Enhancing art history education through mobile augmented reality

Abstract

This paper describes a new project which will focus on the integration of eye-tracking technology with mobile Augmented Reality (AR) systems. AR provides an enhanced vision of the physical world by integrating virtual elements, such as text and graphics, with real-world environments. The advent of affordable mobile technology has sparked a resurgence of interest in mobile AR applications. Inherent in mobile AR applications is the powerful ability to visually highlight information in the real world. We are working on new algorithms to harness this ability to direct gaze to Points of Interest (POIs). Combining mobile AR and image manipulation gives visual distinction to POIs in order to directly influence and direct gaze in real world scenes. Our initial test domain is that of Art History Education. POIs are determined based on salient regions of paintings, as identified by the visual narrative of the painting. We are developing new system that will be deployed in the Museum of Fine Art in Houston that will enhance visitor education through the use of gaze-directed mobile AR.

The psychology of virtual reality.

“…botanical characteristics or compare a city scene with a historical photograph (Dunleavy et al, 2009). In recent years, AR technology has been employed to enhance student learning in all sorts of school subjects, including geography (Carbonell Carrera & Bermejo Asensio, 2017), geology (Bursztyn et al, 2017), chemistry (Chen, 2006), biology (Kamarainen et al, 2013), art history (McNamara, 2011), and mathematics (Kaufmann & Schmalstieg, 2002). These studies, amongst others, show that students treat AR objects as real objects (Chen, 2006), AR-enhanced maps are more effective than 2D maps in developing students' spatial orientation skills (Carbonell Carrera & Bermejo Asensio, 2017), and AR generally increases student interest and engagement, especially for those students who generally perform less well (Bursztyn et al, 2017;Dunleavy et al, 2009;Kamarainen et al, 2013).…”

Illuminated Focus: Vision Augmentation using Spatial Defocusing via Focal Sweep Eyeglasses and High-Speed Projector

“…On the other hand, HCI researchers have proved that a subtle image modulation can also effectively direct the user's gaze, such as luminance and color modulation [2] and synthetic blur [51]. McNamara proposed applying a synthetic blur technique to a mobile AR system to direct the user's gaze to specific areas of a real scene by blurring out unimportant areas [37]. This approach has an advantage of drawing a user's attention without significantly interrupting the visual experience.…”

A Checklist to Evaluate Augmented Reality Applications

“…This technology enhances the capacities of the human senses via a device, such as a mobile phone, a tablet, or a desktop. AR has been employed in many domains such as entertainment, industrial, military, commercial, health, and marketing applications [2][3][4][5][6][7].…”