ARcall: Real-Time AR Communication using Smartphones and Smartglasses

TL;DR

ARcall is a real-time AR communication system that enables immersive, private interactions between smartphones and smartglasses, addressing design challenges and providing insights for future AR communication development.

Contribution

The paper introduces ARcall, a novel AR communication system tailored for smartphones and smartglasses, with practical design considerations and qualitative evaluation insights.

Findings

Context priming enhances user experience.

User control over AR improves engagement.

Co-presence feeling is vital for effective communication.

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) smartglasses are increasingly regarded as the next generation personal computing platform. However, there is a lack of understanding about how to design communication systems using them. We present ARcall, a novel Augmented Reality-based real-time communication system that enables an immersive, delightful, and privacy-preserving experience between a smartphone user and a smartglasses wearer. ARcall allows a remote friend (Friend) to send and project AR content to a smartglasses wearer (Wearer). The ARcall system was designed with the practical limits of existing AR glasses in mind, including shorter battery life and a reduced field of view. We conduct a qualitative evaluation of the three main components of ARcall: Drop-In, ARaction, and Micro-Chat. Our results provide novel insights for building future AR-based communication methods, including, the importance of context priming, user control over AR content placement, and the feeling of co-presence while conversing.