A new research project led by academics from the University of Glasgow is setting out to explore the societal effects of future generations of augmented reality (AR) technologies.

Dr Mark McGill will work with Dr Graham Wilson and Dr Joseph O’Hagan from the University’s School of Computing Science, to investigate how a future ‘augmented society’ might provide people with new opportunities, as well as subject them to new potential for harm. 

Announcing the project, the University of Glasgow said that augmented reality, which overlays digital displays onto real-life scenes through computer screens or via headsets, could become as ubiquitous as smartphones in the years to come as the technology develops.

The research has won a Starter Grant from the European Research Council – which was subsequently funded by the UKRI Horizon Guarantee scheme – which will allow the team to explore how new forms of social good could come from widespread use of AR, such as augmenting users’ intelligence with smart glasses, or allowing for ‘digital urban renewal’ by communities working together virtually to enhance real-world spaces.

AR could also promote enhanced self-expression by allowing users to tailor how others see them in virtual spaces, which the researchers suggest could benefit people with disabilities or aid people in the process of socially transitioning to their chosen gender.

The AUGSOC project will also explore the implications of the technology for human and civil rights, as well as what a new charter around AR safety might look like.

Some of the potential AR risks the researchers will examine include the potential for devices’ always-on cameras to infringe on privacy; how AR could amplify the spread of online misinformation and influence behaviour, and how AR’s perception-altering properties could manipulate users by by directing their attention, by blocking or replacing aspects of reality.

Among the ethical considerations the team will investigate are users’ right to control what they see through AR devices, the right to accurate, ethical and trustworthy AR experiences, and AR-specific free will, which would protect users from non-consensual manipulation by malicious actors.

“AUGSOC will aim to provide a comprehensive map of the benefits and harms of AR to help governments, lawmakers, tech companies and other decisionmakers unlock the benefits of AR while minimising the risks,” said Dr McGill.

“We’ll also work to train a new generation of experts working at the intersection of human-computer interaction, extended reality, privacy and ethics, all of which are vitally important considerations as the real world continues to merge seamlessly with the digital domain.

“Augmented reality has huge potential to reshape the way we experience the world, which makes it a powerful potential agent for social change.”

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The team’s work follows a report published by the University of Glasgow’s Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience last May, which outlined how unchecked augmented and mixed reality technology raises ethical risks and challenges, including covert surveillance, misinformation bubbles, and identity manipulation.

That report, alongside new projects like AUGSOC forms part of Glasgow University’s rapidly-expanding base of augmented reality research.

Other Glasgow AR projects being supported by European Research Council funding include the FUSION project, which is creating immersive new forms of online social interaction, and ViAjeRo, which is developing new ways to use extended reality to support entertainment, work and collaboration while people are travelling.