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.

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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

On tangible tabletops, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) can signalize their identity, position, orientation, and state by active infrared light This provides rich interaction capabilities in complex, dynamic scenarios If TUIs have to transfer additional high-resolution information, many bits are required for each update This has a negative impact on the overall update rate of the system In the first part of this paper, we present an in-house map application where interaction with time-dependent contour lines may benefit from high-resolution TUI states Prototypical TUI concepts such as slider, ruler, and dials further motivate the benefit of high-resolution tracking In the second part of the paper, we depart from a device tracking overview and then show how tangible devices for tabletops typically use infrared (IR) emitters and a camera to send information about their position, orientation, and state Since transferring many additional information bits via a normal camera-based tabletop system is not feasible anymore, we introduce next a new system setup that still offers a sufficiently high update rate for a smooth interaction The new method can be realized as a tabletop system using a low-cost camera detecting position, combined with a low-cost infrared receiver detecting the state of each device Since both kinds of sensors are used simultaneously we call the method “dual mode” This method combines a camera-based tracking with the possibility to transfer an almost unlimited amount of states for each device

https://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/065/014/ecp11065014.pdf

Multi-State Device Tracking for Tangible Tabletops

This paper presents the results of a case study examining prototyping as a method in re-designing a user interface (UI). In the case presented, a web-based room booking was re-designed. Running on a university web site, the existing system has caused much critique amongst its users. Their expectations for a new UI were increased ease of use, less effort required, and less time consumed. We prototyped a new UI using Visio and tested it with a small number of experienced and novice users. Our results partly favor the existing system and partly the new one. To our surprise, experienced users performed relatively poorer with the new UI considering their critique of the existing one. We found paper prototyping to be an efficient method to gain user feedback on usability issues and that a low-fidelity prototype does not automatically mean low-effort testing. We observed that visible-state UI elements can be demanding to test through paper prototyping.

/pdf/expert-habits-vs-ui-improvements-re-design-of-a-room-booking-1sorj08r52.pdf

Expert habits vs. UI improvements: re-design of a room booking system

Open offices, despite their tangible advantages, are challenging for autistic individuals due to continuous visual and social interruptions. In order to filter out these distractions and enhance autistics' attention and communication with their coworkers, here we introduce the mediated reality mirror (MRM) concept deriving from the inspiring developments in diminished and augmented reality. We conducted two bodystorming workshops and interviews with 14 non-autistic participants in order to inform the design process of MRM and our future studies with autistics which is a one shot opportunity. In this paper we present the outcomes of the workshops and the interviews as well as their contributions to our future studies with autistic users of MRM.

Mediated Reality Mirror: Towards a Study with Autistic Users

Tour guiding plays an important role in turning sightseeing tours into memorable experiences. Tour guides, especially inexperienced ones, must practice intensively to perfect their craft. It is key that guides acquire knowledge about sights, in-situ presentation skills, and perfection ability to interact with and engage tourists. Therefore, tour-guide education requires on-site training at the place of interest including live tourist audiences. However, for modest budgets, such setups are costly and tourism students have to practice tour guiding at home or in simulated class-room setups. It has become a challenge for students to adequately prepare themselves for jobs in terms of relevant knowledge and skills. To tackle this problem, we propose 360TourGuiding, a VR system enabling its users to practice tour guiding with 360 travel videos plus the attendance of remote audiences participating through their mobile and personal device. This paper reports on the concept, on our design, current implementation, and on a pilot study with the current 360TourGuiding prototype. Based on qualitative feedback gained through the pilot study, we discuss possible system improvements, future system updates, and plans for empirical evaluation.

/pdf/360tourguiding-towards-virtual-reality-training-for-tour-1o0rulc7.pdf

360TourGuiding: Towards Virtual Reality Training for Tour Guiding

Contemporary urban planning require multi-stakeholder collaboration to create liveable, accessible and resilient cities. Information and communications technologies can play an important role. This paper presents and discusses the development of a prototype for an indoor multi-stakeholder augmented reality (AR) application to support collaborative design in early stage urban planning. The prototype is integrated into VirtualCity@Chalmers, a platform for modeling, simulation, and visualization of urban environments. Based on a user-centered approach, four main steps were carried out: literature study, interview study, development of guidelines, and development of the first version of a collaborative AR prototype. The guidelines for the prototype development address design and layout, collaboration, analysis, and object creation and manipulation. At the current state of development, the AR application allows users to visualize a projection of three-dimensional assets over a flat surface. Further research will focus on user testing and integration of simple Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations.

Morten Fjeld

Papers

Multi-State Device Tracking for Tangible Tabletops

Expert habits vs. UI improvements: re-design of a room booking system

Mediated Reality Mirror: Towards a Study with Autistic Users

360TourGuiding: Towards Virtual Reality Training for Tour Guiding

Virtual City@Chalmers: Creating a prototype for a collaborative early stage urban planning AR application