Techniques for Supporting the Author of Outdoor Mobile Multimodal Augmented Reality

Abstract

In augmented reality (AR) environments our senses with which we interact with the real world are selectively supplemented by graphics, sounds, haptics, and/or smell. Outdoor AR is a relatively new topic for research, but it is emerging quickly as technological obstacles are overcome and the utility of such systems is demonstrated in a wide range of contexts. The audiences for outdoor AR systems are those who can benefit from information and experiences presented relative to the surrounding outdoor real-world context, e.g., tourists, historians, accident investigators, builders, industrial processing plant operators, and military troops. In this paper, we describe the design of Geo-Docent, a multimodal AR system that augments a user's real world experience by presenting visual, auditory, and tactile information, relative to the user's geographical position, through an ultramobile computer paired with a Bluetooth headset and a tactile display. Geo-Docent supports content authoring, in a map-based GUI rather than a programmer's environment, in which the AR author geographically tags multimodal content. From designing, developing, and preliminary testing of this system we have learned there is utility in providing the AR author with: (1) a simple, but flexible, interface for defining geographical trigger points and regions, and for linking those triggers with a variety of interface actions; (2) an interface that optionally allows the author to utilize the author's current location and view of the natural world when creating AR content; and (3) support for authoring content in a variety of modalities.