Augmented Reality to Engage Visitors of Science Museums through Interactive Experiences

Abstract

In the last years, interactive exhibitions based on digital technologies have become widely common, thanks to their flexibility and effectiveness in engaging visitors and creating memorable experiences. One of the topics in which digital technologies can be particularly effective is the communication of abstract concepts that are difficult for the human mind to imagine. An emblematic example is the astronomy discipline, which requires us to imagine and understand phenomena far away from our everyday life. In this paper, the authors present a research project, MARSS, in which digital technologies are used effectively to enhance the Users’ Experience of the Museo Astronomico di Brera located in Milan. Specifically, the MARSS project aims at designing and developing a new digital journey inside the museum to allow different categories of visitors to enjoy the exhibition in an engaging and interactive way. The paper presents the design and development phases of the experience and its evaluation with users. The results of the evaluation indicate that the digital interactive experience is appreciated by users and is successful in translating the content of high scientific value into more engaging and easily understandable elements.

Bibliometric Analysis: Augmented Reality in Science Education Research Trends

“…The VOS Viewer offers bibliometric analysis mapping with three different visualizations, including the overlay visualization mentioned (see Figure 12). Based on Figure 12, Augmented Reality research is more related to clinical articles (Jeffers et al, 2022;Lau et al, 2023), extended reality (Chang et al, 2023;Gurses et al, 2023;Spadoni et al, 2022), likert scale (Soyka & Simons, 2022;Zatarain-Cabada et al, 2023), and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (De Benedictis et al, 2023;Shahbaz et al, 2023). Additionally, Augmented Reality research is applied from early childhood education to higher education levels (Senduk et al, 2016).…”

Bibliometric analysis of fourth industrial revolution applied to heritage studies based on web of science and scopus databases from 2016 to 2021

“…The use of augmented reality in cultural heritage has grown notably in recent years due to its great public appeal [ 29 ]. People enjoy the interactive experience provided by digital tools, which translate the content of high scientific value into easily understandable elements, making it more attractive to society [ 30 ]. As previously mentioned, IoT contributes to the conservation of cultural heritage -sustainability- by assisting the management of data collected from sensors, as better explained in the work of Sun Y.…”

The Effects of Augmented Reality Companion on User Engagement in Energy Management Mobile App

“…In tourism, Spadoni et al [12] utilized AR in multiple ways to engage astronomy museum visitors. For example, the 3D recreation of an ancient astronomical artifact helped the visitors to understand how the artifact worked, and the AR animations about astronomy were displayed along with written text on a panel to provide information effectively.…”

“…As this user retention is affected by user engagement [9], improvement in user engagement is the requirement. Augmented reality (AR) has shown its effectiveness in engaging users with a mobile device, which is verified in various contexts, such as game [10], education [11], and tourism [12]. Regarding user engagement, an animal companion presented in AR has the potential to benefit the user as well [13].…”