AUGMENTED REALITY - LAYERS OF VIRTUAL THAT IMPACT OUR LIFE Nicoleta-Cristina Stroescu Y.M.

Catelly Politehnica University of Bucharest Chapter 1. Introduction Embedding digital information in the real world can manipulate peoples perception. The principles of augmented reality (AR) are well known for almost a decade but until a few years ago it had been used mainly in particular areas with expensive special devices. The development of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets has made the emerging of augmented reality implementation in mainstream applications possible. The expansion has increased popularity of AR applications but also created a series of pros and cons that made people wonder if AR really appeals to them or if they cannot overlook the negatives. The object of this paper is, using quantitative methods with a questionnaire as a research instrument, to identify the awareness level of the development of AR applications and devices among students and also to see the way they recognize advantages and disadvantages of a further implementation. My study showed that the field of augmented reality is still at the beginning and has a low awareness level among the public, even the specialized one. Chapter 2. Overview In 1965, Ivan Sutherland published a paper entitled The Ultimate Display in which he described how one day the computer would provide a window into the virtual world. In 1968 he built a head-mounted display that presented to the user left and right views of a computergenerated 3D scene. [Mario A. Guttierez, Frederic. Vexo, Daniel. Thalmann, 2008]. In 2010 Babak Amir Parviz, Bionanotechnology professor at the University of Washington imagined contact lenses with built-in circuits and LEDs. He now previews a contact lens for the 21st century: These visions (if I may) might seem far-fetched, but a contact lens with simple builtin electronics is already within reach [Babak Amir Parviz, 2010]. The evolutionary path that AR has taken in the last fifty years shows that it will not be long until bionic eyesight will be indispensable or at least be acknowledged worldwide. Actually, eyeglasses that connect to PCs or mobile devices to overlay images on the real world have already been developed. This technology separates itself form virtual reality as it does not create a simulation but takes real object or space and incorporates contextual data in order to deepen the understanding of the subject[XXX, 2005]. AR has very useful applications in a wide range of domains such as military, medicine, entertainment and the social network. Seeing if people are aware of the drawbacks and advantages of virtual reality and augmented reality is an important step in shaping up this new technology. Bringing a consumer version of AR implementation to market may have a negative impact on society as the more you ease the access to information and you start merging reality with digital, the more you expose yourself to unexpected dangers such as privacy issues and dependency on machinery [Rosa Martinez, 2010]. On the other side, creating an interactive and informative surrounding is an idea that seems to attract the interest of potential users. It is clear that everyone may choose whether or not to include virtual

implementation in their life. You may even consider that it is their responsibility to protect their privacy when registering for any types of accounts and services, if they dont want to be identified. Chapter 3. Methods In this study, I intended to find out if students between the ages of nineteen and twenty two are active users of augmented reality and how does this influence their world, behavior, perception and whether or not creativity or efficiency may be affected by virtually coalescence. I also wanted to know what different sectors of their existence is influenced and in what way. I have chosen a segment of public that has a technological background (students of a technical faculty) since one of my objectives was finding out how much augmented reality is assimilated by young, innovative individuals. The first premise of the research is that virtual reality, more precisely augmented reality, has low awareness within the specialized public. The second premise refers to the fact that the evolution of AR technology and its active implementation in our daily lives represent a benefit more than a menace. My goal was to test these two premises at the same time, having as research instrument a questionnaire and using quantitative methods. This implied using closed-ended questions with multiple choice answers, but also open-ended ones, which allowed us to have an approximate qualitative research by interpreting the answers. The profile of an ideal subject requires the person to be the achiever type, oriented to success, innovation and technology, flexible and open-minded. I applied the questionnaire on a number of 30 people, out of whom 60% come under the ideal subject profile. Chapter 4. Results The sociometric analysis shows that from the 30 respondents, 100% are students in the second and third year, from which 70% at technical faculties (Politehnica University Bucharest- Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages, Computer Science, Electronics). The question Have you ever heard about augmented reality?, was a filter that reduced the number of respondents to 15 from 30 as half of them answered with no. Figure 1 shows the answers to the question Which of the following aspects of virtual reality are you interested in? while figure 2 shows how people see the influence of virtual world on social behavior, perception of reality, security of information, imagination and creativity. Fifteen students answered the question Where did you hear the term?. The answers are restricted to the area of online and television, some of the respondents stating that the first time they came across this concept was during commercials or shows about artificial intelligence, other while playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games like WOW or Second Life. Users that found out about the term while using applications on iPhone/Android/mobile mentioned that the layer representing objects of interest is interposed over the outputted image of the camera of the device. Books and printed press were mentioned only by 15% of the respondents, who referred to SF books, especially cyberpunk, like Neuromancer by William Gibon or Esquire Magazine. The question What do you think are this [virtual world] advantages? had 9 responses. Numerous advantages could be identified, the most usual ones being: the enhancement of real world objects with digital information; virtual reality where an individual interacts with a virtual environment through specially designed glasses or is submerged in a certain
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environment using new generation technology; developing platforms for people with handicaps in the medical field; creativity stimulation; developing language skills. The question What are these [virtual world] disadvantages? had 6 responses. The disadvantages that students have encountered are diverse: linear development of human brain (Next->Next->Finish) and merging with the user (for example information, being just one click away, can alter our memory development); the leak of information; distortion of perception that can lead to pathological cases. Fifteen students answered the question What would the future look like if the augmented reality technology were implemented in our daily life? . The opinions vary on two directions: positive and negative. The positive ones refer to: the first steps that have already been done - context-aware glasses that show the map and the hot-spots from your surroundings, on lens SF scenes Surrogates, Matrix; design and 3D modeling; enhanced CVs; improved office work as all the papers will be done digitally; breaking human exploration limits; easy access to information. The negative ones refer to: a systemized and strongly restrictive medium; elimination of real interaction. Chapter 5. Discussion By correlating the answers, we can observe that the foreseen results were reached in the proportion that we had expected. One of two people is aware of virtual worlds and augmented reality, the most frequent contact environment being online and mobile applications. The point of view regarding a future life of real and virtual combination was mainly inspired by scientific movies. Also, people imagined how AR can help their daily tasks forward into much easier and faster activities. A strong point is made by some of the respondents who anticipated the hazard of linear human brain development. The majority believed that imagination and creativity are positively influenced by augmented reality, while a negative effect on the perception of reality is observed. The rest of the domains are almost equally positively and negatively influenced. That proves, on the one hand, how people perceive augmented reality as an innovative and original field and, on the other hand, as an altered understanding of the world. Even though visual augmentation has been developed in numerous fields with a large number of applications and devices, the majority of the respondents are only familiarized with smartphone experiences such as applications and games. This phenomenon occurs due to the fact that the display is simple, user friendly and immerses them into a word that they can easily access throughout the phone or tablet, so there is no need to buy any additional devices. Taking into consideration the advantages and disadvantages that respondents have identified, we notice that opinions are different. From the total number of students, the majority does not know which are the benefits or drawbacks of augmented reality, which strengthens the initial premise that the field of augmented reality is still at the beginning. The ones that answered however, recognized the advantages of AR technology more than the issues, which shows how augmentation of the real world is seen as an improvement and a benefit, rather than a step back or a threat.

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