Augmented Reality (AR) blends real-time spatially registered digital content with our experience of the real world. Transparent and reliable interworking between different AR components is key to the successful roll-out and wide adoption of AR technologies and services.
ETSI’s Industry Specification Group on Augmented Reality Framework (ISG ARF) is defining a framework for the interoperability of Augmented Reality components, systems and services. Allowing components from different providers to interoperate through defined interfaces, this framework avoids vertical silos and reduce market fragmentation. This enables players in the ecosystem, including small players, new entrants, and academics, to offer parts of an overall AR solution.
Spatial computing refers to the technology that enables computers to understand and interact with the physical space around them. This involves features such as mapping, sensing, and interpreting the environment in 3D, which are implemented in computing components that can be hosted locally or remotely. The compatibility of these components, which may be provided by different providers, is a major challenge.
Augmented Reality overlays digital content onto the real world through devices like smartphones, tablets or AR glasses. It relies heavily on spatial computing features and faces interoperability issues related to anchoring virtual objects in the physical space, enabling seamless interaction between users and digital content, and managing various 3D formats for consistent rendering across different devices and platforms.
Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical objects, systems, or environments that are continuously updated with real-time data. This concept directly connects to spatial computing to accurately mirror the physical counterpart in a digital space. When combined with augmented reality, digital twins can be visualised and interacted with in the real world, enhancing understanding and decision-making. The interoperability between digital twins’ platforms and immersive systems is also a challenge.
ISG ARF defines a framework for the interoperability of AR components, systems and services, published as a modular functional reference architecture for AR solutions with interoperability provided at the interfaces between building blocks. In this architecture, we have more precisely defined the essential components for spatial computing by specifying their high-level interoperability requirements and the corresponding APIs.
Examples of such components include World Storage for representing the real world, World Analysis for understanding the real world and relocalisation, and Scene Management for anchoring virtual content to the real world.
In parallel, the group is providing open-source implementations of the different components, demonstrating these requirements and APIs. This enables the industry to rely on the ETSI ARF architecture to develop immersive content.
The group regularly produces and publishes overviews of standards related to spatial computing, along with an analysis of associated use cases, to provide broader insights into the field.
Augmented Reality Framework (ARF); Executive Summary of the Virtual World Standards Landscape Report and the Virtual World Standards Recommendations Report
Augmented Reality Framework (ARF); Executive Summary of the Virtual World Standards Landscape Report and the Virtual World Standards Recommendations Report
Augmented Reality Framework (ARF); Virtual World Standards Landscape Report
Augmented Reality Framework (ARF); Interoperability Requirements for AR components, systems and services; Part 6: 3D Objects of World for AR Authoring and Scene Management functions
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