IEEE's Spectrum has a piece on the opportunities and challenges of augmented reality.
You know your cellphone can distract you and that you shouldn’t be texting or surfing the Web while walking down a crowded street or driving a car. Augmented reality—in the form of Google Glass, Sony’s SmartEyeglass, or Microsoft HoloLens—may appear to solve that problem. These devices present contextual information transparently or in a way that obscures little, seemingly letting you navigate the world safely, in the same way head-up displays enable fighter pilots to maintain situational awareness. • But can augmented reality really deliver on that promise? We ask this question because, as researchers at Kaiser Permanente concerned with diseases that impair mobility (Sabelman) and with using technology to improve patient care (Lam), we see dangers looming. • With augmented-reality gear barely on the market, rigorous studies of its effects on vision and mobility have yet to be done. But in reviewing the existing research on the way people perceive and interact with the world around them, we found a number of reasons to be concerned. Augmented reality can cause you to misjudge the speed of oncoming cars, underestimate your reaction time, and unintentionally ignore the hazards of navigating in the real world. And the worst thing about it: Until something bad happens, you won’t know you’re at greater risk of harm.
I've always wanted a HUD with facial recognition and basic info about people whose names I should remember but don't.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday July 08 2015, @06:11PM
Augmented reality can cause you to misjudge the speed of oncoming cars, underestimate your reaction time, and unintentionally ignore the hazards of navigating in the real world.
Presumably, though, AR could inform you of the speed of oncoming cars, warn you of hazards thus increasing reaction time, and make sure you are aware of the hazards of navigating in the real world.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 08 2015, @06:32PM
Just because you can superimpose data on the real world doesn't mean your brain will be able to process it [technologyreview.com]. That's why these studies are useful.
I think that an "Iron Man" style AR system could be overwhelming and counterproductive, except for the parts related to outlines and color overlays. Don't try to put text and numbers on screen. Instead, outline/highlight objects and change their hue based on speed, danger, pathfinding, or other attributes.
Of course you'll want your AR system to do facial recognition and display the text of a person's name above their head, like you're in a real life MMO.
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