User Interfaces for Spatial Augmented Reality

This talk explores the current research in Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR). Instead of the users wearing or carrying the display such as for head mounted displays or handheld devices; SAR makes use of digital projectors to display perspectively correct graphical information onto physical objects. The key difference in SAR is that the display is separated from the users of the system. Because the displays are not associated with each user, SAR scales naturally up to groups of users, thus allowing for collocated collaboration between users. SAR has several advantages over traditional head mounted displays and handheld devices. The user is not required to carry equipment or wear the display over their eyes. This makes spatial AR a good candidate for collaborative work, as the users can see each other’s faces. This separation provides a set of interesting research challenges. The tangible nature of SAR makes this an ideal technology to support application domains such as design, as SAR supports both a graphical visualization and passive haptic sensation for the end users, as people are able to touch physical objects. This talk will presented an overview of SAR, provide examples of current user interaction techniques, and provide a description of future research directions.

Speaker Details

Professor Thomas is the current the Deputy Director of the Advanced Computing Research Centre, Director of the Mawson Institute SAR Visualisation Lab, and Director of the Wearable Computer Laboratory at the University of South Australia. He is currently a NICTA Fellow, Senior Member of the ACM, and visiting Scholar with the Human Interaction Technology Laboratory, University of Washington. His current research interests include: wearable computers, user interfaces, augmented reality, virtual reality, CSCW, and tabletop display interfaces.

His experience includes working at the School of Computer and Information Science, University of South Australia since 1990. He has run his own computer consultancy company. He was a Computer Scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (A major US government laboratory for the Department of Commerce.), and a software engineer for the Computer Sciences Corporation and the General Electric Company.

Date:
Speakers:
Bruce Hunter Thomas Sr. and Ross Smith
Affiliation:
University of South Australia, University of South Austrailia
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Series: Microsoft Research Talks