AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

1. Introduction

Technology is making a huge modification in existing machines or tools in

order to solve problem at higher level and make life comfortable. Augmented Reality
is one of the most interesting subjects in technologies and research on this is
increasing by exponential scale day by day.
Augmented reality (AR) is a field of computer research which deals with the
combination of real-world and computer-generated data. Augmented reality is a
technology that allows for virtual objects to be placed in the real world. In real time,
enhancing our information about the world around us.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a growing area in virtual reality research. The world
environment around us provides a wealth of information that is difficult to duplicate
in a computer. This is evidenced by the worlds used in virtual environments.
Augmented reality is a mixture of real environment, that the user senses either directly
or through the systems pipeline, and virtual environment. The virtual environment can
in turn represent either real world objects or virtual objects. An augmented reality
system generates a composite view for the user. It is a combination of the real scene
viewed by the user and a virtual scene generated by the computer that augments the
scene with additional information. In all those applications the augmented reality
presented to the user enhances that person's performance in and perception of the
world.
The ultimate goal is to create a system such that the user cannot tell the difference
between the real world and the virtual augmentation of it. It depicts the merging and
correct registration of data from a pre-operative imaging study onto the patient's head.
Another aim of augmented reality is to blend all parts seamlessly together so that
the user is made to believe that the whole environment is real. In other words, there
shouldnt be any conflicts and discrepancies between the augmented environment and
the rules by which the user normally senses the real world.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 1
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

2. Literature Review

The data being used for preparing this report is been taken from several conference
and research papers which are as follows:
Augmented Reality: A class of displays on the reality-virtuality continuum by
Paul Milgram.
In this paper author discuss Augmented Reality (AR) displays in
a general sense, within the context of a Reality-Virtuality (RV)
continuum, encompassing a large class of "Mixed Reality" (MR)
displays, which also includes Augmented Virtuality (AV). MR displays
are defined by means of seven examples of existing display
concepts in which real objects and virtual objects are juxt a posed.
Essential factors which distinguish different Mixed Reality display
systems from each other are presented.

Study of Hardware and Software used in: Virtual and Augmented Reality
Device by
Vishmita Shetty, Vinayak Rai, Prof. Mahendra Patil.
This paper mainly focuses on working of different virtual and augmented reality
device on hardware and software aspects. The main component used in virtual and
augmented reality are camera to recognize gesture this gesture can be recognized
using free hand, sliced finger or by using infrared laser to detect the motion of hands.

Design, Strategies, and Issues towards an Augmented Reality-Based

Construction Training Platform by C.Anumba.
This paper provides information on Augmented Reality (AR) and their potential
applications in heavy construction equipment operator training. Augmented Reality
involves the use of special display and tracking technology that are capable of
seamlessly merging digital (virtual) contents into real environments.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 2
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

3. The Basic System

In the past similar systems have been made by projecting a defocused image
directly in front of the user's eye on a small "screen" normally in the form
of large glasses. The user focused their eyes on the background,
where the screen appears.
Augmented Reality is hidden content, most commonly hidden behind marker
images, that can be included in printed and film media, as long as the marker is
displayed for a suitable length of time, in a steady position for an application to
identify and analyze it. Depending on the content, the marker may have to remain
visible. Advanced research includes the use of motion-tracking data, fiducial marker
recognition using machine vision, and the construction of controlled environments
containing any number of sensors and actuators.
Most of the augmented reality research is currently concerned with the use of video
imagery which is digitally processed and augmented by adding computer-generated
graphics. Augmented reality (AR) can be defined as referring to cases in which an
otherwise real environment is "augmented" by means of virtual objects
.Augmentation can be achieved with various different techniques. Augmentation is
done in order to enhance the users surrounding environment in real-time in respect to
some function or purpose. Computer generated part of the environment makes AR a
very close cousin to the concept of virtual reality. The bulk of augmented reality
concerns combining real and virtual visual information, although the concept of AR
also covers imposing audio and other enhancements over environment in real-time.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 3
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Fig. 3.1 Overview of an augmented reality application or system.

