Affordances of Augmented Reality Systems for Co-Located Collaboration

This paper aims to identify relevant affordances towards an augmented reality system for organizational practices of co-located collaboration. As augmented reality is a means to visualize and author information, such an artifact could enable intuitive sharing of information. It can be shown that single aspects are reflected in literature, missing so far is a comprehensive description of relevant affordances for such an artifact. The concept of affordances is increasingly used in information research, as it enables to define design principle based on the action goals of the user. Addressing the lack of clear formulation guidelines of affordances, a proposal is presented of how affordances can be formulated to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity. This paper makes two major contributions: (1) it introduces how augmented reality systems can contribute to organizational practices of co-located collaboration and (2) illustrates how affordances can be utilized to derive requirements for such systems from interviews

Emerging technology and pedagogical application in Design Education

This research paper investigates the emerging technologies and pedagogical applications in design education. The rapid development of technology has opened up new possibilities for design education, and it is important to explore how these emerging technologies can be used to enhance pedagogical practices. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential of emerging technologies in design education and their impact on pedagogical practices. The study employs a qualitative research methodology and draws on a range of literature sources, including academic articles, books, and reports. The research explores the use of emerging technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and gamification in design education. It examines how these technologies can be used to enhance creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills among design students. Furthermore, the paper discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of these technologies into design pedagogy. The findings suggest that emerging technologies have the potential to transform design education and improve pedagogical practices. The use of virtual reality, for example, can provide students with an immersive learning experience and enhance their understanding of complex design concepts. Gamification can be used to motivate students and promote collaboration among them. Augmented reality can be used to enhance the learning experience by overlaying digital information on physical objects

Exploring the Potential of 3D Visualization Techniques for Usage in Collaborative Design

Best practice for collaborative design demands good interaction between its collaborators. The capacity to share common knowledge about design models at hand is a basic requirement. With current advancing technologies gathering collective knowledge is more straightforward, as the dialog between experts can be supported better. The potential for 3D visualization techniques to become the right support tool for collaborative design is explored. Special attention is put on the possible usage for remote collaboration. The opportunities for current state-of-the-art visualization techniques from stereoscopic vision to holographic displays are researched. A classification of the various systems is explored with respect to their tangible usage for augmented reality. Appropriate interaction methods can be selected based on the usage scenario

[DC] Towards Understanding, Alleviating, and Exploiting the Effects of Asymmetry in Collaborative Mixed Reality

Mixed reality (MR) has the potential to transform the way we communicate and collaborate. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the collaborative use of different MR devices, such as collaboration between local augmented reality (AR) and remote virtual reality (VR) users. This position paper outlines research focused on deepening our understanding of the impact of asymmetry on collaboration and to use this knowledge to mitigate its negative effects and leverage its positive potential, leading to improved collaboration in MR environments. The findings of this research are expected to be valuable for the design of systems that support a diverse range of collaborative scenarios

Co-design of augmented reality book for collaborative learning experience in primary education

Through co-design of Augmented Reality (AR) based teaching material, this research aims to enhance collaborative learning experience in primary school education. It will introduce an interactive AR Book based on primary school textbook using tablets as the real time interface. The development of this AR Book employs co-design methods to involve children, teachers, educators and HCI experts from the early stages of the design process. Research insights from the co-design phase will be implemented in the AR Book design. The final outcome of the AR Book will be evaluated in the classroom to explore its effect on the collaborative experience of primary school students. The research aims to answer the question - Can Augmented Books be designed for primary school students in order to support collaboration? This main research question is divided into two sub-questions as follows - How can co-design methods be applied in designing Augmented Book with and for primary school children? And what is the effect of the proposed Augmented Book on primary school students' collaboration? This research will not only present a practical application of co-designing AR Book for and with primary school children, it will also clarify the benefit of AR for education in terms of collaborative experience

A Reference Architecture for a Workflow Management System Front End Designed for Augmented Reality Headsets

