PRIVATE SPACE IN COLLOCATED MIXED REALITY COLLABORATIONS
Background (Literature Research):
Various research on Collaborative AR has mentioned the need and benefits of private space as crucial to effective collaboration. One of the main problems that private spaces pose in AR collaborations is distraction caused to fellow collaborators while a user is performing a private task and the lack of awareness of fellow collaborators on the nature of the tasks (private/public) being performed by a user. Solutions are proposed in the form of various technological systems that integrate private spaces that address issues of distraction and awareness in collaborative AR. Literature survey work on Collaborative Augmented Reality effectively summarized these solutions, as effective context representation through variation in perspectives and discretization of information, providing awareness cues for workspace awareness, the use of private devices as a private space, switching from AR to VR for private tasks, and providing ownership of manipulated data to track users actions. The potential of unexplored areas of Filtering Region-of-Interests (ROIs) and specific features in AR to address issues of awareness could also be another point to be thought of when designing a collaborative mixed reality space.
While most research on Collaborative AR addresses user needs in workspaces, the need for private space is observed even in collaborative gaming environments, especially multiplayer board games where there is a need for a private space to allow strategic decision-making and to allow individualism. Another area that came up was collaborative learning and problem-solving environments where users could benefit from having a private space in mixed reality. One of the main inferences from the readings is that there is a need to provide systems and corresponding interactions for private spaces that are implicit and not distracting while in a collaborative setting. This calls for a need to reconsider the design of the systems and interaction (including interaction techniques) for private spaces. For future studies, a deep analysis of different designs of personal interaction panels and the social interaction models between users in collaborative AR environments could be done.
Project Proposal:
With AR collaboration presently showing promising applications in the field of medical training, the project will explore user needs and opportunities for a private space during mixed-reality collaborations in medical training.
Ideas:
1. Accommodating Task-Related Private Tasks:
For purposes of working independently on ideas.
Referring to relevant content based on individual students’ requirements.
Independent note-taking.
Create equal participation during collaboration.
(Not all students can view from the point of view of the instructor, affecting their participation with the content)
2. Accommodating Personal Private Tasks like:
Messaging/Texting
Checking Emails
Browsing Social Media
Checking Notifications
Checking Calendar Schedule etc.
3. Exploring the use of micro gestures in combination with regular gestures for implicit interactions in private spaces.
One of the main inferences from the readings is that there is a need to provide systems and corresponding interactions for private spaces that are implicit and not distracting while in a collaborative setting. This calls for a need to reconsider the design of the systems and interaction (including interaction techniques) for private spaces.