From Virtual Worlds to Mirror Worlds: A Model and Platform for Building Agent-Based eXtended Realities

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) refers to applications that blend the digital and the physical worlds in different ways: both by situating virtual worlds into physical environments by means of Augmented and Mixed Reality Technologies, and by exploiting smart things and devices in the physical environment connected to the Virtual World, in a pervasive computing perspective. Like in the case of Virtual Worlds and Intelligent Virtual Environments, XR applications are a relevant application domain for multi-agent systems and AI—for instance, for designing XR-based smart environments. The research question addressed by this paper is about the definition of a model for conceiving and designing agent-based XR applications, effective enough to capture essential aspects in spite of the specific implementing technologies. To this purpose, the paper describes a model based on the Mirror World conceptual framework and a concrete platform used to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.