3.1 Working Principle

Milgrams Reality-Virtuality Continuum (1994)

Milgram coined the term Augmented Virtuality to identify systems which are
mostly synthetic with some real world imagery added such as texture mapping video
onto virtual objects.
Milgram (1994) proposes that the distinction between terms real and virtual can
be measured by three aspects, depending on whether one is dealing with real or virtual
objects, real or virtual images, and direct or non-direct viewing of these objects. These
are (a) Reproduction Fidelity, (b) Extent of Presence Metaphor and (c) Extent of
World Knowledge.

Reproduction Fidelity
Reproduction Fidelity evaluates how realistically the mixed environment is displayed
or otherwise produced and delivered. This aspect reflects the abilities of the
technology used to record, transmit, manipulate and display the environment.
Computing power, display systems resolution, field of view and capabilities of the
audio equipment, all affect reproduction fidelity.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 4
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Fig. 3.2 Reproduction fidelity

Extent Of Presence Metaphor

Extent of Presence Metaphor deals with immersiveness experienced by the user, i.e. to
what extent the observer is present within that world. It is not just a question of how
real the environment looks, because feeling of presence is highly subjective matter to
the user. The extent of presence may be significantly high, when user is given some
objective to achieve, despite otherwise lower quality of the environment.

Fig. 3.3 Extent of presence metaphor

Extent Of World Knowledge

Extent of World Knowledge is a measure of how much the system knows about the
surrounding world. The more there is knowledge, the easier is the task of generating a
realistic result. Virtual reality environments are blessed in the sense of world

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 5
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

knowledge because the environment is completely computer generated. AR

applications that are meant to work on some pre-known precinct can also have a good
share of information that can be used to construct the augmented environment.

Fig. 3.4 Extent of world knowledge

The AR and VR are very much related and that it is quite valid to consider the two
concepts together. The commonly held view of a VR environment is one in which the
participant observer is totally immersed in a completely synthetic world, which may
or may not mimic the properties of a real-world environment, either existing or
fictional, but which may also exceed the bounds of physical reality by creating a
world in which the physical laws governing gravity, time and material properties no
longer hold.

In contrast, a strictly real-world environment clearly must be constrained by the laws

of physics. Rather than regarding the two concepts simply as antitheses, however, it is
more convenient to view them as lying at opposite ends of a continuum, which we
refer to as the Reality-Virtuality (RV) continuum.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 6
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Fig. 3.5 Reality and virtuality continuum

4. History Behind Augmented Reality

The beginnings of AR, as we define it, date back to Sutherlands work in the 1960s,
which uses a see-through Head mounted display (HMD) to present 3D graphics.
However, only over the past decade has there been enough work to refer to AR as a
research field. In 1997, Azuma published a survey that defined the field, described
many problems, and summarized the developments up to that point. Since then, ARs
growth and progress have been remarkable.

In the late 1990s, several conferences on AR began, including the international

Workshop and Symposium on Augmented Reality, the International Symposium on
Mixed Reality, and the Designing Augmented Reality Environments workshop. Some

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 7
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

well-funded organizations formed that focused on AR, notably the Mixed Reality
Systems Lab in Japan and the Arvika consortium in Germany.

By 2001, MR Lab nished their pilot research and the symposia were united in the
International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), which has
become the major symposium for industry and research to exchange problems and
solutions .t. While, the software leaders

5. How Vision Works?

AR system tracks the position and orientation of the users head so that the overlaid
material can be aligned with the users view of the world. Through this process,
known as registration, graphics software can place a three-dimensional image of a tea
cup, for example on top of a real saucer and keep the virtual cup fixed in that position
as the user moves about the room.AR systems employ some of the same hardware
technologies used in virtual reality research, but theres a crucial differences: whereas
virtual reality brashly aims to replace the real world, augmented reality
respectfully supplement it.

An AR system:

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 8
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

combines real and virtual objects in a real environment;

registers (aligns) real and virtual objects with each Other; and
runs interactively in three dimensions and in real time.

Using a mobile application, a mobile phone's camera identifies and interprets a

marker, often a black and white barcode image. The software analyses the marker and
creates a virtual image overlay on the mobile phone's screen, tied to the position of
the camera. This means the app works with the camera to interpret the angles and
distance the mobile phone is away from the marker.
Due to the number of calculations a phone must do to render the image or model over
the marker, often only smart phones are capable of supporting augmented reality with
any success.

