=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-91/paper-1
|storemode=property
|title=Designing augmented interfaces for guided tours using multimedia sketches
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-91/paperD1.pdf
|volume=Vol-91
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/mixer/MartinezM04
}}
==Designing augmented interfaces for guided tours using multimedia sketches==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-91/paperD1.pdf
Designing augmented interfaces for guided tours using
multimedia sketches
Margarita Martínez and Guadalupe Muñoz
Departamento de Informática, Estadística
y Telemática
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
C/Tulipán s/n, Móstoles
28933 Madrid, Spain
+34 91 664 74 53
{mmartinez, g.munoz}@escet.urjc.es
ABSTRACT building reconstructing it from these few fragments. Also,
One of the more interesting fields of application for an augmented reality system provides the user with
augmented reality is cultural heritage. Designing additional data such as architectural information or
augmented reality interfaces in this domain is difficult historical facts that are not available just looking at the
because it involves, among other things, the selection and environment.
interpretation of multidimensional information, the Though information on these elements can be obtained
intervention of persons from multiple disciplines and the through different media, such as Web pages or TV
design of the presentation and the interaction with the user. programs, most people likes to visit historic and
We present a methodology that takes into account all these archaeological places in situ, combining entertainment with
factors and that is supported with an innovative use of cultural enlightenment. One of the main advantages of the
multimedia sketches. augmented reality paradigm for the cultural heritage
Keywords domain comes from the facility to allow the mobility of the
Design methodology; sketches; augmented reality; user while she is walking around the historical place.
multimedia narration; mobile computing. On the other hand, if we compare the information given to
INTRODUCTION a visitor of an historical place by a human guide with that
An augmented reality (AR) system supplements the real provided by the new technologies, we can see that the last
world with virtual objects that appear to coexist with the is more complete, and also with a more attractive format
real ones [2]. Augmented reality has been applied to (graphics, sounds, three dimensional images).
different fields, such as medicine, military training, There already exist prototypes of systems in which the
entertainment, or engineering design, but one of the visitor receives this information through a head-mounted
domains where it has the potential to be more useful is display or a tablet [19][23].
cultural heritage. The need to integrate virtual and real information implies a
The application that we are addressing is that of providing change in the design methodology and design tools with
the user with information while they are visiting an respect to other types of interactive systems that has been
archaeological site or a monument, creating a personal little explored. In this paper we will present a methodology
"touring guide machine". For many people visiting a for designing AR interfaces for cultural heritage that is
monument or an archaeological place can be somewhat supported in its different phases by the use of multimedia
disappointing, even when accompanied by a tour guide. sketches.
Archaeological evidence for a building may consist of little The organization of the paper is as follows: In the first
more than a few fragments of wall foundation. For the section we will state the requisites of such a methodology
untrained eye it can be difficult to imagine the shape of a and will review the related work. Next, we will explain
why to use sketches in supporting the design. In the third
section, we will outline the main steps of the methodology
we propose and how are multimedia sketches used in each
one of them. Finally, we will present our conclusions and
our plans for the future.
2. DESIGNING AR INTERFACES FOR GUIDED TOURS In our case we use sketches not only for storyboarding the
The design of AR interfaces for guided tours is a complex presentation, but also in the first steps of the design, to
process because consists of two kind of designs: 1) the specify requirements, compile and organize the
design of the visit: selecting the information to show, information, and selecting and interpreting it.
developing its historical interpretation, elaborating a Multimedia sketches also let us see the overlapping of
journey, and building a narrative script, and 2) the design computer-generated objects on real ones without treating,
of the user interface itself (how to show the information, in the first stages of the design, the problem of position
what multimedia means to use, and how the user interacts detection, which is a very desirable characteristic for the
with the application) design of any augmented reality application, and a
Currently, there are methodologies to design some of these particularly difficult point in the case of AR interfaces for
elements separately but none that integrates all of them. guided visits.
