Collaborative Work in Augmented Reality: A Survey

• Published in: IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 2530 - 2549
• Main Authors: Sereno, Mickael, Wang, Xiyao, Besancon, Lonni, McGuffin, Michael J., Isenberg, Tobias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.06.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Augmented Reality; Collaboration; Collaborative work; Computer Graphics; Computer Science; Computer supported cooperative work; Hardware; Human-Computer Interaction; immersive analytics; Introductory and survey; Product design; Research Design; Symmetry; Three-dimensional displays; virtual and augmented reality; Virtual reality; Visualization; Introductory and Survey; Immersive Analytics; Computer-Supported Cooperative Work; Virtual and Augmented Reality; computer-supported cooperative work; immersive analytics; virtual and augmented reality; Introductory and survey
• ISSN: 1077-2626; 1941-0506; 1941-0506
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2020.3032761

In Augmented Reality (AR), users perceive virtual content anchored in the real world. It is used in medicine, education, games, navigation, maintenance, product design, and visualization, in both single-user and multi-user scenarios. Multi-user AR has received limited attention from researchers, even though AR has been in development for more than two decades. We present the state of existing work at the intersection of AR and Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (AR-CSCW), by combining a systematic survey approach with an exploratory, opportunistic literature search. We categorize 65 papers along the dimensions of space, time, role symmetry (whether the roles of users are symmetric), technology symmetry (whether the hardware platforms of users are symmetric), and output and input modalities. We derive design considerations for collaborative AR environments, and identify under-explored research topics. These include the use of heterogeneous hardware considerations and 3D data exploration research areas. This survey is useful for newcomers to the field, readers interested in an overview of CSCW in AR applications, and domain experts seeking up-to-date information.