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Demystifying the design of mobile augmented reality applications

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Abstract

This research proposes a set of interaction design principles for the development of mobile augmented reality (MAR) applications. The design recommendations adopt a user-centered perspective and, thus, they focus on the necessary actions to ensure high-quality MAR user experiences. To formulate our propositions we relied on theoretical grounding and an evaluation of eight MAR applications that provide published records of their design properties. The design principles have then been applied to guide the development of a MAR travel application. We performed a field study with 33 tourists in order to elicit whether our design choices effectively lead to enhanced satisfaction and overall user experience. Results suggest that the proposed principles contribute to ensuring high usability and performance of the MAR application as well as evoking positive feelings during user and system interactions. Our prescriptions may be employed either as a guide during the initial stages of the design process (ex-ante usage) or as a benchmark to assess the performance (ex-post usage) of MAR applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece

    Panos E. Kourouthanassis

  2. Faculty of Computer Science and Media Technology, Gjøvik University College, Gjøvik, Norway

    Costas Boletsis

  3. Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece

    George Lekakos

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  1. Panos E. Kourouthanassis
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  2. Costas Boletsis
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  3. George Lekakos
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Correspondence to Panos E. Kourouthanassis.

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Kourouthanassis, P.E., Boletsis, C. & Lekakos, G. Demystifying the design of mobile augmented reality applications. Multimed Tools Appl 74, 1045–1066 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1710-7

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