Analyzing the Impact of Spatio-Temporal Sensor Resolution on Player Experience in Augmented Reality Games

Along with automating everyday tasks of human life, smartphones have become one of the most popular devices to play video games on due to their interactivity. Smartphones are embedded with various sensors which enhance their ability to adopt new new interaction techniques for video games. These integrated sen- sors, such as motion sensors or location sensors, make the device able to adopt new interaction techniques that enhance usability. However, despite their mobility and embedded sensor capacity, smartphones are limited in processing power and display area compared to desktop computer consoles. When it comes to evaluat- ing Player Experience (PX), players might not have as compelling an experience because the rich graphics environments that a desktop computer can provide are absent on a smartphone. A plausible alternative in this regard can be substituting the virtual game world with a real world game board, perceived through the device camera by rendering the digital artifacts over the camera view. This technology is widely known as Augmented Reality (AR). Smartphone sensors (e.g. GPS, accelerometer, gyro-meter, compass) have enhanced the capability for deploying Augmented Reality technology. AR has been applied to a large number of smartphone games including shooters, casual games, or puzzles. Because AR play environments are viewed through the camera, rendering the digital artifacts consistently and accurately is crucial because the digital characters need to move with respect to sensed orientation, then the accelerometer and gyroscope need to provide su ciently accurate and precise readings to make the game playable. In particular, determining the pose of the camera in space is vital as the appropriate angle to view the rendered digital characters are determined by the pose of the camera. This defines how well the players will be able interact with the digital game characters. Depending in the Quality of Service (QoS) of these sensors, the Player Experience (PX) may vary as the rendering of digital characters are affected by noisy sensors causing a loss of registration. Confronting such problem while developing AR games is di cult in general as it requires creating wide variety of game types, narratives, input modalities as well as user-testing. Moreover, current AR games developers do not have any specific guidelines for developing AR games, and concrete guidelines outlining the tradeoffs between QoS and PX for different genres and interaction techniques are required. My dissertation provides a complete view (a taxonomy) of the spatio-temporal sensor resolution depen- dency of the existing AR games. Four user experiments have been conducted and one experiment is proposed to validate the taxonomy and demonstrate the differential impact of sensor noise on gameplay of different genres of AR games in different aspect of PX. This analysis is performed in the context of a novel instru- mentation technology, which allows the controlled manipulation of QoS on position and orientation sensors. The experimental outcome demonstrated how the QoS of input sensor noise impacts the PX differently while playing AR game of different genre and the key elements creating this differential impact are - the input modality, narrative and game mechanics. Later, concrete guidelines are derived to regulate the sensor QoS as complete set of instructions to develop different genres or AR games

A Real Time Indoor Navigation and Monitoring System for Firefighters and Visually Impaired

ABSTRACT A REAL TIME INDOOR NAVIGATION AND MONITORING SYSTEM FOR FIREFIGHTERS AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED MAY 2011 SIDDHESH RAJAN GANDHI M.S. E.C.E, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Aura Ganz There has been a widespread growth of technology in almost every facet of day to day life. But there are still important application areas in which technology advancements have not been implemented in a cost effective and user friendly manner. Such applications which we will address in this proposal include: 1) indoor localization and navigation of firefighters during rescue operations and 2) indoor localization and navigation for the blind and visually impaired population. Firefighting is a dangerous job to perform as there can be several unexpected hazards while rescuing victims. Since the firefighters do not have any knowledge about the internal structure of the fire ridden building, they will not be able to find the location of the EXIT door, a fact that can prove to be fatal. We introduce an indoor location tracking and navigation system (FIREGUIDE) using RFID technology integrated with augmented reality. FIREGUIDE assists the firefighters to find the nearest exit location by providing the navigation instructions to the exits as well as an Augmented Reality view of the location and direction of the exits. The system also presents the Incident Commander the current firefighter’s location superimposed on a map of the building floor. We envision that the FIREGUIDE system will save a significant number of firefighters and victims’ lives. Blind or visually impaired people find it difficult to navigate independently in both outdoor and indoor environments. The outdoor navigation problem can be solved by using systems that have GPS support. But indoor navigation systems for the blind or visually impaired are still a challenge to conquer, given the requirements of low cost and user friendly operation. In order to enhance the perception of indoor and unfamiliar environments for the blind and visually-impaired, as well as to aid in their navigation through such environments, we propose a novel approach that provides context–aware navigation services. INSIGHT uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and tagged spaces (audio landmarks), enabling a ubiquitous computing system with contextual awareness of its users while providing them persistent and context-aware information. We present INSIGHT system that supports a number of unique features such as: a) Low deployment and maintenance cost; b) Scalability, i.e. we can deploy the system in very large buildings; c) An on-demand system that does not overwhelm the user, as it offers small amounts of information on demand; and d) Portability and ease-of-use, i.e., the custom handheld device carried by the user is compact and instructions are received audibly