Mitchell and Economou [18], discuss some methodological Of the various available tools for sketching multimedia
approaches. Cohen [8] and McDonnel [17], while applications, we selected DEMAIS [4], mainly because of
reviewing the role of the tour guide, discuss also the its capability for expressing dynamic behavior through
content of the visit. In [5] Balaguer et al present the user designer's ink strokes and textual annotations. Originally
centered design of a visit to an archaeological site by using intended for sketching user interaction elements and
scenarios, storyboards, and a video prototype. In the synchronization of time-based information display, we use
Archeoguide project [21], the design was based in use them also to help designers to navigate among the different
cases [1]. Granollers et al [9] present how the location parts of the information.
attribute is taken into account in the design process and the
dialogue model. Apart from these advantages, DEMAIS helps us to map the
multi-dimensionality of our domain (time, 3-space, cultural
We have been working on such an integrated methodology aspects, historical features) into the 4-dimensional world
and have stated in [16] the requirements we think it should (time, 3-space) of the historical place visited by the user.
meet. Among them, we would emphasize that this
methodology must take into account the multiple
dimensions of the information to show (spatial, time- A METHODOLOGY SUPPORTED BY MULTIMEDIA
dependent, social and cultural aspects, etc.), the most SKETCHES
adequate approach to link them to elaborate a narration, The methodology took as starting point the design of film
and the method employed to design the appearance of this movies [14], which are a kind of non-interactive
information using the means provided by the multimedia multimedia narration. Later, we also took into account the
and the augmented reality paradigms. interactivity of these narration for the case of augmented
reality and the case of the cultural heritage domain.
SKETCHES The methodology is divided in several steps, that are
Such a methodology must we applied in close collaboration outlined below.
with specialist in multiple domains, such as architects, Selection and interpretation of information
archaeologists, or experts in cultural tourism and with end It consists on defining:
users. For communication among them and the designers,
The target of the application
we began using paper storyboards, but quickly we started
to use multimedia sketches. In this case the objective is more than presenting
information, but instead to transmit a comprehension of the
Actually, the case of guided tours is a special case of culture of the visited place.
multimedia narration. According to [3] and [13], designers
of multimedia applications prefer the development of The target user groups, and their requisites
sketches over formal notations, authoring tool or other The typical users will be cultural tourists, but they could
prototyping application early in the design process. also be students. They can also be divided in subgroups
Sketches allow us to be imprecise, which is needed in the depending on age, previous knowledge, distance between
early design when not all the user requirements have been their culture and that of the visited place, and so on. There
completely gathered. It is also a fast method to have should be variations on the content, structure and
something to check and refine [22]. navigation for each one of these subgroups.
With respect to augmented reality interfaces, there is a lack The details of the information to be transmitted
of tools for design, particularly for early design. The tool The selection consists in determining which points are
presented in [7] covers early design, but it requires going to be visited and what information is going to be
programming, which makes it inappropriate for transmitted. As it implies an interpretation of the
multidisciplinary design. Other tools, such as [10] and [11], information, which usually means to make hypotheses from
are more oriented to development. the known facts, it must be done in close collaboration with
domain experts.
Though in this type of AR interface the user is allowed to
divert from the proposed path, most people prefer to be told
Establishing the form of the medium
an itinerary (or a small set of them) and a basically lineal
First, the hardware where the application will run must be
narration [12].
selected: the computer platform, the type of display, the
In this phase, we use multimedia sketches mainly as a mean method and devices to detect user position, because many
of communication between the different persons aspects of the design of the interface are dependent on
intervening in the design, such as experts in cultural them.
heritage or cultural tourism, multimedia designers, etc. and
Next, the type of media to be used (sound, graphics,
as a mean to organize the information obtained. Figure 1
images) for each information element is selected and these
shows how an itinerary is designed, using the plane of a
information elements are designed in detail.
building as a base to lay out the paths and to mark elements
of interest. DEMAIS layers are used to organize the As the multimedia contents have to be thoroughly
multiple dimensions of information, and DEMAIS dynamic integrated with the physical objects that are seen by the
behaviour elements, such as buttons, to relate elements, user, we use multimedia sketches to design the overlapping
acting somewhat as hyperlinks (Figure 2). between real and generated elements. In this case, the base
for the sketches is photographs and videos of the place
When the place has suffered changes along the history,
(figure 4). Moreover, they can be used to see the degree of
multidimensional diagrams (figure 3) can be used to show
visibility of the real elements from each position.
these changes.
