Presentation

My final powerpoint for the presentation today. In it I give an overview of the FYP, what augmented reality is, some papers I read and think are very useful and my trip to Bunratty. I also give a rough plan for the future. I could add in a lot more especially about my research, but I only have 15 minutes to give it, plus 5 minutes of questions. Wish me luck!
Mobile Video Augmented Reality For Spatial Navigation

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Augmented Reality on Handheld Platforms

I have a lot of research done on designing for mobile platforms, and I've also taken a look at Augmented Reality and Context Awareness on these platforms.

'Mobile Augmented Reality' by Tobias H. Holler and Steven K. Feiner discusses Mobile Augmented Reality Systems (MARS) and how it can be implemented in many aspects of life. I will be taking the general overview and how they see it MARS influencing the tourism industry.

World becomes a user interface.

What is AR? A layer of information over any environment. It is able to integrate virtual information into a persons physical space and perceive that information exists in the surroundings. It aims to supplement the real world by aligning virtual objects/information with real ones.

Device - MARS Components Needed:

• Computational platform - generate and manage the virtual material to be layered on top of the physical environment, to process the tracker information and AR display.
• Display
• Registration - tracking position and orientation
• Input & Interaction Technology
• Wireless Network

Computing Platform Factors: computing power, form factor, ruggedness, power consumption, graphics, multimedia capabilities, memory and storage space, upgrade ability, operating system and software, development environments, technical support, price.

Usability: The user should not have to concentrate on how to work a particular computing interface, especially as they will be busy focusing on real world tasks. 
Properties of MARS User Interfaces: 

• User Control
• Consistency
• Need for embedded semantic information
• Scene Dynamic

In tourism AR can be used to find destinations and display background information such as 3D modals of related art/architecture.

Location Aware Mobile Interactive Guides: Usability Issues

I found this paper to be very useful in my background research. It discusses a handheld mobile guide, the design process and some important issues they came across when designing the guide.


'Location Aware Mobile Interactive Guides: Usability Issues' by Jonathan Broadbent and Patricia Marti
Overview
This paper deals with HIPS (Hyper Interaction within Physical Space) - a project funded by the European Commission, the aim of which is to develop a handheld electronic tour guide for cities/museums and the exploration of the physical environment. It hopes to support users in their everyday working/leisure activities 
Integration:

• Handheld Computing 
• Wireless Communications
• Positioning Technologies

System Guide - generate audio messages for finding items of interest and describing items with additional information, suggestions and alternate routes. Information will be generated based on maps, spatial direction. The system will integrate user requests, history of browsing and location.

The Design Process

When designing this system iteratively, the designers had four essential activities in mind to ensure understood and specified user needs:

• Context of use
• Effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction
• Prototypes
• Evaluation of prototypes 

User testing after installation of Museum of Santa Maria.
Tests: Time to complete a task, success rate, errors, satisfaction and fun
Collection of Data: Videotape; Questionnaire; Time and error measures
Diagnostic Evaluation: focus groups; heuristic evaluation; analytic evaluation; physical and cognitive operations and observational evaluation
Scenario Building: explore new forms of interaction; creation of real scenarios; share the experience; describe existing activities or envision new ones.
Scenarios were used for functional definitions, and to clarify thoughts on potential features.


Interesting Points

Location Aware mobile devices that permit the navigation of both a physical space and a related information space at the same time represents a new interaction paradigm.

It shows the important to decrease costs to produce for the mass market.

Robustness of device design depends on interactivity, the speed of response, how the information is to be presented, gradual degradation and effective feedback.

Design should be centred on user, instead of testing the validity of a data encryption algorithm. Human centred design ensures that the system is designed to suit their needs. The paper uses the iterative design process - Design, Test with Users, Redesign.

The designers hope to give a rich variety of options in an information space, rather than being bound to the physical constraints of the real world.

Information must be shown to the user in a way appropriate to the user and the context of use.
Testing of prototype must be done to eliminate sources of confusion and error and identify sources of enjoyment.

Networking aspect crucial. Contraints on storage (which may not apply to networked devices).
Centralising data will allow for greater simplification when downloading data. Updating can be done centrally in this way also.

Bunratty Visit

Today, I went to Bunratty to observe and take photos. There was a Halloween celebration for the Bank Holiday Monday, it was very busy and had a lot of families wandering around the folk park.
I took a lot of pictures and took notes on the visitors of the folk park, one thing that I noticed about the people touring the grounds was that many people did not use the map they were given on entry, for the most part people wandered the grounds on their own accord. The children climbed on everything that was possible to climb on - old farming tools etc.

Byre Dwelling
Most people I saw were very interested in the houses (Weaver's Shed, Blacksmith's Forge etc.) dotted around the folk park, wandering in and out of each, looking in each of the rooms and at most of the objects. Although the houses are numbered for reference to the map there is no information present in front of the houses about them or in them, or about the objects in them. Many people seemed to enjoy the Village Street with the Doctor's House, Foster's Printery etc.

