clock position, to create shadows upon virtual
objects.
Possible applications
Augmented reality has been explored for many applications, from
gaming and entertainment to medicine, education and business. Example
application areas described below include Archaeology, Architecture,
Commerce and Education. Some of the earliest cited examples include
Augmented Reality used to support surgery by providing virtual overlays
to guide medical practitioners to AR content for astronomy and welding.
Literature
An example of an AR code containing a QR code
The first description of AR as it is known today was in Virtual Light, the 1994 novel by William Gibson. In 2011, AR was blended with poetry by ni ka from Sekai Camera in Tokyo, Japan. The prose of these AR poems come from Paul Celan, "Die Niemandsrose", expressing the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Archaeology
AR
has been used to aid archaeological research. By augmenting
archaeological features onto the modern landscape, AR allows
archaeologists to formulate possible site configurations from extant
structures.
Computer generated models of ruins, buildings, landscapes or even
ancient people have been recycled into early archaeological AR
applications.
For example, implementing a system like, "VITA (Visual Interaction Tool
for Archaeology)" will allow users to imagine and investigate instant
excavation results without leaving their home. Each user can collaborate
by mutually "navigating, searching, and viewing data." Hrvoje Benko, a
researcher for the computer science department at Columbia University,
points out that these particular systems and others like it can provide
"3D panoramic images and 3D models of the site itself at different
excavation stages" all the while organizing much of the data in a
collaborative way that is easy to use. Collaborative AR systems supply
multimodal interactions that combine the real world with virtual images
of both environments.
AR has been recently adopted also in the underwater archaeology field to
efficiently support and facilitate the manipulation of archaeological
artefacts.
Architecture
AR
can aid in visualizing building projects. Computer-generated images of a
structure can be superimposed into a real-life local view of a property
before the physical building is constructed there; this was
demonstrated publicly by Trimble Navigation
in 2004. AR can also be employed within an architect's workspace,
rendering animated 3D visualizations of their 2D drawings. Architecture
sight-seeing can be enhanced with AR applications, allowing users
viewing a building's exterior to virtually see through its walls,
viewing its interior objects and layout.
With the continual improvements to GPS accuracy, businesses are able to use augmented reality to visualize georeferenced models of construction sites, underground structures, cables and pipes using mobile devices.
Augmented reality is applied to present new projects, to solve on-site
construction challenges, and to enhance promotional materials. Examples include the Daqri
Smart Helmet, an Android-powered hard hat used to create augmented
reality for the industrial worker, including visual instructions,
real-time alerts, and 3D mapping.
Following the Christchurch earthquake, the University of Canterbury released CityViewAR, which enabled city planners and engineers to visualize buildings that had been destroyed. Not only did this provide planners with tools to reference the previous cityscape, but it also served as a reminder to the magnitude of the devastation caused, as entire buildings had been demolished.
Visual art
10.000 Moving Cities, Marc Lee, Augmented Reality Multiplayer Game, Art Installation
AR applied in the visual arts allows objects or places to trigger
artistic multidimensional experiences and interpretations of reality.
Augmented Reality can aid in the progression of visual art in
museums by allowing museum visitors to view artwork in galleries in a
multidimensional way through their phone screens. The Museum of Modern Art
in New York has created an exhibit in their art museum showcasing
Augmented Reality features that viewers can see using an app on their
smartphone.
The museum has developed their personal app, called MoMAR Gallery, that
museum guests can download and use in the Augmented Reality specialized
gallery in order to view the museum's paintings in a different way.
This allows individuals to see hidden aspects and information about the
paintings, and to be able to have an interactive technological
experience with artwork as well.
AR technology aided the development of eye tracking technology to translate a disabled person's eye movements into drawings on a screen.
Commerce
The
AR-Icon can be used as a marker on print as well as on online media. It
signals the viewer that digital content is behind it. The content can
be viewed with a smartphone or tablet.
AR is used to integrate print and video marketing. Printed marketing
material can be designed with certain "trigger" images that, when
scanned by an AR-enabled device using image recognition, activate a
video version of the promotional material. A major difference between
augmented reality and straightforward image recognition is that one can
overlay multiple media at the same time in the view screen, such as
social media share buttons, the in-page video even audio and 3D objects.
Traditional print-only publications are using augmented reality to
connect many different types of media.
AR can enhance product previews such as allowing a customer to view what's inside a product's packaging without opening it.
