Shashwat Shriparv

dwivedishashwat@gmail.com
InfinitySoft
 Augmented Reality
• Augmented reality (AR) is a field of
computer research which deals with the
combination of real world and computer
generated data
• The basic idea of augmented reality is to
superimpose graphics, audio and other
sense enhancements over a real-world
environment in real-time
• augmented reality, will blur the line
between what's real and what's computer-
generated by enhancing what we see, hear,
feel and smell.
 Indoor and Outdoor AR
• AR systems used inside a builiding are called
indoor systems
– eg.Medical systems used inside a hospital
• A new and major area of current research is into
the use of AR outdoors.
GPS and orientation sensors enable
backpack computing systems to take AR outdoors.
– Eg. MARS system at Columbia University and
ARQuake at the Wearable Computer Lab at the
University of South Australia
Augmented-reality displays will overlay
computer-generated graphics onto the real world.
 An augmented reality system is
one that

• Combines real and virtual

• Is interactive in real time
• Is registered in 3D
 Augmented Vs Virtual reality
• Virtual reality creates immersible, computer generated
environments which replaces real world .
• Here the head mounted displays block out all the
external world from the viewer and present a view that
is under the complete control of the computer.
• Virtual reality strives for a totally immersive
environment. The senses are under control of the
system.
• The user is completely immersed in an artificial world
and cut off from real world.
 Augmented Vs Virtual reality
• Augmented reality is closer to the real world.
Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds and smell
to the natural world, as it exists.
• Thus it augments the real world scene in such a way
that the user can maintain a sense of presence in that
world.
• That is, the user can interact with the real world , and
at the same time can see, both the real and virtual
world co-existing.
 History and Development
• The first AR system was developed in the 1960s
by Ivan Sutherland and his students at Harvard
University and the University of Utah.

• In the 1970s and 1980s a augmented reality was

studied at institutions such as the U.S. Air Force's
Armstrong Laboratory, the NASA Ames Research
Center and the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
• In the early 1990s that the term
"augmented reality" was coined by
scientists
• Augmented reality is still in an early stage
of research and development at various
universities and high-tech companies.
 The components
• What augmented reality attempts to do is
not only superimpose graphics over a real
environment in real-time, but also change
those graphics to accommodate a user's
head- and eye- movements, so that the
graphics always fit the perspective.
• Here are the three components needed to
make an augmented-reality system work:

– Head-mounted display
– Tracking and Orientation system
– Mobile computing power
Tracking and
orientation
system Head mounted
display

Mobile
computer
 Head-mounted Displays
• head-mounted displays (HMDs) will
enable us to view graphics and text created
by augmented-reality systems
A model of head mounted display
 A head mounted
display at
Columbia
University
Computer
Graphics Lab

Augmented-reality displays are still pretty bulky;

but developers believe that they can create a
display that resembles a pair of eyeglasses.
how it works?
• There are two basic types of HMDS:

• video see-through
• optical see-through
 VIDEO SEE THROUGH
• Video see-through displays block out the
wearer's surrounding environment, using
small video cameras attached to the outside
of the goggles to capture images.
• On the inside of the display, the video
image is played in real-time and the
graphics are superimposed on the video.
• One problem with the use of video cameras
is that there is more lag, meaning that there
is a delay in image-adjustment when the
viewer moves his or her head.
 OPTICAL SEE-THROUGH
• Optical see-through displays is not fully
realized yet. It is supposed to consist of a
ordinary-looking pair of glasses that will
have a light source on the side to project
images on to the retina.

• Eg. Microvision's Virtual Retinal Display.

 Tracking and Orientation
• The biggest challenge facing developers of
augmented reality is the need to know
where the user is located in reference to his
or her surroundings.
• There's also the additional problem of
tracking the movement of users' eyes and
heads.
• An AR system needs to know two
things precisely:

– where the user is located, and

– where he is looking.
Small area tracking and orientation
systems
• For indoor application, where the
movement of the user is short ranged we
can make use of simpler tracking systems
• eg. OPTOELECTRONIS TRACKING
SYSTEM which consists of user mounted
optical sensors and infrared LEDs, embedded
in special ceiling panels. The system uses the
known location of the LEDs, the known
geometry of the user-mounted optical sensors
and a special algorithm to computer and report
the user's position and orientation.
Large area tracking and orientation
systems
• In case of out door applications, where the
movement of user will be comparatively
larger, his location with respect to his
environments is tracked with the help of
GPS RECIVERS which works in
coordination with the GPS satellites and the
direction of vision of the user is calculated
down to few degrees by
INERTIAL/MAGNETEIC TRACKER.
There are ways to increase tracking accuracy.

