Extended Reality in Spatial Sciences: A Review of Research Challenges and Future Directions

Abstract

This manuscript identifies and documents unsolved problems and research challenges in the extended reality (XR) domain (i.e., virtual (VR), augmented (AR), and mixed reality (MR)). The manuscript is structured to include technology, design, and human factor perspectives. The text is visualization/display-focused, that is, other modalities such as audio, haptic, smell, and touch, while important for XR, are beyond the scope of this paper. We further narrow our focus to mainly geospatial research, with necessary deviations to other domains where these technologies are widely researched. The main objective of the study is to provide an overview of broader research challenges and directions in XR, especially in spatial sciences. Aside from the research challenges identified based on a comprehensive literature review, we provide case studies with original results from our own studies in each section as examples to demonstrate the relevance of the challenges in the current research. We believe that this paper will be of relevance to anyone who has scientific interest in extended reality, and/or uses these systems in their research.

A Comparison of Monoscopic and Stereoscopic 3D Visualizations: Effect on Spatial Planning in Digital Twins

“…MacEachren and Kraak [25] identified research user interfaces and virtual environments as one of the most important tasks in the scope of 3D geovisualization. However, no clear recommendations for the production and use of real-3D geovisualization in geosciences have been created or are currently available [13,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Despite frequent discussions on the role of additional depth cues in real-3D visualizations, the controversial question of the effectiveness and efficiency of this visualization type in practical application remains unresolved.…”

“…Despite frequent discussions on the role of additional depth cues in real-3D visualizations, the controversial question of the effectiveness and efficiency of this visualization type in practical application remains unresolved. Namely, increased response time, cognitive load in performancebased tasks and user distraction and discomfort while wearing peripheral devices such as 3D shutter glasses or HMDs are often discussed in terms of geovisualization [13,37,38].…”

Cartographic Scale in Immersive Virtual Environments

“…Regarding a decision between argument 1 and argument 2, we feel that both viewpoints are justifiable on principle. However, accepting argument 1 over argument 2 and excluding GeoIVE a priori from further cartographic considerations seems to be an epistemologically poor decision: On the one hand, recent literature in the realm of cartography shows an increasing interest in GeoIVE from both technical and user-centered viewpoints (Çöltekin et al 2020;Griffin et al 2017) so that a thorough analysis of scale in VR could facilitate the integration of GeoIVE into geovisualization workflows and cartographic theory (in terms of argument 2). On the other hand, our understanding of scale will benefit from a critical examination of GeoIVE even if VR technologies would turn out to be of little use for cartographic matters (in terms of argument 1).…”

School of the Future: A Comprehensive Study on the Effectiveness of Augmented Reality as a Tool for Primary School Children’s Education

“…As suggested by the authors of [21], the learning experience becomes more meaningful when more senses are involved. From the children's perspective, a fascinating way of using their senses is through visualization, which is a crucial way to improve and develop their capacity to understand things [22]. Thus, the visualization of 3D graphics is more effective in solving and understanding the problem using all the children's senses.…”