AR can also be used as an aid in selecting products from a catalog or
through a kiosk. Scanned images of products can activate views of
additional content such as customization options and additional images
of the product in its use.
By 2010, virtual dressing rooms had been developed for e-commerce.
Augment
SDK offers brands and retailers the capability to personalize their
customers' shopping experience by embedding AR product visualization
into their eCommerce platforms.
In 2012, a mint used AR techniques to market a commemorative coin for
Aruba. The coin itself was used as an AR trigger, and when held in
front of an AR-enabled device it revealed additional objects and layers
of information that were not visible without the device.
In 2015, the Bulgarian startup iGreet developed its own AR
technology and used it to make the first premade "live" greeting card. A
traditional paper card was augmented with digital content which was
revealed by using the iGreet app.
In 2017, Ikea
announced Ikea Place app. The app contains a catalogue of over 2,000
products—nearly the company's full collection of umlauted sofas,
armchairs, coffee tables, and storage units which one can place anywhere
in a room with their phone.
In 2018, Apple
announced USDZ AR file support for iPhones and iPads with iOS12. Apple
has created an AR QuickLook Gallery that allows masses experience
Augmented reality on their own Apple device.
In 2018, Shopify,
the Canadian commerce company, announced ARkit2 integrations and their
merchants are able to use the tools to upload 3D models of their
products, which users will be able to tap on the goods inside Safari to
view in their real-world environments.
In 2018, Twinkl released free AR classroom application, pupils can see how York looked over 1,900 years ago. Twinkl launched the first ever multi-player AR game, Little Red and has over 100 free AR educational models.
Education
In
educational settings, AR has been used to complement a standard
curriculum. Text, graphics, video, and audio may be superimposed into a
student's real-time environment. Textbooks, flashcards and other
educational reading material may contain embedded "markers"
or triggers that, when scanned by an AR device, produced supplementary
information to the student rendered in a multimedia format.
As AR evolves, students can participate interactively and
interact with knowledge more authentically. Instead of remaining passive
recipients, students can become active learners, able to interact with
their learning environment. Computer-generated simulations of historical
events allow students to explore and learning details of each
significant area of the event site.
In higher education, Construct3D, a Studierstube system, allows
students to learn mechanical engineering concepts, math or geometry.
Chemistry AR apps allow students to visualize and interact with the
spatial structure of a molecule using a marker object held in the hand.
Others have used HP Reveal, a free app, to create AR notecards for
studying organic chemistry mechanisms or to create virtual
demonstrations of how to use laboratory instrumentation. Anatomy students can visualize different systems of the human body in three dimensions.
Remote collaboration
Primary
school children learn easily from interactive experiences. Astronomical
constellations and the movements of objects in the solar system were
oriented in 3D and overlaid in the direction the device was held, and
expanded with supplemental video information. Paper-based science book
illustrations could seem to come alive as video without requiring the
child to navigate to web-based materials.
In 2013, a project was launched on Kickstarter to teach about
electronics with an educational toy that allowed children to scan their
circuit with an iPad and see the electric current flowing around.
While some educational apps were available for AR by 2016, it was not
broadly used. Apps that leverage augmented reality to aid learning
included SkyView for studying astronomy, AR Circuits for building simple electric circuits, and SketchAr for drawing.
AR would also be a way for parents and teachers to achieve their
goals for modern education, which might include providing a more
individualized and flexible learning, making closer connections between
what is taught at school and the real world, and helping students to
become more engaged in their own learning.
A recent research compared the functionalities of augmented reality tools with potential for education
Emergency management/search and rescue
Augmented reality systems are used in public safety situations, from super storms to suspects at large.
As early as 2009, two articles from Emergency Management
magazine discussed the power of this technology for emergency
management. The first was "Augmented Reality--Emerging Technology for
Emergency Management" by Gerald Baron.
Per Adam Crowe: "Technologies like augmented reality (ex: Google Glass)
and the growing expectation of the public will continue to force
professional emergency managers to radically shift when, where, and how
technology is deployed before, during, and after disasters."
Another early example was a search aircraft looking for a lost
hiker in rugged mountain terrain. Augmented reality systems provided
aerial camera operators with a geographic awareness of forest road names
and locations blended with the camera video. The camera operator was
better able to search for the hiker knowing the geographic context of
the camera image. Once located, the operator could more efficiently
direct rescuers to the hiker's location because the geographic position
and reference landmarks were clearly labeled.