5.1 Display
Of all modalities in human sensory input, sight, sound and/or touch are currently the
senses that AR systems commonly apply.

VISUAL Display
There are basic ways to visually present an augmented reality. Closest to virtual
reality is video see through, where the virtual environment is replaced by a video feed
of reality and the AR is overlayed upon the digitised images.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 9
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Fig. 5.1 Visual display technique

Four major classes of AR can be distinguished by their display type: (a) Video See
Through, (b) optical See-Through, (c) virtual retinal systems, (d) Monitor Based AR
and (e) Projector Based AR.

(a) Video See Through Head Mounted Display

Video See- through AR uses an opaque Head mounted display to display merged
video of the VE and view from cameras on the Head mounted display. This approach
is a bit more complex than optical see-through AR, requiring proper location of the
cameras. However, video composition of the real and virtual world is much easier.
There are a variety of solutions available including chroma-key and depth mapping.

(b) Optical See Through Display

These displays not only leave the real-world resolution intact, they also have the
advantage of being cheaper, safer, and parallax-free (no eye offset due to camera
positioning). Optical techniques are safer because users can still see when power fails,
making this an ideal technique for military and medical purposes. However, other
input devices such as cameras are required for interaction and registration. Also,
combining the virtual objects holographically through transparent mirrors and lenses
creates disadvantages as it reduces brightness and contrast of both the images and the
real-world perception, making this technique less suited for outdoor use.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 10
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

(c) Virtual Retinal System Display

Virtual retinal displays or retinal scanning displays (RSDs) solve the problems of low
brightness and low. eld -of- view in (head-worn) optical see-through displays. A low-
power laser draws a virtual image directly onto the retina which yields high brightness
and a wide eld -of-view. RSD quality is not limited by the size of pixels but only by
diffraction and aberrations in the light source, making (very) high resolutions possible
as well. In postgraduate course material, Fiambolis (1999) provides further
information on RSD technology. Together with their low power consumption these
displays are well-suited for extended outdoor use.

(d) Monitor Based Display

The term monitor-based (non-immersive), or "window-on-the-world" (WoW), AR to
refer to display systems where computer generated images are either analogically or
digitally overlaid onto live or stored video images. Although the technology for
achieving this has been well-known for sometime, most notably by means of chroma-
keying, a large number of useful applications present themselves when this concept is
implemented stereoscopically.

(e) Projector Based AR Display

These displays have the advantage that they do not require special eye-wear thus
accommodating users eyes during focusing, and they can cover large surfaces for a
wide eld -of-view. Projection surfaces may range from at, plain coloured walls to
complex scale models. However, as with optical see-through displays, other input
devices are required for (indirect) interaction. Also, projectors need to be calibrated
each time the environment or the distance to the projection surface changes (crucial in
mobile setups). Fortunately, calibration may be automated using cameras, e.g. a multi-
walled Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) with irregular surfaces.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 11
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

5.2 AURAL Display

Aural display application in augmented reality is limited to self-explanatory mono (0-
dimensional), stereo (1-dimensional) or surround (2-dimensional) headphones and
loudspeakers. True 3D aural display is currently found in more immersive simulations
of virtual environments and augmented virtuality or still in experimental stages.

5.3 HAPTIC Display

Haptic Displays refers to interfaces delivering haptic feedback, typically by
stimulating somatic receptors to generate a sensation of touch. Haptic displays can be
categorized by the type of stimuli/output they generate, and correspondingly by the
type of sensory receptors that are stimulated. Sensory display is concerned with the
rendering of forces. The latter are generated based on computational models, remote
interaction, recordings or data-driven approaches. Displays in this category can be
further subdivided according to the type of actuation (i.e. hardware) employed for
force generation

6. Implementation Framework

6.1 Hardware

The main components of our system are a computer (with 3D graphics acceleration), a
GPS system originally differential GPS, and now real-time kinematic
GPS+GLONASS, a see-through head-worn display with orientation tracker, and a
wireless network all attached to the backpack.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 12
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

The user also holds a small stylus-operated computer that can talk to the backpack
computer via the spread spectrum radio channel. Thus we can control the material
presented on the head worn display from the handheld screen.
We also provide a more direct control mechanism of a cursor in the head worn display
by mounting a track pad on the back of the handheld display where it can easily be
manipulated (we inverted the horizontal axis) while holding the display upright.
To make the system to be as lightweight and comfortable as possible, off-the-shelf
hardware can be used to avoid the expense, effort, and time involved in building our
own. Over the years, lighter and faster battery-powered computers with 3D graphics
cards, and finally graduated to laptops with 3D graphic processors.

