DART supports a wide range of AR applications and has been designed to allow non-AR-researchers, designers and artists to experiment with AR. DART facilitates rapid prototyping of, and experimentation with, nearly any AR experience that seeks to integrate digital media with the physical world. While our focus is on supporting design exploration, it is also reasonable to use DART to develop and deliver a final AR experience.

Our particular focus in creating DART is on experience-based AR, such as informal educational dramas in historic locations (e.g., re-enacting historic scenes in-situ) or entertainment applications (e.g., 3D AR fictions and games). We believe strongly that AR can be a powerful technique for leveraging the aura of a particular location (such as the sense of awe one experiences when standing in an historic building, on a famous battlefield, or in front of an important monument). In these cases AR can be used to enhance the experience of visiting the site by adding a dramatic or narrative dimension that is merged with (rather than tangential to) the experience of visiting the location.

In addition to dramatic AR experiences, DART could be used to for digital art experiences that are not story-based.

We are also using DART to prototype and experiment with more "mundane" task-based AR systems, such as those supporting equipment repair, situation-based training, assembly line inspection and augmented tourism.

Finally, DART can be used for non-AR 3D systems that benefit from Director's efficient 3D engine and DART's sensor integration, such as virtual reality (VR) and desktop-based 3D experiences.

Examples of our own work on AR using DART (and its predecessors)

The Voices of Oakland. A dramatic, audio-only tour of Oakland Cemetery.

Four Angry Men. A remediation of the classic teleplay and film Twelve Angry Men.

Alice’s Adventure’s in New Media. Based on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland.

Augmented Reality Design classes at Georgia Tech are using DART to create designs for dramatic augmented reality experiences. We have been focusing on experiences in historic sites, such as the Oakland Cemetery (the oldest and most historically significant cemetery in Atlanta) used in the “The Voices of Oakland” project.