Where Did Augmented Reality Come From?

[amey katkar]

The common insult “out of touch with reality” refers to those with abnormal thoughts and ideas, but the negative connotation didn’t scare foward-thinkers away from trying to create a version of the world that was unreal, but in a good way.

Over the past few decades, this artificial view of the physical world — known as augmented reality — matured from a scientist’s plaything to a part of daily life. Augmented reality is defined as a composite, or false view of the world created by computer-generated images, in real time.

Morton Heilig is known as the “Father of Virtual reality” for his research and inventions in the ’50s and ’60s. He patented the Sensorama Stimulator (shown on the right), which he called an “experience theater,” on Aug. 28, 1962.

“There are increasing demands today for ways and means to teach and train individuals without actually subjecting the individuals to possible hazards of particular situations,” the patent dictates.

The invention provided a simulation of an experience by using a visual image, breeze and vibrations.

In 1968, computer scientist and Harvard associate professor Ivan Sutherland, along with his student Bob Sproull, invented “The Sword of Damocles.”
The first augmented reality head-mounted display system was suspended from a ceiling, and the viewer experienced computer-fed graphics — Sutherland is commonly referred to as the “Father of Graphics.”

Other minor developments occurred until the 1990s, when researcher Tom Caudell coined the term “augmented reality,” and Australian Julie Martin brought virtual reality to television.

In 1997, Ronald T. Azuma’s “A Survey of Augmented Reality” examined the varied uses of augmented reality such as medical, manufacturing, research, mechanical operation and entertainment.

Later that decade and into the 2000s, Hirokazu Kato’s ARToolKit combined virtual graphics with real life, which uses video tracking to overlap computer graphics on a video camera.

Now, the first down lines in football games on television, portable games and smartphones augment our realities every day.

Even print media began incorporating augmented reality into their publications — see this 2009 issue of Esquire, which allowed readers to scan the cover and make Robert Downey Jr. come alive.