Fig. 6.1 Car Augmented reality

6.2 Software

Software infrastructure Coterie, a prototyping environment that provided language-

level support for distributed virtual environments. The main mobile AR application
ran on the backpack computer and received continuous input from the GPS system,
the orientation head tracker, and the track pad (mounted on the back of the handheld
computer). It generated and displayed at an interactive frame rate the overlaid 3D
graphics and user interface components on the head worn display.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 13
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

In the handheld computer we ran arbitrary applications that talked to the main
backpack application via Coterie/Repo object communications. In our first prototype,
we simply ran a custom HTTP server and a web browser on the handheld computer,
intercepted all URL requests and link selections, and thus established a two-way
communication channel between the backpack and the handheld.
There is a similar dynamic taking shape in the mobile market. Blippar, Wikitude, and
Augment are among the elite in Augmented Reality mobile apps and software.
Vuforia is also a major force in the AR software space, but more so focused on AR
enablement, powering the experiences in many AR solutions. As early as 2015, Apple
acquired Vuforias closest competitor, Metaio-a Software Development Kit (SDK) for
programming PC, web, mobile and custom offline augmented reality applications.
Metaio was also responsible for Junaio, a free mobile AR browser.
AR hardware has a longer time period before we will be able to see its mass adoption,
but the true applications of AR software is expected to come sooner rather than later.
Blippar and Layar are both consumer-facing apps that seek to give users more
information about products and objects around them. Dubbed blipping, the intention
is to enable a user to unlock various bits of information about the object simply by
pointing their camera at the object.

Fig. 6.2 Enhancing digital marketing through AR.

7. Display Positioning

AR displays may be classied into three categories based on their position between
the viewer and the real environment: head-worn, hand-held, and spatial.

Head-worn

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 14
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Visual displays attached to the head include the video/optical see-through head-
mounted display (HMD), virtual retinal display (VRD), and head mounted projective
display (HMPD). Cakmakci and Rolland (2006) give a recent detailed review of head-
worn display technology. A current drawback of head-worn displays is the fact that
they have to connect to graphics computers like laptops that restrict mobility due to
limited battery life.

Hand-held
This category includes hand-held video/optical see-through displays as well as
handheld projectors. Although this category of displays is bulkier than head-worn
displays, it is currently the best work-around to introduce AR to a mass market due to
low production costs and ease of use. For instance, hand-held video see-through AR
acting as magnifying glasses may be based on existing consumer products like mobile
phones that show 3D objects, or personal digital assistants/PDAs (Wagner and
Schmalstieg, 2003) with e.g. navigation information. Stetten et al. (2001) apply
optical see-through in their hand-held sonic ashlight to display medical ultrasound
imaging directly over the scanned organ.

Fig. 7.1 Head mounted display

Spatial
This technique is now being applied in the world of sports television where
environments such as swimming pools and race tracks are well dened and easy to
augment. Headup displays (HUDs) in military cockpits are a form of spatial optical
see-through and are becoming a standard extension for production cars to project
navigational directions in the windshield. User viewpoints relative to the AR overlay
hardly change in these cases due to the conned space. Spatial see-through displays

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 15
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

may however appear misaligned when users move around in open spaces, for instance
when AR overlay is presented on a transparent screen such as the invisible interface
by Ogi et al. (2001) The last category of displays are placed statically within the
environment and include screen-based video see-through displays, spatial optical see-
through displays, and projective displays. These techniques lend themselves well for
large presentations and exhibitions with limited interaction. Early ways of creating
AR are based on conventional screens (computer or television) that show a camera
feed with an AR overlay.