• Differential GPS, which involves using an

area that has already been surveyed. Then
the system would use a GPS receiver with
an antenna that's location is known very
precisely to track your location within that
area. Differential GPS allows for sub meter
accuracy.
• Real-time kinematic GPS, can achieve
centimeter-level accuracy. .
• ORIENTATION
• For orientation, an inertial/magnetic tracker
rides on a headband above the AR glasses.
• This device detects head movements along
with an electronic compass that establishes
the direction of the viewer's gaze in relation
to Earth's magnetic field.
 Mobile Computing Power
• WEARABLE COMPUTERS
Mobile computing can be accomplished with the
help of a wearable computer. A wearable computer
is a battery-powered computer system worn on the
user's body (on a belt, backpack or vest). It is
designed for mobile and predominantly hands-free
operations, often incorporating head-mounted
displays and speech input.
 Wearable computes
• Three important features of wearable
computers are
• Constancy
• Augmentation
• Mediation
 Constancy

– The computer runs continuously, and is

“always ready'' to interact with the user.
It does not need to be opened up and
turned on prior to use. The signal flow
from human to computer, and computer
to human runs continuously to provide a
constant user--interface
 Augmentation
• Traditional computing paradigms are based
on the notion that computing is the primary
task. Wearable computing, however, is
based on the notion that computing is NOT
the primary task.
• The assumption of wearable computing is
that the user will be doing something else at
the same time as doing the computing.
• Thus the computer should serve to augment
the intellect, or augment the senses.
 Mediation

• The wearable computer can encapsulate us.

It doesn't necessarily need to completely
enclose us, but the concept allows for a
greater degree of encapsulation than
traditional portable computers
 Using Augmented Reality
• Once researchers overcome the challenges
that face them, augmented reality will
likely pervade every corner of our lives
 The different areas can be…

• Maintenance and construction - This is

one of the first uses for augmented reality.
Markers can be attached to a particular
object that a person is working on, and the
augmented-reality system can draw
graphics on top of it.
 The different areas can be…
• Military
• The idea here is that an augmented-reality system
could provide troops with vital information about
their surroundings, such as showing where
entrances are on the opposite end of a building,
somewhat like X-ray vision. Augmented reality
displays could also highlight troop movements, and
give soldiers the ability to move to where the
enemy can't see them.

 wearable systems, showing instructions, maps,

enemy locations, fire cells etc.)
 The different areas can be…
• Medical
Eg. Most of the medical applications deal with
IMAGE GUIDED SURGERY. Pre-operative
imaging studies, such as CT or MRI scans,
of the patient provide the surgeon with the
necessary view of the internal anatomy.
From these images the surgery is planned.
Visualization of the path through the
anatomy to the affected area where, for
example, a tumor must be removed is done
by first creating a 3D model from the
multiple views and slices in the preoperative
study.
 The different areas can be…
• Media and entertainment
• It is possible to create a virtual studio
environment so that the actors can appear to
be positioned in a studio with computer
generated decorating.
• Augmented reality system allows
broadcasters to insert advertisements into
specific areas of the broadcast image. For
example, while broadcasting a baseball game
this system would be able to place an
advertisement in the image so that it appears
on the outfield wall of the stadium
 The different areas can be…

• Instant information - Tourists and

students could use these systems to learn
more about a certain historical event.
Imagine walking onto a Civil War
battlefield and seeing a re-creation of
historical events on a head-mounted,
augmented-reality display. It would
immerse you in the event, and the view
would be panoramic.
 The different areas can be…

• Gaming - How cool would it be to take video

games outside? The game could be projected
onto the real world around you, and you could,
literally, be in it as one of the characters.
• Eg. One Australian researcher has created a
prototype game that combines Quake, a
popular video game, with augmented reality.
 more areas can be…

• Support to complex tasks

• Navigation devices ( in airplanes etc)
• emergency services
• Simulation, e.g. flight and driving simulators
• Enhanced sightseeing 
• Visualization of architecture etc.
 Some Specific applications

• LifeClipper, a wearable AR system

• Characteroke, a portable AR display costume, whereby
the head and neck are concealed behind an active flat
panel display.
• MARISIL, a media phone user interface based on AR
 Current Limitations

• Accurate tracking and orientation

• For a wearable augmented reality system , there is still
not enough computing power to create stereo 3D
graphics.
• The size of AR system is yet another problem
 Looking into the Future …..
• Expanding a PC screen into the real environment:
program windows and icons appear as virtual
devices in real space and are eye or gesture
operated, by gazing or pointing.

• Enhanced media applications, like pseudo

holographic virtual screens, virtual surround
cinema.
 Looking into the Future …..

• Replacement of cellphone and car navigator

screens: eye-dialing, insertion of information
directly into the environment, e.g. guiding lines
directly on the road
• Virtual plants, wallpapers, panoramic views,
artwork, decorations, illumination etc., enhancing
everyday life
• Virtual gadgetry becomes possible. Any physical
device currently produced to assist in data-oriented
tasks such as the clock, radio, PC, stock ticker,
PDA, informational posters /fliers / billboards , in-
car navigation systems, etc. could be replaced by
virtual devices that cost nothing to produce aside
from the cost of writing the software.
• The list continues as your imagination
augments !!!
 Shashwat Shriparv
dwivedishashwat@gmail.com
InfinitySoft