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Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR: Technologies, Applications & Issues Graded Assignments
Get All Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR: Technologies, Applications & Issues Graded Assignments
This first course in the XR for Everybody specialization creates a foundational understanding of the differences between AR, VR, MR, and XR. The course provides learners with a broad overview of the rapidly evolving XR space and the tools to characterize future XR developments and assess their potential and limitations.
It establishes key concepts and dives into the XR device landscape, helping learners to differentiate current and future platforms and devices as well as critique the use of VR or AR in applications. The course pivots in the second half to look more at how to shape the future of XR, by analyzing trends and raising issues such as COVID-19, social and ethical concerns, accessibility and equity, as well as privacy and security.
Submission of Your XR App Classification Solution
Assignment 1: App Classification
Welcome to your first honors track assignment in this course! Your task is to classify an XR
application along the reality–virtuality continuum. This assignment consists of five (5) steps:
- Find an XR app to try out with your equipment (see XR Technology Landscape lecture)
- Try out the app on your XR device and analyze the user experience
- Classify the app as either AR or VR, MR only if unsure, XR if both
- Consult the What is Mixed Reality? research paper to confirm your choice
- Optional: Try out another app at the opposite end of the spectrum
Note: The task is to find two (2) new apps that you have not tried before. Ideally, you would be
looking at an AR app and a VR app, if you have access to VR equipment. In the standard track,
you may have already tried an AR app on your smartphone following our instructions. Given the
variety of VR headsets, it is not possible to give similar instructions to access a VR app. Please
refer to documentation provided by the vendor. If you’re using Cardboard, then here is a list of
Google Cardboard Apps.
Expected results
● Better overview of the XR technology space
● Considering the entire spectrum, not just the extremes
● Possible definitions of mixed reality to facilitate communication
Submission
Please submit the following information and supplementary materials (as PDF document
or PNG image, optionally MP4 video) to the XR Applications Gallery:
Title: Enter the name of the XR app you tried. This text will appear as the title of the submission
in the gallery.
Category: In terms of the reality–virtuality continuum, choose the category that best fits the XR
application you tried: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), augmented virtuality (AV),
mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR). Most submissions will be categorized as VR or AR.
Domain: Choose the domain that best fits the application.
App Classification along the Reality–Virtuality Continuum:
● Description: Brief description of the XR app. What is it about? What can you do with it?
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
● Reason: Rationale for classifying the app as VR (mostly virtual world) or AR (mostly real
world). If you choose other categories, be clear as to why—MR should be reserved if not
sure whether it’s AR or AV; use XR if the app supports both AR and VR.
Attachments:
● Screenshot: Attach a screenshot of the app you tried. This image will appear as the
thumbnail of the submission in the gallery.
● Additional photos/videos: Feel free to submit any other supporting materials such as
screen capture or photos that illustrate how you used the app and, as much as possible,
the setup with which you tried it.
Submission of Your XR Technology Selection Solution
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
Assignment 2: Technology Selection
In this second assignment, your task is to recommend XR technology for a given scenario. This
assignment consists of five (5) steps:
- Consider all scenarios below and pick one (1) of interest to you / create your own
- Consider implementations along the Reality-Virtuality Continuum
- Walk through the XR Technology Tree and collect options
- Perform QOC analysis as systematically as possible
- Optional: Pick another scenario, do the QOC analysis, and compare your selections
Expected results
● Scenario-based approach to selecting XR technologies
● Better sense of what questions to ask when considering options
● More comprehensive list of criteria to aid decision making
Submission
Please submit the following information and supplementary materials (as PDF document
or PNG image, optionally MP4 video) to the XR Technologies Gallery:
Title: Enter the name of the XR app you tried. This text will appear as the title of the submission
in the gallery.
Category: Choose virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) to categorize the technology
selection, or XR if it is a combination of both VR and AR.
Scenario: Choose the scenario for which you made a technology selection (see below). If it is
your own scenario, please provide a visual depiction and brief description of the scenario.
Technology Selection using QOC Analysis:
You should perform the analysis in QOC representation (see below) and attach it as supporting
materials. In the writing, state the questions, options, and criteria. Ask relevant questions about
the key design issues for the scenario. Walk through the XR technology tree to collect options.
Establish criteria that you should consider when weighing the options. Make your
recommendation based on positive and negative assessments of the options.