Social interaction
AR
can be used to facilitate social interaction. An augmented reality
social network framework called Talk2Me enables people to disseminate
information and view others’ advertised information in an augmented
reality way. The timely and dynamic information sharing and viewing
functionalities of Talk2Me help initiate conversations and make friends
for users with people in physical proximity.
Augmented reality also Gives users the ability to practice
different forms of social interactions with other people in a safe,
risk-free environment. Hannes Kauffman, Associate Professor for Virtual
Reality at TU Vienna, says “In collaborative Augmented Reality multiple
users may access a shared space populated by virtual objects, while
remaining grounded in the real world. This technique is particularly
powerful for educational purposes when users are collocated and can use
natural means of communication (speech, gestures etc.), but can also be
mixed successfully with immersive VR or remote collaboration.”
(Hannes)Hannes cites a specific use for this technology, education.
Video games
Merchlar's mobile game Get On Target uses a trigger image as fiducial marker.
The gaming industry embraced AR technology. A number of games were
developed for prepared indoor environments, such as AR air hockey, Titans of Space, collaborative combat against virtual enemies, and AR-enhanced pool table games.
Augmented reality allowed video game players to experience digital game play in a real-world environment. Niantic released the popular augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go. Disney has partnered with Lenovo to create the augmented reality game Star Wars: Jedi Challenges that works with a Lenovo Mirage AR headset, a tracking sensor and a Lightsaber controller, scheduled to launch in December 2017.
Augmented Reality Gaming (ARG) is also used to market film and
television entertainment properties. On March 16, 2011, BitTorrent
promoted an open licensed version of the feature film Zenith
in the United States. Users who downloaded the BitTorrent client
software were also encouraged to download and share Part One of three
parts of the film. On May 4, 2011, Part Two of the film was made
available on Vodo. The episodic release of the film, supplemented by an
ARG transmedia marketing campaign, created a viral effect and over a
million users downloaded the movie.
Industrial design
AR allows industrial designers to experience a product's design and
operation before completion. Volkswagen has used AR for comparing
calculated and actual crash test imagery.
AR has been used to visualize and modify car body structure and engine
layout. It has also been used to compare digital mock-ups with physical
mock-ups for finding discrepancies between them.
Medical
Since 2005, a device called a near-infrared vein finder that films subcutaneous veins, processes and projects the image of the veins onto the skin has been used to locate veins.
AR provides surgeons with patient monitoring data in the style of
a fighter pilot's heads-up display, and allows patient imaging records,
including functional videos, to be accessed and overlaid. Examples
include a virtual X-ray view based on prior tomography or on real-time images from ultrasound and confocal microscopy probes, visualizing the position of a tumor in the video of an endoscope, or radiation exposure risks from X-ray imaging devices. AR can enhance viewing a fetus inside a mother's womb.
Siemens, Karl Storz and IRCAD have developed a system for laparoscopic
liver surgery that uses AR to view sub-surface tumors and vessels.
AR has been used for cockroach phobia treatment.
Patients wearing augmented reality glasses can be reminded to take medications. Virtual reality has been seen promising in the medical field since the 90's. Augmented reality can be very helpful in the medical field.
It could be used to provide crucial information to a doctor or surgeon
with having them take their eyes off the patient. On the 30th of April,
2015 Microsoft announced the Microsoft HoloLens, their first shot at augmented reality. The HoloLens
has advanced through the years and it has gotten so advanced that it
has been used to project holograms for near infrared fluorescence based
image guided surgery.
As augment reality advances, the more it is implemented into medical
use. Augmented reality and other computer based-utility is being used
today to help train medical professionals.
Spatial immersion and interaction
Augmented
reality applications, running on handheld devices utilized as virtual
reality headsets, can also digitalize human presence in space and
provide a computer generated model of them, in a virtual space where
they can interact and perform various actions. Such capabilities are
demonstrated by "Project Anywhere", developed by a postgraduate student
at ETH Zurich, which was dubbed as an "out-of-body experience".
Flight training
Building
on decades of perceptual-motor research in experimental psychology,
researchers at the Aviation Research Laboratory of the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used augmented reality in the form of a
flight path in the sky to teach flight students how to land a flight
simulator. An adaptive augmented schedule in which students were shown
the augmentation only when they departed from the flight path proved to
be a more effective training intervention than a constant schedule.
Flight students taught to land in the simulator with the adaptive
augmentation learned to land a light aircraft more quickly than students
with the same amount of landing training in the simulator but with
constant augmentation or without any augmentation.
