Opportunities for AR Cloud Technologies in Enterprise

AR Cloud technologies are emerging as part of a broader, 3D “spatial computing” trend. Accurate three-dimensional and spatially-anchored models of the real world are being captured using AR devices and proposed for the design of AR-enabled services with high fidelity positioning of users and assets to automatically connect workers with data from enterprise management systems. Proponents of AR Cloud architectures suggest that using these distributed technologies will result in lower total cost of ownership, higher performance and more flexible AR-enabled solutions. With spatial computing, AR users will have higher engagement, seamless collaborative experiences while sharing 3D models, and options for separating static from dynamic parts of the physical world in AR authoring. By securely off-load computational complexity of AR processes to the edge of their networks, AR display devices will be lighter, have lower power requirements and, potentially lower costs.

This research project will focus on definition of requirements and development of prototypes of devices and network technologies that are not tied to any single vendor’s device and network offerings. The results will permit enterprises to evaluate and quantify the benefits of distributed AR Cloud architectures without limiting options for multi-vendor networks. Edge computing technologies will also be essential components.

Stakeholders

Network operators, network managers, enterprise IT managers, AR display designers, AR display manufacturers, AR experience authoring platforms, AR developers

Possible Methodologies

The research will focus on edge computing technologies from multiple suppliers that can support distributed AR architectures. Studies will compare the components of AR experience delivery that are suited to distributed computing. Laboratory-based studies in controlled environments will measure performance characteristics across different scenarios. There will also need to be study of network-based storage of world maps and the use of these 3d models for real-time object identification, device and object tracking, and localization of devices and objects. End user satisfaction studies can also be used for this research.

Research Program

This research topic could be part of a program studying the potential benefits of 5G networks which provide low-latency and high bandwidth connectivity. Other topics such as cloud-based rendering of 3D graphics, discovery of AR experiences and security could be combined with this topic.

Miscellaneous Notes

The study and testing of AR cloud technologies in enterprise use cases and networks was proposed as an AREA-directed research project topic in January 2021.

Keywords

Edge computing, spatial computing, AR cloud, cloud computing, 3D mapping, computer vision, object tracking, localization, relocalization, edge computing, cloud computing, distributed computing, network architecture

Research Agenda Categories

Technology

Expected Impact Timeframe

Medium

Related Publications

Using the words in this topic description and Natural Language Processing analysis of publications in the AREA FindAR database, the references below have the highest number of matches with this topic:

• Liu, Q., Huang, S., & Han, T. (2017). Fast and accurate object analysis at the edge for mobile augmented reality. Proceedings of the Second ACM/IEEE Symposium on Edge Computing.
• Schneider, M., Rambach, J., & Stricker, D. (2017). Augmented reality based on edge computing using the example of remote live support. 2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT).
• Qiao, X., Ren, P., Dustdar, S., & Chen, J. (2018). A New Era for Web AR with Mobile Edge Computing. IEEE Internet Computing, 22(4), 46-55.
• Speicher, M., Hall, B. D., Yu, A., Zhang, B., Zhang, H., Nebeling, J., & Nebeling, M. (2018). XD-AR. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2(EICS), 1-24.
• Hossain, S. A., Islam, R., Rahman, S., & Nayeem, S. (2020). A Layered Framework for Virtual Guidance to Network Maintenance Based on Augmented Reality. IT Convergence and Security, 111-121.

More publications can be explored using the AREA FindAR research tool.

Author

Christine Perey

Last Published (yyyy-mm-dd)

2021-08-31

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