A User Experience Investigation on Using Augmented Reality Technology for Explaining Step-by-Step Instructions

Abstract

Since Augmented Reality (AR) technology is able to help young children read storybooks and understand the content more interestingly (Tuli & Mantri, 2019), as well as can help students in learning abstract geometry (Flores-Bascuñana et al., 2019), AR technology has the potential capacity to extend the representation from paper to digital, and to bring ideas from virtual to reality. In order to use AR to import step-by-step information more effectively and to provide a friendly user experience, we use AR as an auxiliary tool for step-by-step instructions to help users receive and understand the content of information in diversified ways. However, the differences between real and virtual environments often affect the user's ability to operate the devices, to read the information, and to understand the content. In order to explore how the import of AR-assisted step-by-step instructions affects users' experience during operation, we conducted a task-based test and evaluated how the viewing angle and the viewing distance have an effect on test-takers' reading of documents. We analyzed the relationship between devices and human behaviors to understand users' experience in operation, this study explores 1) what is the best viewing angle and distance when users are reading documents and operating AR system; and 2) how the relative positional relationship of the AR developing between paper-based step-by-step instructions affect users' operation. The results show that: 1) Although all test-takers have no significant difference in terms of operation of viewing angle (p=0.535) and viewing distance (p=0.489), there are significant differences in terms of time spent by test-takers on completing this task (p=0.048); 2) During this experiment, the operating range of a test-taker's viewing angle is about 70~87 degrees, while the operating range of the viewing distance is about 16~23 cm; and 3) The differences between the relative positional relationship of AR developing block and the step-by-step instructions in text has an impact on the test-taker's operating experience. The AR developing block laid out on the right-hand side of the text box allows users to have greater adaptability in operational performance among other layout arrangements.