Augmented reality (AR) overlays real-world views or scenes with virtual, computer-generated objects that appear to visually coexist in the same space. Location-based social networks (LBSNs) are platforms for individuals to be connected through the interdependency derived from their physical locations and their location-tagged social media content. Current research and development in both areas focuses on integrating mobile-based AR and LBSNs. Several applications (e.g., Sekai Camera and Wallame) have been developed and commercialized successfully. However, little research has been done on the potential impacts and successful evaluation methods of AR-integrated LBSNs in the GIScience field. To close this gap, the article outlines the impacts and benefits of AR-integrated LBSNs and highlights the importance of LBSNs in GIScience research. Based on the status quo of AR-integrated LBSNs, this article discusses-from theoretical and application-oriented perspectives-how AR-integrated LBSNs could enrich the GIScience research agenda in three aspects: data conflation, platial GIS, and multimedia storytelling. The article concludes with guidelines on visualization, functionality, and ethics that aim to help users develop and evaluate AR-integrated LBSNs. | I NTR OD U CTI ONAugmented reality (AR) overlays real-world views or scenes with virtual, computer-generated objects that appear to visually coexist in the same space. It is well established in multiple domains and has achieved consumer market status, mainly due to the prevalence of smartphones equipped with high computational processors, high-resolution displays, and multiple sensors. As a result, AR is integrated into everyday applications, including games, marketing strategies, navigation aids, home design software, personal assistance and general education applications. However, one important aspect has not been discussed sufficiently: the potential application of AR in location-based social networks (LBSNs). LBSN discussions started early in 2010 when developers tried to better understand how to connect user locations with user social networks. LBSNs are tightly coupled with location information acquired from multiple sources,

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Location‐based social networks (LBSNs) have become an important source of spatial data for geographers and GIScientists to acquire knowledge of human–place interactions. A number of studies have used geotagged data from LBSNs to investigate how user‐generated content (UGC) can be affected by or correlated with the external environment. However, local visual information at the micro‐level, such as brightness, colorfulness, or particular objects/events in the surrounding environment, is usually not captured and thus becomes a missing component in LBSN analysis. To provide a solution to this issue, we argue in this study that the integration of augmented reality (AR) and LBSNs proves to be a promising avenue. In this first empirical study on AR‐based LBSNs, we propose a methodological framework to extract and analyze data from AR‐based LBSNs and demonstrate the framework via a case study with WallaMe. Our findings bolster existing psychological findings on the color–mood relationship and display intriguing geographic patterns of the influence of local visual information on UGC in social media.

Pseudotsuga gaussenii is a forest species under protection in China. Propagation via somatic embryogenesis is efficient and needed for recovering this species. In this research, effects of medium supplements, i.e., methylglyoxal-bis (guanylhydrazone) (MGBG), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and maltose, on somatic embryo (SE) development were studied. More mature SEs developed with the pre-maturation treatment medium supplemented with 50 μM or 100 μM MGBG. During SE maturation, when the medium was supplemented with both PEG and maltose, the over-proliferation of embryogenic tissue was suppressed. When maltose was eliminated from the maturation medium, SEs were slightly smaller but developed better than other treatments due to the supply of lower carbon source, whereas when PEG was taken out from the maturation medium, no mature SE was obtained, only the heavily-proliferated plant tissue. Meanwhile, DNA methylation levels differed in these SE maturation cultures at the late culture stage of SE maturation. The level increased sharply with no maltose treatment (20.28%) while decreasing without PEG supplement (10.35%). DNA methyltransferase genes MET1-1, MET1-2, MET1-3, CMT3, DRM1, and DRM2 were partially cloned in this study to detect their expression level via qPCR. Expression of these genes, except MET1-3, in the culture of no PEG was higher significantly than the cultures of other treatments at weeks 1, 3, and 10. Our results suggested that MGBG and/or PEG play an important role in stimulating SE development and maturation. Furthermore, sugar supplements at a lower level benefited SE maturation in Pseudotsuga gaussenii.