Editing Computer-mediated reality (section)

{{short description|Ability to manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a computer}}

[[File:MannGlass welding helmet.jpg|thumb|The MannGlas "Digital Eye Glass" [[welding helmet]] uses cameras and [[high-dynamic-range imaging]] to augment the user's view in dark areas and diminish it in bright areas.]]
[[File:MediatedReality videocam with tv on easel at niagara falls.jpg|thumb|upright|Art installation illustrating the mediated reality concept. First we display what's really there, and then this allows a computer to be inserted into the "reality stream" to modify it.]]
[[File:MediatedReality on iPhone2009 07 13 21 33 39.jpg|thumb|upright|Augmented reality application running on Apple iPhone]]

'''Computer-mediated reality''' refers to the ability to add to, subtract information from, or otherwise manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a [[wearable computer]] or hand-held device<ref>[http://wearcam.org/mr.html "Wearable, Tetherless, Computer-Mediated Reality"], Technical Report #260, M.I.T. Medial Lab Perceptual Computing Section, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994</ref> such as a smartphone.

Mediated reality is a proper superset of [[mixed reality]], [[augmented reality]], and [[virtual reality]], as it also includes, for example, diminished reality.<ref>Mann, S., & Fung, J. (2001). Videoorbits on EyeTap devices for deliberately diminished reality or altering the visual perception of rigid planar patches of a real world scene. Proceedings of the Second IEEE International Symposium on Mixed Reality, pp 48-55, March 14–15, 2001.</ref>

Typically, it is the user's ''visual'' perception of the environment that is mediated. This is done through the use of some kind of electronic device, such as an [[EyeTap]] device or smart phone, which can act as a visual filter between the real world and what the user perceives. Computer-mediated reality has been used to enhance visual perception as an aid to the visually impaired.<ref>[http://wearcomp.org/mediated-reality/node5.html#SECTION00022000000000000000 Video mediation]</ref> This example achieves a mediated reality by altering a video input stream light that would have normally reached the user's eyes, and computationally altering it to filter it into a more useful form. It has also been used for interactive computer interfaces.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Grasset |first1=R. |last2=Gascuel |first2=J. -D. |last3=Schmalstieg |year=2003 |title=The Second IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, 2003. Proceedings |conference=ISMAR 2003 |pages=302–303 |citeseerx=10.1.1.109.7275 |doi=10.1109/ISMAR.2003.1240731 |isbn=978-0-7695-2006-3 |chapter=Interactive Mediated Reality |s2cid=2007012 |chapter-url=http://artis.inrialpes.fr/Publications/2003/GGS03/}}</ref>

The use of computer-mediated reality to ''diminish'' perception, by the removal or masking of visual data, has been used for architectural applications, and is an area of ongoing research.<ref>See, for instance,  [http://csdl.computer.org/comp/proceedings/ismar/2003/2006/00/20060217abs.htm here] and [http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=A37F2099-C624-4D8E-8FE9-39D8F4522BB1&ttype=6&tid=8823 here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130051051/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=A37F2099-C624-4D8E-8FE9-39D8F4522BB1&ttype=6&tid=8823|date=2005-11-30}}</ref>

The long-term effects of altering perceived reality have not been thoroughly studied, and negative side effects of long-term exposure might be possible.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} Short term effects have been demonstrated with the eyestrain caused by computers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to Avoid Eye Strain Caused by Increased Screen Time Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2020/08/eye-strain-screen-time.php |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=healthcare.utah.edu |language=en}}</ref>