Wireless Channel Assessment of Auditoriums for the Deployment of Augmented Reality Systems for Enhanced Show Experience of Impaired Persons

Auditoriums and theaters are buildings in which concerts, shows and conferences are held, offering a diverse and dynamic cultural offer to citizens. But people with impairment usually have difficulties in order to fully experience all those provided cultural activities, since such environments are not totally adapted to their necessities. For example, in an auditorium, visually impaired users have to be accompanied to their seats by event staff, as well as if the person wants to leave in the middle of the show (e.g. to the toilette) or even if they want to move around during breaks. The presented work, based on the deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks and Wireless Body Area Networks connected to an augmented reality device (HoloLens glasses) tries to aid in the autonomy of disabled people within this kind of environments, as well as in enhancing their show experience. For that purpose, intensive measurements have been taken in a real scenario (Baluarte Congress Center and Auditorium of Navarre) located in the city of Pamplona. The results show that this kind of environments present high wireless interference at different frequency bands due to the existing wireless systems deployed within them, such as multiple WiFi access points, wireless microphones or wireless communication systems used by the show staff. Therefore, radio channel simulations have been also performed with the aim of assessing the potential deployment of the proposed solution. The presented work can lead to the deployment of augmented reality systems within auditoriums and theaters, boosting the development of new applications.