What will computer user interfaces look like 10 years from now? If we extrapolate from current systems, it's easy to imagine a proliferation of high-resolution displays, ranging from tiny handheld or wrist-worn devices to large screens built into desks, walls and floors. Such displays will doubtless become commonplace. But I and many other computer scientists believe that a fundamentally different kind of user interface known as augmented reality will have a more profound effect on the way in which we develop and interact with future computers.
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| Image: PAT RAWLINGS/SAIC
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Augmented reality (AR) refers to computer displays that add virtual information to a user's sensory perceptions. Most AR research focuses on "see-through" devices, usually worn on the head, that overlay graphics and text on the user's view of his or her surroundings. (Virtual information can also be in other sensory forms, such as sound or touch, but this article will concentrate on visual enhancements.) AR systems track the position and orientation of the user's head so that the overlaid material can be aligned with the user's view of the world. Through this process, known as registration, graphics software can place a three-dimensional image of a teacup, for example, on top of a real saucer and keep the virtual cup fixed in that position as the user moves about the room. AR systems employ some of the same hardware technologies used in virtual-reality research, but there's a crucial difference: whereas virtual reality brashly aims to replace the real world, augmented reality respectfully supplements it.
Consider what AR could make routinely possible. A repairperson viewing a broken piece of equipment could see instructions highlighting the parts that need to be inspected. A surgeon could get the equivalent of x-ray vision by observing live ultrasound scans of internal organs that are overlaid on the patient's body. Firefighters could see the layout of a burning building, allowing them to avoid hazards that would otherwise be invisible. Soldiers could see the positions of enemy snipers who had been spotted by unmanned reconnaissance planes. A tourist could glance down a street and see a review of each restaurant on the block. A computer gamer could battle 10-foot-tall aliens while walking to work.