Exploring the benefits and challenges of AR in an outdoor tourism experience
Abstract: With the development of resilient computer vision algorithms, mobile augmented reality (MAR) technology is now accessible for most smartphone users. There are a lot of MAR applications available on the App Store and Google Play. However, most of the applications are games for indoor usage. Outdoor MAR commercial applications are rare. Evidently, outdoor MAR in tourism is a promising and challenging field. This study focuses on Djurgården, an island in Stockholm. The purpose is to develop a MAR prototype for some underexplored places on the island and see the benefits and challenges of AR as a method for helping tourists in sightseeing. A MAR application was developed to explore the research question surrounding its benefits and challenges. a user study was conducted to compare the MAR prototype with general usage of smartphone applications, where both quantitative and qualitative data was gathered. The results indicate that MAR has an advantage in providing more immersive, content travelling experience as well as reducing feelings of boredom. However, MAR also has challenges in avoiding collision with real objects and limiting possible risks.
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