An addition on how Augmented Reality can help testing. In an earlier post I wrote about how games can make the life of testers more fun. I think testing is fun, because as a test manager I’m now writing test cases for a client and having fun with it. I am writing these test cases because it’s fun but also to educate the people in my team on creating test cases with test design techniques. At first I tell them the theory, I create a test case according to this theory and next we try all to create one. In the end everybody creates his’ or hers.

I try to learn them something and at the end they are better test designers, but not certified. That’s where I got my idea. In another earlier post on why clients ask for certified testers we had a little discussion about how to make testers better without certification. Pradeep Soundararajan said he makes videos. This is a good idea. But we can drive this even further.

Let’s have AR help us to learn us to write test cases while we are working. This can also be uses with other learning programs. But imagine this. You are trying to write a test case according to a certain technique. And you don’t know this technique. You then start a program that helps you learn this technique. Someone will be projected on the screen with Augmented Reality like a hologram. This person explains the technique and after this helps you with your test cases. You personal AR test coach! You have to record one time a kind of a film, in which you explain the different steps for each test design technique. With for example a marker you can project your virtual teacher into your own room. The hologram can now explain step by step what you have to do.

I’m not a developer but if someone creates this program I think it would help a lot of people.

Then another option. On uTest.com testers are rated for the work they have done. A rating system like this can be adopted throughout the testing world to acknowledge how good a tester you are, compared to a ‘say nothing’ certification. When I get people on intake or as a solicitation wouldn’t it be nice to see his rating projected with him? Of course other information can be added as well. If there is a face recognition system, you can link it directly to the rating system, if you have found the name and more you can automatically search in the social network software for more photos and stuff.

Another more complex example is to make a game from the tests script you have defined. If you have specified the script in a certain way, maybe you can build a kind of a virtual building from it. A building with several doors and corridors to rooms. In the execution phase you can walk through this building, by opening a door and entering a room you will start a new test case. Maybe you can make a relation to the code and see what code is covered with your test. If a certain code isn`t covered there are maybe secret rooms to identify. If you`re testing application security you find a lot of secret rooms. Because functional testing is focused at the part that is described in the documentation. But sometimes are there much more pages designed by the developer or because the framework offers them to you.

What about privacy in this all? Borders between work and private life are blurring more and more. Everything is connected to another, and what if we integrate this kind of testing as described above into a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)? That would be fun, hopefully I can buy somewhere a real avatar ?

1. Susan Says:
   August 19th, 2009 at 05:18

   I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

   Susan

   http://onlinemariogames.net

2. Ewald Roodenrijs Says:
   August 21st, 2009 at 04:10

   @Susan

   Thank you very much. Hope you will enjoy the reading even further.