Creating the Internet of Augmented Things: An Open-Source Framework to Make IoT Devices and Augmented and Mixed Reality Systems Talk to Each Other

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) devices have evolved significantly in the last years, providing immersive AR/MR experiences that allow users to interact with virtual elements placed on the real-world. However, to make AR/MR devices reach their full potential, it is necessary to go further and let them collaborate with the physical elements around them, including the objects that belong to the Internet of Things (IoT). Unfortunately, AR/MR and IoT devices usually make use of heterogeneous technologies that complicate their intercommunication. Moreover, the implementation of the intercommunication mechanisms requires involving specialized developers with have experience on the necessary technologies. To tackle such problems, this article proposes the use of a framework that makes it easy to integrate AR/MR and IoT devices, allowing them to communicate dynamically and in real time. The presented AR/MR-IoT framework makes use of standard and open-source protocols and tools like MQTT, HTTPS or Node-RED. After detailing the inner workings of the framework, it is illustrated its potential through a practical use case: a smart power socket that can be monitored and controlled through Microsoft HoloLens AR/MR glasses. The performance of such a practical use case is evaluated and it is demonstrated that the proposed framework, under normal operation conditions, enables to respond in less than 100 ms to interaction and data update requests.