Chapter 5

Augmented Reality
 After accomplishing this chapter, students will be
able to explain/describe:
an augmented reality (AR) and its features
the difference between AR, VR, and MR
the architecture of AR systems
the application areas of AR.

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 Overview of augmented reality
 The fundamental idea of AR is to combine, or mix, the view of
the real environment with additional, virtual content that is
presented through computer graphics.
 Its convincing effect is achieved by ensuring that the virtual
content is aligned and registered with the real objects.
 As a person moves in an environment and their perspective view
of real objects changes, the virtual content should also be
presented from the same perspective

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 Cont…
 AR is a form of emerging technology that allows users to
overlay computer generated content in the real world.
 The augmentation is typically done in real-time and in semantic
context with environmental elements.
 A user can digitally interact with and adjust information about
their surrounding environment.
 AR as a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical real-world
environment that has been enhanced/ augmented by adding
virtual computer-generated information to it.
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 Augmented Reality

o allows users to overlay computer generated content in the real

world.
o is the integration of digital information with the user's
environment in real time.
o In AR, users see and interact with the real world while digital
content (e.g. sound, video, graphics or GPS data) is added to
it.
o Unlike VR, it uses the existing environment and overlays new
information on top of it.
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 Cont….

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 Virtual Reality (VR)
 is called as a computer-simulated or fully immersive reality,

 It tricks your senses into thinking you’re in a world apart

from the real world.

 Using a head-mounted display (HMD) or headset

 Generate realistic sounds, images and other sensations

that replicate a real environment or create an imaginary

world.

 Using VR devices such as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Google

Cardboard, users can be transported into a number of real-

world and imagined environments.

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 Cont……
o Advanced VR environment
 will engage all five senses (taste, sight, smell, touch, sound), but
this is not always possible
 even provide freedom of movement (users can move in a digital
environment and hear sounds).
o Most VR headsets are connected to a computer (Oculus Rift) or a
gaming console (PlayStation VR)
o But there are standalone devices (Google Cardboard)
o Most standalone VR headsets work in combination with
smartphones 7
 Cont….

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 Cont..

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 Mixed Reality (MR)
 Sometimes referred to as hybrid reality,

 is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new

environments and visualizations,

 physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time.

 It means placing new imagery within a real space in such a way

that the new imagery is able to interact, to an extent, with what is

real in the physical world we know

 The key characteristic of MR is that the synthetic content and the

real-world content are able to react to each other in real-time.

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 Cont…

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 AR vs. VR vs. MR
 AR overlays digital content on top of the
 MR is a digital overlay that
real-world.
allows interactive virtual
 Numerous AR apps and games can run on
elements to integrate and
almost every smartphone on the market. interact with the real-world
 VR is content which is 100% digital and can environment.
be enjoyed in a fully immersive environment,  MR hardware is still
 VR programs require specialized VR emerging and hasn’t quite
headsets, noise-canceling headphones, broken into the mainstream
cameras to track room space and boundaries, consumer market, most
and sometimes even motion capture likely due to the price.
technology. o E.g. Microsoft HoloLens
 E.g. Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and and Magic Leap.
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PlayStation VR.
The architecture of AR Systems
 Augmented Reality Systems (ARS) were usually designed
with a basis on three main blocks of:
(1) Infrastructure Tracker Unit (ITU),
(2) Processing Unit (PU), and
(3) Visual Unit (VU).
 ITU was responsible for collecting data from the real world,
sending them to the PU,
 PU mixed the virtual content with the real content and sent the
result to the Video Out/In module of the VU.
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Cont……

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 Cont……
 The Visual Unit can be classified into two types of system,
depending on the followed visualization technology:
o Video see-through:
 It uses a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) that employs a
video-mixing and displays the merged images on a closed-
view HMD.
o Optical see-through:
 It uses an HMD that employs optical combiners to merge
the images within an open-view HMD.
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 Applications of AR Systems
 AR can be applied to many different disciplines such as
education, medicine, entertainment, military, etc.
AR In education
 AR allows flexibility in use that is attractive to education.
 It can be utilized through a variety of mediums including
desktops, mobile devices, and smartphones.
 It is portable and adaptable to a variety of scenarios.

More importantly, the following reasons for using AR in

education:
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 Cont…

 Affordable learning materials,

 Interactive,
 Higher engagement,
 Higher retention and Boost
intellectual curiosity

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 Cont..
 Affordable learning materials -
 physical models, prototypes are very expensive and it’s
impossible for schools to find enough money to purchase all
 students can get access to learning materials and interact with
them anytime.
 Interactive lessons - when AR technology is used in
classrooms, students can view models on their own
smartphones and get a better idea of the concepts they are
studying.
That increases engagements and reinforces the learning.
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 Cont…
 Higher engagement when teachers integrate augmented reality
into their lectures, they attract the attention of their students
and make lessons more effective.
 Higher retention - using the AR app, students can get access
to augmented models that represent any real objects
technology, students use different senses and retain more
knowledge for a long time.
 Boost intellectual curiosity - augmented reality makes
students more excited about learning certain subjects.

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 AR In Medicine

 For now, augmented reality has already made significant

changes in the following medical areas:
 surgery (minimally invasive surgery);
 education of future doctors;
 diagnostics;
 AR tools may also aid to detect the signs of depression
and other mental illnesses by reading from facial
expressions, voice tones, and physical gestures.

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 Cont…

 In medicine, AR has the following applications:

 Describing symptoms,
 Nursing care,
 Surgery, ultrasounds,
 Diabetes management and navigation

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 Cont……
Generally, AR provides the following benefits to
patients and healthcare workers:
o Reduce the risks associated with minimally invasive
surgery.
o Better informed decisions about the right treatment
and illness prevention.
o Make procedures more tolerable.

o Better aftercare

o Medical training and education.

o Assistance in medical procedures and routine tasks.

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 AR In Medicine

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