                                       The Village Street

There were several events throughout the folk park for the Halloween event including snap apple, coin bobbing, story telling, and a competition for the best costume. There were opportunities to see snakes, lizards and spiders, and have a go on an electric bull, and a concert in the folk park. None of the events were sign posted in anyway. Visitors were left to discover the events themselves. 
I have several ideas now for a rough tour, perhaps with an AR tour the events and different attractions could be mapped out. I plan on returning soon with interviews for visitors and more observation. I want to find out if the visitors usually wander around the folk park without the map, and how do they get their information, maybe the visitors today were mostly interested in a 'day out' for the children than a historical tour. 

Inside a cottage

Mill

Design Process

My design is going to be focused on the interaction of the user with the interface of the AR I develop. Over the next few months I will be studying the context in which the visitors of Bunratty Folkpark might use technologies provided for them. I have a great basis for this from the feasibility study carried out in the Folkpark before. I will be using this study and my own to come up with ideas on the requirements for my media.
I am planning a trip to Bunratty Folkpark, I will be talking to people about what they'd like to see or what they feel they would need from a 'context aware' mobile tour. I will organise a design workshop and interaction groups. I will also be coming up with scenarios and many storyboards throughout the design process.
The main design principles that are laid out in 'Designing Interactive Systems' that I will be keeping in mind when designing this are: 

• Visibility - make sure the functions are visible and it is clear what the system is doing.
• Consistency - conceptual and physical consistency are important for ease of use
• Familiarity - the system should be designed so it is familiar to the user, language and metaphors are examples of this.
• Affordance - designing objects so that it is clear what they are to be used for, keeping in mind the properties things have and how people use them.
• Navigation - provide support on how to get around the system
• Control - make it clear who/what is in control and allow the user to take control.
• Feedback - the information from the system needs to be rapid so the user know what effects their actions have.
• Recovery - enable recovery from actions 
• Contraints - provide constraints so user doesn't try to do things inappropriate that could lead to serious errors.

(Benyon et al., 2005)

Iterative Design Process
The design process I plan to use is an iterative process. This process is based on a cycle what begins with a prototyping, testing, analysing and redefined for the next cycle.
I hope to be able to go through two cycles of the iterative design, I'll have a better idea of if this is possible over the next couple of weeks.
Over the past few years I have learned that the iterative design process is highly regarded, as each time the cycle is repeated it is hoped that the usability will be improved and the designer will progressively develops solutions to the design.
The idea is that a prototype will be designed, a user will test it, the designer will fix the bugs/issues and the redefined prototype will be tested again.
Jakob Neilson has an good paper on iterative design, "Iterative User Interface Design". It discusses the iterative user interface design and some user tests, and measurements.


Scenarios
Throughout the design process I will be doing scenario building- coming up with stories about how visitors to Bunratty Folkpark will undertake activities in the Folkpark using the technology. 

Scenarios in the design process are recommended here because "descriptions of people using technology are essential in discussing and analyzing how
the technology is (or could be) used to reshape their activities. A secondary advantage is
that scenario descriptions can be created before a system is built and its impacts felt."
They are also useful for brainstorming and coming up with as many possibilities and solutions
in the design. They can give the designer a better understanding of the current situation and
any difficulties in the situation. (Benyon et al., 2005). 

User stories and their real world experiences will be a huge help in scenario building. This can be collected as videos, interviews, results from observations, pictures etc. 

Conceptual Scenarios are more abstract than user stories. Common elements are found in the user stories, stories are examined and combined. It is useful for generating ideas and for understanding requirements for the future system.

Concept Scenarios are useful for prototyping and envisioning the design ideas. These scenarios are specific elaborations from the user stories and observations that are linked to the original scenario.

Use Cases

I will be evaluating evaluating how users interact with my prototypes by making Use Cases. Use Cases describe the interaction between people and devices. It describes what the system does, how the system is used and what people do with the system.

Task and functions have to be allocated to the use and results should be recorded. Design issues can be noted here. (Benyon et al., 2005)

Timeline

I have my presentation for the FYP done and almost dusted now. I'll be putting it up once I'm completely happy with it. It has the overview of my FYP, Intro to Augmented Reality, the ARToolkit, some examples of AR around UL, what I hope to do for Bunratty Folkpark, I'll talk about a few papers that I have read - some good and bad points about them, I also have some future readings, a plan of action and a timeline.


Timeline
The text in black are the official deadlines, and the text in blue are the deadlines I have set for myself. My design process may only have one cycle (prototype, testing, evaluation, prototype) but I will alter the timeline when I get a better idea of how the cycle is going.