Figure 3. Showing changes along time
Figure 1: Designing an itinerary
Figure 4: Overlapping real and computer generated interface
elements
Figure 2. Using sketches to organize and link information
In the future, we plan to use DEMAIS also for early
prototyping, in order to experiment and evaluate different
interaction techniques and forms of presentation.
We also want to refine the steps of our methodology, and
particularly the transition from multimedia storyboards to
production, that is not trivial in this case because
presentation must be adapted in function of the position
and point of view of the user in each moment.
REFERENCES
1. ARCHEOGUIDE Consortium. ARCHEOGUIDE
Aplication Scenarios. Deliverable D04.
http://archeoguide.intranet.gr/papers/D04-V01-
ICOM_Final.doc
Figure 5: Designing temporal aspects of the visit 2. Azuma, R.; Baillot, Y.; Behringer, R.; Feiner, S.; Julier,
Videos also help to design the temporal aspects of the visit, S.; MacIntyre, B. “Recent Advances in Augmented
pacing the oral contents with the time it takes the user to Reality”. In IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
cover a stretch of the itinerary (figure 5). 21, 6 (Nov/Dec 2001), 34-47.
As the objective is not only information transmission, but 3. Bailey, B.P. and J.A. Konstan. Are Informal Tools
to make the user enjoy the experience of the visit, Better? Comparing DEMAIS, Pencil and Paper, and
designing through sketches allow to experiment easily and Authorware for Early Multimedia Design. Proceedings
with a low cost with different design options and even of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in
artistic expression forms. There is not much experience Computing Systems, 2003, pp. 313-320.
with this type of application, so it is particularly important 4. Bailey, B.P.; Konstan, J.A. and Carlis, J. V. “Supporting
to evaluate early the different aspects of the design, with Multimedia Designers: Towards More Effective Design
the participation of end users. Tools”. Proceedings Multimedia Modeling, 2001. pp.
Finally, elements for explicit interaction with the user can 241-250.
also be designed by using the dynamic capabilities of 5. Balaguer, A.; Lorés, J.; Junyent, E. and Ferré, G.
Demais. "Scenario based design of augmented reality systems
Designing the application software. applied to cultural heritage", Proceedings Panhellenic
It consists on selecting the software platform and designing Conference on Human Computer Interaction, 2001,
the software architecture, the mechanism for information Typorama pub.
personalization, etc. 6. Caloini, A., D. Taguchi, K. Yanoo, and E. Tanaka.
Prototyping and evaluation Script-free Scenario Authoring in MediaDesc.
Though with sketches we can experiment and evaluate the Proceedings ACM Multimedia, 1998.
main aspects of the design, there are other factors, such as 7. Ceiger, C., Paelke, V. Reimann, C. Rosenbach, W. And
synchronization and integration [20], that affect usability Stoecklein, Testable Design Representations for Mobile
and whose evaluation requires a working prototype and a Augmented Reality Authoring, Proceedings ISMAR'02:
visit to the place. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
Reality, IEEE, 2002.
The design of augmented reality interfaces for visiting 8. Cohen, E. (1985): "The Tourist Guide. The Origins,
cultural heritage places is a complex process, because it Structure and Dynamics of a Role". Annals of Tourism
involves both the design of the visit and the design of the Research 12 (1), pp. 5-29, 1985.
multimedia information presentation. It is also a 9. Granollers, T.; Lorés, J.; Raimat, G.; Junyent, E.;
multidisciplinary process, because it needs the intervention Tartera, E. Design of augmented reality systems in
in the design of persons with different backgrounds, such archaeological sites". Enter the past. Viena 8-12 abril,
as multimedia designers, usability specialists, 2003.
archaeologists or architects.
