Using augmented reality for service discovery in pervasive environments

The appearance of a large number of mobile devices (Smart-phones, Tablets...) has democratized the access to information anywhere and anytime, which makes it possible to have smart environments that are composed of a set of interconnected devices and offers users a set of services called pervasive services. Several techniques and protocols have been proposed to allow users to discover and access these services. In this work, we examine some existing protocols and we discuss the use of augmented reality to discover these services. The idea of using augmented reality for pervasive service discovery derives its legitimacy from the fact that the majority of mobile devices are equipped with cameras, GPS, accelerometer, orientation sensors, etc., which will assist the user in an intelligent way by providing interfaces that combine 2D/3D images and the real environment.