Description

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Many of us have heard of, or experienced, virtual reality, which usually involves putting on a headset that covers users' eyes, surrounding them in an artificial world. Augmented Reality, AR, takes digital information and superimposes it onto the real, physical environment. Rather than closing the user off from the real world, AR adds virtual content on top of the real world. Poke mon GO, the mobile game, accomplishes this by using a smartphone's camera to record the real world while the game displays digital characters over the image on the phone's screen. More advanced AR headsets, currently in development and in use by industry, have mixed reality capabilities that can map the user's surroundings in real time and allow virtual content to convincingly interact with the physical world. These more advanced AR devices and techniques show that the potential of this technology goes far beyond smartphone games and could one day have a major impact on manufacturing, transportation, medicine, and eventually the daily lives of average Americans. For example, imagine a worker in a factory whose job is to assemble an advanced jet engine for a new airliner. With an AR headset, that worker could see step-by-step instructions floating above his work station, with the exact spot he is supposed to weld being digitally highlighted. Advanced manufacturing and other industries have already begun using AR for training new workers and have seen great improvements in safety and efficiency. We often hear about technology replacing workers, but AR provides an opportunity for technology to enhance workers instead, by helping them with their training and making them more productive.