The University of Washington Tech Policy Lab, a collaboration between faculty and students in the School of Law, Information School and Computer Science & Engineering Department and other campus units, uses a set of “diversity panels” for evaluating new technologies and to consider the impact of the technology in question on various end users.

The Lab has released its findings of a study on Augmented Reality in a new report. The authors conclude that the greatest legal and policy issues arising from the use of Augmented Reality concern collection and/or display of information. Within these areas, concerns with privacy, free speech and intellectual property as well as novel forms of distraction and discrimination, raise the need for further attention and the development of new recommendations.

The final section outlines five options available to various policymakers who have an interest in promoting or regulating the technology.

University faculty and students are increasingly studying Augmented Reality-related research topics. Although the scope of what might be included as AR-related research could be the topic of its own dissertation, most recognize that Augmented Reality is a new mode of human computer interaction.

In his doctoral thesis published recently by University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain), Dr. Mikel Salazar proposes a novel HCI model that takes advantage of the new capabilities of Augmented Reality systems to facilitate the construction of user interfaces embedded into the real world. The paradigm Salazar proposes in his thesis allows both developers and end users to create—and share—user experiences beyond those offered with a traditional two dimensional paradigm. Traditionally, the user selects either by pointing directly towards the desired item (in the case of touch-screens and 3D scanners) or by defining a selection box/cursor over it (using a mouse or keyboard).

The new 3D HCI Salazar proposes defines a new basic pointing mechanism. By selecting two points in three-dimensional space (either with a gaze/hand tracking system or, indirectly, with a 3D mouse), the user generates a virtual ray that, once projected onto the virtual scene, determines which objects are to be selected (based on the collision points between the ray and the objects).

The successful commercialization of new enabling technology requires both financial support and special talents. The Columbia Tribune reports that the University of Missouri has selected an enterprise Augmented Reality project to receive a $100,000 grant to accelerate commercialization.

Described in this paper submitted for publication, Panacea’s Glass and Cloud is a system that leverages hands-free displays such as Google Glass and permits doctors to see what first responders see. The system uses its own wireless hot spot to support real time communication with hospital doctors following mass casualty disasters where other internet access is unavailable. Panacea’s Cloud system allows triage and coordination in the event there is no phone or internet service.

The system will be tested with MU ambulances the next month. Researchers also will be participating in a mass casualty simulation with Missouri Task Force 1, a federal urban search and rescue unit stationed at the Boone County Fire Protection District.

Mark Billinghurst is a pioneer and researcher in the Augmented Reality field. He and his students have written hundreds of peer-reviewed articles. In addition, he co-founded ARToolworks which was acquired by DAQRI in February 2015.

Billinghurst recently posted a presentation on SlideShare in which he describes the major trends in Augmented Reality. Billinghurst focuses on developments we can expect over the next 20 years in three key areas: displays, interactivity and tracking.

Billinghurst describes a bright future for hands-free displays. He also predicts that there will be contact lenses adapted for AR experience delivery. In the domain of interaction, the future will not be dominated by one mode. Rather, systems will be increasingly “multimodal” involving speech, gesture and even adapt or evolve based on the user and their situation.

Finally, Billinghurst predicts rapid improvements in tracking. Tracking technology will be increasingly capable of performing well on deformable objects and in a wide variety of environmental conditions which are unsuitable using today’s technologies. Finally, he predicts that tracking in the future will be better while also requiring fewer computational resources than it does today.

The Common Information Model (CIM) for utilities is a common vocabulary and basic ontology for managing data about electric power industry assets. It is widely used to describe electricity transmission systems, where related applications include energy management system, SCADA, planning and optimization. This video published by EPRI, an AREA sponsor member, shows how utilities employees can use Augmented Reality to increase safety and reduce errors.

Using Augmented Reality to visualize and interact with data defined by the Common Information Model, EPRI’s PM Basis Database (PMBD) and Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management Suite (FW-PHM) can improve transmission and distribution providers optimize their operations and maintenance.

The hardware used in the video is the Smart Helmet, an industrial grade display embedded in a professional hardhat, designed by DAQRI, also an AREA sponsor member.

Where technologies can reduce risk to human life and increase the likelihood of favorable conflict resolution, the return on investment equation is more likely to tip in favor of more investment, even if the technologies in which governments invest are not mature. That’s the primary reason that the defense sector has long been investing in Virtual Reality and, more recently, in Augmented Reality as well.

One of the people studying use of VR and AR in military use cases is Dr. Bob Stone at the University of Birmingham. Stone heads the Human Interface Technologies Lab.

A number of interesting projects are summarized in this post on Motherboard Blog (Vice.com). One of the concepts that builds upon Augmented Reality is the “Wearable Cockpit,” a user interface that allows soldiers to adapt more quickly to their environment. Based on personal preference and mission objectives, pilots reconfigure displays and controls. Stone’s lab is partnering with commercial companies that serve defense customers such as BAE Systems, a company that has been developing smart glasses for military customers for decades.

In July we partnered with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the IEEE Standards Association, Sponsor members of the AREA, to conduct the first AR in Leading Edge Utilities event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A post on the IEEE Standards Association blog summarizes the results of the two-day event. “Safety issues were the dominant theme, consistent with the high priority on safety emphasized by utilities,” reports Rudi Schubert, new technology initiatives director and the author of this post. The utilities industry representatives said they want Augmented Reality solutions to be demonstrated as enhancing worker safety, not introducing distractions that can lead to unsafe situations.

Hardware communications and security were also key issues influencing utility purchasing decisions. A need for compatibility with existing infrastructure and an ability to use existing digital asset information will be drivers in assuring that AR solutions provide an acceptable return on investment.

Researchers have proposed a system for automatically republishing technical documentation (user manuals and work instructions) as Augmented Reality content for viewing with AR-enabled devices such as smart glasses.

Peter Mohr et al. presented the paper, “Retargeting Technical Documentation to Augmented Reality” at the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The proposed system effectively permits single sourcing (republishing) of Augmented Reality content from existing work instructions in an automatic manner by transforming CAD models and 2D technical illustrations into 3D virtual objects for overlaying the physical world.

The proposed system adds yet another publishing channel to sets of work instructions (beyond paper and 2D online documentation) and would enable cost savings and economies of scale by reducing the amount of manual work to design and develop stand-alone guided AR scenarios.

Technical communicators see great potential for the use of Augmented Reality to deliver information to users in context in real time. But they are also finding it difficult to integrate Augmented Reality into existing information products. A new technical committee focusing AR use in technical communication and information products has been announced in a press release issued by OASIS.

Future standards developed by the new OASIS Augmented Reality for Information Products (ARIP) Technical Committee could reduce the need for custom software development by those who seek to offer an alternative way to view digital documentation. OASIS ARIP was initiated by Huawei out of a desire to integrate the benefits of AR into their own technical communications.

Chalmers Research Institute has announced the opening of its Smart Industry lab on the Chalmers Campus Lindholmen, Sweden. Augmented Reality is one of the three pillars of Industry 4.0 technologies on which the institute’s scientists and engineers will be focusing (the others being high speed wireless communication systems and open robotic environments).

XMReality, a Swedish Augmented Reality solution provider, is one of the partners whose technologies will be featured. In the new lab and using the technologies of pioneering companies, students and engineers are trained. The lab also provides opportunities for industry to test new technologies in practical testbeds. Ultimately, the graduates and interns who work in the lab will have greater understanding of how, when and where to use the new digital tools in improving workplace performance.