CoCreatAR: Enhancing Authoring of Outdoor Augmented Reality Experiences Through Asymmetric Collaboration

TL;DR

CoCreatAR is a novel mixed reality system that improves outdoor AR content creation by combining remote and on-site authoring, reducing the need for repeated visits and enhancing user engagement and confidence.

Contribution

This paper introduces CoCreatAR, an asymmetric collaborative AR authoring system that integrates ex-situ and in-situ workflows to address limitations of static models in outdoor AR authoring.

Findings

Enhances user engagement, creativity, and confidence in AR authoring.

Reduces time and resource consumption compared to traditional methods.

Provides preliminary insights into lowering task load during AR content creation.

Abstract

Authoring site-specific outdoor augmented reality (AR) experiences requires a nuanced understanding of real-world context to create immersive and relevant content. Existing ex-situ authoring tools typically rely on static 3D models to represent spatial information. However, in our formative study (n=25), we identified key limitations of this approach: models are often outdated, incomplete, or insufficient for capturing critical factors such as safety considerations, user flow, and dynamic environmental changes. These issues necessitate frequent on-site visits and additional iterations, making the authoring process more time-consuming and resource-intensive. To mitigate these challenges, we introduce CoCreatAR, an asymmetric collaborative mixed reality authoring system that integrates the flexibility of ex-situ workflows with the immediate contextual awareness of in-situ authoring. We conducted an exploratory study (n=32) comparing CoCreatAR to an asynchronous workflow baseline, finding that it enhances engagement, creativity, and confidence in the authored output while also providing preliminary insights into its impact on task load. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for integrating real-world context into site-specific AR authoring systems.