Crouch, Hold and Engage: Spatial Aspects of Augmented Reality Browsing

Abstract

Displays that use an AR browser to augment a printed poster are nowadays commonplace in many cities. Whilst much research exists on the technical issues and interaction techniques related to such AR displays, currently there has been little research on how these applications are actually used. In this paper, we present the first study reporting on usage comfort and spatial aspects when using an AR browsing app on to browse augmented content on a physical poster. Key findings are that the mean distance users preferred to stand from the poster content was 129 cm (SD = 34 cm) and that standing further from the poster enabled a browsing task to be completed more quickly. Based on our findings we make recommendations on the content and spatial location of AR poster installations.