A Mobile Exploration Solution for Virtual Libraries in Higher Education

Abstract

According to the latest trends, users prefer to acquire knowledge through unconventional streams, using cumulative senses (hearing, viewing, sensing). Access to informational data should be characterized through its ease of use, consistency and reliability. Libraries have become target spaces for the deployment of applications for Augmented and Virtual Reality worlds, due to their complexity of information repositories and the associated indexing processes, as well as to its users' profiles (students, professors, librarians) and their access to technology. The current work models interaction in a virtually rendered library aiming to provide the users with an immersive experience of viewing library resources (books) and their metadata. A low-cost, affordable, technical setup is proposed for deployment, consisting of a mobile device and the Google Cardboard VR Headset. With the purpose of further integration, the virtual scene has been rendered using panoramic-based imagery. Complementary to the state-of-the art virtual tours for educational landscapes (museums, classrooms, libraries), such solutions could enhance indoor exploration for informational or marketing purposes.