10. Grimm P., Haller M., Paelke V., Reinhold S., Reimann
In this paper we have presented the steps of a methodology C., Zauner J., AMIRE - Authoring Mixed Reality, First
for solving these problems, and the use of dynamic IEEE International Augmented Reality Toolkit
multimedia sketches in supporting the different phases of Workshop, September, 2002. Darmstadt, Germany
the design, from the selection and interpretation of cultural
information to the layout of the presentation. 11. Haringer, M. and Regenbrecht, H.T. A Pragmatic
Approach to Augmented Reality Authoring.
Proceedings ISMAR'02: International Symposium on 18. Mitchell , W.L. and Economou, , D. "Methodological
Mixed and Augmented Reality, IEEE, 2002. Approaches to Developing Content for the Cultural
12. Karat, M-C.; Pinhanewz, C.; Karat, J.; Arora, R. and Grid", MDA Information, MDA, Vol. 5, No. 1,
Vergo, J.: Less Clicking, More Watching: Results of the December 2000, pp. 5-10.
Interactive Design and Evaluation of Entertaining Web 19. Newman, J.; Ingram, D.; Hopper, A. (2001):
Experiences. INTERACT'01: Eight IFIP Tc.13 "Augmented Reality in a Wide Area Sentient
Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. pp. 455- Environment" Second IEEE and ACM International
463. IOS Press. Symposium on Augmented Reality (ISAR 2001),
13. Landay, J.A. and B.A. Myers. Interactive Sketching October 2001, New York.
for the Early Stages of User Interface Design. 20. Trevisan, D., Vanderdonckt, J., Macq, B. Analyzing
Conference Proceedings on Human Factors in Interaction in Augmented Reality
Computing Systems, 1995. Systems, Proceedings of ACM Multimedia'2002
14. Manovich, L. "What Is Digital Cinema?": The Digital International Workshop on Immersive
Dialectic: New Essays on New Media. Ed. Peter Telepresence ITP'2002 (Juan Les Pins, 6 December
Lunenfeld. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1999. pp. 172- 2002), G. Pingali, R. Jain (eds.), ACM Press, New
192. York, 2002, pp. 56-59.
15. Martinez, P. “Digital realities and archeology: a 21. Vlahakis, V; Ioannidis, N; Karigiannis, J.; Tsotros, M.;
difficult relationship or a fruitful marriage?”, 2001 Gounaris, M.; Stricker, D.; Gleue, T.; Daehne, P.;
ACM Conference on Virtual reality, archeology and Almeida, L. (2002): “ Archeoguide: An Augmented
cultural heritage. pp. 9-16. Reality Guide for Archaeological Sites”. IEEE
Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 22, no. 5,
16. Martinez, M and Muñoz, G., Requisitos para una pp. 52-60.
metodología de diseño de sistemas de visita guiada
basados en computación ubicua y realidad aumentada, I 22. Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., and Liu, Y. An
Encuentro Internacional de Informática Aplicada a la Introduction to Human Factors Engineering. Addison-
Investigación y Gestión Arqueológicas, Córdoba, mayo Wesley (Longman Imprint): New York, NY, 1998.
2003. 23. Zancanaro, M.; Stock, O.; Alfaro, I. (2003): “Using
17. McDonnel, I. (2001): "The role of the tour guide in Cinematic Techniques in a Multimedia Museum
tranferring cultural understanding", Working Paper No. Guide”. Museums and the Web 2003, 19-22 March
3, School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, University of 2003, Charlotte, NC. http://tcc.itc.it/people
Technology,
http://www.business.uts.edu.au/leisure/research/WP3_
McDonnell.pdf. Sidney.