Augmented Reality and User Behaviour: A Socially Practised Affordance Perspective

Abstract

This paper explores Augmented Reality (AR) user behaviour, by focusing on user experiences and expectations and the role these play in the context of AR adoption rates. It focuses on the usability of AR and underlying motives that drive users to adopt or reject AR technology. To achieve this aim, multiple sources and qualitative methods, e.g., online reviews and users’ reflections, have been used as they can give context-specific and rich understanding to help inform how individuals make use of AR apps. This study sheds new light on how AR apps, users, and social practices are interconnected by integrating affordance and social practice theories. Affordance theory has been used through the process of the ‘walkthrough technique’ to investigate potential affordances arising from the application of AR technologies in the service sector. Our preliminary findings identified ten AR App affordances that potential users might actualise where there is coherence between specific Social Practice theory (SPT) elements. The next step of this research is to apply SPT elements (meanings, materials, and competency), to better understand three major characteristics of usability (interactivity, compatibility, and credibility) associated with current AR apps that might promote and/or prevent potential users from actualising their affordances