Collaborative augmented reality : multi-user interaction in urban simulation

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) environment allows user or multi-user to interact with 2D and 3D data. AR simply can provide a collaborative interactive AR environment for urban simulation, where users can interact naturally and intuitively. AR collaboration approach can be effectively used to develop different interfaces for face-to-face and remote collaboration. This is because AR provides seamless interaction between real and virtual environments, the ability to enhance reality, the presence of spatial cues for face-to-face and remote collaboration, support of a tangible interface metaphor, the ability to transition smoothly between reality and virtuality. In addition, the collaborative AR makes multi-user in urban simulation to share simultaneously a real world and virtual world. The fusion between real and virtual world, existed in AR environment by see-through HMDs, achieves higher interactivity as a key features of collaborative AR. In real-time, precise registration between both worlds and multi-user are crucial for the collaborations. Collaborative AR approach allows multi-user to simultaneously share a real world surrounding them and a virtual world. Common problems in AR environment will be discussed and major issues in collaborative AR will be explained details in this survey. The features of collaboration in AR environment are will be identified and the requirements of collaborative AR will be defined. This paper will give an overview on collaborative AR environment for multi-user in urban studies and planning. The work will also cover numerous systems of collaborative AR environments for multi-user.