Exploring wireless mesh networks for collaborative augmented reality environments

Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as a technology able to greatly support the interaction between people and digital information by merging virtual objects with the real environment. So far, research in this field has been mainly focused on single-user scenarios with pre-stored digital data whose visualization needs to be appropriately and promptly aligned with physical objects. Instead, latest developments of AR also involve collaborative scenarios where several participants share the same AR environment, generating and exchanging data in real-time, and communicating with each other through VoIP. To this aim, in this work we consider networking issues and possible solutions, as they represent crucial aspects when dealing with collaborative AR environments. Through the use of a real testbed, we discuss how Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) can be practically employed to support communications in a department-wide AR environment without the need of a fixed infrastructure. We also analyze the performance limitations of this architecture and, finally, we evaluate a possible practical QoS solution to overcome them.