{"id":71747,"date":"2021-04-19T13:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=71747"},"modified":"2021-04-23T15:18:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T19:18:58","slug":"recipients-of-brock-funding-for-canada-games-related-research-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2021\/04\/recipients-of-brock-funding-for-canada-games-related-research-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Recipients of Brock funding for Canada Games-related research announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though August 2022 is a long way off, the specter of COVID might hang over some fans who would otherwise attend the Canada Summer Games in person.<\/p>\n

Augmented Reality (AR), technology enabling people to be virtually in a scene far away from their physical location, is a great way to engage those reluctant to attend the Games, says Abdul Rehman Ashraf.<\/p>\n

But the fledgling AR technology still has many bumps in how it\u2019s delivered and experienced, he says.<\/p>\n

As one of 11 researchers chosen to receive a grant from the 2020 round of Brock University\u2019s VPR Canada Games Grants program<\/a>, the Associate Professor of Marketing hopes to change that.<\/p>\n

Ashraf and his team aim to advance AR application guidelines from the tech company Apple by developing an instrument that would measure how well mobile phone users can use AR technology on their phones.<\/p>\n

\u201cDesigning an app for fully-fledged AR gear is completely different from designing one for a mobile phone,\u201d says Ashraf. \u201cUsers can easily become overwhelmed and frustrated because the usability principles for mobile AR applications have been ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says Apple\u2019s current guidelines don\u2019t provide details of the relative importance of design features such as interactivity and artwork or direction on evaluating AR mobile applications, hence the need to develop \u201ca comprehensive mobile AR application usability instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says this will help researchers and practitioners analyze and overcome usability problems of AR mobile applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur instrument will allow practitioners and researchers interested in exploring the benefits and usage of AR applications during the 2022 Canada Games to study to-be-developed, to-be-implemented, and existing mobile AR applications,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The next phase of Ashraf\u2019s research will test the suitability of their mobile AR application usability instrument in predicting AR usage intention, loyalty and fan engagement during the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games.<\/p>\n

Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon announced that Ashraf and 10 other researchers and scholars have received up to $7,000 funding for their proposals through the VPR Canada Games Grants program. The special fund enables Brock University researchers and scholars from across campus to undertake research or a creative activity in any discipline and on any topic that relates to the Canada Games.<\/p>\n

Kenyon says the Canada Summer Games are \u201ca remarkable research opportunity that puts the performance, history, community impact and culture of sport in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrock researchers are bringing creativity and expertise of many kinds to this opportunity,\u201d he says. \u201cThe breadth of their insights is astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recipients of the 2020 VPR Canada Games Grants are:<\/p>\n