Immersive Communication with Augmented Reality Headset

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

Modern livestock farm technologies allow operators to have access to a multitude of data thanks to the high number of mobile and fixed sensors available on both the livestock farming machinery and the animals. These data can be consulted via PC, tablet, and smartphone, which must be handheld by the operators, leading to an increase in the time needed for on-field activities. In this scenario, the use of augmented reality smart glasses could allow the visualization of data directly in the field, providing for a hands-free environment for the operator to work. Nevertheless, to visualize specific animal information, a connection between the augmented reality smart glasses and electronic animal identification is needed. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop and test a wearable framework, called SmartGlove that is able to link RFID animal tags and augmented reality smart glasses via a Bluetooth connection, allowing the visualization of specific animal data directly in the field. Moreover, another objective of the study was to compare different levels of augmented reality technologies (assisted reality vs. mixed reality) to assess the most suitable solution for livestock management scenarios. For this reason, the developed framework and the related augmented reality smart glasses applications were tested in the laboratory and in the field. Furthermore, the stakeholders’ point of view was analyzed using two standard questionnaires, the NASA-Task Load Index and the IBM-Post Study System Usability Questionnaire. The outcomes of the laboratory tests underlined promising results regarding the operating performances of the developed framework, showing no significant differences if compared to a commercial RFID reader. During the on-field trial, all the tested systems were capable of performing the task in a short time frame. Furthermore, the operators underlined the advantages of using the SmartGlove system coupled with the augmented reality smart glasses for the direct on-field visualization of animal data.

The focus of this research was to examine how effectively augmented reality displays, generated with a wearable computer, could be used for aiding an operator performing a manual assembly task. Fifteen subjects were asked to assemble a computer motherboard using four types of instructional media: paper manual, computer-aided, opaque augmented reality display, and see-through augmented reality display. The time of assembly and assembly errors were measured for each type of instructional media, and a questionnaire focusing on usability was administered to each subject at the end of each condition. The results of the experiment indicated that the augmented reality conditions were more effective instructional aids for the assembly task than either the paper instruction manual or the computer-aided instruction. The see-through augmented reality display resulted in the fastest assembly times, followed by the opaque augmented reality display, the computer-aided instruction, and the paper instructions respectively. In addition, subjects made fewer errors using the augmented reality conditions compared to the computer-aided and paper instructional media. However, while the two augmented reality conditions were a more effective instructional media when time for assembly was the response measure, there were still some important usability issues associated with the augmented reality technology that were not present in the non-augmented reality conditions.

PurposeWith its potential to significantly improve the tourism sector, augmented reality (AR), an emerging technology, is a growing force in the field. It has attracted significant academic attention and expanded publishing options over the past 20 years. However, so far, no review has provided a comprehensive overview of AR-related research in tourism. This work uses the VOS Viewer and Bibliometrix R-package software to present a bibliometric review of the scientific literature in the area of AR-related tourism research in order to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachThe theme of AR in tourism was searched in the Scopus database. The original search yielded 327 papers in total, which were then filtered based on the parameters. A total of 190 relevant documents were generated by the refining process. For the publications pertaining to AR in tourism, the most cited papers, prominent authors, productive journals and countries, co-authorship among countries, trending topics, thematic map, co-occurrence analysis of keywords and bibliographic coupling of documents were all looked into.FindingsThis report shows a recent rise in research on AR in the tourism industry. The top 10 studies in the topic had a combined total of 1749 citations, while the authors found three papers with more than 200 Scopus citations. Till the date of extraction, 555 writers have contributed to the field of AR in tourism, with Tom Dieck M.C., Chung N. and Jung T. receiving the most citations. According to co-authorship analysis, the UK collaborates with other countries the most. Thematic map has thrown insight into the niche themes and emerging themes in the field. Coupling analysis has revealed four major research streams in the field of AR in tourism.Research limitations/implicationsThis study can be considered as a first study to utilize a bibliometric method to address this research gap, identifying the top documents, journals and, most importantly, the future research areas identified through the thematic map analysis of keywords and bibliographic coupling.Practical implicationsHistorical growth within this discipline was made clear by an in-depth analysis of the studied themes in this area. Hence, the discovery of relatively new subjects offers scholars the chance to plan their research in this area and thereby enhance the literature. The study is also beneficial for practitioners in the tourism industry.Originality/valueThis work examined previously published publications on AR in tourism using a bibliometric analytic technique. Additionally, it contributes to the current knowledge accumulation in learning about the applicability of AR in tourism and enlightens tourism scholars on the structure of the field.

Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses strengthen user interaction by merging real-world visuals with digital information. This study explores the impact of wearability, usability, and social influence on the feeling of groundedness and purchase intentions for AR smart glasses moderated by privacy concerns. Text mining and PLS-SEM were employed to analyze 3,164 Amazon smart glasses online reviews. Results suggest that the feeling of groundedness is influenced by usability and social influence, while wearability showed no significant effect. Privacy concerns moderate the relationship between groundedness and purchase intentions, emphasizing the need for privacy measures to improve user trust. These findings suggest that AR smart glasses create meaningful connections for users, affecting their preferences, choices, and willingness to pay.

BackgroundChallenges in emergency medicine include overcrowding, insufficient emergency care resources, and extended emergency department (ED) waiting times. These issues contribute to delays in treatment and unfavorable outcomes. This situation worsens in events with large crowds and particularly worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The integration of augmented reality (AR) smart glasses could potentially enhance patient care in the ED.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the effectiveness of AR smart glasses in reducing patient care time in the ED during the 19th Asian Games and the Fourth Asian Para Games Hangzhou 2022 (HAG2022). The study specifically compares the prepreparation time (PPT) and consult response time (CRT) in patients receiving teleconsultations via AR smart glasses versus those receiving standard care without AR.MethodsThis retrospective study was conducted between September 13, 2023, and October 28, 2023, during HAG2022. The data were gathered from AR smart glasses using 5G technology at the HAG2022 village and electronic health records at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, China. The study included 2 groups: the teleconsultation by augmented reality telemedicine system (ARTS) group and the non-ARTS group. The main data assessed were PPT and CRT in ED.ResultsDuring the research period, 80 patients were divided into 2 cohorts: the ARTS cohort (n=10) and the non-ARTS cohort (n=70). Gender and age demographics showed no significant differences between the cohorts. The ARTS cohort had a significantly lower average PPT of 23 minutes compared to the non-ARTS cohort’s 40.3 minutes (P<.001). In addition, CRT in the ARTS cohort was significantly lower at 15.6 minutes compared to the non-ARTS cohort’s 164.8 minutes (P=.03). The outcomes suggest that smart glasses are effective in decreasing PPT and CRT.ConclusionsAR smart glasses have the potential to enhance patient admission efficiency and reduce care time in EDs. However, despite these benefits, further research is needed to confirm their effectiveness, and additional studies are essential to identify the challenges and barriers to their successful implementation in emergency medicine.

Accurate implant orientation reduces wear and increases stability in arthroplasty but is a technically demanding skill. Augmented reality (AR) headsets overlay digital information on top of the real world. We have developed an enhanced AR headset capable of tracking bony anatomy in relation to an implant, but it has not yet been assessed for its suitability as a training tool for implant orientation. (1) In the setting of simulated THA performed by novices, does an AR headset improve the accuracy of acetabular component positioning compared with hands-on training by an expert surgeon? (2) What are trainees' perceptions of the AR headset in terms of realism of the task, acceptability of the technology, and its potential role for surgical training? Twenty-four study participants (medical students in their final year of school, who were applying to surgery residency programs, and who had no prior arthroplasty experience) participated in a randomized simulation trial using an AR headset and a simulated THA. Participants were randomized to two groups completing four once-weekly sessions of baseline assessment, training, and reassessment. One group trained using AR (with live holographic orientation feedback) and the other received one-on-one training from a hip arthroplasty surgeon. Demographics and baseline performance in orienting an acetabular implant to six patient-specific values on the phantom pelvis were collected before training and were comparable. The orientation error in degrees between the planned and achieved orientations was measured and was not different between groups with the numbers available (surgeon group mean error ± SD 16° ± 7° versus AR 14° ± 7°; p = 0.22). Participants trained by AR also completed a validated posttraining questionnaire evaluating their experiences. During the four training sessions, participants using AR-guidance had smaller mean (± SD) errors in orientation than those receiving guidance from the surgeon: 1° ± 1° versus AR 6° ± 4°, p < 0.001. In the fourth session's assessment, participants in both groups had improved (surgeon group mean improvement 6°, 95% CI, 4-8°; p < 0.001 versus AR group 9°, 95% CI 7-10°; p < 0.001). There was no difference between participants in the surgeon-trained and AR-trained group: mean difference 1.2°, 95% CI, -1.8 to 4.2°; p = 0.281. In posttraining evaluation, 11 of 12 participants would use the AR platform as a training tool for developing visuospatial skills and 10 of 12 for procedure-specific rehearsals. Most participants (11 of 12) stated that a combination of an expert trainer for learning and AR for unsupervised training would be preferred. A novel head-mounted AR platform tracked an implant in relation to bony anatomy to a clinically relevant level of accuracy during simulated THA. Learners were equally accurate, whether trained by AR or a surgeon. The platform enabled the use of real instruments and gave live feedback; AR was thus considered a feasible and valuable training tool as an adjunct to expert guidance in the operating room. Although there were no differences in accuracy between the groups trained using AR and those trained by an expert surgeon, we believe the tool may be useful in education because it demonstrates that some motor skills for arthroplasty may be learned in an unsupervised setting. Future studies will evaluate AR-training for arthroplasty skills other than cup orientation and its transfer validity to real surgery. Level I, therapeutic study.

