Observation of Presence in an Ecologically Valid Ethnographic Study Using an Immersive Augmented Reality Virtual Diorama Application

Harrington, Maria, C. R. (March, 2020). “Observation of Presence in an Ecologically Valid Ethnographic Study Using an Immersive Augmented Reality Virtual Diorama Application,” In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), Atlanta, GA, USA, 2020, pp. 813-814. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9090465

Abstract: The main research question is centered on the usefulness of immersive Augmented Reality (AR) applications for informal learning activities. Can users experience presence – or a sense of being there – when using AR apps? To begin to approach this question an ethnographic study was conducted in July, 2019 in a museum with 56 volunteer participants to document behavior and measure learning, attitudes, and emotional outcomes of an AR application. Reported are the preliminary results of behavior indicative of presence observed in the study, and insights gained that are useful in understanding future designs.