Integração de localização baseada em movimento na aplicação móvel EduPARK

More and more, mobile applications require precise localization solutions in a variety of environments. Although GPS is widely used as localization solution, it may present some accuracy problems in special conditions such as unfavorable weather or spaces with multiple obstructions such as public parks. For these scenarios, alternative solutions to GPS are of extreme relevance and are widely studied recently. This dissertation studies the case of EduPARK application, which is an augmented reality application that is implemented in the Infante D. Pedro park in Aveiro. Due to the poor accuracy of GPS in this park, the implementation of positioning and marker-less augmented reality functionalities presents difficulties. Existing relevant systems are analyzed, and an architecture based on pedestrian dead reckoning is proposed. The corresponding implementation is presented, which consists of a positioning solution using the sensors available in the smartphones, a step detection algorithm, a distance traveled estimator, an orientation estimator and a position estimator. For the validation of this solution, functionalities were implemented in the EduPARK application for testing purposes and usability tests performed. The results obtained show that the proposed solution can be an alternative to provide accurate positioning within the Infante D. Pedro park, thus enabling the implementation of functionalities of geocaching and marker-less augmented reality.Cada vez mais, as aplicações móveis requerem soluções de localização precisa nos mais variados ambientes. Apesar de o GPS ser amplamente usado como solução para localização, pode apresentar alguns problemas de precisão em condições especiais, como mau tempo, ou espaços com várias obstruções, como parques públicos. Para estes casos, soluções alternativas ao GPS são de extrema relevância e veem sendo desenvolvidas. A presente dissertação estuda o caso do projeto EduPARK, que é uma aplicação móvel de realidade aumentada para o parque Infante D. Pedro em Aveiro. Devido à fraca precisão do GPS nesse parque, a implementação de funcionalidades baseadas no posionamento e de realidade aumentada sem marcadores apresenta dificuldades. São analisados sistemas relevantes existentes e é proposta uma arquitetura baseada em localização de pedestres. Em seguida é apresentada a correspondente implementação, que consiste numa solução de posicionamento usando os sensores disponiveis nos smartphones, um algoritmo de deteção de passos, um estimador de distância percorrida, um estimador de orientação e um estimador de posicionamento. Para a validação desta solução, foram implementadas funcionalidades na aplicação EduPARK para fins de teste, e realizados testes com utilizadores e testes de usabilidade. Os resultados obtidos demostram que a solução proposta pode ser uma alternativa para a localização no interior do parque Infante D. Pedro, viabilizando desta forma a implementação de funcionalidades baseadas no posicionamento e de realidade aumenta sem marcadores.EduPARK é um projeto financiado por Fundos FEDER através do Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização - COMPETE 2020 e por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do projeto POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016542.Mestrado em Engenharia Informátic

Designing Augmented Reality Applications for Personal Health Decision-Making

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that can assist with our daily decision-making tasks by presenting information that extends the physical world. However, little work has been done to understand the effect of the layout of AR interfaces on decision-making. In this paper, we present PHARA, an AR-based personal assistant that supports decision-making for healthier food products. In a controlled user study (n=28), we explored the use of four different AR layouts on two different devices: Microsoft HoloLens and smartphone. Using subjective and objective means, we measured their effects on decision-making tasks that occur when people hold food products in their hands. We found that pie and grid layouts perform better on the smartphone, whereas a stacked layout works better on the reduced field-of-view of the Microsoft HoloLens, potentially at the cost of some affordances such as time spent and actions

Development and usability analysis of a mixed reality GPS navigator application for the microsoft hololens

