AR and VR are trending in the software development fraternity. Such tech will provide us access to information in the nick of time, on tap, at any time and at any place. AR/VR tech will provide audiences with empowerment to travel back into history from any location through a simple headset or any other immersion device, improving academic and travel experiences. 

Over the course of this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic learners have reaped advantages from learning online. 

Educationists have begun to utilize these AR/VR technologies for academic purposes. Industries are regarding and providing positive feedback to their staff members, and have begun to schedule meetings through augmented reality to develop a productive environment within their homes. 

Everyday utilization of the technology accelerates and the market is also becoming increasingly open.  

If your organization is intending to launch an AR/VR app project, you ought to know that there are certain critical activities that will define satisfaction with the complete product, and QA is one of them. 

In this blog, we will be looking at approaches to evaluate AR/VR and how to validate quality in AR/VR products. 

Determine the end-users of AR/VR, and of other products 

Comprehend the distinction between AR/VR and other products like banking, ERP, CRM, etc. 

As an evaluator, we are required to delve into every aspect of the product. End-users reasons will be variable for AR/VR and other products. Testers are required to develop their strategy based on end-user purposes. 

For instance, look at banking, ERP, and CRM products. These are primarily concentrating on monetary transactions, goods tracking, and complaints administration. So the client’s learning and entertainment is up for question. 

However, AR/VR products are academic, demos, gaming, and obviously monetary transaction oriented.  

Therefore, user’s engagement factors are more critical in comparison to other products.  

Prepping prior to the release of the testing build 

• Obviously reading/evaluating the business expectations is one of the first objectives of testers. 

• Being software testers, we are in prime position to be in alignment with the development team as the tech is brand new.  
• Study the tech by utilizing the same AR/VR products of other organizations. 
• For a few of the devs involved on your projects, it might be that they are inexperienced in working with these APIs, so it’s an ideal time for you to learn yourself as well. 
• The ideal way to educate yourself is to get down and dirty, there are a few opensource and freeware utilities available to develop AR/VR apps, attempt producing your own app and this exercise will provide you with valuable insight in context, regarding how these applications are developed in addition to ideas on how to approach testing them. 
• Be aware of the technical restrictions prior to devs informing you in the testing phase. 

• Set to collaborate with the devs. 

Collate a comprehensive list of your utilization of industries. On the basis of the industry, you will determine the users.  

AR: Healthcare, manufacturing, academia, automobile, defense, retail, gaming, social media, and real estate. 

VR: Cinema and entertainment, diagnostic, digital tourism, shipping, high-risk job training and medical students being trained. 

During evaluation of the application, you require to treat them as users. Take the instance of high-risk job training. End-users are fire fighters, policement, and infantry units – these are all staff who reap advantages from VR training to practice scheduled emergency protocol to learn the do’s and don’t in an electronic environment free of ramifications. So you are required to operate by the assumption that you are a police man, or fire fighter to evaluate this application. This disorder, surely gives you extra outcomes on the evaluation phase. 

Step 1: Get acquainted with the requirements. 

• Evaluate what the product requires prior to viewing the conditions in which the product will be utilized. 
• Deduce the devices and varieties of interactions that the product is supportive of. 
• Search for the copyright content and outcome in the requirement. 
• Comprehend the estimated engagement time of users. As end users will not spend lots of times with AR/VR apps.  

• Particularly not with VR apps. Spending extra time with VR apps are a health hazard. 

Step 2: Freeze the scope of tests 

• UI/UX is critical. This is of vital priority. 
• Compatibility is the 2nd most important factor. 
• Verification whether AR/VR model is redirecting to the necessary data. 

• Architecture and restriction of third party plugins.  
• Verification if scan of environment is functioning properly.  
• Verification if 2D/3D objects utilized in the product have undergone registration. 
• Quality of 2D/3D objects. 
• Application performance. 

• Web on/off stipulations. 
• User privacy. 

Step 3 : Determine the variants of tests to be conducted 

• Functional tests; in these, the system is evaluated against the functional needs and specifications. Functional tests ensure that the necessities or specifications are appropriately satisfied by the app. 
• Usability Testing; this is the procedure of obtaining data with regards to usability and cumulative user experience from actual users over the course of the design process. This is carried out via a variety of user evaluation methods, consisting of card sorting, surveys, interviews, and observation. 

• Compatibility Testing – is to evaluate whether your software has the capacity of operating on several hardwares, operating systems, applications, network environments or Mobile devices. 
• Accessibility Testing – Making sure the AR/VR app can be utilized notwithstanding the age and physical condition, minimize discomfort and ensure swift and seamless navigation. 
• Immersive Testing; Typically, VR needs unique hardware to operate. We make sure that the device functions well and retains compatibility with current software and gadgets for successful simulation. 
• Performance evaluation – is to decide the system parameters with regards to responsiveness and stability under several workloads. Performance evaluation quantifies the quality attributes of the system, such as scalability, reliability and resource utilization. 
• Security Testing; is to unveil loopholes of the system and decides that the information and resources of the system are safeguarded from potential intruders. It makes sure that the software system and app don’t contain any threats or risks that can cause a loss. 

• Automation Testing; Reduced number of features can undergo automation in these technologies.  

Step 4 : Don’t panic 

• Use your innovative side. 
• Largely we will not get the answer in Google. So don’t worry and try to do “Pair Testing”. 
• Always ask a query to developers, business analysts, project architects or senior testers. 

• As a tester, you should attempt all scenarios that could potentially take place in the actual world or those that cannot be tested in real-time or edge cases that are so uncommon to happen in real-time. 
• Obtain the test data – more, the better. 

References 

https://augray.com/blog/test-strategies-for-ar-and-vr-products/