Update

Week 6 of college, I've begun to look at design and the steps necessary for good Human Centered design.
I was focusing a lot on the technical side so I'm backing up in to my design roots again, HCI and Interactive Design. Along with that over the past couple of weeks, I've been reading papers on Open Air Museums, Context Aware Devices in Museums/Open Air Museums. I plan on writing up some notes on the relevance of these on Sunday.


I have most of the presentation to show my progress so far and what I hope to achieve, I'm doing up a plan of action and a timeline with that. I will have this done by the beginning of next week. I must get the steps necessary and figure out what dates will  be good to head out to Bunratty Folkpark once I'm allowed head out. I'll be doing observing, and group work out there to start with. 


Downloaded 3 AR iPhone apps to my phone over the past week. It really has the potential to be a great technology if it's designed and implemented right. Looking forward to see what all the developers do with it in the future. Hopefully my media will be good enough too.

What is Augmented Reality?

There are quite a few papers and websites on Augmented Reality (AR) out there. I am looking at mobile Augmented Reality for my work.

The general focus on AR is that it will give a layer virtual information to a persons physical environment in real time, and that this will enhance the persons experience as it will give them digital information and communication capabilities. This mixed environment will be interactive and is potentially one of the next big technologies. The AR Toolkit website is more specific with this, according this there is are video and optical see-through ARs. Video see-through AR is where virtual images are overlaid on live video of the real world. Optical see-through AR is where computer graphics are overlaid on a view of the real world. Optical see-through AR typically requires a see-through head mounted display and has more complicated camera calibration and registration requirements. I will be focusing on video see-through AR.

Now, there are AR applications for mobile phones like Yelp for the iPhone and Wikitude and Layar for the Android, which shows houses for sale, restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions. There are applications that let the user see the nearest subway station, or even the Twitter statuses being made around them. There are games being developed and even the governments are taking notice, examples seen here and here.

Image 1: Layar

An idea from Mobile Augmented Reality that I really like is that the world will become a user interface, aligning virtual objects with real ones. Even more, it will enable people to take advantage of the existing skills and interact with objects in the real world in an enhanced way.
AR could be used in all walks of life, from journalism to military training.

This technology typically uses global tracking, wireless communications, location based computing, cameras and mobile computing. As well as a lot of battery life for the devices, and computational power. The popular AR development software that I found were the AR Toolkit and the PTAM.

Image 2: Example of AR Toolkit on phone

In the past a lot of research was invested in wearable computers that would augment reality for the user, now though with mobile phones and the GSP capabilities out there  the research and applications are based around these, although other types of devices are being developed such as AR contact lenses.

More Resources:
Augmented Reality: Linking Real and Virtual Worlds
MIT STEP's Handheld Augmented Reality Simulations Site
Wikitude Drive Android App Does Turn-By-Turn, Augmented-Reality-Style
Image 1: Layar Brings Semi-Augmented Reality to Your Android Phone
Image 2: ArtToolKit – Augmented Reality Application for iPhone

Enhancing the Visitor Experience: Case Study: Development of Mobile Technology to Bunratty

After reading the paper from the IDC on their work on the development of Bluetooth technology to Bunratty, I have started getting a more focused view of my FYP.
The paper 'Enhancing the Visitor Experience at Visitor Attractions through the Adoption of Information and Communication Technology' describes the prospects of giving a visitor a detailed and customised experience not possible before, where the visitor is encouraged to participate in an active manner in the tour.  Different technologies can make this a possibility.
The paper shows how mobile technology can enhance visitor satisfaction, the development, and the prototype device they developed.
Usability, Experience and Engagement play big parts in the interaction.
The visitor used a mobile device that they had (their mobile phone) and information was sent directly to their device. The IDC used Bluetooth for the delivering of information to the mobile devices as it is reliable, affordable and can be used quickly and seamlessly.
Bluetooth is a wireless system that utilises short range communications technology which is used for data transmission. It is now a basic feature on most mobile phones.


Key Points: 

• 95% of tourists own a mobile phone
• 88% of tourists bring a mobile phone on holiday
• 65% have Bluetooth technology enabled

The application would be downloaded before visiting Bunratty or at a base inside, and information would be sent to the visitor depending on their location inside the centre - location based alerts.
The alerts would contain information that was not available in the brochure or any information point in the centre, it was to be a supplement that would give further information of the centre, such as videos available for download.
It is thought that the data sent to the visitor could be questions in case they wanted to know more information, encouragement to visit other parts of the centre or information on the restaurants or shops (location/menus).

Image 1: Location Based Information “Alerts” for Bunratty Mobile

When designing the software, they made sure that it was fully interactive, easily expanded upon, and new content could be added by staff of the centre. The paper describes how the information is transmitted via Bluetooth and the practical issues related to the implementation of the technology.


There is a lot of recommendations in the paper that will come in useful later on in my research. I will be using it as a basis for my work.