Military
Augmented Reality System for Soldier ARC4(USA)
An interesting early application of AR occurred when Rockwell
International created video map overlays of satellite and orbital debris
tracks to aid in space observations at Air Force Maui Optical System.
In their 1993 paper "Debris Correlation Using the Rockwell WorldView
System" the authors describe the use of map overlays applied to video
from space surveillance telescopes. The map overlays indicated the
trajectories of various objects in geographic coordinates. This allowed
telescope operators to identify satellites, and also to identify and
catalog potentially dangerous space debris.
Starting in 2003 the US Army integrated the SmartCam3D augmented
reality system into the Shadow Unmanned Aerial System to aid sensor
operators using telescopic cameras to locate people or points of
interest. The system combined both fixed geographic information
including street names, points of interest, airports, and railroads with
live video from the camera system. The system offered a "picture in
picture" mode that allows the system to show a synthetic view of the
area surrounding the camera's field of view. This helps solve a problem
in which the field of view is so narrow that it excludes important
context, as if "looking through a soda straw". The system displays
real-time friend/foe/neutral location markers blended with live video,
providing the operator with improved situational awareness.
As of 2010, Korean researchers are looking to implement
mine-detecting robots into the military. The proposed design for such a
robot includes a mobile platform that is like a track which would be
able to cover uneven distances including stairs. The robot's mine
detection sensor would include a combination of metal detectors and
ground penetration radars to locate mines or IEDs. This unique design
would be immeasurably helpful in saving lives of Korean soldiers.
Researchers at USAF Research Lab (Calhoun, Draper et al.) found
an approximately two-fold increase in the speed at which UAV sensor
operators found points of interest using this technology.
This ability to maintain geographic awareness quantitatively enhances
mission efficiency. The system is in use on the US Army RQ-7 Shadow and
the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerial Systems.
In combat, AR can serve as a networked communication system that
renders useful battlefield data onto a soldier's goggles in real time.
From the soldier's viewpoint, people and various objects can be marked
with special indicators to warn of potential dangers. Virtual maps and
360° view camera imaging can also be rendered to aid a soldier's
navigation and battlefield perspective, and this can be transmitted to
military leaders at a remote command center.
LandForm video map overlay marking runways, road, and buildings during 1999 helicopter flight test
The NASA X-38 was flown using a Hybrid Synthetic Vision system that
overlaid map data on video to provide enhanced navigation for the
spacecraft during flight tests from 1998 to 2002. It used the LandForm
software and was useful for times of limited visibility, including an
instance when the video camera window frosted over leaving astronauts to
rely on the map overlays.
The LandForm software was also test flown at the Army Yuma Proving
Ground in 1999. In the photo at right one can see the map markers
indicating runways, air traffic control tower, taxiways, and hangars
overlaid on the video.
AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices.
Information can be displayed on an automobile's windshield indicating
destination directions and meter, weather, terrain, road conditions and
traffic information as well as alerts to potential hazards in their
path. Since 2012, a Swiss-based company WayRay
has been developing holographic AR navigation systems that use
holographic optical elements for projecting all route-related
information including directions, important notifications, and points of
interest right into the drivers’ line of sight and far ahead of the
vehicle.
Aboard maritime vessels, AR can allow bridge watch-standers to
continuously monitor important information such as a ship's heading and
speed while moving throughout the bridge or performing other tasks.
Workplace
Augmented
reality may have a good impact on work collaboration as people may be
inclined to interact more actively with their learning environment. It
may also encourage tacit knowledge renewal which makes firms more
competitive. AR was used to facilitate collaboration among distributed
team members via conferences with local and virtual participants. AR
tasks included brainstorming and discussion meetings utilizing common
visualization via touch screen tables, interactive digital whiteboards,
shared design spaces and distributed control rooms.
In industrial environments, augmented reality is proving to have a
substantial impact with more and more use cases emerging across all
aspect of the product lifecycle, starting from product design and new
product introduction (NPI) to manufacturing to service and maintenance,
to material handling and distribution. For example, labels were
displayed on parts of a system to clarify operating instructions for a
mechanic performing maintenance on a system.
Assembly lines benefited from the usage of AR. In addition to Boeing,
BMW and Volkswagen were known for incorporating this technology into
assembly lines for monitoring process improvements.
Big machines are difficult to maintain because of their multiple layers
or structures. AR permits people to look through the machine as if with
an x-ray, pointing them to the problem right away.
As AR technology has evolved and second and third generation AR
devices come to market, the impact of AR in enterprise continues to
flourish. In a Harvard Business Review, Magid Abraham and Marco
Annunziata discuss how AR devices are now being used to "boost workers’
productivity on an array of tasks the first time they're used, even
without prior training."
They go on to contend that "these technologies increase productivity by
making workers more skilled and efficient, and thus have the potential
to yield both more economic growth and better jobs."
Broadcast and live events
Weather
visualizations were the first application of augmented reality to
television. It has now become common in weathercasting to display full
motion video of images captured in real-time from multiple cameras and
other imaging devices. Coupled with 3D graphics symbols and mapped to a
common virtual geospace model, these animated visualizations constitute
the first true application of AR to TV.
AR has become common in sports telecasting. Sports and
entertainment venues are provided with see-through and overlay
augmentation through tracked camera feeds for enhanced viewing by the
audience. Examples include the yellow "first down" line seen in television broadcasts of American football
games showing the line the offensive team must cross to receive a first
down. AR is also used in association with football and other sporting
events to show commercial advertisements overlaid onto the view of the
playing area. Sections of rugby fields and cricket
pitches also display sponsored images. Swimming telecasts often add a
line across the lanes to indicate the position of the current record
holder as a race proceeds to allow viewers to compare the current race
to the best performance. Other examples include hockey puck tracking and
annotations of racing car performance and snooker ball trajectories.
Augmented reality for Next Generation TV allows viewers to
interact with the programs they were watching. They can place objects
into an existing program and interact with them, such as moving them
around. Objects include avatars of real persons in real time who are
also watching the same program.
AR has been used to enhance concert and theater performances. For
example, artists allow listeners to augment their listening experience
by adding their performance to that of other bands/groups of users.
Tourism and sightseeing
Travelers
may use AR to access real-time informational displays regarding a
location, its features, and comments or content provided by previous
visitors. Advanced AR applications include simulations of historical
events, places, and objects rendered into the landscape.
AR applications linked to geographic locations present location
information by audio, announcing features of interest at a particular
site as they become visible to the user.
Companies can use AR to attract tourists to particular areas that
they may not be familiar with by name. Tourists will be able to
experience beautiful landscapes in first person with the use of AR
devices. Companies like Phocuswright plan to use such technology in
order to expose the lesser known but beautiful areas of the planet, and
in turn, increase tourism. Other companies such as Matoke Tours have
already developed an application where the user can see 360 degrees from
several different places in Uganda. Matoke Tours and Phocuswright have
the ability to display their apps on virtual reality headsets like the
Samsung VR and Oculus Rift.
Translation
AR systems such as Word Lens
can interpret the foreign text on signs and menus and, in a user's
augmented view, re-display the text in the user's language. Spoken words
of a foreign language can be translated and displayed in a user's view
as printed subtitles.
Music
It has been suggested that augmented reality may be used in new methods of music production, mixing, control and visualization.
A tool for 3D music creation in clubs that, in addition to regular sound mixing features, allows the DJ to play dozens of sound samples, placed anywhere in 3D space, has been conceptualized.
Leeds College of Music teams have developed an AR app that can be used with Audient
desks and allow students to use their smartphone or tablet to put
layers of information or interactivity on top of an Audient mixing desk.
ARmony is a software package that makes use of augmented reality to help people to learn an instrument.
In a proof-of-concept project Ian Sterling, interaction design student at California College of the Arts,
and software engineer Swaroop Pal demonstrated a HoloLens app whose
primary purpose is to provide a 3D spatial UI for cross-platform devices
— the Android Music Player app and Arduino-controlled Fan and Light —
and also allow interaction using gaze and gesture control.
AR Mixer is an app that allows one to select and mix between
songs by manipulating objects – such as changing the orientation of a
bottle or can.
In a video, Uriel Yehezkel demonstrates using the Leap Motion controller and GECO MIDI to control Ableton Live with hand gestures
and states that by this method he was able to control more than 10
parameters simultaneously with both hands and take full control over the
construction of the song, emotion and energy.
A novel musical instrument that allows novices to play electronic
musical compositions, interactively remixing and modulating their
elements, by manipulating simple physical objects has been proposed.
A system using explicit gestures and implicit dance moves to
control the visual augmentations of a live music performance that enable
more dynamic and spontaneous performances and—in combination with
indirect augmented reality—leading to a more intense interaction between
artist and audience has been suggested.
Research by members of the CRIStAL at the University of Lille
makes use of augmented reality in order to enrich musical performance.
The ControllAR project allows musicians to augment their MIDI control surfaces with the remixed graphical user interfaces of music software. The Rouages project proposes to augment digital musical instruments in order to reveal their mechanisms to the audience and thus improve the perceived liveness.
Reflets is a novel augmented reality display dedicated to musical
performances where the audience acts as a 3D display by revealing
virtual content on stage, which can also be used for 3D musical
interaction and collaboration.
Retail
Augmented
reality is becoming more frequently used for online advertising.
Retailers offer the ability to upload a picture on their website and
"try on" various clothes which is overlaid on the picture. Even further,
companies such as Bodymetrics install dressing booths in department
stores that offer full-body scanning.
These booths render a 3-D model of the user, allowing the consumers to
view different outfits on themselves without the need of physically
changing clothes. For example, JC Penney and Bloomingdale's use "virtual dressing rooms" that allow customers to see themselves in clothes without trying them on. Another store that uses AR to market clothing to its customers is Neiman Marcus. Neiman Marcus offers consumers the ability to see their outfits in a 360 degree view with their "memory mirror". Makeup stores like L'Oreal, Sephora, Charlotte Tilbury, and Rimmel also have apps that utilize AR. These apps allow consumers to see how the makeup will look on them.
According to Greg Jones, director of AR and VR at Google, augmented
reality is going to "reconnect physical and digital retail."
AR technology is also used by furniture retailers such as IKEA, Houzz, and Wayfair. These retailers offer apps that allow consumers to view their products in their home prior to purchasing anything.
IKEA launched their IKEA Place at the end of 2017 and made it possible
to have 3D and true to scale models of furniture in their living space,
through using the app and their camera. IKEA realized that their
customers are not shopping in stores as often or directly buy things
anymore. So they created IKEA Place to tackle these problems and have
people try out the furniture with Augmented Reality and then decide if
they want to buy it.
Snapchat
Snapchat
users have access to augmented reality in the company's instant
messaging app through use of camera filters. In September 2017, Snapchat
updated its app to include a camera filter that allowed users to render
an animated, cartoon version of themselves called "Bitmoji". These
animated avatars would be projected in the real world through the
camera, and can be photographed or video recorded.
In the same month, Snapchat also announced a new feature called "Sky
Filters" that will be available on its app. This new feature makes use
of augmented reality to alter the look of a picture taken of the sky,
much like how users can apply the app's filters to other pictures. Users
can choose from sky filters such as starry night, stormy clouds,
beautiful sunsets, and rainbow.
The Dangers of AR
Reality modifications
There
is a danger that will make individuals overconfident and put their life
at risk because of it. Pokémon GO with a couple of deaths and many
injuries is the perfect example of it. "Death by Pokémon GO”,
by a pair of researchers from Purdue University's Krannert School of
Management, says the game caused “a disproportionate increase in
vehicular crashes and associated vehicular damage, personal injuries,
and fatalities in the vicinity of locations, called PokéStops, where
users can play the game while driving.”.
The paper extrapolated what that might mean nationwide and concluded
“the increase in crashes attributable to the introduction of Pokémon GO
is 145,632 with an associated increase in the number of injuries of
29,370 and an associated increase in the number of fatalities of 256
over the period of July 6, 2016, through November 30, 2016.” The authors
valued those crashes and fatalities at between $2bn and $7.3 billion
for the same period.
Furthermore, more than one in three surveyed advanced internet
users would like to edit out disturbing elements around them, such as
garbage or graffiti.
They would like to even modify their surroundings by erasing street
signs, billboard ads, and uninteresting shopping windows. So it seems
that AR is a threat to companies as it is an opportunity. Although this
could be a nightmare to numerous brands that do not manage to capture
consumer imaginations it also creates the risk that the wearers of
augmented reality glasses may become unaware of surrounding dangers.
Consumers want to use augmented reality glasses to change their
surroundings into something that reflects their own personal opinions.
Around two in five want to change the way their surroundings look and
even how people appear to them.
Next, to the possible privacy issues that are described below,
overload and over-reliance issues is the biggest danger of AR. For the
development of new AR related products, this implies that the
user-interface should follow certain guidelines as not to overload the
user with information while also preventing the user to overly rely on
the AR system such that important cues from the environment are missed. This is called the virtually-augmented key. Once the key is not taken into account people might not need the real world anymore.
