Augmented reality. NASA X38 display showing video map overlays including runways and obstacles during flight test in 2000.
Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.[1] By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.[2][3] Augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match.
Create your own Augmented Reality with Google Sketchup. Vuforia. ARToolKit. ARToolKit is a computer tracking library for creation of strong augmented reality applications that overlay virtual imagery on the real world.
To do this, it uses video tracking capabilities that calculate the real camera position and orientation relative to square physical markers in real time. Once the real camera position is known a virtual camera can be positioned at the same point and 3D computer graphics models drawn exactly overlaid on the real marker. So ARToolKit solves two of the key problems in Augmented Reality; viewpoint tracking and virtual object interaction. ARToolKit was originally developed by Hirokazu Kato of Nara Institute of Science and Technology in 1999[1] and was released by the University of Washington HIT Lab. Currently it is maintained as an opensource project hosted on SourceForge[2] with commercial licenses available from ARToolWorks.[3] ARToolKit is a very widely used AR tracking library with over 160,000 downloads since 2004.[4] Augmented Reality Products & Solutions.
SightSpace_AR_Test_01.wmv. ArchiCAD Augmented Reality: Workflow for SightSpace 3D.