Definition: Bringing technology and reality together by adding virtual elements into the real world by adding virtual images into reality through the use of devices. Augmented Reality can be used for various applications from education to entertainment
Brief Timeline:
- 1968: The Sword of Damocles was created by Harvard Professor, Ivan Sutherland. This was an early prototype of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. A device was hung from the ceiling that added virtual images by looking through it
- 1974: Videoplace, by Myron Kruger, combined a projection system and video cameras that created shadows on a screen for an interactive experience prototype
- 1990: The term Augmented Reality was coined by a Boeing researcher, Tom Caudell
- 1992: Virtual Fixtures, the first real operational AR systemwas created, by Louis Rosenberg. Information was digitally displayed for workers to see above their work environment
- 1994: Dancing in Cyberspace, by Julie Martin, was the first AR theater production. It utilized of virtual objects combined with real acrobats
- 1998: Sportsvision used AR to create the yellow, 1st down line for football games on TVs
- 2000: Hirokazu Kato from Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan created ARToolKit which captured real world actions with interactions with virtual objects. This later became readily available in 2009
- 2013: Volkswagen used AR on their car manuals which used the Mobile Augmented Reality Technical Assistance (MATRA) app to view the insides of the car
- 2014: Google Glasses were made available for consumers
- 2016: Microsoft Hololens was introduced to revolutionize AR, but the price was too far above consumer's budgets and so it is only available for development or education purposes
- 2016: Pokemon Go! was released which became an international craze over night that used cell phone cameras as the conduit for an AR experience in capturing Pokemon
- 2018 and on: Statista expects users of AR to increase to roughly 1 billion worldwide and for the market to increase to about $209 billion by 2022