Augmented Reality Conor Cunningham ( ) Fiachra Heffernan ( ) James Phelan ( ) Niall O’Rourke ( ) Group Name: CFJN

Introduction Augmented Reality is “a real-time view” of a physical environment “enhanced” by adding “computer-generated digital information” to that environment. The purpose of Augmented Reality is to redefine or augment how an individual would interact with and interpret the real world by introducing virtual information to his or her “direct surroundings” and approach to the real world environment as a whole. Augmented Reality is in stark contrast to Virtual Reality where, in the case of the latter, the user is fully immersed in a “synthetic environment” which lacks “visual contact” with the real world. Augmented Reality has the capacity to augment practically all senses, but especially vision and hearing. It also has the potential to substitute a sense which an individual may lack. For example, a blind user managing a computer through the use of artificial speech. Mediated Reality, where physical objects are replaced or covered by virtual objects that match the background, is also considered to be a form of augmented reality. Augmented Reality is typically employed in various fields, such as engineering, assistive technology, education and entertainment..

Augmented Reality in Entertainment Fiachra Heffernan- CFJN

Augmented Reality in Entertainment Our entertainment needs are being increasingly satisfied by Augmented Reality, especially in recent times. Augmented Reality has sustained a significant expansion in the entertainment industry. Augmented Reality gives users “a new interactive mean”, providing them with a richer entertainment experience. Augmented Reality can be employed in either personal entertainment devices or multi-user theme park attractions.

Augmented Reality in Entertainment (Continued) Augmented Reality is employed in personal devices such as mobile phones and digital cameras. However, the most extensive use of Augmented Reality lies within the video gaming industry. For example, the Nintendo Wii translates the movements of players into the movements of their characters on the television screen through the Wii Remote, the console’s primary controller. In 2009, Sony’s PlayStation 3 followed suit with the introduction of the PlayStation Move. It is similar to the Wii Remote.

Augmented Reality in Entertainment (Continued) Kinect, which was released for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, detects all movements of the player’s body, and without the use of a controller. This is the most advanced method of Augmented Reality in the video gaming industry. Handheld games consoles, such as the Nintendo3DS and Sony’s PSP Vita, also incorporate Augmented Reality, through the use of the cameras installed in these devices. This enables real-world objects to be incorporated into games played on the Nintendo3DS and PSP Vita.

Augmented Reality in Entertainment (Continued) Augmented Reality is also employed in multi-user theme park attractions. For example, some amusement parks have simulators which contain specially designed seats that move correspondingly to the action occurring on the screen. This enables users to feel that they are on a roller coaster ride that would be impossible to experience in the physical world. Images of real-life people and objects have been augmented into animations displayed in some theme parks, such as in Tomorrow City Theme Park in South Korea, beginning in 2009.

References 1. Furht, 2011, “Handbook of Augmented Reality”, , Alem, 2011, “Recent Trends of Mobile Collaborative Augmented Reality Systems”, , Chang, Hwang, Chen and Müller, 2011, “ Edutainment Technologies; Educational Games and Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Applications: 6th International Conference on E-learning and Games, Edutainment 2011, Taipei, Taiwan, September 2011; Proceedings ”, ,

History of Augmented Reality James Phelan- CFJN

Morton Heilig Morton Heilig was a cinematographer in the 1950’s. He invented the Sensorama in This was the first appearance of Augmented Reality (AR) and was seen as advanced technology during this time. The Sensorama allowed users to experience reality in a virtual enviroment. Heilig achieved this by blowing wind at you and vibrating your seat while you watched a wrap around video screen. Image of Sensorama

Ivan Sutherland In 1966 Ivan Sutherland invented the Head Mounted Display (HMD). The HMD was a huge breakthrough at this time and was the first invention that made AR a usable possibility. The HMD prototype was so heavy that a human head could not bear the weight so it had to be hung from the ceiling where the user could place his head in it. “The fundamental idea behind the three-dimensional display is to present the user with a perspective image which changes as he moves” (Sutherland 1968)

Tom Caudell Tom Caudell was a researcher who worked for Boeing in He was the first man to actually come up with the meaning of augmented reality. “Augmented reality is the interaction of superimposed graphics, audio and other sense enhancements over a real-world environment that’s displayed in real-time” (Caudell 1990). He did this while he was working on a device to help the engineers jobs easier at Boeing. He developed software for the engineers that allowed them to overlay virtually instructions on cables during the building process.

KARMA Karma(Knowledge-based Augmented Reality for Maintenance Assistance) was an AR system developed by Steven Feiner, Blair MacIntyre and Dorée Seligmann in “KARMA is a prototype augmented reality system that explains simple end- user laser printer maintenance using a see-through head-mounted display.”(Feiner et al 1993) This device was used to show people how to service a printer without looking at the instructions. The user would wear a HMD that would project 3-d instructions on the printer to show how to service the printer.

These are the people responsible for kick starting augmented reality into what we know it as today.

References Furht, B. Handbook of augmented reality, Springerlink, available at: [accessed 20 October 2012] Sung, D. (2011) The History of augmented reality, available at: lint.com/news/38803/the-history-of-augmented-reality [accessed 19 October 2012] lint.com/news/38803/the-history-of-augmented-reality Feiner, S., Macintyre, B., Seligmann, D.(1993) Knowledge-based augmented reality, available at: ull.pdf [acessed 22 October 2012] ull.pdf

The Future of Augmented Reality Niall O Rourke - CFJN

The future of augmented reality seems to be one with endless possibilities. While better and more improved technologies become available, our ability to interact with the world around us will become more and more enhanced.

How it Works The basic idea of augmented reality is to overlap audio, graphics and other sensory enhancements to a real world environment. An example of this is Google Maps.

Possibilities Complete weather forecasts for the day by simply pointing your Smartphone towards the sky. (1)

Identify different points of interest in a new city by simply scanning you’re Smartphone across an area. (1) Doctors could soon be able to beam X-rays onto mannequins to create a greater sense of realism. (2) Upcoming products such as Google augmented reality glasses allow users to interact the world around them with sensory enhancements. (3)

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Drawbacks There are drawbacks to a world engrossed in augmented reality. AR coupled with image recognition software will soon allow us to almost instantly gain information on people through their Facebook, Twitter and other online accounts. (2) Such advancements in AR could lead to people becoming over reliant on their devices.

Refrences (1) The Future of Augmented Reality (2) How Augmented Reality Works – Limitations & the Future (3) Google Unveils "Project Glasses" (AR Hands free Computer Glasses)

Conclusion Throughout our research we have gained better understanding of Augmented reality and how it works. Augmented reality has just began to show its capability's and soon it will completely change how we perceive the world around us. While Augmented Reality will be of great use to us in the future, it has its drawbacks. Nevertheless, the quality of our lives has improved considerably as a result of Augmented Reality. We found this topic very interesting and look forward to researching it further.