Augmented Environments Lab

Maribeth Gandy, Blair MacIntyre, Peter Presti, Steven Dow, Jay David Bolter, Brandon Yarbrough, and Nigel O’Rear. “AR Karaoke: Acting in Your Favorite Scenes” In The Fourth International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2005), October 6-8, 2005, Vienna, Austria. Read more

Abstract
We propose the term aura to enrich the current language for designing and analyzing media experiences, especially when using augmented reality, mixed reality and ubiquitous computing technology. Aura describes the cultural and personal significance that a place (or object) holds for an individual. An MR application can exploit aura to make the user’s experience more compelling or educationally rewarding. Aura provides a necessary complement to the concepts of presence, which is commonly used to evaluate VR applications, and of place, which refers to the more generic significance of places, particularly in CSCW applications. We use the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia to illustrate the concept of aura. A number of research questions about the relationship of aura, presence, and place are suggested.
Reference:
Blair MacIntyre, Jay David Bolter, and Maribeth Gandy (2004) “Presence and the Aura of Meaningful Places” 7th Annual International Workshop on Presence (PRESENCE 2004), Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 13-15 October 2004.

Abstract
Researchers and practitioners working on story-based experiences in virtual environments often make two assumptions. One assumption is that, in order to be compelling, such experiences must enable the user to make significant choices that alter the outcome of the story. Another is that virtual environments constitute a revolutionary new medium and therefore that the techniques of earlier media, such as film and stage production, are no longer relevant. In designing story-based experiences in Augmented Reality, we have come to question these two assumptions. “Three Angry Men,” based on the teleplay and movie “Twelve Angry Men,” is an example of an augmented reality, dramatic experience with a fixed plot but multiple points of view.

Reference
Blair MacIntyre and Jay David Bolter (2003). “Single-Narrative, Multiple Point-of-View Dramatic Experiences in Augmented Reality”.  Journal of Virtual Reality, 2003.