Behind the Scenes of CXR: Designing a Geo-Synchronized Communal eXtended Reality System

We have developed a Communal eXtended-Reality (CXR) system that enables groups of people in a shared moving vehicle to view a common geo-synchronized tour. This paper describes the geo-synchronized multi-user extended reality system we created to provide a situated and shared experience to promote community engagement. This paper describes (a) the technical implementation of the CXR system, which geo-locates and orients the view of the participant within the moving vehicle; (b) the immersive digital twin tour, critically aligned with the real-life location; (c) our fallback system, which allows people who feel disoriented or motion-sick to continue along with the content of the tour. We validated the sense of communality, comfort, and effectiveness of the system through in-ride observation and post-ride surveys. Our intent is to enable the development of similar systems to foster communal engagement in communities worldwide.