A Framework for analyzing AR/VR Collaborations: An initial result
Michael Tanaya, Koukeng Yang, Taran Christensen, Li Shen, Michael O'Keefe, James L. Fridley, Kelvin Sung · 2017
The recent advances in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) research have enabled investigations into collaborative efforts that equip participants with heterogeneous technological configurations in various degrees of immersion. Results from this work are interesting and may seem futuristic which can cause challenges in understanding the underlying impacts and gaining insights. This paper describes an attempt in identifying the fundamental elements of a digital interaction and remote collaboration; and proposes the Cross Reality Collaboration Framework (CRCF) to provide a unified platform for discussing, comparing, and contrasting these efforts. Though in an early stage of development, the current iteration of CRCF is capable of analyzing configurations that are based on drastically different technologies (e.g., an AR application vs. a location aware mobile application), comparing them, and revealing insights. This paper demonstrates the potentials of CRCF by applying it to analyze popular technological configurations and identifying opportunities for investigations. The paper then describes a prototype solution addressing the identified opportunity and presents results from a testing environment involving four collaborators with distinct technological configurations.