Augmented Reality

2129 Words5 Pages

This research looks into the potential of augmented reality and more specifically spatial augmented reality. The purpose of this paper is to give the reader an understanding of what as well as where augmented reality has come from and how it is being used today. The paper will examine into different examples of augmented reality and how the term is not specific to a certain technology.

The final part of the paper will look specifically into spatial augmented reality and its potential by examining research that has been conducted by universities and research boards.

In the past the technology needed for Augmented Reality has always been its biggest limitation, however in recent years with the growth of technology, augmented reality has began to emerge and trickle into the military as well as industrial, educational and entertainment sectors.

What exactly is augmented reality? Essentially rather than a user being in a virtual world, augmented reality interacts with the real world environment changing and enhancing the viewers perception of the environment. In principle the idea is simple, but in practical terms it has been very difficult to achieve, and the desire to achieve augmented reality has been around since the 1950's.

A young cinematographer by the name of Morton Heilig once said “If we're going to step through the window into another world, why not go the whole way?' (Tate,Scott 1996) In 1957 he created the device known as the Sensorama. The device was designed to use all your senses and also projected a form of stereoscopic 3D to the front and the sides of your head. It was patented the "experience theatre", however it failed to work commercially because it was very expensive to make films and the process was t...

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