A well-known approach to managing and controlling workflows in organizations is the workflow management system (WFMS). Recently, approaches utilizing augmented reality headsets as WFMS front ends have been discussed, promising higher efficiency, effectiveness, and usability for certain application scenarios. However, existing design-oriented approaches lack actionable guidance for implementation. A well-known approach to address such knowledge gaps is a reference architecture, which inter alia reduces development times and risks and facilitates collaboration between developers. Based on an existing tentative design theory for an augmented reality-based WFMS front end, we contribute a reference architecture containing an extended design theory, user interface design, and models for use cases, components, classes, and sequence flows in the unified modeling language. The reference architecture was successfully operationalized in a prototype and positively evaluated via a survey of potential users

Immersive Trajectory Design Framework Using Augmented Reality

The field of astrodynamics currently relies on highly specialized tools for spacecraft trajectory design, resulting in intricate trajectories sometimes difficult to visualize on 2D screens. On the other hand, the intuitive interaction capabilities of augmented reality make it ideal for solving complex 3D problems that require complex spatial representations, which is key for astrodynamics and space mission planning. By implementing common and complex orbital mechanics algorithms in augmented reality, a hands-on method for designing orbit solutions and spacecraft missions is created. This effort explores the aforementioned implementation with the Microsoft Hololens 2 as well as its applications in both industry and academia. Furthermore, the collaboration between the Human Factors and Aerospace Engineering departments led to the creation of a user-friendly augmented reality system tailored for space mission planning. A user-centered design approach was explored, which involved assessing user requirements, analyzing existing processes, prototyping an AR interface, and engaging in iterative design. Moving forward, the team plans to refine and test the application\u27s front-end design through heuristic evaluations, ongoing refinement, and testing of prototypes with potential users. This is all in hopes of ensuring that the tool is user-friendly, while maintaining accuracy and applicability to higher-fidelity problems

Towards Outdoor Collaborative Mixed Reality: Lessons Learnt from a Prototype System

Most research on collaborative mixed reality (CMR) has focused on indoor spaces. In this paper, we present our ongoing work aimed at investigating the potential of CMR in outdoor spaces. These spaces present unique challenges due to their larger and more complex nature, particularly in terms of reconstruction, tracking, and interaction. Our prototype system utilises a photorealistic model to facilitate collaboration between remote virtual reality (VR) users and a local augmented reality (AR) user. We discuss our design considerations, lessons learnt, and areas for future work

Optimizing Project Delivery through Augmented Reality and Agile Methodologies

The construction sector, which has a long history to use visualisation to envisage proposed designs and project delivery, is beginning to see the benefits of augmented reality and agile project management methodologies. This study investigated the benefits of augmented reality and agile project management methodologies. Convergent design method was considered valuable and the most straightforward for this study, as different types of quantitative and qualitative data were required to be collected and analysed. The participants drawn from the construction sector revealed a number of augmented and agile determinants that facilitated the delivery of construction and integration of project teams. The participants suggested that the proposed ARGILE framework increases client understanding of the tasks output, increases client involvement and collaboration with the project team. It was further established that the proposed ARGILE framework enhances project time management, embeds the client and empowers multidisciplinary team, increases collaboration and communication

Collaboration in Augmented Reality: How to establish coordination and joint attention?

Schnier C, Pitsch K, Dierker A, Hermann T. Collaboration in Augmented Reality: How to establish coordination and joint attention? In: Boedker S, Bouvin NO, Lutters W, Wulf V, Ciolfi L, eds. Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW 2011). Springer-Verlag London; 2011: 405-416.We present an initial investigation from a semi-experimental setting, in which an HMD-based AR-system has been used for real-time collaboration in a task-oriented scenario (design of a museum exhibition). Analysis points out the specific conditions of interacting in an AR environment and focuses on one particular practical problem for the participants in coordinating their interaction: how to establish joint attention towards the same object or referent. Analysis allows insights into how the pair of users begins to familarize with the environment, the limitations and opportunities of the setting and how they establish new routines for e.g. solving the ʻjoint attentionʼ-problem