Virtual reality (V.R.) has been around for a while. Or at least so long that most people know what it is. However, augmented reality (A.R.) has been around since Ivan Sutherland and his students at Harvard University and the University at Utah made a prototype of it in the 1960’s. In the seventies and eighties, institutions like the U.S. Air Force’s Armstrong Laboratory, the N.A.S.A. Ames Research Center, and the University of NC at Chapel Hill were places of study for a few researchers who were learning more about A.R. In the nineties, Boeing scientists made an experimental A.R. system to help workers make wiring harnesses. They were the ones who coined the term “augmented reality”. The hardware used for an augmented reality system is an optical see-through display and a video see-through display. An optical see-through display uses a mirror beam splitter; a half-silvered mirror that reflects and transmits light. It’s worn in front of the user’s eye and the beam splitter reflects the image of a computer display so the user can see it but still lets real light pass through. A video see-through display applies video mixing technology-that was really meant for special effects on TV - to combine the picture from a head-worn camera with already-made graphics. The final picture is shown on an opaque head-worn display, but it can be manipulated so that the image is what the user sees instead of what’s really there. The see-through display is usually worn on your head and looks like a pair of special glasses. It allows the user to see the world and the added text and graphics from the computer, using registration. Registration lets the computer place an image of a teacup on a real saucer and hold it there while the user moves around, changing his position, but not the teacup’s. In short, an A.R. system shows the user what is around him/her, but it is an “enhanced” image (other computer-generated graphics are neatly laid on top and/or behind the real thing). It adds on to reality, thus “improving” upon it. Virtual reality is totally made up images, thus creating a whole new world for the user. The computer is worn on your hip. It wouldn’t be exactly convenient, but not a nuisance either. The computer adds “virtual information to a user’s sensory perceptions.” Another kind of augmented reality system is M.A.R.S. (mobile augmented reality systems) are A.R. prototypes that are built using an external-frame backpack. The prototype model of an outdoor A.R. system was the Touring, built in 1996. It was built as an experiment to find out how it might help a tourist exploring an unfamiliar environment. Overall, augmented reality is reality, but with special effects.
Importance
Though only prototypes exist, and then not outside laboratories and
universities, augmented reality systems could change the world. They could give someone
whose fixing something instructions, a tourist reviews of the restaurants that they see
as they look down the street, a surgeon the equivalent of an x-ray, firefighters the layout
of a burning building, soldiers positions of enemy snipers, and a gamer walking to work a
battle. It will also help users in the office. For example, it could show them labels,
remainders, and instructions they don’t want to forget, or a cartoon telling a joke to
cheer them up. Soldiers could be trained on A.R. systems, then use them in battle. A.R.
is also a great way for gamers to do what they do best: gaming. A user could blast a
spider to bits (or be eaten) in their own living room. In general, augmented reality
systems aren’t a top-priority kind of thing, but a welcome one.
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