Understanding Augmented Reality addresses the elements that are required to create augmented reality experiences. The technology that supports augmented reality will come and go, evolve and change. The underlying principles for creating exciting, useful augmented reality experiences are timeless. Augmented reality designed from a purely technological perspective will lead to an AR experience that is novel and fun for one-time consumption - but is no more than a toy. Imagine a filmmaking book that discussed cameras and special effects software, but ignored cinematography and storytelling! In order to create compelling augmented reality experiences that stand the test of time and cause the participant in the AR experience to focus on the content of the experience - rather than the technology - one must consider how to maximally exploit the affordances of the medium. Understanding Augmented Reality addresses core conceptual issues regarding the medium of augmented reality as well as the technology required to support compelling augmented reality. By addressing AR as a medium at the conceptual level in addition to the technological level, the reader will learn to conceive of AR applications that are not limited by today's technology. At the same time, ample examples are provided that show what is possible with current technology. - Explore the different techniques, technologies and approaches used in developing AR applications - Learn from the author's deep experience in virtual reality and augmented reality applications to succeed right off the bat, and avoid many of the traps that catch new developers and users of augmented reality experiences - Some AR examples can be experienced from within the book using downloadable software

With the explosive growth in mobile phone usage and rapid rise in search engine technologies over the last decade, augmented reality (AR) is poised to be one of this decade's most disruptive technologies, as the information that is constantly flowing around us is brought into view, in real-time, through augmented reality. In this cutting-edge book, the authors outline and discuss never-before-published information about augmented reality and its capabilities. With coverage of mobile, desktop, developers, security, challenges, and gaming, this book gives you a comprehensive understanding of what augmented reality is, what it can do, what is in store for the future and most importantly: how to benefit from using AR in our lives and careers. - Educates readers how best to use augmented reality regardless of industry - Provides an in-depth understanding of AR and ideas ranging from new business applications to new crime fighting methods - Includes actual examples and case studies from both private and government application

Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design, Second Edition arrives at a time when the technologies behind virtual reality have advanced dramatically. The book helps users take advantage of the ways they can identify and prepare for the applications of VR in their field. By approaching VR as a communications medium, the authors have created a resource that will remain relevant even as underlying technologies evolve. Included are a history of VR, systems currently in use, the application of VR, and the many issues that arise in application design and implementation, including hardware requirements, system integration, interaction techniques and usability. - Features substantive, illuminating coverage designed for technical or business readers and the classroom - Examines VR's constituent technologies, drawn from visualization, representation, graphics, human-computer interaction and other fields - Provides (via a companion website) additional case studies, tutorials, instructional materials, and a link to an open-source VR programming system - Includes updated perception material and new sections on game engines, optical tracking, VR visual interface software, and a new glossary with pictures

Augmented Reality (AR) refers to the merging of a live view of the physical, real world with context-sensitive, computer-generated images to create a mixed reality. Through this augmented vision, a user can digitally interact with and adjust information about their surrounding environment on-the-fly. Handbook of Augmented Reality provides an extensive overview of the current and future trends in Augmented Reality, and chronicles the dramatic growth in this field. The book includes contributions from world expert s in the field of AR from academia, research laboratories and private industry. Case studies and examples throughout the handbook help introduce the basic concepts of AR, as well as outline the Computer Vision and Multimedia techniques most commonly used today. The book is intended for a wide variety of readers including academicians, designers, developers, educators, engineers, practitioners, researchers, and graduate students. This book can also be beneficial for business managers, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Today’s Comprehensive and Authoritative Guide to Augmented Reality By overlaying computer-generated information on the real world, augmented reality (AR) amplifies human perception and cognition in remarkable ways. Working in this fast-growing field requires knowledge of multiple disciplines, including computer vision, computer graphics, and human-computer interaction. Augmented Reality: Principles and Practice integrates all this knowledge into a single-source reference, presenting today’s most significant work with scrupulous accuracy. Pioneering researchers Dieter Schmalstieg and Tobias Höllerer carefully balance principles and practice, illuminating AR from technical, methodological, and user perspectives. Coverage includes Displays: head-mounted, handheld, projective, auditory, and haptic Tracking/sensing, including physical principles, sensor fusion, and real-time computer vision Calibration/registration, ensuring repeatable, accurate, coherent behavior Seamless blending of real and virtual objects Visualization to enhance intuitive understanding Interaction–from situated browsing to full 3D interaction Modeling new geometric content Authoring AR presentations and databases Architecting AR systems with real-time, multimedia, and distributed elements This guide is indispensable for anyone interested in AR, including developers, engineers, students, instructors, researchers, and serious hobbyists.

This book provides an in-depth exploration of the field of augmented reality (AR) in its entirety and sets out to distinguish AR from other inter-related technologies like virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). The author presents AR from its initial philosophies and early developments, to its current technologies and its impact on our modern society, to its possible future developments; providing readers with the tools to understand issues relating to defining, building, and using our perception of what is represented in our perceived reality, and ultimately how we assimilate and react to this information. Augmented Reality: Where We Will All Live can be used as a comprehensive guide to the field of AR and provides valuable insights for technologists, marketers, business managers, educators and academics who are interested in the field of augmented reality; its concepts, history, practices and the science behind this rapidly advancing field of research and development.

The most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the technologies, applications and human factors considerations of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) systems and wearable computing devices. Practical Augmented Reality is ideal for practitioners and students concerned with any application, from gaming to medicine. It brings together comprehensive coverage of both theory and practice, emphasizing leading-edge displays, sensors, and DIY tools that are already available commercially or will be soon. Beginning with a Foreword by NASA research scientist Victor Luo, this guide begins by explaining the mechanics of human sight, hearing and touch, showing how these perceptual mechanisms (and their performance ranges) directly dictate the design and use of wearable displays, 3-D audio systems, and tactile/force feedback devices. Steve Aukstakalnis presents revealing case studies of real-world applications from gaming, entertainment, science, engineering, aeronautics and aerospace, defense, medicine, telerobotics, architecture, law enforcement, and geophysics. Readers will find clear, easy-to-understand explanations, photos, and illustrations of devices including the Atheer AiR, HTC Vive, DAQRI Smart Helmet, Oculus (Facebook) CV1, Sony PlayStation VR, Vuzix M300, Google Glass, and many more. Functional diagrams and photographs clearly explain how these devices operate, and link directly to relevant theoretical and practical content. Practical Augmented Reality thoroughly considers the human factors of these systems, including sensory and motor physiology constraints, monocular and binocular depth cues, elements contributing to visually-induced motion sickness and nausea, and vergence–accommodation conflicts. It concludes by assessing both the legal and societal implications of new and emerging AR, VR, and wearable technologies as well as provides a look next generation systems.