Understanding Augmented Reality: Concepts and Applications

Augmented reality is not a technology. Augmented reality is a medium. Likewise, a book on augmented reality that only addresses the technology that is required to support the medium of augmented reality falls far short of providing the background that is needed to produce, or critically consume augmented reality applications. One reads a book. One watches a movie. One experiences augmented reality. Understanding Augmented Reality addresses the elements that are required to create compelling augmented reality experiences. The technology that supports augmented reality will come and go, evolve and change. The underlying principles for creating exciting, useful augmented reality experiences are timeless.

Augmented reality designed from a purely technological perspective will lead to an AR experience that is novel and fun for one-time consumption-but is no more than a toy. Imagine a filmmaking book that discussed cameras and special effects software, but ignored cinematography and storytelling! In order to create compelling augmented reality experiences that stand the test of time and cause the participant in the AR experience to focus on the content of the experience - rather than the technology - one must consider how to maximally exploit the affordances of the medium.

Understanding Augmented Reality addresses core conceptual issues regarding the medium of augmented reality as well as the technology required to support compelling augmented reality. By addressing AR as a medium at the conceptual level in addition to the technological level, the reader will learn to conceive of AR applications that are not limited by today's technology. At the same time, ample examples are provided that show what is possible with current technology.

• Explore the different techniques, technologies and approaches used in developing AR applications. This book helps untangle the seemingly endless different approaches that are being taken in the market today.
• Learn from the author's deep experience in virtual reality and augmented reality applications to succeed right off the bat, and avoid many of the traps that catch new developers and users of augmented reality experiences.

About the Author

Alan B. Craig, PhD, has been with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) for over 25 years. Additionally, he is the Associate Director for Human–Computer Interaction at the Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (I-CHASS). He is also the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science liaison for the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE).

Dr. Craig is no stranger to writing. He has also written Understanding Virtual Reality by William R. Sherman and Alan B. Craig and Developing Virtual Reality Applications by Alan B. Craig, William R. Sherman, and Jeffrey D. Will, all for Morgan Kaufmann Publishing. Additionally, he has written numerous book chapters, journal articles, and popular articles. He speaks nationally and internationally on a variety of topics to audiences ranging from academia to government to industry.

Over the course of his career, he has been involved both in the study of, and development of, many technologies and concepts, including virtual reality, augmented reality, scientific visualization, high-performance computing, collaborative systems, data mining, and web systems. He has received three U.S. patents for his innovations. In addition to his work in the visual representation of information, Dr. Craig has been deeply involved in the use of sound to represent data, as well as multimodal systems. His work has ranged over the entire reality continuum from the real, to the digital, and back to the real via personal fabrication, as well as at the edges between worlds. In all his endeavors he has focused primarily on applications related to education.