A Conceptual Model and Taxonomy for Collaborative Augmented Reality

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

Background:

• Augmented Reality (AR) is explored for co-located and remote collaboration, integrating virtual and real objects for shared understanding.
• Current research often focuses on AR technology and development methods, with less emphasis on evaluating collaborative processes.
• A need exists to systematically analyze and characterize AR's contribution to collaborative work.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze dimensions for evaluating AR's impact on collaborative work.
• To introduce a conceptual framework and a human-centered taxonomy for Collaborative AR.
• To foster harmonization and systematization in the field of Collaborative AR research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of key dimensions for AR in collaborative settings.
• Development of a conceptual framework.
• Proposal of an extended human-centered taxonomy for Collaborative AR features.

Main Results:

• A structured approach to analyzing AR-supported collaboration.
• A taxonomy to categorize main features of Collaborative AR.
• Examples demonstrating the taxonomy's application in characterizing collaborative work.

Conclusions:

• The proposed framework and taxonomy can harmonize perspectives in Collaborative AR research.
• This work aims to improve the reporting and evaluation of AR in collaborative contexts.
• The taxonomy provides a foundation for future studies on AR-supported collaborative work.