Emulation of a Real Life Environment via an Augmented Virtual Environment

Abstract

This research explores the issues regarding appropriate environments for the user testing of a product during the development stage of the product design process. This project focuses on simulating the context of use (for user testing purposes) using real and virtual objects, known as an Augmented Virtual Environment (AVE). Previous work has been conducted on virtual reality and this ranges from low fidelity mock-ups of an environment to full virtual reality with relevant equipment and the scenarios are widespread from psychology to therapy.