Criação e visualização de interfaces do usuário cientes de contexto para realidade aumentada

Abstract

Augmented reality is a research area that aims to enrich the user´s interaction experience with his/her surrounding environment by weaving together computer generated synthetic elements with the real world, making the distinction between real and virtual world less perceptible. The increasing integration of sensors in entities like mobile devices, intelligent buildings and infrastructures, vehicles, clothes, and even the human body, allows information about these entities (denominated contexts) to be used as part of both the interface and the user interaction experience, what makes AR interface project a challenge. According to researchers of AR area, Augmented Reality (AR) User Interface (UI) is an underexplored area, which faces many design and implementation challenges. These interfaces have the potential to use elements such as 3D and 2D and adapt them according to contexts in real-time. There are not many AR tools available for the building and visualization of AR UIs, especially considering context awareness. Therefore, this work presents two different tools that together can assist in the creation and visualization of context aware augmented reality interfaces: a pattern-driven AR interface visualization framework (VISAR), which allows AR interfaces to be developed by using pre-programmed interface components (patterns); and an AR Interface Editor (VISAR-IE) that supports interface design through modeling their patterns and adaptation rules. These patterns help to speed up implementation and design time, enabling the design of adaptive interfaces, and providing sharing and reuse of interfaces components. Three study cases are also presented to validate the developed tools: AR in a tangible multi-touch tabletop, AR drag and drop, and an AR system for firefighters in emergency management applications.