Augmented reality meeting table: a novel multi-user interface for architectural design

Immersive virtual environments have received widespread attention as providing possible replacements for the media and systems that designers traditionally use, as well as, more generally, in providing support for collaborative work. Relatively little attention has been given to date however to the problem of how to merge immersive virtual environments into real world work settings, and so to add to the media at the disposal of the designer and the design team, rather than to replace it. In this paper we report on a research project in which optical see-through augmented reality displays have been developed together with prototype decision support software for architectural and urban design. We suggest that a critical characteristic of multi user augmented reality is its ability to generate visualisations from a first person perspective in which the scale of rendition of the design model follows many of the conventions that designers are used to. Different scales of model appear to allow designers to focus on different aspects of the design under consideration. Augmenting the scene with simulations of pedestrian movement appears to assist both in scale recognition, and in moving from a first person to a third person understanding of the design. This research project is funded by the European Commission IST program (IST-2000-28559)

Augmented and virtual reality in construction: Drivers and limitations for industry adoption

Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to provide a step-change in productivity in the construction sector; however, the level of adoption is very low. This paper presents a systematic study of the factors that limit and drive adoption in a construction sector-specific context. A mixed research method was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Eight focus groups with 54 experts and an online questionnaire were conducted. Forty-two limiting and driving factors were identified and ranked. Principal component analysis was conducted to group the identified factors into a smaller number of factors based on correlations. Four types of limiting factors and four types of driving factors were identified. The main limitation of adoption is that AR and VR technologies are regarded as expensive and immature technologies that are not suitable for engineering and construction. The main drivers are that AR and VR enable improvements in project delivery and provision of new and better services. This study provides valuable insights to stakeholders to devise actions that mitigate the limiting factors and that boost the driving factors. This is one of the first systematic studies to present a detailed analysis of the factors that limit and drive adoption of AR and VR in the construction industry. The main contribution of this study is that it grouped and characterized myriad limiting and driving factors into easily understandable categories, so that the limiting factors can be effectively mitigated and the driving factors potentiated. A roadmap with specific short-term and medium-term actions for improving adoption was outlined

A Survey of Interaction Techniques and Devices for Large High Resolution Displays

Innovations in large high-resolution wall-sized displays have been yielding benefits to visualizations in industry and academia, leading to a rapidly growing increase of their implementations. In scenarios such as these, the displayed visual information tends to be larger than the users field of view, hence the necessity to move away from traditional interaction methods towards more suitable interaction devices and techniques. This paper aspires to explore the state-of-the-art with respect to such technologies for large high-resolution displays

Collaborative Nonverbal Interaction within Virtual Environments

Abstract:Current virtual environments are predominantly visual-spatial, which allows their ‘inhabitants’ the display, either in a conscious or unconscious way, of nonverbal cues during interaction, such as gaze direction, deictic gestures or location. This interchange of nonverbal messages enriches interaction while supports mutual comprehension, fundamental for collaborative work and therefore particularly important in a multiuser virtual environment, that is, a Collaborative Virtual Environment. Different techniques, the media involvement, and automatic detection related collaborative nonverbal interaction are here discussed.Keywords: Collaborative Virtual Environment, nonverbal communication, collaborative interactio