Chapter 12: Beyond Virtual: 3D User Interfaces for the Real World

 

Despite the dramatic developments in the fields of desktop-based and immersive 3D computer-generated environments, we still spend most of our lives in the real world. Augmented reality (AR), a relatively new field of interactive computer graphics, proposes to augment real-world and physical spaces with computer-controlled sensory stimuli, such as images, sounds, and smells. These stimuli create, in a sense, an interactive virtual space embedded into the physical world around us. AR environments differ from VEs in that we can have access to both real and virtual objects at the same time, so instead of replacing the real environments around us, we can enhance them with tools and experiences that are impossible in the real world. In this chapter, we look at the issues involved in designing 3D UIs for AR applications.

 

12.1. Introduction

    12.1.1. What Is Augmented Reality?

    12.1.2. Bringing Virtual Interfaces into the Real World

    12.1.3. Chapter Roadmap

12.2. AR Interfaces as 3D Data Browsers

12.3. 3D Augmented Reality Interfaces

12.4. Augmented Surfaces and Tangible Interfaces

12.5. Tangible AR Interfaces

    12.5.1. Design of Tangible AR

    12.5.2. Time-Multiplexed Interaction in Tangible AR

    12.5.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Tangible AR

12.6. Agents in AR

12.7. Transitional AR: VR Interfaces