Dieter Kolb

Augmented reality navigation systems

The augmented reality (AR) research community has been developing a manifold of ideas and concepts to improve the depiction of virtual objects in a real scene. In contrast, current AR applications require the use of unwieldy equipment which discourages their use. In order to essentially ease the perception of digital information and to naturally interact with the pervasive computing landscape, the required AR equipment has to be seamlessly integrated into the user’s natural environment. Considering this basic principle, this paper proposes the car as an AR apparatus and presents an innovative visualization paradigm for navigation systems that is anticipated to enhance user interaction.

A New Visualization Concept for Navigation Systems

At present, various types of car navigation systems are progressively entering the market. Simultaneously, mobile outdoor navigation systems for pe- destrians and electronic tourist guides are already available on handheld com- puters. Although, the depiction of the geographical information on these appli- ances has increasingly improved during the past years, users are still handicapped having to interpret an abstract metaphor on the navigation display and translate it to their real world. This paper introduces an innovative visual paradigm for (mobile) navigation systems, embodied within an application framework that contributes to the ease of perception of navigation information by its users through mixed reality.

Addressing concepts for mobile location-based information services

Emerging mobile location-based information services enable people to place digital content into the physical world. Based on three technical components (1) mobile devices, (2) wireless networking and (3) location-sensing the implementation of location-based services can be considered state of the art. In contrast, we observe a lack of conceptual work in terms of user interface issues, like designing indirect (one-to-any) addressing models, handling information overflow and avoiding spam. Every user is able to arbitrarily place information anywhere without structure or restrictions, and is confronted with an information mess in return. The focus of this paper concentrates on a novel addressing concept for mobile location-based information services, which systematically structures both direct and indirect addressing methods and supports the users in finding or filtering the information they are interested in.

Self-Organization in Trafric Networks by Digital Pheromones

Nature often provides excellent patterns for the solution of technical problems and challenges: The principle of swarm intelligence e.g., is imitated by a manifold of optimization algorithms, where organisms mark their local environment in order to indirectly communicate with their conspecifics and to consequently solve complex problems in the collective. Emerging positioning and communication technologies allow extending swarm intelligence to the traffic system. Vehicles equipped with sensors, actuators and wireless communication technology virtually annotate their local environment for indirect communication and therefore form a smart collective with self-organizing capabilities following the example of nature. This paper presents and empirically verifies a decentralized self-organizing traffic flow model using a complex micro simulator capable of simulating real city networks based on authentic data acquisitions.