Effects of Gamified Augmented Reality in Public Spaces

Advancements in smartphone technology have resulted in the proliferation of Augmented Reality (AR) applications and games. Researchers have acknowledged the great potential of AR applications to enhance entertainment and improve learning experiences. In this study, we examined the potential effects of gamified AR in public places. We developed ARQuiz, an AR-based quiz game, for a public exhibition space and conducted a user study with respondents via survey (N = 176; 55.68% female, mean age 35.94 and SD = 11.89) and face-To-face interview (N = 28; 57.14% female, mean age 31.07 and SD = 7.42). We analyzed the relationship between perceived application usefulness, perceived application enjoyment, perceived exhibition enjoyment, and perceived quiz enjoyment. In addition, we examined perceived sociability before and after the quiz, quiz score, and user behavior in the exhibition space. The results indicate that visitors who enjoyed playing the ARQuiz game enjoyed the exhibition more, obtained better quiz results and felt more social after visiting the exhibition. Furthermore, the ARQuiz was regarded as a possible platform for improving visitors learning and overall experiences in public exhibitions. Although some players expressed concerns about the privacy and intrusiveness of AR, our results indicate that a well-designed AR game may boost the overall satisfaction of an exhibition visit and increase players sociabilitys. © 2013 IEEE.Peer reviewe

Does Augmented Reality Affect Sociability, Entertainment, and Learning? A Field Experiment

Augmented reality (AR) applications have recently emerged for entertainment and educational purposes and have been proposed to have positive effects on social interaction. In this study, we investigated the impact of a mobile, indoor AR feature on sociability, entertainment, and learning. We conducted a field experiment using a quiz game in a Finnish science center exhibition. We divided participants (N = 372) into an experimental group (AR app users) and two control groups (non-AR app users; pen-and-paper participants), including 28 AR users of follow-up interviews. We used Kruskal–Wallis rank test to compare the experimental groups and the content analysis method to explore AR users’ experiences. Although interviewed AR participants recognized the entertainment value and learning opportunities for AR, we did not detect an increase in perceived sociability, social behavior, positive affect, or learning performance when comparing the experimental groups. Instead, AR interviewees experienced a strong conflict between the two different realities. Despite the engaging novelty value of new technology, performance and other improvements do not automatically emerge. We also discuss potential conditional factors. Future research and development of AR and related technologies should note the possible negative effects of dividing attention to both realities

Enhancing the Museum Experience of an Augmented Reality (AR) Art Exhibition Through Digital Exhibit Labels and Gamification

Due to emerging and disruptive technologies, museums are searching for ways to enhance their visitors’ experience. This paper investigates aspects of an Augmented Reality (AR) art exhibition for their potential effects on a visitor’s museum experience and engagement. Through a mixed experimental design we tested the effects of two factors, namely the exhibit label’s Channel (print vs. digital) and the presence of Gamification (none vs. quiz game). Forty seven participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, each with two treatments: (1) Print No Gamification and With Gamification (n = 24), (2) Digital No Gamification and With Gamification (n = 23). Results revealed that displaying exhibit labels for AR artworks in digital rather than print form resulted in a significantly higher level of Cognitive Absorption among participants. This, in turn, had a positive impact on visitors’ aesthetics, education, entertainment and escapism (4Es), and ultimately both engagement and behavioural intentions

A framework study on the use of immersive XR technologies in the cultural heritage domain

Most cultural promotion and dissemination are nowadays performed through the digitization of heritage sites and museums, a necessary requirement to meet the new needs of the public. Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR) have the potential to improve the experience quality and educational effect of these sites by stimulating users’ senses in a more natural and vivid way. In this respect, head-mounted display (HMD) devices allow visitors to enhance the experience of cultural sites by digitizing information and integrating additional virtual cues about cultural artifacts, resulting in a more immersive experience that engages the visitor both physically and emotionally. This study contributes to the development and incorporation of AR, MR, and VR applications in the cultural heritage domain by providing an overview of relevant studies utilizing fully immersive systems, such as headsets and CAVE systems, emphasizing the advantages that they bring when compared to handheld devices. We propose a framework study to identify the key features of headset-based Extended Reality (XR) technologies used in the cultural heritage domain that boost immersion, sense of presence, and agency. Furthermore, we highlight core characteristics that favor the adoption of these systems over more traditional solutions (e.g., handheld devices), as well as unsolved issues that must be addressed to improve the guests’ experience and the appreciation of the cultural heritage. An extensive search of Google Scholar, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and Wiley Online Library databases was conducted, including papers published from January 2018 to September 2022. To improve review reporting, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used. Sixty-five papers met the inclusion criteria and were classified depending on the study’s purpose: education, entertainment, edutainment, touristic guidance systems, accessibility, visitor profiling, and management. Immersive cultural heritage systems allow visitors to feel completely immersed and present in the virtual environment, providing a stimulating and educational cultural experience that can improve the quality and learning purposes of cultural visits. Nonetheless, the analyzed studies revealed some limitations that must be faced to give a further impulse to the adoption of these technologies in the cultural heritage domain

Using gaming paratexts in the literacy classroom

This paper illustrates how digital game paratexts may effectively be used in the high school English to meet a variety of traditional and multimodal literacy outcomes. Paratexts are texts that refer to digital gaming and game cultures, and using them in the classroom enables practitioners to focus on and valorise the considerable literacies and skills that young people develop and deploy in their engagement with digital gaming and game cultures. The effectiveness of valorizing paratexts in this manner is demonstrated through two examples of assessment by students in classes where teachers had designed curriculum and assessment activities using paratexts