Attention: Director of Science and Technology Policy for The White House

Professor Van Atta

Emerging Technologies and Security
25 February 2015

Augmented Reality

Attention: Director of Science and Technology Policy for The White House

Recently, the development and use of augmented reality technologies has become a pertinent topic in the technological arena. Augmented reality is a type of technology that uses 3D virtual objects in combination with the real time environment to produce an enhanced view of the world.¹ While this type of technology functions in a single unit, it includes a variety of different technologies all working together to incorporate digital information into the real environment. ² There are many different types of technologies that deal in some way with changes in reality; specifically it is important to note that augmented reality is related to, but not the same as, virtual environment technologies.³ Virtual environment is a 3D, computer-created representation of a setting where the user operates and interacts within that arena. ⁴ Augmented reality is different because it combines the real world with superimposed virtual objects layered on the natural environment. ⁵

Augmented reality technology research began in the 1960s with the creation of multisensory technologies. While augmented reality-type research was conducted since this time, the term “augmented reality” was not officially coined until 1992.⁶ Augmented reality now has earned its name as a revolutionary type of technology and is beginning to take shape in consumer products and other large industries.

Augmented reality is academically defined by three characteristics. First, it is a technology that combines real and virtual features. Second, it is a technology that is interactive in real time. Third, augmented reality is a technology that is registered in three dimensions. Due to these characteristics, users can solve problems or complete real life tasks in the 3D moment. While many type of augmented reality technology can differ depending on its use, it must incorporate these three characteristics to distinguish itself from other alternative reality technologies.

Augmented reality is based on the idea of enhancing one’s natural environment. This is accomplished by augmenting the center of human consciousness, the senses.⁷ Humans possess the extraordinary ability to see, hear, smell and feel different parts of our world. With augmented reality, these senses are enhanced while keeping the consciousness in the hands of the beholder.⁸ Augmented reality technologies specifically function by performing four tasks. First, the real environment that is to be enhanced is “captured” by a device. This environment is then scanned so that its contents can be embedded. Once the scene is identified, the corresponding virtual content is requested. Finally, the system produces a compilation of the real space with the virtual content. By performing these steps, augmented reality technologies can reproduce a real world environment with electronic technology, which allows the user to alter the environment however he or she chooses.⁹

Augmented reality is particularly important because it opens the world to new products and manners of functioning. By taking reality and enhancing it, augmented reality makes itself assessable and practical in day-to-day life situations. Augmented reality allows the user to use the technology in the real world, making tasks easier and humans more efficient.¹⁰ This type of technology is also pertinent because of its ability to function on a variety of different mediums. Augmented reality has the ability to applied to everything from personal computers to glasses, permitting a variety of different application and development possibilities.¹¹ Furthermore, by bring compatible with different mediums, augmented reality can interact with many different users or consumers.

There are a variety of different uses that have been imagined for augmented reality technology. Originally, these applications fell into six main categories: medical, maintenance, annotation, robotics, entertainment and military. Medically, doctors can use augmented reality as visualization and training aid, allowing them to collect 3D data from patients in real time.¹² In terms of maintenance services, augmented reality provides 3D drawings of step-by-step instructions, making tasks easier to complete.¹³ This type of technology can also be used to annotate objects and environments with public or private information. ¹⁴ In the context of robots, augmented reality allows humans to plan and specify robot’s actions instead of merely controlling them directly.¹⁵ Augmented reality also has an entertainment application, allowing companies to reduce their production costs by creating sets virtually. ¹⁶ Finally, augmented reality technologies have been imagined for military use. With the use of this technology, military aircrafts can use displays to superimpose vector graphics upon the pilot’s view of the real world. This enhances their navigation abilities and provides more accurate flight information and protection. ¹⁷ While these six original categories are diverse in themselves, augmented reality has expanded outside of these categories. By doing so, it has become an even more dynamic technology, reaching almost all areas of human life.¹⁸

The sectors that have been influenced the most by augmented reality technologies are the consumer market and the military. While augmented reality has been a research subject since the 1960s, the first usable outputs of this did not appear for consumer use until recently. In 2009, the first augmented reality iPhone application, Metro Paris Subway, was released.¹⁹ However, the release of this and other augmented reality technologies did not have the economic success that they were believed to have. In 2011, the revenue for augmented reality technologies was much less than expected, around $181 million USD.²⁰ This was a very shocking number, especially due to the large amount of time and money that was placed into development. According to the DHL market research, consumers see this type of technology as a marketing gimmick, a functioning technology that has not found a real world application.²¹ This unexpected consumer response has not stopped companies from developing new augmented reality technology products. Moreover, many of these new products show promise and possible success. It is forecasted that by 2017 augmented reality technology revenue will hit around $5.2 billion USD. However, this assumes an exponential increase in yearly revenue.²² The success of augmented reality in the consumer market will depend largely upon consumer’s acceptance of these new technologies.

