A Survey of Augmented Reality
Abstract
This paper surveys the field of augmented reality (AR), in which 3D virtual objects are integrated into a 3D real environment in real time. It describes the medical, manufacturing, visualization, path planning, entertainment, and military applications that have been explored. This paper describes the characteristics of augmented reality systems, including a detailed discussion of the tradeoffs between optical and video blending approaches. Registration and sensing errors are two of the biggest problems in building effective augmented reality systems, so this paper summarizes current efforts to overcome these problems. Future directions and areas requiring further research are discussed. This survey provides a starting point for anyone interested in researching or using augmented reality.
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Interactivity, novelty, quality, and vividness are consistently identified as core attributes of the AR user experience.
“Four attributes are consistently identified as the core elements of the AR user experience (Azuma 1997;Nikhashemi et al. 2021;Xu et al. 2024).”
From Seeing Is Believing, Experiencing Is Deciding: How Augmented Reality Attributes Drive Confidence in Choice and Willingness to Pay (2026) · cites this paper as Azuma 1997
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- Authors
- Azuma, R. T.
- Affiliations
- HRL Laboratories (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Azuma, Ronald T.
- ORCID
- Azuma, Ronald T.
- Venue
- Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 1997-08
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 355-385
- ISSN
- 1054-7460 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2122122381
- Cited by
- 10,121
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 489 · 2025: 646 · 2024: 758 · 2023: 828 · 2022: 786 · 2021: 755 · 2020: 792 · 2019: 658 · 2018: 564 · 2017: 407 · 2016: 371 · 2015: 402 · 2014: 349 · 2013: 330 · 2012: 283
- FWCI
- 53.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- PRESENCE Virtual and Augmented Reality (publishedVersion)
- ELARTU (Ternopil National Technical University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Augmented Reality Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Interactive and Immersive Displays
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Keywords
- augmented reality, 3D virtual objects, real-time rendering, registration error, sensing errors, medical applications, manufacturing applications, visualization, path planning, entertainment applications, military applications
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