Attachments:
● QOC representation: Submit an image of your QOC representation that clearly states
the questions, options, and criteria. It should become clear which of the criteria you
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
assessed positively and negatively (draw dashed lines), and which of the options you
picked (draw a rectangle around the selected option).
● Other: Feel free to submit any supporting materials such as sketches, screenshots, or
photos that illustrate your options and make the selection criteria clear.
Scenarios
Below are the four (4) scenarios introduced in the lecture that you can work on. You could also
describe your own scenario and then provide a technology selection for that scenario. You may
also invite other learners to work on your scenario.
Scenario 1: Home Decoration—several family members use their handheld AR devices to
collaboratively choose new home decoration for their living room.
Tip: In this scenario, we can see all AR displays are hand-held. So, you should explore possible AR
tracking technologies, so center your questions and criteria around strong vs. weak AR,
marker-based vs. marker-less AR, etc.
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
Scenario 2: Collaborative Game—three (3) friends play a shooter game together using various
AR displays (headworn, projective, handheld). In a variation of this scenario, the friends are
not co-located in the same place but play remotely from each of their homes.
Tip: In this scenario, you should explore possible AR technologies, so center your questions and
criteria around strong vs. weak AR, marker-based vs. marker-less AR, etc.
Scenario 3: Classroom Lecture—an instructor asks her students in class to take out their
XR devices to look at the solar system and observe Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.
Scenario 4: Team Meeting—four students meet in a meeting room on campus to
collaboratively work on their biology assignment on human anatomy using XR devices.
XR Technology Tree
For your reference, below is the technology tree presented in the lecture. Use it to generate
options for key design issues. Focus primarily on display and tracking technologies and
consider the benefits and trade-offs of each when formulating criteria—the mapping to platforms
and tools is not the main focus of this course.
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
XR Technology Tree showing the main types of displays (hand-held, head-worn,
monitor-based, spatial/projective, room-sized) and classes of tracking technologies
(marker-based vs. marker-less, 3 DOF vs. 6 DOF, inside-out vs. outside-in, controllers,
hand/eye tracking, object recognition) as well as software tools (not in the focus of this
assignment) to create AR or VR applications.
QOC Analysis
As a reminder, here is an example of a QOC analysis from the original article by MacLean and
colleagues (see full reference at the end).
In this QOC, the question is “How to display?” the content, the options are permanent or
appearing, and the criteria are low user effort, screen compactness, or continuous user
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
feedback. The appearing option is positively assessed and leads to the follow-up
question “How to make it appear?”, which will in turn trigger its own QOC analysis.
Below are the tips I gave in the XR Decision Tree lecture where I put QOC analysis in the
context of XR technology:
Ask questions about the design of specific elements, e.g.:
● How to display the selected furniture in the living room?
● How to track friends playing in the same room/different rooms?
● How to travel in the solar system?
● How to manipulate the planets?
● How to collaborate around the human skeleton?
List design alternatives, not just related options, e.g.:
● 2D vs. 360 vs. 3D content
● Hand-held vs. head-worn vs. projective/spatial vs. monitor-based display
● Marker-based vs. marker-less tracking
Establish criteria that can be objectively assessed and weighed, e.g.:
● Works on any device (only requires camera and marker but no additional sensor)
● No need for instrumentation (no need for placing a marker in the environment)
● Can move around (without paying attention to keeping the marker in view)
References
● Allan MacLean, Richard M. Young, Victoria Bellotti, Thomas P. Moran: Questions,
Options, and Criteria: Elements of Design Space Analysis. HCI 6(3-4): 201-250
(1991)
Submission of Your XR Impact Analysis Solution
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
Assignment 3: Impact Analysis
In this third and final assignment, your task is to perform one of the activities detailed below and
write up your XR design impact analysis. This assignment consists of five (5) steps:
- Consider all major classes of issues outlined in the lectures (see Key Issues in XR)
- State the issues that you are most interested in
- Perform one of the suggested activities using think-aloud
- Write your impact analysis capturing your main thoughts/concerns
- Optional: Do another issue/activity and add to your impact analysis
Expected results
● Activity-centric approach to uncovering issues and concerns
● Initial brainstorming how to address issues and mitigate concerns
● Design thinking mindset that promotes ethical & responsible design
Submission
Please submit the following information and supplementary materials (as PDF document
or PNG image, optionally MP4 video) to the XR Issues Gallery:
Title: Enter the name of the XR app you tried in support of the activity. This text will appear as
the title of the submission in the gallery.
