Although augmented reality (AR) has gained much research attention in recent years, the term AR was given different meanings by varying researchers. In this article, we first provide an overview of definitions, taxonomies, and technologies of AR. We argue that viewing AR as a concept rather than a type of technology would be more productive for educators, researchers, and designers. Then we identify certain features and affordances of AR systems and applications. Yet, these compelling features may not be unique to AR applications and can be found in other technological systems or learning environments (e.g., ubiquitous and mobile learning environments). The instructional approach adopted by an AR system and the alignment among technology design, instructional approach, and learning experiences may be more important. Thus, we classify three categories of instructional approaches that emphasize the ''roles,'' ''tasks,'' and ''locations,'' and discuss what and how different categories of AR approaches may help students learn. While AR offers new learning opportunities, it also creates new challenges for educators. We outline technological, pedagogical, learning issues related to the implementation of AR in education. For example, students in AR environments may be cognitively overloaded by the large amount of information they encounter, the multiple technological devices they are required to use, and the complex tasks they have to complete. This article provides possible solutions for some of the challenges and suggests topics and issues for future research.

Current status, opportunities and challenges of augmented reality in education

We present steps toward a conceptual framework for tangible user interfaces. We introduce the MCRpd interaction model for tangible interfaces, which relates the role of physical and digital representations, physical control, and underlying digital models. This model serves as a foundation for identifying and discussing several key characteristics of tangible user interfaces. We identify a number of systems exhibiting these characteristics, and situate these within 12 application domains. Finally, we discuss tangible interfaces in the context of related research themes, both within and outside of the human-computer interaction domain.

/pdf/emerging-frameworks-for-tangible-user-interfaces-254dznxose.pdf

Emerging frameworks for tangible user interfaces

Mathematica--A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer.

We are living in a world which faces a rapidly increasing amount of data to be dealt with on a daily basis. In the last decade, the steady improvement of data storage devices and means to create and collect data along the way influenced our way of dealing with information: Most of the time, data is stored without filtering and refinement for later use. Virtually every branch of industry or business, and any political or personal activity nowadays generate vast amounts of data. Making matters worse, the possibilities to collect and store data increase at a faster rate than our ability to use it for making decisions. However, in most applications, raw data has no value in itself; instead we want to extract the information contained in it.

/pdf/visual-analytics-definition-process-and-challenges-3mll5saq86.pdf

Visual Analytics: Definition, Process, and Challenges

Even though interaction is an important part of information visualization (Infovis), it has garnered a relatively low level of attention from the Infovis community. A few frameworks and taxonomies of Infovis interaction techniques exist, but they typically focus on low-level operations and do not address the variety of benefits interaction provides. After conducting an extensive review of Infovis systems and their interactive capabilities, we propose seven general categories of interaction techniques widely used in Infovis: 1) Select, 2) Explore, 3) Reconfigure, 4) Encode, 5) Abstract/Elaborate, 6) Filter, and 7) Connect. These categories are organized around a user's intent while interacting with a system rather than the low-level interaction techniques provided by a system. The categories can act as a framework to help discuss and evaluate interaction techniques and hopefully lay an initial foundation toward a deeper understanding and a science of interaction.

https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~john.stasko/papers/infovis07-interaction.pdf

Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Role of Interaction in Information Visualization

Decisions and actions produced by computer users (observed process) contain much information about their mental models, individual problem solving strategy and underlying decision structure for a given task. Our tool AMME analyses observed processes and automatically extracts a Petri net description of the task dependent decision structure (logical structure). This net is extended by goal setting structures (modelling) and executed (simulated process). The aim is functional equivalence between observed and simulated processes. Three modelling strategies, event-driven, parallel goal setting, and feedback controlled goal setting are presented.

https://www.fjeld.ch/pub/media/1998-Rauterberg_et_al-Modelling_of_Cognitive_Complexity_with_Petri_Nets_an_Action_Theoretical_Approach.pdf

Modelling of cognitive complexity with Petri nets : an action theoritical approach

The design of colormaps can help tomography operators obtain accurate visual comprehension, thereby assisting safety-critical decisions. The research presented here is about deploying colormaps that promote the best affective responses for industrial microwave tomography (MWT). To answer the two research questions related to our study, we firstly conducted a quantitative analysis of 11 frequently-used colormaps on a segmentation task. Secondly, we presented the same colormaps within a crowdsourced study comprising two parts to verify the quantitative outcomes. The first part encoded affective responses from participants into a prevailing four-quadrant valence-arousal grid; the second part recorded participant ratings towards the accuracy of each colormap on MWT segmentation. We concluded that three colormaps are the best suited in the context of MWT tasks. We also found that the colormaps triggering emotions in the positive-exciting quadrant can facilitate more accurate visual comprehension than other affect-related quadrants. A synthetic colormap design guideline was consequently proposed.

/pdf/affective-colormap-design-for-accurate-visual-comprehension-4qt0agxbw7.pdf

Affective colormap design for accurate visual comprehension in industrial tomography

This paper describes how a tangible user interface (TUI) that was designed to construct molecules was extended to also visualize electronegativity and dipole moment. Using interactive tools working with the system, elements can be chosen from a booklet menu and composed into three-dimensional (3D) molecular models. The system is used to teach aspects of organic chemistry such as the octet ride. Based on user experience and expert interviews, a new mode to visualize electronegativity and dipole moment was realized. Evaluation of usability and the learning effectiveness of the AC system is in progress, also examining the dipole tool presented here. We currently compare AC with a ball-stick tool for chemistry education. The paper is an example of joint disciplines: Tangible UI, educational media for chemistry education, and interactive learning.

http://fjeld.ch/pub/media/2004-Fjeld-et-al-Teaching-Electronegativity-and-Dipole-Moment-in-a-TUI.pdf

Teaching electronegativity and dipole moment in a TUI

Color coding is a fundamental technique for mapping data to visual representations, allowing people to carry out comprehension-based tasks. Process tomography is a rapidly developing non-invasive imaging technique used in various fields of science due to its effective flow monitoring and data acquisition [KŁS∗19]. To study how well colormaps can support visual comprehension of tomographic data, we conduct a feasibility evaluation of 11 widely-used color schemes. We employ the same segmentation tasks characterized by Microwave Tomography (MWT) on each individual chosen colormap, and then conduct a quantitative assessment of those schemes. Based on the insight gained, we conclude that autumn, viridis, and parula colormaps yield the best segmentation results. According to our findings, we propose a colormap design guideline for practitioners and researchers in the field of process tomography. CCS Concepts • Human-centered computing → Visualization design and evaluation methods;

Task-based Colormap Design Supporting Visual Comprehension in Process Tomography

As an increasing number of users carry smartphones and tablets simultaneously, there is an opportunity to leverage the use of these two form factors in a more complementary way. Our work aims to explore this by a) defining the design space of distributed input and output solutions that rely on and benefit from phone- tablet combinations working together physically and digitally; and b) reveal the idiosyncrasies of each particular device combination via interactive prototypes. Our research provides actionable insight in this emerging area by defining a design space, suggesting a mobile framework, and implementing prototypical applications in such areas as distributed information display, distributed control, and combinations of these. For each of these, we show a few example techniques and demonstrate an application combining more techniques.

Morten Fjeld

Papers

Modelling of cognitive complexity with Petri nets : an action theoritical approach

Affective colormap design for accurate visual comprehension in industrial tomography

Teaching electronegativity and dipole moment in a TUI

Task-based Colormap Design Supporting Visual Comprehension in Process Tomography

Dynamic duo: phone-tablet interaction on tabletops