Augmented Reality Semantics
The interest in Augmented Reality is growing which brings along hype and by that, irrelevant applications which misuse the Augmented Reality technology or just hype along concerning the term. When relating this to Gartner’s Hype Cycle, it’s a phase which every technology has to overcome before it diffuses in markets and consumers.
I’ll refer to two kinds of misuses of Augmented Reality, one is with regard to the technology itself, the other is from the utility point of view. Both are equally important as they sustain each other. If one is off, than there’s not symbiotic benefit.
The definition of Augmented Reality is:
Augmented Reality is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements.
I’ve highlighted two key words which are important for the technology-utility relationship I referred to.
The first keyword is augmentation, this means that the context’s understanding is augmented with meta-data which is relevant and serves a utility. If it doesn’t serve a utility, how is this technology be able to augment the reality for the user? A second note is that it should be useful as well, an applications might augment a reality, but if it’s too complicated or diverts the user from reality and its experience, how effective is the augmentation?
The second keyword is semantic context, which relates directly to augmentation, being in relation with the context. If the superimposed layers of meta-data do not add importance, utility or relevancy to the surroundings, reality is not being augmented for the user.
I’ve seen lots of Augmented Reality applications, excellent ones and applications which divert the target audience from actual useful AR tools.
Below you’ll find two applications which will visually show the abovementioned opinion.
Augmentation
This application is made by the Dutch soccer club PSV. This application shows the user if players are standing offside or not. Even if this application does augment the reality of someone who’s seeing live a soccer game, up till what level does this application add value to the soccer experience and thus the user? Watching a game through your mobile device?
Is there really utility and usefulness in this application?
Semantic Context
Especially within the gaming arena, Augmented Reality has not yet proven itself with great amplified games. Within this category the shooters can be included as well. Shooting spacecrafts in your backyard or living room is not a semantic contextually augmentation. It doesn’t make much sense -in relation to the environment- and besides the novelty of the Augmented Reality technology, not much can be added to create a useful and fun contextual experience.
Are shooters the correct kind of games which can benefit Augmented Reality? Why not build an AR SIMcity type of game which makes use of the location which you’re in or other kinds of simulation games which can perfectly make use of the location and surroundings which do add value to the experience and the meta-data.
We might be approaching or be in the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” phase (Gartner’s Hype Cycle), to meet expectations of the target groups, or show innovation from the company’s point of view. This doesn’t mean that a healthy reflection on the technology, purpose and benefit for the target groups should be left aside, because this is exactly the reason why technologies slide into the “Trough of Disillusionment”.
A technology fails then to meet the expectations of the target groups and become less interesting and fashionable.
Evaluate the impact and value within this range of products/services because users need to make repetitive efforts in order to make use of these applications.
What’s your opinion on the purposes of Augmented Reality technology?
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Another part of the definition reads:
“Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view.”
Some of the weak apps you cite above are constrained by the ability to extract meaningful information about a user’s environment and objects in it. Simply relying on GPS to calibrate location (useless indoors, often inaccurate outdoors) and correlate with info embedded in, say, Google Maps, is akin to only using the internet for email when much more is available.
The availability of very low cost sensors combined with state-of-the-art ultra-low energy wireless communications capabilities like DASH7 (www.dash7.org) effectively means businesses can AR-enable assets and even people in ways that GPS will solve for only partially or not at all.
In 2010, I expect we’ll hear more about a more robust vision of AR that includes a larger set of potential options for enhancing your AR experience beyond GPS-based approaches.
@Pat:
Definately.
(Hardware) constraints are part of the limitations which we see right now within the Augmented Reality realm.
Like you refer to as well, robust vision on AR will develop the few coming years, past the hype, past several hardware constraints, past initial adoption by early majority and smartphone diffusion.
The applications we see now are also fairly easy to develop, the wait-and-see attitude is understanding from a business point of view, just like VC’s are not jumping on this tech right away. All signs that show this tech (for the mainstream) is in its initial phase.
From a hardware and implementation point of view, what’s required is a “see-through” display. Watching a miniature version of the real world on a tiny screen, when you can just look up from it and see the real thing, is a loser. I’m thinking of fighter-jet and in-helmet “heads-up displays” in which information is superimposed (via a transparent pane) on the real-world view. Some automobiles are starting to use this approach, projecting AR information on the windshield. There are some depth-of-field confusion issues, but I think they’re being handled.
In terms of the information displayed, I see a major dichotomy between text and visual information. If the real-world view is relatively static, the subject has time to read and digest text, but if the real-world view is even moderately dynamic, the information MUST be graphic in order to be useful; there’s no time to digest text.
The next question is one of feedback from the contents of the subject’s real-world view to the AR content. If the AR computer can’t “see” what the subject sees, the AR content can’t be intimately tied to the subject’s real-world view. And even if the AR computer can “see” the real-world view, it’s tricky to superimpose the AR content on the view with enough placement accuracy to be effective. Significant misregistration or position tracking lag of the AR content will cause cognitive dissonance in the subject, resulting in confusion and disorientation. This could be disastrous in life-critical situations.
Speaking of which, there are some interesting legal issues. Suppose a firefighter has a HUD with AR, and the AR malfunctions. If the firefighter has come to trust the AR display, he/she may well make a mistake that could be injurious or even fatal to the subject or a victim he/she is trying to help. This is a legal can of worms.
Hello Stephen,
Informative comment, thank you.
True, if AR is not Artificial Intelligent, discrepancy will remain between the human and machine.
If I’m correct, there have already been some legal issues with regard to navigational systems and the ambulances, coming to late due to misdirection. All these effects need to be understood before massive AR applications will go mainstream and support more life-critical situations.