DualStream: Spatially Sharing Selves and Surroundings using Mobile Devices and Augmented Reality

In-person human interaction relies on our spatial perception of each other and our surroundings. Current remote communication tools partially address each of these aspects. Video calls convey real user representations but without spatial interactions. Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) experiences are immersive and spatial but often use virtual environments and characters instead of real-life representations. Bridging these gaps, we introduce DualStream, a system for synchronous mobile AR remote communication that captures, streams, and displays spatial representations of users and their surroundings. DualStream supports transitions between user and environment representations with different levels of visuospatial fidelity, as well as the creation of persistent shared spaces using environment snapshots. We demonstrate how DualStream can enable spatial communication in real-world contexts, and support the creation of blended spaces for collaboration. A formative evaluation of DualStream revealed that users valued the ability to interact spatially and move between representations, and could see DualStream fitting into their own remote communication practices in the near future. Drawing from these findings, we discuss new opportunities for designing more widely accessible spatial communication tools, centered around the mobile phone.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; To appear in the proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 202

A New AR Interaction Paradigm for Collaborative TeleAssistance system: The P.O.A

International audienceIn this paper, we propose a prototype of a collaborative teleassistance system for mechanical repairs based on Augmented Reality (AR). This technology is generally used to implement specific assistance applications for users, which consist of providing all the information, known as augmentations, required to perform a task. For teletransmission applications, operators are equipped with a wearable computer and a technical support expert can accurately visualize what the operator sees thanks to the teletransmission of the corresponding video stream. Within the framework of remote communication, our aim is to foster collaboration, especially informal collaboration, between the operator and the expert in order to make teleassistance easier and more efficient. To do this we rely on classical repair technologies and on collaborative systems to introduce a new human-machine interaction: the Picking Outlining Adding interaction (POA interaction). With this new interaction paradigm, technical information is provided by directly Picking, Outlining and Adding information to an item in an operator's video stream

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

Interactive product browsing and configuration using remote augmented reality sales services

Real-time remote sales assistance is an underdeveloped component of online sales services. Solutions involving web page text chat, telephony and video support prove problematic when seeking to remotely guide customers in their sales processes, especially with configurations of physically complex artefacts. Recently, there has been great interest in the application of virtual worlds and augmented reality to create synthetic environments for remote sales of physical artefacts. However, there is a lack of analysis and development of appropriate software services to support these processes. We extend our previous work with the detailed design of configuration context services to support the management of an interactive sales session using augmented reality. We detail the context and configuration services required, presenting a novel data service streaming configuration information to the vendor for business analytics. We expect that a fully implemented configuration management service, based on our design, will improve the remote sales experience for both customers and vendors alike via analysis of the streamed information