Fig. 7.2 Head worn display Fig. 7.3 AR through display

8. Augmented reality vs Virtual reality

The overall requirements of AR can be summarized by comparing them against the

requirements for Virtual Environments, for the three basic subsystems that they
required are as follows:

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 16
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

1. Scene generator: Rendering is not currently one of the major problems in AR. VE
systems have much higher requirements for realistic images because they completely
replace the real world with the virtual environment. In AR, the virtual images only
supplement the real world. Therefore, fewer virtual objects need to be drawn, and they
do not necessarily have to be realistically rendered in order to serve the purposes of
the application.

2. Display devices: The display devices used in AR may have less stringent
requirements than VE systems demand, again because Ardors not replace the real
world. For example, monochrome displays may be adequate for some AR
applications, while virtually all VE systems today use full color. Optical see-through
HMD\u2019s with a small field-of-view may be satisfactory because the user can still
see the real world with his peripheral vision; the see-through HMD does not shut off
the user\u2019s normal field-of-view. Furthermore, the resolution of the monitor in an
optical see-through HMD might be lower than what a user would tolerate in a VE
application, since the optical see-through HMD does not reduce the resolution of the
real environment.

3. Tracking and sensing: While in the previous two cases AR had lower
requirements than VE that is not the case for tracking and sensing. In this area, the
requirements for AR are much stricter than those for VE systems. A major reason for
this is the registration problem.

BASIC VR AR
SUBSYSTEMS
SCENE GENERATOR MORE ADVANCED LESS ADVANCED

DISPLAY DEVICES HIGH QUALITY LOW QUALITY

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 17
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

TRACKING AND LESS ADVANCED MORE ADVANCED

SENSING

Fig. 8.1 Comparison of requirements of augmented reality and

virtual reality.

Virtual reality differs from AR in a few key areas. First, VR seeks to not just enhance
reality, but to recreate reality in an immersive environment. To accomplish this, users
are often separated from the real world by headsets (often referred to as HMDs).
HMDs completely block out the users surroundings, isolating them from the outside
world. Such technology is indeed immersive, but it is also somewhat limited in its
applications. Certain types of training might be enhanced with VR, and gamers are
salivating at the thought of being able to actually inhabit their games. Currently, the
gaming and entertainment industries have found the most success with this quickly
developing medium.
This distinction between AR and VR is based on the current state of both
technologies. However, the future will bring head-mounted displays that are capable
of both AR and VR. It is easy to imagine an HMD that allows users to see through to
the outside world in AR mode then becomes opaque and switches to VR. There are no
known players developing such a hybrid system, though it is likely on the roadmap
for every active company in the space. AR and VR remain separate domains
performing different functions; VR seeks to create a world of its own separate from
reality, while AR seeks to increase a user's experience in the real world and enhance
reality.

9. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Technology

9.1 Advantages
1. Multi-sensory immersion: AR leads sensory immersion about information or
knowledge by augmenting human perceptions with 3-D objects or materials.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 18
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

2. Transitional interface: AR provides a seamless transitional interface between a

real world and a virtual world.

3. Tangible user interface: AR offers tangible user interface with which digital
objects or information can be touchable in AR.

4. Synergy with mobile devices: As mobile devices and its applications are
advancing, mobile users can experience with more gesture and touch.

5. Low power requirements: Only six diodes are required and a few of a watt to
deliver their images to the users eyes.

6. Lower costs: The present cost of retinal projector systems is high. Nevertheless,
there are no hard-to-overcome manufacturing problems in mass-producing and low-
cost components, so inexpensive will soon become available. Environmental and
disposal costs of these tiny delivery devices will also be minimal because toxic
elements systems such as lead, phosphorus, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are not
used in their manufacture.

Fig. 9.1 detecting and depicting the collision

9.2 Disadvantages
1. Portability and outdoor use: Most mobile AR systems mentioned in this survey
are cumbersome, requiring a heavy backpack to carry the PC, sensors, display,
batteries, and everything else.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 19
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

2. Tracking and (auto) calibration: Tracking in unprepared environments remains a

challenge but hybrid approaches are becoming small enough to be added to mobile
phones or Personal digital assistant (PDA) Calibration of these devices is still
complicated and extensive, but this may be solved through caliberation free and auto
caliberating approaches.

