Augmented Reality (AR), which overlays virtual information on top of the real world, is a tantalizing concept, but the technology is still a bit complicated. To see virtual directions float in front of you, you have to either look at the world through the screen of a smart phone, or don a pair of bulky, goofy video goggles. Many experts have questioned whether AR will ever catch on in the consumer market.

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hardware company Vuzix has revealed the first clear AR glasses for consumers. The glasses, called Raptyr, use holographic optics instead of video screens to make digital objects appear in mid-air. The approach is challenging, not least the interface has to compensate for (or compete with) natural light. For this reason the lenses can electronically darken to compensate for brighter or darker environments.

The Raptyr glasses, which have won a CES Innovation Award, feature a 6-megapixel camera, a microphone, headphones and a motion tracking system. They could be plugged into a PC, smart phone, or gaming system.

They are much less bulky and conspicuous than traditional video headsets, which are used in niche fields such as architecture and design, animation, and military training. "It looks a lot like a pair of shutter glasses you'd buy from Sony," CEO Paul Travers told Technology Review.

Johan Beskow of SenseGraphics demonstrates Curictus. Credit: Technology Review

At the IEEE's Virtual Reality 2010 conference in Waltham, MA this week, researchers and companies are demonstrating technologies that combine virtual reality and haptics.

Some of these technologies are designed for medical rehabilitation. For example, a device made by Swedish company Curictus combines a haptic stylus from SensAble called the Phantom Omni with a pair of virtual reality glasses and monitor. The stylus moves freely on the mount, but becomes more or less resistant depending on the user's onscreen actions. In a demo at the conference, I donned 3-D glasses and used the stylus to push virtual blocks around. The stylus pushed back when one block was pushed into another as it would in the real world. Pressing a button on the device and rotating a block around produced the centripetal force, which I felt through the stylus.

This type of set-up can be used for rehabilitation. Turning exercises into a computerized game encourages patients to complete their exercises and keeps precise records of their performance, says Tommy Forsell at SenseGraphics, a company that provides open-source software for the combined device.

In another game, I used the stylus as a hammer to hit 3-D pop-up images. This game is designed to measure stroke patients' response times and the accuracy of their actions.

The technology from SenseGraphics and SensAble has also been used to train doctors and dentists, and by veterinary students at the Royal Veterinary College in London to learn how to treat pregnant cows, says Forsell.

The prototype is currently being used in several rehabilitation centers in Sweden. See an older version of the device in action here.

A screenshot from the cigarette-crushing game

Smokers who regularly play a computer game that involves crushing virtual cigarettes could have a better chance of kicking the habit. At least, that's the implication of an experiment carried out by researchers at the University of Quebec in Canada and published in the latest issue of CyberPsychology and Behavior.

Virtual reality has been used to treat a variety of disorders including phantom limb syndrome, arachnophobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and even the pain experienced by burn victims.

In the University of Quebec study, 91 smokers played either the cigarette-crushing game or a ball-grasping game via a motion-tracking, head-mounted display over 3 months. In each game, players wandered around a medieval castle and used a virtual arm (controlled by a wireless game pad) to either find and crush floating cigarettes or grasp virtual balls. At the end of the three months, 15% of those in the cigarette-crushing group said they had cut down on smoking (as measured by carbon monoxide levels in an exhale test), compared to 2% of the ball-grasping group.

Aside from better smoking abstinence, those who played the cigarette-crushing game also reported having lower nicotine cravings.

The researchers speculate that crushing virtual cigarettes may help smokers feel more confident about quitting. The game may have also help players associate crushing cigarettes with the feeling of winning.

It would be interesting to know if a regular video game would have a similar effect, or if a more immersive virtual reality experience is crucial.