OASIS Augmented Reality in Information Products (ARIP) TC

Augmented Reality (AR) technology is beginning to gain momentum in the technical communication industry, yet no standards are in existence to guide the policies and conventions that govern the use of AR in technical communications. The purpose of the OASIS Augmented Reality in Information Products (ARIP) TC is to define the introduction and implementation of AR into information products by developing standards, specifications and guidelines for all types of communicators including technical writers, information architects, instructional designers, illustrators, usability & human factors professionals, trainers and E-learning developers to use when developing and delivering AR-enabled information products. Additionally, the TC will promote the adoption of AR-enabled (or supplemented) information products.

The OASIS ARIP TC members will collaborate to provide expertise and resources to educate the marketplace on the value of integrating AR into traditional information products. By raising awareness of the benefits offered by AR, the ARIP TC expects to increase the demand for, and availability of, AR-enabled products and services, resulting in a greater choice of tools and platforms and an expanded AR community of users, suppliers, and consultants.

By advancing the adoption of augmented reality through OASIS, the Technical Committee will:

• Develop specifications, guidelines, and best practices to standardize key aspects of AR user experiences such as usability and graphic and interaction design
• Develop standardized content models for authoring augmented reality experiences, in cooperation with vendors, communities, and individuals

• Promote the use of augmented reality as a new feature in information products for the optimization of user experiences, through a transparent process guided by vendors, communities and individuals
• Collaborate within the security of the OASIS open process
• Maximize message credibility by working on behalf of a technology-neutral standards consortium
• Build on existing market awareness of OASIS to promote AR in information product standards
• Leverage the combined resources of all participants
• Encourage the use of AR to visually enrich the interaction of information products with the physical world about which they pertain and vice versa
• Openly share content, knowledge, and expertise with other entities that share a common or similar statement of purpose on a worldwide scope
• Actively solicit participation from other AR related organizations around the world (such as the AR Community, the IEEE AR Industry Connections group, the AR for Enterprise Alliance) to share information, reduce overlap, foster collaboration, and promote the adoption of AR globally.

NOTE: Technical communication and Information products include but are not limited to the following: web pages help files, social media sites, software and hardware concepts and instructions, medical procedures, environmental regulations, functional specifications, training programs, etc.

The first order of business for this TC will be to research and investigate the use of augmented reality in technical communication to better understand the actual problems in technology and implementation.

The TC will research and understand other AR standards related to technical communication if available so as not to duplicate existing work.

The ARIP TC will create an initial set of specifications for creating AR-enabled information products that are suitable for submitting for balloting by OASIS membership for OASIS Standard status. The first set of standards will be initially based on contributions to the TC and then subsequently based on evolving requirements. Through use of a common specification, content owners and enterprises will benefit from industry support, interoperability, and reuse of community contributions and a streamlined process for AR-enabled content development. At the same time, through collaboration, content owners can address the specific requirements of their business or industry.

The ARIP TC will provide a flexible and structured framework for specifications that can be rapidly implemented at a basic level to enable widespread participation.

The ARIP TC will solicit opinions from AR vendors, industry associations, academia, journals and other bodies responsible for standards to define an initial set of specifications.

The ARIP TC will promote and publicize the TC and its goals and specifications via webinars and presentations at trade conferences to encourage organizations and individuals to accept and adopt it.

Technology not related to the AR-enablement of information products is out of scope.

The TC will produce:

• a set of documentation best practices related directly to AR (forecast Q1 2016); and
• a set of open specifications related to the use of AR, that will permit all types of communicators to more easily adapt their existing work processes and content to be delivered to end users in AR-enhanced information product delivery systems. The TC will research existing AR standards to ensure that we are providing a comprehensive list without any duplication of effort (forecast Q1 2017).
• a playbook with roles and responsibilities for creating AR-enhanced content (forecast Q3 2017).

Requirements and use cases will be based on identified challenges for which standardization is needed. Then, a revised list of deliverables meeting the goals and requirements will be drafted, and design/development of implementation or architectural specifications will commence.

This TC will operate under the Non-Assertion IPR mode (https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/ipr#s10.3) as defined in the OASIS Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy effective 21 June 2012.

Technical communication professionals including but not limited to Information Developers, Graphic Artists, Information Architects, Content creators, Information Development Managers, Documentation Leaders, university professors and students, vendors offering AR authoring or development products and tools that support development and distribution of AR-enhanced content, Software Engineers, and developers who design and write AR applications.

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