Designing Browser-Style Augmented Reality Applications

Handheld Augmented reality (AR) is the ability of smartphones to overlay digital information on a real view (video stream) of the world using built-in sensors such as, GPS, Compass and Accelerometer. With the use of geo-tagging and location based services, information is automatically filtered whenever users point their devices to places or objects of interest around them allowing them to browse the world. Current world browsers compromise the augmented reality experience due to poor support of contextual content, flow and interaction. This chapter discusses the principles underpinning the design of a solution for an indoor-outdoor world browser platform. The chapter presents the results of qualitative evaluations that were conducted on existing commercial world browsers and the design ideas of the proposed solutions. The main elements of a successful world browsing experience are highlighted as a guide for augmented reality designers.