Introduction to augmented and virtual reality
Thomas P. Caudell · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1995
This paper introduces the field of augmented reality as a prolog to the body of papers in the remainder of this session. I describe the use of head-mounted display technologies to improve the efficiency and quality of human workers in their performance of engineering design, manufacturing, construction, testing, and maintenance activities. This technology is used to `augment' the visual field of the wearer with information necessary in the performance of the current task. The enabling technology is head-up (see-through) display head sets (HUDsets) combined with head position sensing, real world registration systems, and database access software. A primary difference between virtual reality (VR) and `augmented reality' (AR) is in the complexity of the perceived graphical objects. In AR systems, only simple wire frames, template outlines, designators, and text is displayed. An immediate result of this difference is that augmented reality systems can be driven by standard and inexpensive microprocessors. Many research issues must be addressed before this technology can be widely used, including tracking and registration, human 3D perception and reasoning, and human task performance issues.