Simulating Wearable Urban Augmented Reality Experiences in VR: Lessons Learnt from Designing Two Future Urban Interfaces

Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to fundamentally change how people engage with increasingly interactive urban environments. However, many challenges exist in designing and evaluating these new urban AR experiences, such as technical constraints and safety concerns associated with outdoor AR...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inMultimodal technologies and interaction Vol. 7; no. 2; p. 21
Main Authors Tran, Tram Thi Minh, Parker, Callum, Hoggenmüller, Marius, Hespanhol, Luke, Tomitsch, Martin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2023
Subjects
Analysis
Augmented Reality
Autonomous navigation
Case studies
Design
Designers
Feedback
prototyping
R&D
Research & development
Safety
Simulation
simulations
Smartphones
Social aspects
Tourism
Traffic
urban applications
Urban environments
user evaluation
Virtual reality
Wearable technology
Germany
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to fundamentally change how people engage with increasingly interactive urban environments. However, many challenges exist in designing and evaluating these new urban AR experiences, such as technical constraints and safety concerns associated with outdoor AR. We contribute to this domain by assessing the use of virtual reality (VR) for simulating wearable urban AR experiences, allowing participants to interact with future AR interfaces in a realistic, safe and controlled setting. This paper describes two wearable urban AR applications (pedestrian navigation and autonomous mobility) simulated in VR. Based on a thematic analysis of interview data collected across the two studies, we find that the VR simulation successfully elicited feedback on the functional benefits of AR concepts and the potential impact of urban contextual factors, such as safety concerns, attentional capacity, and social considerations. At the same time, we highlight the limitations of this approach in terms of assessing the AR interface’s visual quality and providing exhaustive contextual information. The paper concludes with recommendations for simulating wearable urban AR experiences in VR.
ISSN:2414-4088
2414-4088
DOI:10.3390/mti7020021