Overview
Digital information is ubiquitous. It refers to anything of interest to those who create content (authors) and their audiences, the consumers of information. Some content and subjects of interest refer to and/or are associated with people, places and objects in the physical world. Content that refers to or is associated with people, places and objects in proximity to a user can be of particularly high value for decision-making, learning or entertainment.
Augmented Reality is a term that describes a suite of technologies and systems permitting users to “consume,” via their sense of vision, auditory perception or other means (e.g., haptic), the data (aka digital information stored as bits), in close association with their environments. With Augmented Reality, the digital data is synchronized with people, places or objects on which the user has elected to focus full or partial attention.
The use of one or more sensors to detect the user’s context and the focus of a user’s full or partial attention are key elements in Augmented Reality when the result of that detection and subsequent processes can be described as an “annotation” of the physical world with digital data.
People can benefit from Augmented Reality-enhanced “experiences” to achieve an unlimited number and types of objectives. Due to the infinite range of potential content and targets, users and objectives, a framework for communication and to establish common understanding is necessary.
The purposes of the Augmented Reality Reference Model include:
- Basis for coordinating activities and understanding of the AR community and technology
- Provide insight into current state of AR
- Communications between acquirers and developers of technology
- Input to component design and development
- Resource for defining application specific architectures.
- Allow coordinated development of standards relevant to AR