Simulating Wearable Urban Augmented Reality Experiences in VR: Lessons Learnt from Designing Two Future Urban Interfaces

TL;DR

Two wearable urban AR applications (pedestrian navigation and autonomous mobility) simulated in VR are described, finding that the VR simulation successfully elicited feedback on the functional benefits of AR concepts and the potential impact of urban contextual factors, such as safety concerns, attentional capacity, and social considerations.

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to fundamentally change how people engage with increasingly interactive urban environments. However, many challenges exist in designing and evaluating these new urban AR experiences, such as technical constraints and safety concerns associated with outdoor AR. We contribute to this domain by assessing the use of virtual reality (VR) for simulating wearable urban AR experiences, allowing participants to interact with future AR interfaces in a realistic, safe and controlled setting. This paper describes two wearable urban AR applications (pedestrian navigation and autonomous mobility) simulated in VR. Based on a thematic analysis of interview data collected across the two studies, we found that the VR simulation successfully elicited feedback on the functional benefits of AR concepts and the potential impact of urban contextual factors, such as safety concerns, attentional capacity, and social considerations. At the same time, we highlighted the limitations of this approach in terms of assessing the AR interface's visual quality and providing exhaustive contextual information. The paper concludes with recommendations for simulating wearable urban AR experiences in VR.

Figures (5)

• Figure 1: The AR application to support pedestrian navigation featured a directional arrow to display turn directions when the map was not in use (as shown in the far left image). For the AR map view, we investigated three different map positions: up-front map (1), on-street map (2) and on-hand map (3).
• Figure 2: The simulated environment of the navigation study (left) and a participant using controllers for movement and interactions (right).
• Figure 3: A text prompt indicating that the crossing request was successfully received by the AR application (far left). To indicate to pedestrians when it is safe to cross, we compared three different AR visual cues: animated zebra crossing (1), green overlay on cars (2) and a combination of both (3).
• Figure 4: The simulated environment used in the AV study (left) and a participant tapping on the headset to send a crossing request (right).
• Figure 5: Different aspects of the AR prototypes about which the participants provided feedback. The orange bar represents the navigation study; the grey bar represents the AV study. The bar length represents the number of participants who provided feedback for a specific aspect for the navigation study and the AV study, respectively.