Augmented Reality for Human Intelligence Amplification

With the recent proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) into many aspects of our life, there is an increased interest in human-centric AO, which puts the human in control rather than seeking universal automation. An important aspect of this human-friendly line of thinking is intelligence amplification, which seeks to provide the human with computer-supported tools for performing cognitive tasks. For example, “AI copilots” already support us in our everyday desktop work. However, away from the desktop, intelligence amplification becomes scarce, since we are lacking sufficiently rich and simple-to-use interfaces. Here, augmented reality (AR) can help to fill the gap. By augmentating human visual perception with computer-generated information, we can provide cognitive support when and where it is needed. This talk will present selected AR techniques from over two decades of research, and outline how AR and AI can be used in new synergistic ways.

Biography

Dieter Schmalstieg is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Visual Computing at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He is also an adjunct professor at the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision at Graz University of Technology, Austria. His current research interests are augmented reality, virtual reality, computer graphics, visualization and human-computer interaction. He received Dipl.-Ing. (1993), Dr. techn. (1997) and Habilitation (2001) from Vienna University of Technology. He is author and co-author of over 400 peer-reviewed scientific publications with over 20,000 citations and over twenty best paper awards and nominations. His organizational roles include associate editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, associate editor of Frontiers in Robotics and AI, member of the steering committee of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, chair of the EUROGRAPHICS working group on Virtual Environments (1999-2010), key researcher of the K-Plus Competence Center for Virtual Reality and Visualization in Vienna and key researcher of the Know-Center in Graz. In 2002, he received the START career award presented by the Austrian Science Fund. In 2008, he founded the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Handheld Augmented Reality. In 2012, he received the IEEE Virtual Reality technical achievement award, and, in 2020, the IEEE ISMAR Career Impact Award. He was elected as Fellow of IEEE, as a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Academia Europaea, and the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy.