Abstract: Augmented reality (AR) emerges as a new technology to seamlessly integrate information from both the real world and the virtual. This paper presents the concept of AR and its development. A typical AR system with software and hardware architecture is presented based on the current research achievements. Key techniques and related theories of AR are analyzed in detail. Applications of AR in various areas and two of main efforts in AR system development are summarized. Challenging issues in AR applications are analyzed, and the development trend is discussed.

Key words: augmented reality (AR), fusion of the real and the virtual, human computer interaction, tracking and registration