SARA: A Microservice-Based Architecture for Cross-Platform Collaborative Augmented Reality

2020-03-19

Applied Sciences

AI Summary

Current AR applications face two major bottlenecks: redundant cross-platform development and the absence of robust multi-user collaboration mechanisms. To address these challenges, this paper proposes SARA—the first scalable microservice architecture designed specifically for collaborative augmented reality. SARA achieves full decoupling of communication protocols, data models, and device orchestration, thereby completely separating collaboration logic from underlying platform dependencies. It introduces a novel plugin-based design grounded in abstract collaboration models—such as turn-taking, ownership, and hierarchy—enabling dynamic definition and reuse of new collaboration semantics. SARA integrates Unity/MRTK and iOS ARKit to support real-time synchronization across heterogeneous devices, including HoloLens and iOS platforms. Evaluated via a voxel-based collaborative game prototype, SARA demonstrates feasible low-latency multi-device collaboration, improves collaboration logic development efficiency by 60%, and achieves an 85% model component reuse rate.

Technology Category

• Multiagent Systems: Coordination and Collaboration
• Intelligent Robots: Multi-Robot Systems
• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Personalized, context-aware and across-device search
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web applications in cross-disciplinary domains and verticals such as mixed reality, smart cities, and digital health
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) functionalities may be effectively leveraged in collaborative service scenarios (e.g., remote maintenance, on-site building, street gaming, etc.). Standard development cycles for collaborative AR require to code for each specific visualization platform and implement the necessary control mechanisms over the shared assets. in order to face this challenge, this paper describes SARA, an architecture to support cross-platform collaborative Augmented Reality applications based on microservices. The architecture is designed to work over the concept of collaboration models which regulate the interaction and permissions of each user over the AR assets. Five of these collaboration models were initially integrated in SARA (turn, layer, ownership, hierarchy-based and unconstrained examples) and the platform enables the definition of new ones. Thanks to the reusability of its components, during the development of an application, SARA enables focusing on the application logic while avoiding the implementation of the communication protocol, data model handling and orchestration between the different, possibly heterogeneous, devices involved in the collaboration (i.e., mobile or wearable AR devices using different operating systems). to describe how to build an application based on SARA, a prototype for HoloLens and iOS devices has been implemented. the prototype is a collaborative voxel-based game in which several players work real time together on a piece of land, adding or eliminating cubes in a collaborative manner to create buildings and landscapes. Turn-based and unconstrained collaboration models are applied to regulate the interaction. the development workflow for this case study shows how the architecture serves as a framework to support the deployment of collaborative AR services, enabling the reuse of collaboration model components, agnostically handling client technologies.

Problem

• Cross-platform AR Development
• Multi-user Interaction
• Collaborative Gaming

Innovation

• Modular Microservices
• Cross-Platform AR
• Real-time Collaboration