Why, When and How to use AuRAs (Augmented Reality Agents)

Over the last number of years, multiple research projects have begun to create Augmented Reality (AR) applications that use Augmented Reality Agents, or AuRAs, as their principle interaction and development paradigm. This paper aims to address this new and distinct field of Augmented Reality Agents by asking three questions: why should AuRAs be researched, when are they a useful paradigm, and how can they be developed? The first question explores the motivation behind applying AuRAs to Augmented Reality. Specifically, it investigates whether AuRAs are purely an interaction paradigm, or whether they can also serve as a development paradigm, by outlining in which circumstances it is appropriate for a project to use AuRAs and where their addition would only add unnecessary complexity. A navigational experiment, performed in simulated AR, explores the second question of when AuRAs can be a useful concept in Augmented Reality applications. Results from this experiment suggest that an embodied virtual character allows for faster navigation along a shorter route than directional arrows or marking the target with an AR “bubble”. An exploration of the limitations of the simulated AR environment illuminates how faithfully the experiment recreated the environmental challenges that AuRAs can help to address. Finally, the question of how to develop such applications is addressed through the introduction of the AFAR (Agent Factory Augmented Reality) Abraham G. Campbell CLARITY: Centre for Sensor Web Technology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Email: [email protected] John W. Stafford School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Email: [email protected] Thomas Holz CLARITY: Centre for Sensor Web Technology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Email: [email protected] G.M.P. O’Hare CLARITY: Centre for Sensor Web Technology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland E-mail: [email protected] 2 Abraham G. Campbell et al. toolkit that allows the rapid prototyping of such applications. Results from a usability study on the toolkit are also presented.