Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance

Web-based AR for Enterprise: Opportunities and Challenges

AREA-Directed Research: RFP Submission

Industry Context for the Research

As AR technologies mature, developers working for AREA member organizations will generate growing catalogs of AR experiences for use in the workplaces where employees encounter new and/or complex situations involving physical world spaces, machines and materials.

Industry specialists are now seeking scalable ways to author, manage and maintain those AR experiences and to support a wide range of display devices, sources of data and users operating in diverse workplaces. Currently, their options are limited to adopting closed, proprietary system architectures and methods for AR experience authoring, delivery and presentation.  This “walled garden” approach is designed to support “native” mobile applications, which are neither interoperable across devices nor easy to maintain.

An alternative is currently under development in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Immersive Web (IW) working group. All major Web browser vendors are currently collaborating in the W3C ​IW working group to develop the WebXR Device API specification. When ratified and adopted, WebXR Device API and its extensions will enable delivery of AR experiences to any device running a standards-compliant browser. Immersive Web-based solutions will offer inexpensive content development, delivery and maintenance options. IW will enable OS-interoperability, portability between devices, intuitive sharing of content using common hyperlinks, improved security and scalability, and seamless integration with existing enterprise Web architectures and database investments.

Before AREA members can test and/or embrace the IW specifications, they must understand the status and development roadmap of the W3C working group’s activities, and be able to compare the benefits and practical limitations of using Web-based delivery of enterprise AR content versus the existing native application approach.

This research project will educate and empower AREA members as they begin to explore Web-based AR as a resource in their AR portfolio, and permit members to converse with enterprise stakeholders and Web-based AR solution providers. With this knowledge, AREA members will be able to choose if, when and how to take full advantage of the emerging Immersive Web.

Approach and Scope

To achieve the goals of this project, the research team will:

  1. Collaborate with the W3C Immersive Web WG chairs, editors and major contributors to report on the status, initial functionality, and development roadmap and timeline of the WebXR Device API specification.
  2. Conduct research on prior investigations and current initiatives, if any, regarding Web-based AR for enterprise use cases.
  3. Survey AREA members and industry stakeholders regarding their knowledge of, and attitudes and aspirations regarding, web-based delivery of AR experiences.

The research will answer at least the following questions for AREA members.

  1. Capture current state of the art

2. What does engagement of Web-based AR look like across the enterprise AR experience life-cycle?

3. What are some ideal future states (scenarios) towards which enterprises and AR technology providers should be planning?

Deliverables

This AREA research project will produce three deliverables:

Using the research report and demonstration code produced in this project will permit AREA members to better plan their integration strategies and scalable architectures, as well as to begin fruitful dialog with suppliers of Web-based AR tools and content about integration scenarios and roadmaps.

A case study or executive summary suitable for public release by the AREA will summarize the state of the art and results of the running code. The publication of the case study will permit stakeholders in the broader AR ecosystem to discuss the use of Web-based AR and discover one of the benefits of AREA membership.

Selection Criteria

All proposals will be evaluated by the AREA research committee chair and research manager on the following criteria:

Submission Deadline

Please use the submission form below to submit your proposal on or before 12 PM Eastern Daylight Time September 16, 2019.

Budget for this Project

Note that the AREA Research Committee budget for this project is $15,000. Organizations interested in conducting this research for the fixed fee are invited to submit proposals.

Questions

Any questions concerning this project and the AREA Research Committee, please send an email to the Research Committee.

    Submitter Information

    Submission Option #1

    Please fill in all fields below. If you would prefer to provide this information via PDF, skip to Option #2 at the end of this form.

    Description of the research methodology to be used

    Project milestones and timeline

    Project risks and mitigation measures

    Potential or confirmed partners in the research

    Background and qualifications of the organization to perform research and any proposed partners

    Examples of other completed projects/reports

    Please provide up to three references

    Submission Option #2

    The RFP details may be submitted via PDF, but should be no longer than 7 pages and include a background, milestones, schedule, partnerships, risks and mitigation and resumes of key personnel. Use the following field to upload your submission in PDF format. Additionally, you may upload images and/or a video URL to support your submission.

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