Intelligent Realities For Workers Using Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Beyond
Figure 1: Reality-Virtuality Continuum (From Wikipedia)
From left to right, the user moves from a
normal view of physical surroundings to a
completely digital view. In between the
extremes is Mixed Reality (MR) -- the mixing
of the physical reality with one or more
digital realities. MR assumes an AR device
that is capable of stereoscopic rendering of
dynamic 3D scenes on top of a physical view
of the world.
Just as the authors did not limit virtual
environment presentation to HMDs, their
definition of AR does not exclude mobile flat
screens. In 1995, they lacked the terms
“smart phone” and “tablet,” but they
described “monitor based (non-immersive)
video displays – i.e. ‘window-on-the-world’
(WoW) displays – upon which computer
generated images are electronically or
digitally overlaid.”
On the far right, a virtual environment is
completely digital, but not necessarily
completely immersive. The authors include
both the completely immersive experience
of a VR Head Mounted Display (HMD) as well
as large flat screens not worn by the user.
Both VR HMDs and virtual environments
rendered on flat screens can provide a user
with a dynamic, real-time 3D rendering of a
remote or abstract 3D reality.
IIC Journal of Innovation
The Modern Reality-Virtuality Landscape
Figure 2 illustrates the Reality-Virtuality
Continuum with commercially available
products. The lower quadrants are
traditional flat screens while the upper
quadrants contain the newer and less
established HMDs.
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