Augmented Reality

In this essay we discuss augmented reality. The areas we talk about are medicine, entertainment, education, uses of augmented reality and the future of augmented reality. We hope that by the end this essay you will understand what augmented reality is and the potential it has. Augmented Reality Introduction Augmented Reality is “a real-time view” of a physical environment “enhanced” by adding “computer-generated digital information” to that environment. The purpose of Augmented Reality is to redefine or augment how an individual would interact with and interpret the real world by introducing virtual information to his or her direct surroundings and approach to the real world environment as a whole [7]. Augmented Reality is in stark contrast to Virtual Reality where, in the case of the latter, the user is fully immersed in a synthetic and artificial environment in which the user is incapable of a vivid and direct vision of the real world. Augmented Reality has the capacity to augment vision, hearing and, to a lesser extent, taste, touch and smell. It also has the potential to substitute a sense which an individual may lack. For example, a blind user could manage a computer through the use of artificial speech. There are many different types of Augmented Reality. For example, Mediated Reality, where physical objects are replaced or covered by virtual objects that match the background, is also considered to be a form of Augmented Reality [7]. Augmented Reality is typically employed in various fields, such as entertainment, medicine, education and the future of augmented reality. We will discuss these topics throughout this essay [1].