Where did augmented reality come from?



The first augmented reality head-mounted display system was suspended from a ceiling, and the viewer experienced computer-fed graphics — Sutherland is commonly referred to as the "Father of Graphics."
Other minor developments occurred until the 1990s, when researcher Tom Caudell coined the term "augmented reality," and Australian Julie Martin brought virtual reality to television.
In 1997, Ronald T. Azuma's "A Survey of Augmented Reality" examined the varied uses of augmented reality such as medical, manufacturing, research, mechanical operation and entertainment.
Later that decade and into the 2000s, Hirokazu Kato's ARToolKit combined virtual graphics with real life, which uses video tracking to overlap computer graphics on a video camera.
Now, the first down lines in football games on television, portable games and smartphones augment our realities every dayEven print media began incorporating augmented reality into their publications — see this 2009 issue of Esquire, which allowed readers to scan the cover and make Robert Downey Jr. come alive.

            http://mashable.com/2012/09/24/augmented-reality/