Combining Semantic Ontology and AR Content toward an Immersive Smart City Mobile Application

Abstract

In the advent of snappy 5G networks and capable handheld devices, cities are looking for novel ways to bestow an engaging augmented reality city experience upon visitors and locals alike. Often, the content for such experiences is stored in traditional data structures that only allow discrete presentations at seemingly unrelated city locations. In order to provide city goers with an immersive city experience, this paper explores the possibility of combining a semantic ontology data model with augmented reality content in the form of a mobile application called AR-City. We base our work in this paper on a previous pilot study of the proposed combination, as well as AR-City prototype-phase user experience testing and heuristic evaluation. This paper presents our AR-City development journey to date and elaborates on our future intentions. We are convinced of the technical feasibility to combine AR and semantic ontologies and fully understand the value such a combination adds to smart city encounters.