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

While gamification is an often used tool in building interactive experiences for sports, little work has addressed systems designed by users for users and deeply embedded in the social setting of physical exercise. Consequently, a better understanding of sports gamification in the wild is needed to build systems that reflect the users' pre-existing social context. This paper presents a qualitative study of a gamification system, the Boar Board, designed by a sports coach to support users participating in regular exercises. Through surveys, interviews and observations over eight months, we built an understanding of the user adoption of the system and how the Boar Board supported the goals of the group. Based on this, we endeavour to understand the social aspects of the system, including trust, and posit a number of design considerations for future inquiry into gamification systems for sports.

Understanding grassroots sports gamification in the wild

While colourblindness is a disability that does not prevent those suffering from it from living fruitful lives, it does cause difficulties in everyday life situations such as buying clothes. Users suffering from colourblindness may be helped by designing devices that integrate well with their daily routines. This paper introduces ChromaGlove, a wearable device that converts colour input into haptic output thus enhancing the colour-sensing ability of the user. The device uses variable pulse widths on vibration motor to communicate differences in hue. Data is obtained through an illuminated colour sensor placed on the palm. In the future, we plan to conduct studies that will show how well a haptic glove can be integrated in everyday actions.

ChromaGlove: a wearable haptic feedback device for colour recognition

This paper presents a method for tracking multiple active tangible devices on tabletops. Most tangible devices for tabletops use infrared to send information about their position, orientation, and state. The method we propose can be realized as a tabletop system using a low-cost camera to detect position and a low-cost infrared (IR) receiver to detect the state of each device. Since two different receivers (camera and IR-receiver) are used simultaneously we call the method dual mode. Using this method, it is possible to use devices with a large variation of states simultaneously on a tabletop, thus having more interactive devices on the surface.

/pdf/dual-mode-ir-position-and-state-transfer-for-tangible-3vgqqvyo4j.pdf

Dual mode IR position and state transfer for tangible tabletops

BUILD-IT is a planning tool based on intuitive computer vision technology, supporting complex planning and configuration tasks. Based on real, tangible bricks as an interaction medium, it represents a new approach to Human Computer Interaction (HCI). It allows a group of people, seated around a table, to move virtual objects using a real brick as a interaction handler. Object manipulation and image display take place within the very same interaction space. Together with the image displayed on the table, a perspective view of the situation is projected on a vertical screen. The system offers all kinds of users access to state-of-the-art computing and visualisation, requiring little computer literacy. It offers a new way of interaction, facilitating team-based evaluation of alternative layouts.

https://fjeld.ch/pub/media/1999-Fjeld_et_al-BUILD-IT_Intuitive_Plant_Layout_by_Natural_Interaction.pdf

BUILD-IT : intuitive plant layout mediated by natural interaction

Some industrial processes take place in confined settings only observable by sensors, e.g. infrared (IR) cameras. Drying processes take place while a material is transported by means of a conveyor through a "black box" equipped with internal IR cameras. While such sensors deliver data at high rates, this is beyond what human operators can analyze and calls for automation. Inspired by numerous implementations monitoring techniques that analyse IR images using deep learning, this paper shows how they can be applied to the confined microwave drying of porous foams, with benchmarking their effectiveness at condition monitoring to conduct fault detection. Convolutional neural networks, derived transfer learning, and deep residual neural network methods are already regarded as cutting-edge and are studied here, using a set of conventional approaches for comparative evaluation. Our comparison shows that state-of-the-art deep learning techniques significantly benefit condition monitoring, providing an increase in fault finding accuracy of up to 48% over conventional methods. Nevertheless, we also found that derived transfer learning and deep residual network techniques do not in our case yield increased performance over normal convolutional neural networks.

Morten Fjeld

Papers

Understanding grassroots sports gamification in the wild

ChromaGlove: a wearable haptic feedback device for colour recognition

Dual mode IR position and state transfer for tangible tabletops

BUILD-IT : intuitive plant layout mediated by natural interaction

Condition Monitoring for Confined Industrial Process Based on Infrared Images by Using Deep Neural Network and Variants