Weaving Augmented Reality into the Fabric of Everyday Life

In 1997 Ronald T. Azuma introduced the now generally accepted and followed definition in Augmented Reality (AR) research. In short, it tells us that in AR we introduce virtual content into the real world, this virtual content needs to be aligned with real content, and a user of an AR environment can interact with the (dynamic) virtual and real content in real-time. This definition leaves open how virtual content is generated, which display technology is desired and which senses are addressed. This has advantages, but it is now becoming clear that these missing aspects lead to confusion, also because with the current smart technology in general and ubiquitous computing in particular, AR technology can no longer be considered in isolation. We present the arguments that lead to this conclusion. We will explain the arguments with examples in which the vision, auditory and olfactory senses play a role. Starting point and conclusion obtained is that AR eventually will become an everyday technology that will merge into reality.