Practical Augmented Reality

This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the technologies, applications and human factors considerations of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) systems and wearable computing devices. Ideal for practitioners and students alike, it brings together comprehensive coverage of both theory and practice, emphasizing leading-edge displays, sensors, and other enabling technologies and tools that are already commercially available or will be soon.

Beginning with a Foreword by NASA research scientist Victor Luo, Practical Augmented Reality starts by explaining the mechanics of human sight, hearing and touch, showing how these perceptual mechanisms (and their performance ranges) directly dictate the design and use of wearable displays, 3-D audio systems, and tactile/force feedback devices.

The book presents revealing case studies of real-world applications from gaming, entertainment, Big Data visualization, engineering, aeronautics and aerospace, defense, medicine, telerobotics, architecture, law enforcement, and geophysics. Readers will find clear, easy-to-understand explanations, photos, and illustrations of devices including the Atheer AiR, HTC Vive, DAQRI Smart Helmet, Oculus (Facebook) CV1, Sony PlayStation VR, Vuzix M300, Google Glass, and many more. Functional diagrams and photographs clearly explain how these devices operate, and link directly to relevant theoretical and practical content.

Practical Augmented Reality thoroughly considers the human factors of these systems, including sensory and motor physiology constraints, monocular and binocular depth cues, elements contributing to visually-induced motion sickness and nausea, as well as vergence-accommodation conflicts. It concludes by assessing both the legal and societal implications of new and emerging AR, VR, and wearable technologies, as well as provides a look next generation systems.