Augmented Reality to Improve Public Awareness and Safety at The Beach

Rip currents pose a threat to the safety of bathers at most beaches around the world. The proposed research includes the specification of a platform to empower the user to become active beach-safety agents. To achieve this strategic goal, a service design approach was implemented to conceptualize a solution for collecting data about potential hazards, including information about the status of active rip currents. The innovation is settled over the combination of immersive technologies (e.g., Augmented Reality) with visual data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Mobile Augmented Reality mixed with a gamification strategy is also considered in the architectural design to specify a mobile tool that provides an interactive and gamified environment for promoting a safe beach experience. The presented approach also addresses a strategy to create a social movement challenging citizen to integrate and benefit from the services and informational artifacts provided by the Beach Safety Community (BSC).