A Prototyping Method to Simulate Wearable Augmented Reality Interaction in a Virtual Environment - A Pilot Study

Abstract

Recently, we have seen an intensified development of head mounted displays (HMD). Some observers believe that the HMD form factor facilitates Augmented Reality (AR) technology, a technology that mixes virtual content with the users' view of the world around them. One of many interesting use cases that illustrate this is a smart home in which a user can interact with consumer electronic devices through a wearable AR system. Building prototypes of such wearable AR systems can be difficult and costly, since it involves a number of different devices and systems with varying technological readiness level. The ideal prototyping method for this should offer high fidelity at a relatively low cost and the ability to simulate a wide range of wearable AR use cases. This paper presents a proposed method, called IVAR (Immersive Virtual AR), for prototyping wearable AR interaction in a virtual environment (VE). IVAR was developed in an iterative design process that resulted in a testable setup in terms of hardware and software. Additionally, a basic pilot experiment was conducted to explore what it means to collect quantitative and qualitative data with the proposed prototyping method. The main contribution is that IVAR shows potential to become a useful wearable AR prototyping method, but that several challenges remain before meaningful data can be produced in controlled experiments. In particular, tracking technology needs to improve, both with regards to intrusiveness and precision.