Privacy concerns
The
concept of modern augmented reality depends on the ability of the
device to record and analyze the environment in real time. Because of
this, there are potential legal concerns over privacy. While the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
allows for such recording in the name of public interest, the constant
recording of an AR device makes it difficult to do so without also
recording outside of the public domain. Legal complications would be
found in areas where a right to a certain amount of privacy is expected
or where copyrighted media are displayed.
In terms of individual privacy, there exists the ease of access
to information that one should not readily possess about a given person.
This is accomplished through facial recognition technology. Assuming
that AR automatically passes information about persons that the user
sees, there could be anything seen from social media, criminal record,
and marital status.
Privacy-compliant image capture solutions can be deployed to temper the impact of constant filming on individual privacy.
Notable researchers
- Ivan Sutherland invented the first VR head-mounted display at Harvard University.
- Steve Mann formulated an earlier concept of mediated reality in the 1970s and 1980s, using cameras, processors, and display systems to modify visual reality to help people see better (dynamic range management), building computerized welding helmets, as well as "augmediated reality" vision systems for use in everyday life. He is also an adviser to Meta.
- Louis Rosenberg developed one of the first known AR systems, called Virtual Fixtures, while working at the U.S. Air Force Armstrong Labs in 1991, and published the first study of how an AR system can enhance human performance. Rosenberg's subsequent work at Stanford University in the early 90's, was the first proof that virtual overlays when registered and presented over a user's direct view of the real physical world, could significantly enhance human performance.
- Mike Abernathy pioneered one of the first successful augmented video overlays (also called hybrid syntheric vision) using map data for space debris in 1993, while at Rockwell International. He co-founded Rapid Imaging Software, Inc. and was the primary author of the LandForm system in 1995, and the SmartCam3D system. LandForm augmented reality was successfully flight tested in 1999 aboard a helicopter and SmartCam3D was used to fly the NASA X-38 from 1999–2002. He and NASA colleague Francisco Delgado received the National Defense Industries Association Top5 awards in 2004.
- Steven Feiner, Professor at Columbia University, is the author of a 1993 paper on an AR system prototype, KARMA (the Knowledge-based Augmented Reality Maintenance Assistant), along with Blair MacIntyre and Doree Seligmann. He is also an advisor to Meta.
- Tracy McSheery, of Phasespace, developer in 2009 of wide field of view AR lenses as used in Meta 2 and others.
- S. Ravela, B. Draper, J. Lim and A. Hanson developed a marker/fixture-less augmented reality system with computer vision in 1994. They augmented an engine block observed from a single video camera with annotations for repair. They use model-based pose estimation, aspect graphs and visual feature tracking to dynamically register model with the observed video.
- Francisco Delgado is a NASA engineer and project manager specializing in human interface research and development. Starting 1998 he conducted research into displays that combined video with synthetic vision systems (called hybrid synthetic vision at the time) that we recognize today as augmented reality systems for the control of aircraft and spacecraft. In 1999 he and colleague Mike Abernathy flight-tested the LandForm system aboard a US Army helicopter. Delgado oversaw integration of the LandForm and SmartCam3D systems into the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle. In 2001, Aviation Week reported NASA astronaut's successful use of hybrid synthetic vision (augmented reality) to fly the X-38 during a flight test at Dryden Flight Research Center. The technology was used in all subsequent flights of the X-38. Delgado was co-recipient of the National Defense Industries Association 2004 Top 5 software of the year award for SmartCam3D.
- Bruce H. Thomas and Wayne Piekarski develop the Tinmith system in 1998. They along with Steve Feiner with his MARS system pioneer outdoor augmented reality.
- Mark Billinghurst is Director of the HIT Lab New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and a notable AR researcher. He has produced over 250 technical publications and presented demonstrations and courses at a wide variety of conferences.
- Reinhold Behringer performed important early work (1998) in image registration for augmented reality, and prototype wearable testbeds for augmented reality. He also co-organized the First IEEE International Symposium on Augmented Reality in 1998 (IWAR'98), and co-edited one of the first books on augmented reality.
- Felix G. Hamza-Lup, Larry Davis and Jannick Rolland developed the 3D ARC display with optical see-through head-warned display for AR visualization in 2002.
- Dieter Schmalstieg and Daniel Wagner developed a marker tracking systems for mobile phones and PDAs in 2009.
History
- 1901: L. Frank Baum, an author, first mentions the idea of an electronic display/spectacles that overlays data onto real life (in this case 'people'). It is named a 'character marker'.
- 1957–62: Morton Heilig, a cinematographer, creates and patents a simulator called Sensorama with visuals, sound, vibration, and smell.
