Augmented Reality

What is it, and how does it fit into higher education?

April 2010 Tech TalkRebecca Miller

AR: What is it?

“Augmented reality” (AR) refers to a display in which simulated imagery, graphics, or other information is superimposed on a view of the surrounding environment

Describes the enrichment of the real world with the virtual

A common example? The yellow “first down” line often see during TV broadcasts of football games

AR Explained

by Common Craft

http://www.commoncraft.com/augmented-reality-video

Why now?

Both the Horizon Report and the ALA TechTrends Midwinter Webinar mention AR as one of the top technologies applicable to libraries and higher education

Advances in smart phones, laptops, and other mobile devices have allowed for AR to enter the mainstream

Augmented Reality Conference!

Before mainstream…

The expression “augmented reality” was coinced in 1990 by a Boeing researcher

AR, though, existed before the term did

Applications of this technology appeared in the late 1950s:

The “Sensorama,” from U.S. Patent #3050870

Developed by Morton Heilig in 1955, who saw theater as a an experience to encompass all senses

More “before”

In the 1960s, Ivan Sutherland invents the head-mounted display (HMD), which offered an early version of AR:

While some of these only offer a computer-generated image, some HMDs superimpose images on a real-world view

This is often seen in gaming

HMDs

Interestingly, the HMD is even used in sports; systems were developed for a Formula One racecar driver and BMW.

The HMD in these cases will display race crew data and still allow the driver to see the road.

Back to the timeline

In 1992, the first major paper on AR (a system prototype) is presented, and then published in Communications of the ACM in 1993

ARToolKit developed in 1999 Software library for building AR applications http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/ Projects:

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/projects/ ARQuake developed in 2000

AR version of the Quake video game Never became commercial, but is credited with

generating a lot of interest in AR

The Mobile world

The iPhone Yelp app “Monocle” uses the iPhone’s camera and little tags that indicate names, distances, and user ratings of nearby restaurants, bars, and other venues. (August 2009)

Similarly, the Wikitude AR Travel guide is launched for Android:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EA8xlicmT8

More interesting examples November 2009: Esquire’s Augmented Reality

issue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGwHQwgBzSI

Yelp:

http://mashable.com/2009/08/27/yelp-augmented-reality/

Social Augmented Reality: Foursquare for Layar:

http://squio.nl/blog/2009/11/16/announcing-foursquare-for-layar-app/

In higher education

Books: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV36Gs5-nxw

University of Wisconsin, ARIS Mobile Media Learning Games: http://arisgames.org/

Georgia Tech, Augmented Environments Lab: http://www.augmentedenvironments.org/lab/research/

Wikitude World Browser: http://www.wikitude.org/

iTacitus and Visual Time Machine: http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Visual-Time-Machine-Offers-Glimpse-of-Past-081309.aspx

Applications for Libraries During the ALA TechTrends Midwinter 2010

Webinar, AR applications were suggested: Exhibits Immersive Games Architecture (architectural planning) Community Guides Retrieving books, book reviews, author

information while in stackshttp://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/03/archive-techtrends-midwinter-2010-webinar.html(minutes 27- 34.30)

AR Development ARML:http://www.openarml.org/