Augmented reality technologies have also become integrated into military sector as new products. Since 2003, the U.S. army has used SmartCam3D, an augmented reality technology that provides a 3D real-time view of the ground. The advantage of this technology is it can be used no matter the weather or visibility conditions.²³ This technology has aided in military navigation and security measures. Due to the success of this technology, the military now is looking to use augmented reality technologies for training purposes.²⁴ Military success is often linked to the level and type of training soldiers are provided with. By simulating situations, this technology can create a more effective and cheaper manner in which the U.S. can train its combat officers. Recently, the augmented reality technology that has received the most success is the “Future Holistic Training Environment Live Synthetic”. This system works by combining life, virtual, constructive and gaming simulations into one system.²⁵ With this technology, the military will be able to create realistic situations for the trainees to experience and learn from. The current issue with using augmented reality for military training purposes is that each type of simulation in this product is designed to work independently. For this system to work accurately, each of these simulations must work harmoniously with each other. Currently, industry experts and academics are working together to develop the system with the goal of full deployment by 2025.²⁶

One of the most well known recent applications of augmented reality technology is Google Glass. Google Glass is an effort by Google, introduced in 2012, to create augmented reality glasses.²⁷ However, over the last three years, it has been accepted that Google Glass is a failure as a consumer product. The concept behind the product was to create hi-tech glasses that layer computer information over the natural world. ²⁸ This technology has been referred to as “wearable computing” as it brings together the search engine, GPS tracking, phones and cameras. ²⁹ Initially, Google Glass seemed to be a product that would be extremely popular and successful. However, this was not the case and Google stopped selling Google Glass in January 2015. ³⁰ Many claim the failure of Google Glass is because it was the first technology of its kind to enter the consumer market. Consumers see the product as intrusive, as it is a type of product that is very different than previously produced.³¹

Google Glass is an especially interesting example of augmented reality because it does not demonstrate a technology failure, but a failure in converting that technology into a viable product. It was widely believed that augmented reality products would be popular because of their ability to intertwine normal actions and technology. However, it seems that humans see augmented reality technologies as too much too soon. While the acceptance of augmented reality products may change in the future, they currently do not seem to be widely popular. Instead, augmented reality technology development should focus on integrating into other industries. For the Office of Science and Technology, augmented reality technology displays massive possibilities as a U.S. military or security technology. Augmented reality technologies are already beginning to become integrated into military actions and, in the future, they could provide substantial benefits, possibly even changing the “face of security”. Therefore, research facilities should focus their experimentation on more security focused industries rather than consumer entertainment.

While the benefits of augmented reality technologies for the U.S. are quite apparent, the immense security risks are overwhelming. As augmented reality technologies involve altering real world environments, there are a variety of security concerns, both internal and external, associated with them. Augmented reality technologies require the sharing of input and output devices, which complicates the system and makes it more vulnerable to attacks.³² Moreover, augmented reality technologies rely on constant Internet connection. However, many devices connected to the Internet increases one’s exposure to cyber threats.³³ These technologies consistently deal with large quantities of data, such as GPS information, video feeds and temperature data. The majority of this information is based on personal attributes or characteristics. Therefore, by having this data unsecured, one’s privacy is at risk. This risk introduces the possibility that one might misuse this access and steal data.³⁴ Due to this increasing personal security threat posed by augmented reality technologies, many are advocating for developers to consider security and privacy issues now while the technologies are still young and malleable and not retroactively.³⁵ If developers can ensure that these technologies are completely safe, they will have more success.

Augmented reality technologies also pose a larger security threat. Specifically in connection with the White House Science and Technology Office, these technologies pose a risk to classified U.S. intelligence information. Cybercriminals are very powerful and intelligent people who could most easily access U.S. army flight plans or the location of government officials. With unsecure augmented reality technologies, not only one’s private information is at risk; a breach in security could lead to physical harm. Both the internal and external security concerns demonstrate that augmented reality technologies need to include extreme security protection in order to be prosperous. The amount of possibilities that augmented reality could create is extraordinary, but the destruction they could cause in terms of security is catastrophic.


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