W3C Workshop: Augmented Reality on the Web

Objectives

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a real-world environment whose elements are supplemented with, or augmented by computer generated imagery. The augmentation is conventionally achieved in real time and in a meaningful context with environmental elements.

Augmented reality is a long standing topic in its own right but it has not been developed on the Web platform. Currently there are diverging technologies for AR with few widely-accepted standards in sight: this is a recipe for customer confusion and industry gridlock.

Can the new interaction paradigm of AR be integrated into the platform of the Web and, if so, how? More importantly, how can AR itself evolve to become as open and inclusive as the Web?

There are many emerging W3C standards including geolocation and camera APIs together with cross-platform, non-proprietary widgets. These are all relevant but what other standards are needed for open AR? Data formats?

The objective of this W3C workshop Augmented Reality on the Web is to provide a single forum for researchers and technologists to discuss the intersection of AR and Web technologies, particularly as used on the mobile platform, and to explore what role standardization should play for Open Augmented Reality.

The workshop is closely associated with the MobEA series, now in its eighth year.

Topics of Interest

The main topics of interest for the envisioned workshop contributions include (but are not limited to) the following:

Web and AR

• How does Web content need to evolve with AR (e.g. extensions to current Web technologies like CSS to support AR)?
• How might Web browsers need to evolve to become AR platforms?
• Are the current and planned device APIs sufficient to enable the Web to be used as an AR platform?
• Can the 3D Web be an effective platform for AR?
• Is the infrastructure in place to support AR on the Web?
• What are the potential synergies between between AR and Virtual Reality?
• Is there sufficient royalty-free, interoperable data available to make AR on the Web a reality?

User interfaces

• 3D interaction and gestural interface and how these interfaces map onto the Metaphor of the Web.
• How far can we stretch advanced UI techniques (e.g. 3D navigation) for building more immersive applications?
• What opportunities are offered by advanced display and immersive projection technology?
• What opportunities are there for innovative interaction such as haptics, audio, and other non visual interfaces?

Mobile AR

• What are the existing and emerging mobile AR development environments and toolkits?
• Are mobile tracking & sensing sufficient for AR?
• How can mobile presence and cognition be exploited by AR?.
• What are the latest developments in mobile widgets and mashups for AR?
• Can AR play a role in media adaptation and content filtering?

Evaluation of AR

• What user studies and evaluation is relevant to AR?
• What are the existing standard datasets and benchmarks for AR? (if any).
• Where are the gaps in the datasets and benchmarks that need to be filled for AR to become more widely available?
• What does an AR Web site look like for the visually disabled and what extensions would be required to current Web Accessibility techniques?
• ...

Standardization

• Is there a need for a common infrastructure for points of interest (such as common code/reference, a common database etc.)?
• What are the available languages for "augmenting" points of interest and what more may need to be standardized?
• What is the relationship between AR and linked data?

Program

This will be a 1.5 day Workshop

• Start time: 1:30 pm, Tuesday June 15
• There will be a hands-on demo session for all participants around 17.30 on the first day.
• End time: 17:00 pm, Wednesday, June 16

Full agenda available.

How to Participate

To ensure productive discussions, the workshop is limited to 80 attendees. Participation is open to non-W3C members. Each organization can provide at most two attendees.

Position papers are required in order to participate in this workshop. Each organization or individual wishing to participate must submit a position paper explaining their interest in the workshop no later than Saturday May 29th (23.59 EST). The intention is to make sure that participants have an active interest in the area, and that the workshop will benefit from their presence.

We are using the Easy Chair system for paper submissions which requires all papers to be in PDF format. Alternatively you may submit a PDF that simply includes a link to a valid XHTML/HTML document (please use the W3C validator). Papers should be 1 to 5 pages in length and submitted here.

All position papers are now available from the workshop Web site. The workshop Web site will be public, so position papers and slides must be suitable for public dissemination. Speaker slides will also be available at the Web site after the workshop. Printed proceedings will not be provided.

To attend, you must register by filling out the registration form. The URI for the registration form will be sent to you after your position paper is accepted.

Demos are invited. At the end of the first day, participants are welcome to demonstrate their (relevant) applications. This will be done in an informal way, hopefully beneath the Barcelona sunshine. Participants will have a chance to see all the demos on offer.

Note: To help the organizers plan the workshop: If you wish to participate, please send email as soon as possible to phila@w3.org stating:

• that somebody from your organization plans to submit a position paper;
• whether you want to send one or two participants;
• whether or not you wish to make a presentation;
• whether or not you wish to offer a demo.

Thank you.

Please note that this expression of interest does not mean that you registered for the workshop. It is still necessary to send a position paper, which has to be accepted by the Program Committee.

Press representatives must contact w3t-pr@w3.org

Program Committee

Program Chairs

• Daniel Appelquist, Vodafone, UK
• Phil Archer, W3C, France/UK
• Rittwik Jana, AT&T Labs Research USA
• Christine Perey, Perey Research and Consulting, Switzerland

The chairs can be reached via w3car@easychair.org

Program Committee Members

• Dan Brickley, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the FOAF project
• Chetan Damani, Acrossair
• Dirk Groten, Layar
• Usman Haque, Connected Environments
• David Kormann, AT&T Labs Research
• Sophie Charlotte Moatti, Nokia
• Hartmut Neven, Google
• David Marimon Sanjuan, Telefónica R&D
• Markus Tripp, Mobilizy
• Gregg Vesonder, AT&T Labs Research

Venue & Logistics

Telensenyament conference room
Building B3, Campus Nord, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Jordi Girona, 3
Barcelona

How to Get There

Our host at UPC is the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Telecommunicació de Barcelona (ETSETB).

ESTB provides full details of how to get there, plus maps, on its own Web site but key information is provided below.

The Campus Nord of the University is located in one of the best areas of the city, surrounded by gardens and right next to the city's financial centre, with all the best shops at hand. There are excellent bus and metro connections to the historic city centre.

The campus is well served by public transport, detailed below. For more information about Barcelona’s public transportation, you can visit the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona Web site. You may also visit the Barcelona City Council Web site.

Bus:

7, 22, 33, 54, 63 …

Metro:

Underground Line 3 (Green line), "Zona Universitaria"

Tramvia:

Línies T1 T2 T3, parada Palau Reial.

Car:

Ronda de Dalt, exit 10 (Pedralbes - UPC)
Av. Diagonal (Campus Nord)

If you arrive by plane (Barcelona El Prat airport):

Aeropueratos Españoles y Navegaciòn Aèrea Web site

- TAXI would cost between 20+ €

- TRAIN – Single ticket: 1.20€ / 10-ride ticket: 6 €. Take the Train "Cercanias" at the airport, in the direction Barcelona. Get off at Sants Estació, the main Train Station Barcelona-Sants. Take the Metro L3, Green Line, until Palau Reial.

Bear in mind that the train runs from T2. It can take 20 minutes to get to T2 from T1 via the shuttle bus.

- AEROBUS - Single Ticket: 3.30 € / Return ticket: 5.65 € Every 12 minutes. Time taken: 20 min. Take the Aerobus at the airport, direction Barcelona. Get off at Sants Estació. Take the Metro L3, Green Line, alight at Zona Universitaria.

Contact

The chairs can be reached via w3car@easychair.org

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Photo credits: Luis A. Muñoz, Paco CT, Jaume Meneses - Some rights reserved

Phil Archer $Date: 2010/10/28 23:39:38 $ by $Author: mdw $