- 1968: Ivan Sutherland invents the head-mounted display and positions it as a window into a virtual world.
- 1975: Myron Krueger creates Videoplace to allow users to interact with virtual objects.
- 1980: The research by Gavan Lintern of the University of Illinois is the first published work to show the value of a heads up display for teaching real-world flight skills.
- 1980: Steve Mann creates the first wearable computer, a computer vision system with text and graphical overlays on a photographically mediated scene.
- 1981: Dan Reitan geospatially maps multiple weather radar images and space-based and studio cameras to earth maps and abstract symbols for television weather broadcasts, bringing a precursor concept to augmented reality (mixed real/graphical images) to TV.
- 1987: Douglas George and Robert Morris create a working prototype of an astronomical telescope-based "heads-up display" system (a precursor concept to augmented reality) which superimposed in the telescope eyepiece, over the actual sky images, multi-intensity star, and celestial body images, and other relevant information.
- 1990: The term 'Augmented Reality' is attributed to Thomas P. Caudell, a former Boeing researcher.
- 1992: Louis Rosenberg developed one of the first functioning AR systems, called Virtual Fixtures, at the United States Air Force Research Laboratory—Armstrong, that demonstrated benefit to human perception.
- 1993: Steven Feiner, Blair MacIntyre and Doree Seligmann present an early paper on an AR system prototype, KARMA, at the Graphics Interface conference.
- 1993: Mike Abernathy, et al., report the first use of augmented reality in identifying space debris using Rockwell WorldView by overlaying satellite geographic trajectories on live telescope video.
- 1993 A widely cited version of the paper above is published in Communications of the ACM – Special issue on computer augmented environments, edited by Pierre Wellner, Wendy Mackay, and Rich Gold.
- 1993: Loral WDL, with sponsorship from STRICOM, performed the first demonstration combining live AR-equipped vehicles and manned simulators. Unpublished paper, J. Barrilleaux, "Experiences and Observations in Applying Augmented Reality to Live Training", 1999.
- 1994: Julie Martin creates first 'Augmented Reality Theater production', Dancing In Cyberspace, funded by the Australia Council for the Arts, features dancers and acrobats manipulating body–sized virtual object in real time, projected into the same physical space and performance plane. The acrobats appeared immersed within the virtual object and environments. The installation used Silicon Graphics computers and Polhemus sensing system.
- 1995: S. Ravela et al. at University of Massachusetts introduce a vision-based system using monocular cameras to track objects (engine blocks) across views for augmented reality.
- 1998: Spatial Augmented Reality introduced at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by Ramesh Raskar, Welch, Henry Fuchs.
- 1999: Frank Delgado, Mike Abernathy et al. report successful flight test of LandForm software video map overlay from a helicopter at Army Yuma Proving Ground overlaying video with runways, taxiways, roads and road names.
- 1999: The US Naval Research Laboratory engages on a decade-long research program called the Battlefield Augmented Reality System (BARS) to prototype some of the early wearable systems for dismounted soldier operating in urban environment for situation awareness and training.
- 1999: NASA X-38 flown using LandForm software video map overlays at Dryden Flight Research Center.
- 2004: Outdoor helmet-mounted AR system demonstrated by Trimble Navigation and the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT lab).
- 2008: Wikitude AR Travel Guide launches on 20 Oct 2008 with the G1 Android phone.
- 2009: ARToolkit was ported to Adobe Flash (FLARToolkit) by Saqoosha, bringing augmented reality to the web browser.
- 2010: Design of mine detection robot for Korean mine field.
- 2012: Launch of Lyteshot, an interactive AR gaming platform that utilizes smart glasses for game data
- 2013: Meta announces the Meta 1 developer kit.
- 2013: Google announces an open beta test of its Google Glass augmented reality glasses. The glasses reach the Internet through Bluetooth, which connects to the wireless service on a user's cellphone. The glasses respond when a user speaks, touches the frame or moves the head.
- 2015: Microsoft announces Windows Holographic and the HoloLens augmented reality headset. The headset utilizes various sensors and a processing unit to blend high definition "holograms" with the real world.
- 2016: Niantic released Pokémon Go for iOS and Android in July 2016. The game quickly became one of the most popular smartphone applications and in turn spikes the popularity of augmented reality games.
- 2017: Magic Leap announces the use of Digital Lightfield technology embedded into the Magic Leap One headset. The creators edition headset includes the glasses and a computing pack worn on your belt.
