ABSTRACT
As computers increase in power and decrease in size, new mobile, wearable, and pervasive computing applications are rapidly becoming feasible, providing people access to online resources always and everywhere. This new flexibility makes possible new kind of applications that exploit the person’s surrounding context. Augmented reality (AR) presents a particularly powerful user interface (UI) to contextaware computing environments. AR systems integrate virtual information into a person’s physical environment so that he or she will perceive that information as existing in their surroundings. Mobile augmented reality systems (MARS) provide this service without constraining the individual’s whereabouts to a specially equipped area. Ideally, they work virtually anywhere, adding a palpable layer of information to any environment whenever desired. By doing so, they hold the potential to revolutionize the way in which information is presented to people. Computer-presented material is directly integrated with the real world surrounding the freely roaming person, who can interact with it to display related information, to pose and resolve queries, and to collaborate with other people. The world becomes the user interface.