Ubiquitous devices and wearable technologies are becoming smaller and more rich in features to meet user demands and applications. The emergence of ever more sophisticated technologies has created new relationships between real, virtual, and augmented world. This is quite evident, within educational contexts. This chapter will explore new learning approaches based on virtual and augmented reality technologies. Virtual and augmented realities dispense specific knowledge and information. This chapter will discuss augmented reality and education applications based on virtual reality. The chapter will differentiate between ways in which wearable technologies enhance and restructure teaching and learning processes. To circumscribe a well-defined level of analysis, the chapter will examine experiences of using wearable technology within educational contexts.

This paper advocates a new metaphor for designing threedimensional Augmented Reality (AR) applications, Tangible Augmented Reality (Tangible AR). Tangible AR interfaces combine the enhanced display possibilities of AR with the intuitive manipulation and interaction of physical objects or Tangible User Interfaces. We define what Tangible AR interfaces are, present some design guidelines and prototype interfaces based on these guidelines. Experiences with these interfaces show that the Tangible AR metaphor supports seamless interaction between the real and virtual worlds, and provides a range of natural interactions that are difficult to find in other AR interfaces. CR Categories: H.5.2 [User Interfaces] Input devices and strategies; H.5.1 [Multimedia Information Systems] Artificial, augmented , and virtual realities.

To develop a framework for quantifying the visual and cognitive distraction potential of augmented reality (AR) head-up displays (HUDs). AR HUDs promise to be less distractive than traditional in-vehicle displays because they project information onto the driver's forward-looking view of the road. However, AR graphics may direct the driver's attention away from critical road elements. Moreover, current in-vehicle device assessment methods, which are based on eyes-off-road time measures, cannot capture this unique challenge. This article proposes a new method for the assessment of AR HUDs by measuring driver gaze behavior, situation awareness, confidence, and workload. An experimental user study (n = 24) was conducted in a driving simulator to apply the proposed method for the assessment of two AR pedestrian collision warning (PCW) design alternatives. Only one of the two tested AR interfaces improved driver awareness of pedestrians without visually and cognitively distracting drivers from other road elements that were not augmented by the display but still critical for safe driving. Our initial human-subject experiment demonstrated the potential of the proposed method in quantifying both positive and negative consequences of AR HUDs on driver cognitive processes. More importantly, the study suggests that AR interfaces can be informative or distractive depending on the perceptual forms of graphical elements presented on the displays. The proposed methods can be applied by designers of in-vehicle AR HUD interfaces and be leveraged by designers of AR user interfaces in general.

Robotic surgery bedside assistants play an important role in robotic procedures by performing intra-corporeal tasks while accommodating the physical presence of the robot. We hypothesized that an augmented reality headset enabling 3D intra-corporeal vision while facing the surgical field could decrease time and improve accuracy of robotic bedside tasks. Bedside assistants (one physician assistant, one medical student, three surgical trainees, and two attending surgeons) performed validated tasks within a mock abdominal cavity with a surgical robot docked. Tasks were performed with a bedside monitor providing 2D or 3D vision, or an optical see-through head-mounted augmented reality device with 2D or 3D vision. The effect of augmented reality device resolution on performance was also evaluated. For the simplest task of touching a straw, performance was generally high, regardless of mode of visualization. With more complex tasks, including stapling and pulling a ring along a path, 3D augmented reality decreased time and number of errors per task. 3D augmented reality allowed the physician assistant to perform at the level of an attending surgeon using 3D augmented reality (p = 0.08). All participants had improved times for the ring path task with better resolution (lower resolution 23 ± 11s vs higher resolution 14 ± 4s, p = 0.002). 3D augmented reality vision with high resolution decreased time and improved accuracy of more complex tasks, enabling a less experienced robotic surgical bedside assistant to function similar to attending surgeons. These data warrant further study with additional complex tasks and bedside assistants at various levels of training.