Category: Choose virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) to categorize the technology
selection, or XR if it is a combination of both VR and AR.
Activity: Choose the activity (see below) you performed for your impact analysis. If it is your
own activity, please provide a brief description of the activity.
Impact Analysis detailing Who/What/When/Where/Why:
You should perform your XR design impact analysis using think-aloud and take notes of your
main thoughts/concerns. Below you can find a three-part template to help you structure your
reflection. There is also a practice quiz on Coursera to draft your written response.
Attachments:
Feel free to submit any supporting materials such as sketches, screenshots, or photos that
illustrate your activity and any of the issues and concerns you identified.
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
Activities
Below are the three (3) proposed activities involving XR technology.
Social VR Meeting Activity
The goal of this activity is to give a popular VR platform a try and meet someone in VR. Some of
the popular ones include AltspaceVR, RecRoom, BigscreenVR, Mozilla Hubs, and Spatial. You
are free to choose any platform and you are also welcome to do this activity with someone you
trust rather than meeting strangers. My hope is that you have an enjoyable experience but there
is a risk in meeting strangers. I hope it raises interesting issues and you could also extrapolate
from a safer social VR meeting situation with friends or family.
Object Recognition Activity
The goal of this activity is to take a photo of a physical object and then perform object
recognition on it. There are a few different ways in which you can do this. For example, you
could use the IKEA Place app (available for iOS or Android) and use it to recognize furniture in
your home just like I demonstrated in the lecture. Or, you could use Google Search or Google
Lens (Android) but using a photo as input for an image-based search query. It is also okay if you
don’t want to use any app or service for object recognition. But you should still take a photo of a
physical object in your real-world environment and perform object recognition manually using
think-aloud. My hope is that performing at least this part of the activity while thinking about what
is visible in the photo and what it could mean to share it with the app or service raises
interesting issues.
AR Photo Activity
The goal of this activity is to take a photo of yourself and then enhance it using AR lenses.
Some of the popular apps include Snapchat and Instagram (available for iOS or Android) but
your smartphone’s default camera app may also support AR modes. As you play around with
the AR lenses, observe how accurately your face is being tracked and also how it manipulates
reality. As you could see with some of the AR lenses I showed in the lecture, they can make you
look quite different. My hope is that performing this activity while thinking about what is visible in
the photo and what it could mean to share it with the app or service raises interesting issues.
XR Design Impact Analysis
Below you can find three discussion prompts to help you draft your written impact analysis:
Describe which classes of issues (e.g., design issues, technical issues, user adoption,
social acceptance) you focused on and why you consider them an important set of
issues.
XR MOOC Specialization Course 1: Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR
Dr. Michael Nebeling
You should describe issues from these main classes:
● design issues (e.g., barrier to entry, few guidelines & best practices)
● technical issues (e.g., platform fragmentation, device limitations)
● accessibility & equity concerns (e.g., special needs, still unfamiliar/expensive)
● ethical & social concerns (e.g., data collection and sharing)
● privacy & security concerns (e.g., consent, more risk than in daily life)
Describe which one (1) of the following activities you performed and why you chose to
do that activity:
● social VR meeting activity: joining a social VR platform for a virtual meeting;
● object recognition activity: taking a photo of a physical object and either using an app
or performing object recognition manually via think-aloud;
● AR photo activity: taking an AR photo (or selfie) and assessing privacy impact
considering the environment, people, anything else visible.
You should elaborate on how you carried out one of three activities using concrete
examples. Describe the process (what did you do) as well as the results (what
happened).
Describe the main considerations from your impact analysis:
● Who: Who is impacted by the issue(s)? Consider other users than yourself.
● What/Why: What is the problem from your perspective? Can you give an example
to make it clear why it is a problem?
● When/Where: Under which circumstances is the impact on users the largest and
most severe? Consider before, during, and after the experience.
● How could the impact be mitigated? Consider both users as well as designers of
the experience.
You should speak to each of the main aspects: who is impacted, when are they most
impacted, and what could be done to mitigate the impact?
Conclusion:
I hope this Intro to AR/VR/MR/XR: Technologies, Applications & Issues Graded Assignments would be useful for you to learn something new from this Course. If it helped you then don’t forget to bookmark our site for more peer graded solutions.
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