The present work aims to perform a comparative usability analysis between two Human- Computer Interaction systems (HCI) for global geolocation (GPS) navigators. The intent is to compare the conventional use of a navigation application on a mobile device, such as a smartphone attached to the dashboard of a vehicle, to an implementation in Mixed Reality (MR) powered by the Head Mounted Display (HMD) Microsoft HoloLens. By connecting the MR device to a local network routed by an ordinary cellular phone, which is connected to a mobile data network, it is possible to ubiquitously acquire the phone’s geolocation data, its magnetometer deviation and a route graph of a navigation Application Programming Interface (API) from its current location to a destination entered by the user. Thus, a series of three-dimensional holograms are created at runtime, geolocated and placed around the user, guiding him through a path indicated on the floor, pertinent to the streets around him that lead to the desired destination. Apart from that, arrows are projected on the way at each crucial point of the path, where some maneuver must be performed, e.g., turning right or taking an exit at a roundabout. In a user experiment, performance and usability were assessed. Results show that users deemed the MR solution to offer a higher visibility both to the oncoming traffic and the suggested route, when compared to the conventional interface, being less attention demanding. EEG readings for most participants also exposed a significantly more demanding focus level for the handheld device. Additionally, an easiness to learn and use was indicated for our system, being almost on par with the already known and highly used application tested.O presente trabalho visa realizar uma análise comparativa de usabilidade entre dois sistemas de interação humano-computador para navegadores de geolocalização global (GPS). Foi almejado comparar o uso convencional do sistema, através de um dispositivo móvel tal qual um smartphone afixado ao painel de um veículo, com uma nova implementação em Realidade Mista potencializada pelo HMD Microsoft HoloLens. Conectando o dispositivo de realidade mista (MR) a uma rede local roteada por um aparelho celular convencional, este conectado a uma rede de dados móvel, foi possível receber ubiquamente os dados de sua geolocalização, de seu magnetômetro e um grafo de rota de uma API de navegação de alta disponibilidade partindo do presente local até um destino inserido pelo usuário. Com isso, é criada em tempo de execução uma série de hologramas tridimensionais geolocalizados ao redor do usuário, guiando-o através de um caminho indicado em seu chão, pertinente às ruas a sua volta que o levarão ao destino desejado. Também são projetadas flechas em seu caminho em cada ponto crucial de seu trajeto, onde deve-se realizar alguma manobra, e.g., dobrar à direita ou tomar uma saída de uma rotatória. Em um experimento realizado com usuários reais, seu desempenho e usabilidade foram aferidos. Resultados mostram que os usuários estimaram que a solução em MR oferecia uma visibilidade maior tanto ao tráfego passante quanto à rota sugerida, em comparação à interface convencional, requerindo menos atenção. Leituras de eletroencefalografia (EEG) na maioria dos participantes indicaram uma demanda significativamente maior de atenção focada no uso do dispositivo móvel. Uma grande facilidade de aprendizado e de uso também foi apontada para nosso sistema, estando quase a par da aplicação móvel altamente conhecida e usada

MorgantinaVR: Cityscale Handheld AR and Cross–Platform VR for Visualizing Georeferenced Archaeological Datasets

The use of Augmented and Virtual Reality in cultural heritage has increased dramatically in recent years, with uses that go far beyond creating and displaying digital reconstructions for museum visitors and tourists. This paper describes the collaboration between Archimedes Digital and the Contrada Agnese Project (CAP) to develop a framework and suite of applications to support the examination display of archaeological data from the site of Morgantina, Sicily in VR and AR. Primary purposes of this digital approach include facilitating collaboration between CAP’s specialists (archaeological, geospatial, and museum), and enabling the effective dissemination of data to researchers and to the general public

Mobil pazarlama: Turizmde artırılmış gerçeklik kullanımı

The developing number of applications by smart devices provides an expanding diversity of travel-related services. In the most recent decade, marketers and advertisers have developed more innovative practices to attract consumers. One of these new marketing tools is augmented reality (AR) application with the smart technologies, which is considered as an advertising and new marketing communication instrument that increases awareness and helps get information. The use of augmented reality has unfolded across several sectors in recent years. One in every of the areas of wherever this technology will notice a possible use is that the tourism industry. AR is taken into account extremely vital for promoting in several industries; but, within the tourism industry there exist comparatively few researches and articles despite the very fact that tourism may fine benefit from the applications for these practices. Therefore this study aimed to seeks; 1) To identify the potentials of the AR applications within the tourism industry. 2) To identify the AR applications in several tourism businesses at the tourism industry from the attitude of promoting, for instance hotels, restaurants, museums and transportation.Akıllı cihazlarla uygulanan çok sayıda uygulama seyahatle ilgili hizmetlerde genişleyen bir çeşitlilik sunmaktadır. Son on yılda, pazarlamacılar ve reklamcılar müşterileri çekmek için daha yenilikçi uygulamalar geliştirmişlerdir. Bu yeni pazarlama araçlarından biri farkındalığı artıran ve bilgi edinmede yardımcı olan, yeni bir reklam aracı ve pazarlama iletişimi aracı olarak kabul edilen, akıllı teknolojiler ile uygulanan artırılmış gerçeklik (AG) uygulamalarıdır. Artırılmış gerçeklik kullanımına son yıllarda birçok sektörlerde tanıklık uygulamalarıdır. Artırılmış gerçeklik kullanımına son yıllarda birçok sektörlerde tanıklık edilmektedir. Bu teknolojinin kullanımına imkân sağlayan alanlardan biride turizm sektörüdür. AG çeşitli sektörlerde pazarlamada hayati öneme sahiptir ancak, turizm sektöründe bu uygulamalara yönelik çok az sayıda araştırma ve makale bulunmaktadır. Bu sebeple bu araştırma: 1) Turizm sektöründe AG uygulamalarının potansiyelini tanımlamayı, 2) Oteller, restoranlar, müzeler, ulaşım gibi çeşitli turizm sektörlerinde pazarlamada kullanılan AG uygulamalarını incelemeyi amaçlamıştır

Merged reality for everyone

This article addresses some interesting challenges and business opportunities within the promising merged reality ecosystem, which offers the vision of bringing together virtual, augmented and physical realities, seamlessly. The article also links the current status of this field with exploratory research and development work carried out by Altice Labs.Altice Labsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio