SMART GLASS APPLICATION TESTING FOR AUGMENTED REALITY

Abstract

A multitude of mobile device applications are being designed every day, a significant amount of which are Augmented Reality applications. Current smartphones and tablets can use such applications to supersede multi-modal information, such as text, images or predesigned 3D digital objects, over the camera’s real-world input. This technology offers the users immersive educational, industrial, touristic and even research experiences. The main drawback of such applications is that the users have to hold their device towards their view point and look at the screen, which limits their mobility. Smart glasses are believed to be the next big thing in wearable technology, since they can offer an always-on augmented experience, without such constraints. The users are able to move and act in any way they wish, with the glasses working on certain cues, such as location beacons, image or object recognition and others. These devices are already seeing some use in industry, while pilot projects and experiments with them are also being performed in other fields. Smart glasses are expected to improve significantly and become more accessible to the public in the following few years, as technological advancements in computing and wearable technologies progress. Microsoft has already introduced the HoloLens, which is not yet a consumer device but is eventually aiming to be, while Apple is also working on a consumer headset that is expected to be complete and available in the next few years. In this paper we review the methodology used in testing mobile applications before publication, from the designer’s point of view, both for Android and iOS. We then use this current methodology and initially apply it to an Augmented Reality application for smartphones. Following that, we test it on the modified version of the same application for smart glasses. That includes testing both the hardware aspects, such as power efficiency testing, GPS accuracy testing etc, and the software aspects, for example usability, readability, high contrast options or colourblind mode etc. Our goal is to determine whether this set of guidelines can work for both cases and devices, since the original criteria suggested were only with handheld devices in mind and for touch focused applications, where the user has to look at his/her smartphone and all content is generated through it. We then seek to determine what, if any, extra criteria or new steps would be necessary for testing applications for Smart Glasses and offer our own set of criteria recommendations on the subject. Smart glass applications are, in our opinion, the next big thing in educational mobile applications, be it in virtual educational tours or 3D modelled reconstructed environments or even used as testbeds, for example in experimenting with cultural heritage artifacts without physical contact. Our testing and suggestions can benefit educators, stakeholders and designers by offering a better understanding of the challenges such applications can present, and change the way they are designed and tested for publication, in preparation for the wider use of Smart glasses.