Ecb at 16:29, 26 July 2012

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	This is the overlaying of virtual reality information		This is the overlaying of virtual reality information
	onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element		onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element

Ecb: /* Virtual Tutors */

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Virtual Tutors

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	technician to follow. Since all the individual parts (and		technician to follow. Since all the individual parts (and
	tools) are also tagged, often with additional sensors that		tools) are also tagged, often with additional sensors that
-	monitor things such as stress, current flow, etc., an ~~objectspecific~~	+	monitor things such as stress, current flow, etc., an object-specific
	“virtual repair manual” can warn the technician if		“virtual repair manual” can warn the technician if
	he is taking apart or putting the object back together the		he is taking apart or putting the object back together the

Ecb: /* Virtual Tutors */

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Virtual Tutors

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	==Virtual Tutors==		==Virtual Tutors==
-	~~Amechanism~~ (anything from a car engine to a prefab	+	A mechanism (anything from a car engine to a prefab
	house) may have its dozens (or thousands) of different		house) may have its dozens (or thousands) of different
	parts individually tagged with microcommunicators and		parts individually tagged with microcommunicators and

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	The system recognizes objects (including faces) and		The system recognizes objects (including faces) and
-	situations, and provides a helpful stream of ~~contextappropriate~~	+	situations, and provides a helpful stream of context-appropriate
	data, often as audio messages or text boxes in		data, often as audio messages or text boxes in
	the user’s visual field.		the user’s visual field.

Ecb: Created page with 'This is the overlaying of virtual reality information onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element is a “virtual interface”: smart glasses incorporating a …'

2012-07-26T16:26:19Z

Created page with 'This is the overlaying of virtual reality information onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element is a “virtual interface”: smart glasses incorporating a …'

New page

This is the overlaying of virtual reality information
onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element
is a “virtual interface”: smart glasses incorporating
a computer, digital camera, visual head-up display, optical
recognition software, cellular modem, and bone
induction speaker, all controlled by an infomorph, typically
a nonsapient or low-sapient AI.

The system recognizes objects (including faces) and
situations, and provides a helpful stream of contextappropriate
data, often as audio messages or text boxes in
the user’s visual field.

The user accesses the system through voice commands
or a virtual reality screen (and when necessary, a
keyboard) projected in front of him. Usually, the user just
tells the AI what he wants it to do, or it anticipates his
needs. However, the system’s camera can also track the
user’s finger movements, allowing him to type, move
objects, or simulate a mouse, trackball, or other controller
in empty air. Virtual interfaces have rendered solid keyboards
and computer terminals obsolete. With appropriate
programs, the user can manipulate graphic images, or
even use his finger as a pen or paintbrush. Infomorphs
(AIs and mind emulations) use augmented reality without
needing a virtual interface.

Augmented reality is a mature technology
in 2100, nearly a century old. The latest
advances, not yet ubiquitous, are smarter AIs and
replacing wearables with brain implants. Popular augmented-
reality applications include:
==Memory Augmentation==
A typical AR program is a “mug shot” database. Different
databases are commercially available or Webaccessible,
ranging from the commonplace (famous
celebrities) to the job-specific (e.g., a cop may have a
database of wanted criminals). Most people also accumulate
personalized databases of people they meet or expect
to meet, co-workers, and so on. If the virtual interface’s
camera (or the user’s eyes, if he uses a brain implant)
spots someone whose face is in the database, the program
will automatically display their name and a brief identifier
as they come into his visual field, unless told not to do
so. Similar remembrance-agent programs and databases
can be acquired for other tasks, such as
recognizing artwork, wildlife, and vehicles.

Augmented reality can be used with
context-relevant data-mining programs
that continually search the Web for data
with content relevant to the user’s current
situation and present that information as
appropriate. This will augment existing
remembrance-agent databases. For
example, if a person is encountered who isn’t
in a user’s specific database, his picture and other
data still have a very high chance of being in a public
file online. True anonymity thus requires either disguise
or an appearance nearly identical to thousands of others
(fairly common for anyone with a cybershell or bioroid
body, for example).

==Video and Sensory Processing==
Augmented reality can digitally process what the
user sees, improving his vision. For example, enhancing
the edges in an image helps in face recognition. It can also
replace what he sees and hears, immersing him in a virtual
reality.

==Personal Navigation==
In concert with global positioning satellites (GPS) or
local embedded transmitters, the user can receive directions
overlaid on his visual field, or call up more complex
moving map displays. These are available for all urban
and most rural areas on Earth and other inhabited worlds
or stations. Outdoor maps (or real-time satellite imagery)
are accessible from the Web. Building plans may be
available for automatic download upon entering a large
building such as an office block or mall. (Secure installations
would do so only if the individual was recognized
as an authorized visitor.)

==Virtual Tags==
Places, things, and even people can be “tagged”
with augmented reality positional overlays called virtual
tags (“v-tags”). The v-tag files are usually stored in local
networks specific to a location in real-space. The position
of tagged objects is updated continuously through tiny
GPS or radio-frequency locators in contact with the local
network. When someone with an augmented reality system
approaches any tagged object, his virtual interface
will compare his position in real-space with that of the
object; if the user is facing it and within a designated
range, his interface will be permitted to download the
appropriate information, and he will “see” the v-tag data
overlay. In short, a v-tag is a virtual signpost.
It’s easy to create v-tags: simply upload an appropriate
file. People can attach virtual sticky notes, pictures,
etc. to walls, doors, desks, fellow workers –
whatever has been coded into the system. Similar v-tags
are used in museums, shops, natural parks, billboards,
warehouses, etc.

Manufactured goods of all varieties are also vtagged,
with virtual labels that allow access to
reams of online data, ranging from ingredients to
safety instructions.

Some objects may also incorporate actual sensors
to monitor their own status, whether that means
checking to make sure milk hasn’t spoiled or measuring
microstresses in a precision machine. The data from
these sensors can be continuously uploaded and available
through v-tag access. As all objects transmit positional
data, valuable objects may alert humans or software if
they are moved without authorization, as well as sending
regular updates of their present location – at least, until
the signal is jammed or the transmitter removed.

==Virtual Tutors==
Amechanism (anything from a car engine to a prefab
house) may have its dozens (or thousands) of different
parts individually tagged with microcommunicators and
positional sensors similar to v-tags. Integral databases
know where each part goes and virtual interface software
can track both the parts and the user’s own hand
movements, aiding in assembly, disassembly, preparation,
or maintenance. For example, when a repair
technician (human or machine) walks up to a broken
device, the device’s components transmit diagnostics to
the tech’s virtual interface. The virtual interface’s augmented
reality program locates the 3D position of the
object, and overlays real-time step-by-step guides for the
technician to follow. Since all the individual parts (and
tools) are also tagged, often with additional sensors that
monitor things such as stress, current flow, etc., an objectspecific
“virtual repair manual” can warn the technician if
he is taking apart or putting the object back together the
wrong way, or if there are internal faults.

The same technology can apply to other tasks
requiring rote manual actions using specific processes
and components, from building a house to fixing an
engine. Each widget, brick, pipe, or module has a chip
and sensor in it that knows where it goes and whether it’s
been installed correctly. Augmented reality has enabled a
resurgence in unskilled labor, since these technologies
permit untrained individuals to perform complex tasks.

Augmented Reality - Revision history

Ecb at 16:29, 26 July 2012

Ecb: /* Virtual Tutors */

Ecb: /* Virtual Tutors */

Ecb at 16:26, 26 July 2012

Ecb: Created page with 'This is the overlaying of virtual reality information onto a user’s perception of the real world. Its basic element is a “virtual interface”: smart glasses incorporating a …'