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Augmented Reality

INTRODUCTION TO AUGMENTED REALITY

WHAT IS A.R. ?

As opposed to virtual reality, augmented reality (AR) is not an attempt at replacing the world in which we live with another, but rather, as the name indicates, enhance it. The goal here is to further develop the information available to a given person by superimposing extra visuals, sounds or even smells over the actual environment in real time. From providing onsite information to a tourist to guiding a pilot onto the correct flight path, the possibilities given by such a technology are nearly endless.

BIT OF HISTORY

• 1957–62: Morton Heilig, a cinematographer, creates and patents a simulator called Sensorama with visuals, sound, vibration, and smell.

• Early prototypes date back to the late 60s (Sutherland, 1968)

• The term "'Augmented Reality'" is believed to be attributed to Tom Caudell, a former Boeing Engineer (1990).

• The first modern use of AR was introduced in 1993 (Feiner, S., MacIntyre, B., and Seligmann, D., 1993) when a system, named KARMA, was designed to assist maintenance by projecting wireframe schematics and maintenance instructions on top of whatever was being repaired.

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES IN A.R.

The technology behind augmented reality systems involves numerous fields of research including:

• Signal • Processing• Tracking systems• Graphics• User Interfaces

• Wearable and Mobile Computing• Networking• Information Visualization• GPS

The requirements for an AR system depend greatly on its intended application, but one can outline a few common basics.

APPLICATIONS

1. Architecture:

2. Education:

3. Engineering and Industry:

4. Commerce:

5. Navigation:

6. Gaming and Entertainment:

Software and Algorithms

How A.R. applications work…Software apps. Use Image processing and Computer Graphics tools and libraries. Most notable tools are:

• OPEN CV• OPEN GL

The software must derive real world coordinates, independent from the camera, from camera images. That process is called Image registration which includes calculating the following:

Interest points Optical flow Edge detection Object detection

Techniques used to immerse/Augment 2D or 3D content in the picture:

• Projective Geometry• Geometric Algebra• Rotation Representation• Non-Linear Optimizations

Future ???

Thank you…