2008: Exploring Diverse Applications and Foundational Concepts
In 2008, the landscape of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) seemed to be characterized by a broad exploration of potential applications and a foundational look at the technology itself. We see a strong emphasis on VR/AR as a tool for "Analyses Using VR/AR Visualization," suggesting its growing utility beyond mere entertainment into serious analytical work.
A notable emerging trend was the integration of mobile technology, as evidenced by "Mobile Phone-Enabled Museum Guidance with Adaptive Classification." This highlights an early push towards making immersive technologies accessible and practical in everyday contexts, like cultural institutions. Beyond practicality, there was also a social dimension, with titles like "Using VR for Human Development in Africa," indicating an interest in leveraging these technologies for broader societal benefit.
On the technical side, discussions around the future of the field were already taking shape, as seen in "Future Standards for Immersive VR: Report on the IEEE Virtual Reality 2007 Workshop," which points to the community's early efforts in establishing common ground for the technology's evolution. Interestingly, the year also showed a playful, experimental edge with "Cooking Up an Interactive Olfactory Game Display," hinting at a nascent interest in expanding sensory immersion beyond just sight and sound.
2009: Practicality and Mobile Integration Take Center Stage
The year 2009 marked a significant pivot towards the practical application and deployment of augmented reality, particularly on mobile platforms. A clear theme is the concerted effort to make AR feasible on handheld devices, underlined by the two-part series, "Making Augmented Reality Practical on Mobile Phones, Part 1" and "Part 2." This indicates that mobile AR was moving from a theoretical concept to a more tangible and implementable technology.
Continuity with previous years is visible in the ongoing exploration of VR in specific domains, but with a refined focus. We see VR being integrated into professional workflows, such as "Environ: Integrating VR and CAD in Engineering Projects," and further adoption in cultural and educational settings with "Virtual Reality in the Digital Olympic Museum" and "A VR Playground for Learning Abstract Mathematics Concepts."
A unique continuity from the previous year's focus on standards and community building is also observed in "Practicing What We Preach: IEEE VR 2009 Virtual Program Committee Meeting." This title highlights the internal adoption of VR technologies by the very community developing them, using virtual environments for collaborative, practical tasks like conference organization. This suggests a maturation where the technology is not just for external application but also for internal operational efficiency.
2010: Advancing Environments and Blending Realities
By 2010, the focus appears to broaden and deepen, moving beyond basic mobile integration to more advanced concepts in creating and interacting with virtual and mixed environments. The concept of "Mixing Realities at Ismar 2009: Scary and Wondrous" suggests a growing interest in the convergence of virtual, augmented, and real-world experiences, hinting at a more sophisticated understanding of immersive technologies. This marks a shift from purely practical application to exploring the experiential and conceptual boundaries of mixed reality.
There's also an increased emphasis on the foundational technologies that enable rich, interactive digital worlds. "Dynamic Terrain for Multiuser Real-Time Environments" points towards research in creating complex, shared virtual spaces that can adapt and respond, a key component for sophisticated VR/AR applications. This represents a continuity from earlier years' focus on VR environments, but with a clear advancement towards dynamic and collaborative elements.
A new area emerging is "Experimental Platforms for Computational Photography." While not directly a VR/AR title, its presence suggests a growing interplay between how digital environments are created and perceived, with photography becoming a computational, rather than merely capture, process. This hints at a future where the creation of realistic digital assets for immersive experiences is deeply intertwined with advanced photographic techniques.
