In a seminal article on augmented reality (AR) [7], Ron Azuma defines AR as
a variation of virtual reality (VR), which completely immerses a user inside a
synthetic environment. Azuma says “In contrast, AR allows the user to see the real
world, with virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the real world”
[7] (emphasis added). Typically, a user wears a tracked stereoscopic head-mounted
display (HMD) or holds a smartphone, showing the real world through optical or
video means, with superimposed graphics that provide the appearance of virtual
content that is related to and registered with the real world. While AR has been
around since the 1960s [72], it is experiencing a renaissance of development and
consumer interest. With exciting products from Microsoft (HoloLens), Metavision
(Meta 2), and others; Apple’s AR Developer’s Kit (ARKit); and well-funded
startups like Magic Leap [54], the future is looking even brighter, expecting that
AR technologies will be absorbed into our daily lives and have a strong influence
on our society in the foreseeable future.
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Augmented Reality: Telehealth Demonstration Application
Augmented Reality (AR) as a technology will improve the way
we work and live in the future. The Microsoft HoloLens device
allows for rendering of interactive virtual components into a real
world space. The HoloLens is an augmented reality headset and can
display these virtual components in front of the user’s eyes, so the
data needed to complete a real-world task will always be available.
The nature of a HoloLens device lends itself useful for applications
in a healthcare setting. Potential benefits come from transitioning
to a more hands-free environment such as allowing the logging
of data while in sterile environments without needing to sterilize
repeatedly from touching paper or tablet. This project developed an
augmented reality (AR) application to include a care plan tracker
established by a patient’s doctor to allow the patient to do daily
tasks without a health care worker’s supervision. The application
displays the medications that the patient needs to ingest, daily tasks
to complete, and health data to record. The application allows the
physician to retrieve useful patient information regularly without
scheduled physicals. This project sets a baseline that will provide
future developers with documentation, research, and this sample
application to assist in the design and construction of more complex
applications in the future at the University of New Hampshire.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1659377
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10225096
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC ’20)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 452 to 455
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3311790.3399629
