In 2002, to experience augmented reality was to lash 26 pounds of equipment to your body and hobble waywardly within the confines of predefined area. In 2010, you can augment the entire world with a free app for your smartphone.

This shot of the Columbia University’s Mobile Augmented Reality System(MARS) comes from a PopSci story written 10 Februaries ago. (The magazine’s searchable archives just went online.) This right around the time that augmented reality had made the jump from esoteric sci-fi concept to actual thing, albeit in the form of awkward research projects and simplistic military applications:

If you strap on this rig, as [the writer] had, you begin to understand the profound possibilities of an AR system, which can superimpose computer-generated text, graphics, 3D animation, sound, or any other or any other digitized data on the real world.

As much as modern smartphone apps like Layar actually do more—they’re connected to the internet constantly, for one—they still don’t meet one of the core criteria of the augmented reality concept: they’re not glasses. In other words, you’ve got to hold your smartphone out in front of you, as if you’re taking a video at all times, which is as obnoxious as it is exhausting to your upper arms. So it’s not quite sci-fi.

But it’s a far sight closer than we’ve ever come before. [PopSci]

Send an email to John Herrman, the author of this post, at jherrman@gizmodo.com.

Competence

Mixed Reality denotes generally different visualisation means between Reality and Virtuality, enabled by 3D computer graphics. On one hand, Virtual Reality (VR) means completely 3D modelled representation of real world, while Augmented Reality (AR) stands for superimposing virtual objects in the user’s view of the real world.

The work by VTT’s Virtual Reality research dates back to the year 1995 when a virtual training simulator was developed for printing industries. After that various VR solutions have been developed for building and construction applications, space applications, and terrain visualisation. VTT’s special assets in VR include e.g. scalable Open Scene Graph (OSG) based viewer implementation, up to immersive CAVE type environments. We also develop application software and browser based solutions for the management and visualisation of various types of contents (text, graphics, images, video, 3D models, etc.). We are specialised in interactive management and visualisation of complex datasets.

VTT’s Augmented Reality team started developing virtual advertisements for live TV broadcast in year 2000 and, a little later, AR games and entertainment applications. Currently, our research focus is on architecture/construction and interior design, as well as industrial applications at production sites. Furthermore, we are proud of being able to adopt many complex video processing and AR ideas for low-level mobile platforms, e.g. camera phones, in which the processing power and transmission bandwidths are scarce resources. Today, Augmented Reality is applied more generally as part of Mixed Reality technology, bridging the digital and physical worlds with two-way interaction. Different kinds of Virtual Worlds, and Mirror Worlds as counterparts to real environments, provide natural means to implement such interactions.

Challenges

• Marker tracking – accuracy, distance, lighting, etc.
• Markerless tracking – feature / template / model based
• Sensors – accelerometer, compass, GPS, other positioning, sensor fusion
• Content creation – easily and economically, from industrial systems and by users
• 3D/VR model formats – in industry, construction, entertainment, art and digital media
• Mobile processing – memory, speed, 3D graphics on UMPCs and camera phones
• Visualisation – HMDs, PCs, projector screens, large displays, VEs
• Processing power – memory, speed, 3D graphics

Solutions

AR applications

• ALVAR – A Library for Virtual and Augmented Reality
• AROnSite – outdoors visualization based on GPS and Google Earth
• ARMobile – multi-marker based augmented large scale visualization
• ARScaleModel – interaction with virtual 3D model on conference table
• ARInteriors – digital photo based augmented furniture and interior design
• ARCatalogue – printed media in augmented 3D format
• ARPhone – augmented reality on Symbian camera phones
• CamBall – augmented table tennis game over the Internet
• SymBall – camera driven table tennis game on mobile phones

VR visualisation solutions

• Katve – advanced virtual room with 4 rear projection stereo walls
• MobiTrix – mobile stereoscopic rear projection system
• PC based active and passive stereo visualisation systems
• Interaction devices, including tracking devices and data gloves
• Semi automatic 3D terrain visualisation
• IFC visualisation and collaboration technologies
• 4D visualisation of IFC models in building projects

See further information in Publications, Projects and Videos on VTT’s website at http://www.vtt.fi/?lang=en.

References and merits

Part of VTT’s global G+ competence Virtual Products and Production Processes

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