This study aims to explore the effect of using 3D Augmented Reality (AR) on cognitive load, collaboration tendency, and enjoyment in engineering education. A quasi-experimental design was conducted involving 111 students, divided into three groups: a control group (conventional), an experimental group with hints (AR + scaffolding), and an experimental group without hints (AR only). Data were collected through pretest-posttest scores and post-intervention questionnaires measuring Cognitive Load (CL), Collaboration Tendency (CT), and Enjoyment (EJ). Data analysis included normality tests (Shapiro–Wilk and Kolmogorov–Smirnov), Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, Kruskal–Wallis test, One-Way ANOVA, and Multiple Linear Regression. Results showed that all groups experienced learning improvement, with the highest gains in the AR with hints group. Effect size analysis using Cohen’s d indicated a large impact of AR with hints ( d = 1.10) and moderate impact of AR without hints ( d = 0.63) compared to the control group. Regression analysis revealed that EJ ( p = 0.012) and CT ( p = 0.034) significantly predicted learning performance, while CL had a negative effect ( p = 0.035). Two-Way ANOVA showed no significant gender effect on CL or CT, but found a significant interaction between gender and group on EJ ( p = 0.028), suggesting gender-based differences in emotional engagement with AR. Female students reported higher EJ without hints, while male students preferred guided AR learning. These findings highlight that 3D AR enhances learning outcomes not only cognitively but also socially and emotionally. The integration of scaffolding into AR environments increases effectiveness by reducing cognitive overload and fostering collaboration. Designing adaptive, gender-responsive AR learning environments can further optimize educational impact in technical disciplines.

ObjectiveWith the introduction of the Google Glass in 2013, the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology has been sharply accelerating in the field of medicine. Despite numerous hurdles and inadequacies identified with the initial devices, current product offering and the need for remote patient care has driven advancements and adoption of the newer generation of devices. This study aims to evaluate the current use of augmented reality devices and the current hurdles to implementation by surveying authors who have recently published on this topic.DesignA 22-question survey was shared with authors of 27 recent publications relating to usage of augmented reality in medicine between the years of 2019 and 2020.ResultsEighty-two percent of participants were located in North America while the rest were located in Europe. Interestingly, over 65% of respondents were over the age of 40. Almost half of respondents (45%) used the technology for image review while almost a third (27%) used it for capturing and sharing video. Most concerns to implementation were related to privacy (38%) or reimbursement (33%).ConclusionDespite the hurdles reported by respondents, the advancements in AR/VR have come a long way since their introduction and have great potential for continued usage in medicine. Despite this, however, it is important to recognize that cost, security, and battery life continue to serve as hurdles preventing the widespread adoption of this technology to mass markets.

Utilizing augmented reality for applications in medicine has been a topic of intense research for several years. A number of challenging tasks need to be addressed when designing a medical AR system. These include the import and management of medical datasets and preoperatively created planning data, the registration of the patient with respect to a global coordinate system, and accurate tracking of the camera used in the AR setup as well as the respective surgical instruments. Most research systems rely on specialized hardware or algorithms for realizing augmented reality in medicine. Such base technologies can be expensive or very time-consuming to implement. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach of building a surgical AR system by harnessing existing, commercially available equipment for image guided surgery (IGS). We describe the prototype of an augmented reality application, which receives all necessary information from a device for intraoperative navigation.

Augmented reality (AR) headsets are being utilized in different task-based domains (e.g., healthcare, education) for both adults and children. However, prior work has mainly examined the applicability of AR headsets instead of how to design the visual information being displayed. It is essential to study how visual information should be presented in AR headsets to maximize task performance for both adults and children. Therefore, we conducted two studies (adults vs. children) analyzing distinct design combinations of critical and secondary textual information during a procedural assembly task. We found that while the design of information did not affect adults' task performance, the location of information had a direct effect on children's task performance. Our work contributes new understanding on how to design textual information in AR headsets to aid in adults' and children's task performance. In addition, we identify specific differences on how to design textual information between adults and children.