AR TECHNOLOGY - History and theory
New technologies are taking an increasingly important place in increasing labor productivity. At the same time, industrial enterprises, due to their conservatism
and against the backdrop of weak investment in innovation, they are in no hurry to turn to face progress.
The article examines the role of augmented reality as a lever for improving production efficiency. Examples of successful application of this technology are given
in various industrial sectors.
ARTIFICIAL REALITY
The concept of artificial reality was first proposed by Myron Krueger in the late 1960s (Fig. 1a). In 1989, Jaron Zepel Lanier, a well-known programmer, futurologist and composer (Fig. 1b), introduced the now more popular name "Virtual Reality" (VR). VR is a world created by technical means, transmitted to a person through his senses: sight, hearing, smell, etc. VR simulates both the impact itself and the reactions to it.
The concept of Augmented Reality (AR) appeared immediately. Ivan Edward Sutherland is considered the first AR researcher. In 1966, the Bell Helicopter Company, a helicopter manufacturer, began developing systems for controlling night flights using infrared (IR) cameras mounted outside the cockpit and receivers located directly in front of the eyes on the pilot's helmet.
These experiments showed that a pilot can fly with such artificial eyes. At first, this direction was called “Remote Reality”. Sutherland, then a professor at Harvard University, and his student Bob Sproull came up with the idea of replacing infrared receivers with electronic tubes connected to a computer. As a result, in 1967 the first video helmet appeared - a working prototype of the AR system. In this invention, the Sword of Damocles stereo glasses were used to display 3D graphics. The image in them was projected onto two translucent glass mini-displays with silver sputtering. The system was first used in a project carried out in 1968 for the same Bell Helicopter. The stereo glasses were paired with an IR camera located under the bottom of the helicopter. The camera was controlled by the movement of the pilot's head.
The authorship of the term AR, which has come into use since 1990, is attributed to Tom Caudell, a research engineer at Boeing Corporation. According to one version, he used the phrase "augmented reality" to describe the digital display used projected by airplane electricians who mixed virtual graphics with physical reality.
AR is the result of introducing any sensory data into the field of perception in order to supplement information about the environment and improve the perception of information. In 1997, Ronald Azuma defined it as a system that combines the virtual and the real, interacts in real-time and works in 3D [Learm more at the web resource]. There is also such a definition of AR: “Direct or indirect, real-time view of physical reality, the elements of which are augmented or augmented by computer-generated sensory information such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data”.
Note that one should not confuse or confuse virtual and augmented reality. Their fundamental difference is that VR constructs a new artificial world, while AR only introduces separate artificial elements into the perception of the real world.