Virtual reality consists of simulations. Users suspend reality in order to participate in this universe. Augmented reality consists of add-ons to the real-world.

Sci-Fi Version

The sci-fi version goes like this. A person puts on fashionable light-weight glasses empowered with cameras and displays. He or she goes into a live environment. The glasses collect information in the live environment and report that back to a computer. The computer generates informational overlays and details not available in the natural environment in order to achieve a certain mission or goal. It would be "location independent" and "context aware." The headset would collect biometrics information, so that users could be restricted to those with access. This would add a layer of security for data delivery. This headset would "annotate" the world. The business sci-fi version goes like this. Here, workers at a factory could put on a headset and know exactly where to drill particular parts to a luxury car. The various users could choose whether information would be delivered to them by voice, text or graphics. Their progress could be tracked. Employees could be in a fully immersive environment.

Test Version

The version I saw went like this. In a university study on augmented reality, the researchers had taken headsets with one camera and remodeled it to carry a second camera mount. A gyroscope was mounted on the headset to give researchers a sense of the head position of the research participant. There would be "bright spots" that gave the computer a sense of the location. The idea was to see if the use of this headset, which would provide information to users as they were in a live circumstance, would increase their ability to complete a digital "jigsaw" puzzle. Performance would be measured by task and would focus on speed and efficiency.

Real-World Functionality

The real-world presentation at the SALT conference brought up questions of how to build headsets without heavy packs. The complexity of the technological back end would be mind-boggling. The relative toughness or durability of the headsets could well be an issue. There would be various unforeseen dependencies that would have to be explored in a research and design (and development) circumstance.

A Non-Arrival for Now

This technology has been in development for many years, but the elements haven't yet come together for practical applications in the commercial realm. A few questions do arise. So what happens with mis-augmented reality? How real with the augmentations be, and will it be possible to misapprehend where particular information is coming from? (In the same way, it's said that radio speaks right into a person's mind...and people often will have ideas and information without knowing where they'd first heard that information.) Surely, we all have augmented realities - augmentations through various news sources and training and worldviews. Surely, a virtual augmentation layer will be an enhancement and not a detractor?

(Part of the contents of this stemmed from a presentation by Dr. Brian Blake, Computer Science, Georgetown University)