3. Latency: System latency can also be scheduled to reduce errors through careful
system design, and pre-rendered images may be shifted at the last instant to
compensate for pan-tilt motions.

4. Fatigue and eye strain: Like the parallax problem, binocular displays cause
signicantly more discomfort than monocular or binocular displays, both in eye strain
and fatigue. Too much reliance on digital information may cause the decrease of
working memory in the brain which in turn hinders the development of brain
functions.

5. Social acceptance: Getting people to use AR may be more challenging than

expected, and many factors play a role in social acceptance of AR ranging from
unobtrusive fashionable appearance (gloves, helmets, etc.) to privacy concerns.

Fig. 9.2 augmented reality in art

10. Applications of Augmented reality

Over the years, researchers and developers nd more and more areas that could
benet from augmentation. The rst systems focused on military, industrial and

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 20
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

medical application, but augmented reality systems for commercial use and
entertainment appeared soon after.

Personal Information System

AR may serve as an advanced, immediate, and more natural UI for wearable and
mobile computing in personal, daily use. For instance, AR could integrate phone and
email communication with context aware overlays, manage personal information
related to specic locations or people, provide navigational guidance, and provide a
unied control interface for all kinds of appliances in and around the home. Such a
platform also presents direct marketing agencies with many opportunities to offer
coupons to passing pedestrians, place virtual billboards, show virtual prototypes, etc.
With all these different uses, AR platforms should preferably offer a lter to manage
what content they display.

Navigation
Navigation in prepared environments has been tried and tested for some time. A
NaviCam was introduced for indoor use that augmented a video stream from a hand
held camera using ducial markers for position tracking. Narzt etal. discuss
navigation paradigms for (outdoor) pedestrians and cars that overlay routes, highway
exits, follow-me cars, dangers, fuel prices, etc. They prototyped video see-through
PDAs and mobile phones and envision eventual use in car windshield helds up
display.

Entertainment
A simple form of augmented reality has been in use in the entertainment and news
business for quite some time. Whenever you are watching the evening weather report,
the speaker remains standing in front of changing weather maps. In the studio the

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 21
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

reporter is actually standing in front of a blue screen. This real image is augmented
with computer generated maps using a technique called chroma-keying. Another
entertainment area where AR is being applied is on game development.

Military Training
The military has been using displays in cockpits that present information to the pilot
on the windshield of the cockpit or the visor of the ight helmet. This is a form of
augmented reality display. By equipping military personnel with helmet mounted
visor displays or a special purpose range nder the activities of other units
participating in the exercise can be imaged.

Robotic Operations
A telerobotic operator uses a visual image of the remote workspace to guide the robot.
Annotation of the view would be useful as it is when the scene is in front of the
operator. Besides, augmentation with wireframe drawings of structures in the view
can facilitate visualization of the remote 3D geometry.

Maintenance
When the maintenance technician approaches a new or unfamiliar piece of equipment
instead of opening several repair manuals they could put on an augmented reality
display. In this display the image of the equipment would be augmented with
annotations and information pertinent to the repair. For example, the location of
fasteners and attachment hardware that must be removed would be highlighted.

11. Issues in Augmented Reality

The following is a list of theoretical issues related to stereoscopic displays in general,

with a particular interest in AR and MR displays. That is, some of the issues apply to
any kind of stereoscopic display, while others are relevant only to mixed or virtual

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 22
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

reality situations, or only to systems which incorporate viewpoint dependency through

head tracking. No attempt has been made here to judge the various issues in terms of
importance, severity, or priority. The issues discussed have been grouped into three
categories: implementation errors, which can be solved through careful application
of currently available technology; current technological limitations, which will
presumably become less important as the state of the art improves; and hard
problems, that require new fundamental developments in technology to be solved.

Performance Issues (Hard problems)

Real time processing of images can be a challenge and often can slow down
augmented reality systems.

Interaction Issues (Current technological limitations)

Users within a mixed environment because of augmented reality have difficulties

interacting with the environment as normal.

Alignment Issues (Implementation Errors)

People working in an augmented reality are more sensitive to alignment errors.

Proper calibration and alignment with the reference frame of the world is crucial.

