Envisioning Audio Augmented Reality in Everyday Life

2026-01-29

AI Summary

This study addresses the lack of a systematic understanding of the roles and design principles of Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) in everyday life. Through a mixed-methods approach combining collaborative autoethnography (N=5) and an online survey (N=74), the research identifies ten distinct everyday roles of AAR, which are synthesized into three overarching categories: task utility, emotional-social engagement, and perceptual collaboration. Innovatively integrating perspectives of rhythmicity and embodied copresence, the study maps these roles onto micro-, meso-, and macro-level rhythms of daily life, uncovering key design tensions such as “shielding from distractions without erasing social presence.” The work proposes the first role-based framework for AAR in everyday contexts, offering a theoretical foundation and design guidance for developing context-aware AAR applications that align with daily rhythms, sensory engagement, and social expectations.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Affective Computing
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Activity and Plan Recognition

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Personalized, context-aware and across-device search
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization

Abstract

While visual augmentation dominates the augmented reality landscape, devices like Meta Ray-Ban audio smart glasses signal growing industry movement toward audio augmented reality (AAR). Hearing is a primary channel for sensing context, anticipating change, and navigating social space, yet AAR's everyday potential remains underexplored. We address this gap through a collaborative autoethnography (N=5, authoring) and an online survey (N=74). We identify ten roles for AAR, grouped into three categories: task- and utility-oriented, emotional and social, and perceptual collaborator. These roles are further layered with a rhythmic and embodied collaborator framing, mapping them onto micro-, meso-, and macro-rhythms of everyday life. Our analysis surfaces nuanced tensions, such as blocking distractions without erasing social presence, highlighting the need for context-aware design. This paper contributes a foundational and forward-looking framework for AAR in everyday life, providing design groundwork for systems attuned to daily routines, sensory engagement, and social expectations.

Problem

• Audio Augmented Reality
• everyday life
• context-aware design
• sensory engagement
• social presence

Innovation

• Audio Augmented Reality
• collaborative autoethnography
• rhythmic framing
• context-aware design
• embodied interaction