Basic Study on Connecting AR and VR for Digital Exhibition with Mobile Devices

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a prototype of an AR–VR (Augmented Reality-Virtual Reality) connected system in which users can enter a space in which they cannot go physically while emphasizing spatial consistency between the real and VR space. Museums have important collections that cannot be displayed, such as crumbling buildings, lost sceneries, and fragile trains. To display them, museums have used AR or VR systems. In AR systems, the visitors can appreciate the collections with their context because AR systems emphasize spatial consistency, and users can compare the current and past scenery around the collections. In VR systems, the visitors can interact with the collections with a high degree of freedom because VR systems have spatial extensibility and the users can ignore the physical limitations. Therefore, we connect the AR and VR systems to take advantage of the technology in appreciating collections with high comprehension of their context and degree of freedom. We implemented a prototype AR–VR connected system in which users can transition from the real space to the VR space seamlessly. In our system, they first superimpose mobile tablets onto the museums’ collections, such as a crumbling building. Then, the current scenery in the tablet will gradually change to a VR scenery where they cannot enter physically. Finally, they can move around the VR space using their own body. Through our experiments, we found that the concept of connecting the AR and VR systems could be acceptable, and the system could work well in actual exhibitions.