Fig. 11.1 3-D Model using AR

12. Limitations

Technological limitations

Although there is much progress in the basic enabling technologies, they still
primarily prevent the deployment of many AR applications. Displays, trackers, and

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 23
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

AR systems in general need to become more accurate, lighter, cheaper, and less power
consuming. Since the user must wear the PC, sensors, display, batteries, and
everything else required, the end result is a heavy backpack. Laptops today have only
one CPU, limiting the amount of visual and hybrid tracking that we can do.

User interface limitation

We need a better understanding of how to display data to a user and how the user
should interact with the data. AR introduces many high-level tasks, such as the need
to identify what informant ion should be provided, whats the appropriate
representation for that data, and how the user should make queries and reports. Recent
work suggests that the creation and presentation of narrative performances and
structures may lead to more realistic and richer AR experience.

Social Acceptance

The final challenge is social acceptance. Given a system with ideal hardware and an
intuitive interface, how AR can become an accepted part of a users everyday life, just
like a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant. Through films and television, many
people are familiar with images of simulated AR. However, persuading a user to wear
a system means addressing a number of issues. These range from fashion to privacy
concerns. To date, little attention has been placed on these fundamental issues.
However, these must be addressed before AR becomes widely accepted.

13. Future Enhancements

1. Outdoor augmented reality has lots of potential, but it simply is not practical yet. It
is a question of mere years before mobile and wireless computing is fast enough to
produce satisfactory synthetic images. A more difficult aspect of an outdoor AR is the

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 24
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

tracking of users location and orientation. Global Positioning System (GPS) has
granularity of less than a meter. This will actually do for some applications such as
aural hints, because the human ear is not that sensitive to direction, and perhaps for
visual Meta information about the surroundings. But GPS will not suffice for visual
applications where computer generated virtual objects should blend in the view
seamlessly on their correct places in respect to the environment.
2. Algorithms and software will go through several iterations to evolve into more
sophisticated solutions. Recuperation of environment, lighting and reflectance from
real images are common image processing challenges, which could be used to make
environments more immerse and natural. Coping with real-time requirement by the
predictive tracking algorithms and coming up with even more imaginative ways to
register users location and orientation in the real world will also probably go through
some advances in near future.
3. Human computer interaction devices that are being developed for more traditional
Virtual reality will also be adopted to augmented reality applications. Immersiveness
of environments will grow ever deeper with sensations of touch, smell and maybe
even taste.
4. User sensing and modeling comes in question with future applications. This could be
achieved through accurate sensory data and some predefined behavioral model of the
user. With enough information, the wearable computer could track the state of the user
and adjust it is behavior accordingly. This could be used in making decisions on
whether or not to bother the user with some piece of information, or to predict the
user's next action, or state and to conduct some actions pre-emptively.

I believe, however, that the greatest change for the augmented reality technology is
not necessarily in some specific high-end innovation, but rather in penetrating the
mass markets in various forms of pervasive computing.

14. Conclusion

Augmented reality is an old idea that is right now on the verge of success. This is due
to the fact that until lately there have not been advanced enough technologies to make

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 25
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

feasible AR applications. They have been lacking either in computing power, user
tracking accuracy or ease of use and comfortableness, which all are necessary to
produce a satisfying AR experience.

AR is rapidly entering the mainstream. It resembles previous consumer technologies

but has key differences that may pose unique and difficult challenges for society.
Particular implementations of AR strain prevailing conceptions of privacy and free
speech, and have the potential to compromise the user by overlaying information on
the world that is erroneous, dangerous, or legally problematic.

We can conclude that Augmented reality which is one of the most emerging
computer technologies and has become a new exciting rage for the upcoming
generations as a field of the futuristic technology. Due to the ability of having several
advantages which are involved in the making, designing, coding of the screenless, this
needs plenty of knowledge and process for the development is still under the
improvement. May be in the future the world may be dominated with the augmented
reality technologies and this enriches the world of technological empowerment in the
field of the computer technology. Augmented reality promise the cost effective aspect
and also brighter future in the computer technology.This has amazing applications that
can very well allow us to live our lives more productively, more safely, and more
informatively.

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 26
 AUGMENTED REALITY-THE EMERGING COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

COETA/CSE/2017-18/05 27