Enhancing Visitor Experience or Hindering Docent Roles: Attentional Issues in Augmented Reality Supported Installations

Abstract

Studies using augmented reality (AR) technology have suggested that users focus excessively on the virtual content in the AR environment at the expense of the physical world around them. This has implications related to the design of installations that aim to incorporate the user's physical environment as part of the AR experience. To better understand how user attention is managed in an AR environment, we present an observational study of Rewild Our Planet, a multi-modal installation that combined video, audio, a human docent and mobile AR to promote awareness about environmental issues. We found that, while AR was successful in engaging visitors, it drew attention away from other modalitie..