A Survey of Augmented Reality

Book excerpt: This survey summarizes almost 50 years of research and development in the field of Augmented Reality (AR). From early research in the 1960's until widespread availability by the 2010's there has been steady progress towards the goal of being able to seamlessly combine real and virtual worlds. We provide an overview of the common definitions of AR, and show how AR fits into taxonomies of other related technologies. A history of important milestones in Augmented Reality is followed by sections on the key enabling technologies of tracking, display and input devices. We also review design guidelines and provide some examples of successful AR applications. Finally, we conclude with a summary of directions for future work and a review of some of the areas that are currently being researched.