Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Highly valued consumer experiences occur when emerging technology—such as Augmented Reality (AR)—is presented in an emotionally engaging format. Fashion retailers must understand how Augmented Reality can offer an exceptional retail experience to retain consumers in the store. By running two workshops and AR prototype experience tests, our results indicate that retailers can improve the customer experience by designing AR Apps to provide enjoyment features but focus more on helping shopping’s functional tasks. Participants have a positive attitude towards AR shopping adoption, which will improve consumer satisfaction and boost purchase intention. We recommend the most effective form of AR app for fashion retail.

This study aims to explore the role of mental imagery, product involvement and presence on emotions and purchase intentions. A quasi-experimental between-subjects design was implemented to test the proposed model. The quasi-experimental manipulation comprised a virtual grocery store, using VR. A quantitative approach was followed using a questionnaire to get data to test the model. The questionnaire was fulfilled after the 108 participants visualize the scenario through VR. The results reveal that all hypotheses are supported, expect H4. Product involvement is not associated to emotions.

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly shaping brand-customer touchpoints. On social media, brands are developing AR face filters to engage consumers. This study analyses the use of AR filters in users’ experiences. Data from social media users of AR filters was gathered using an online questionnaire. Results showed that branded AR filters generated higher perceived originality, aesthetic quality and interactivity than non-branded filters. For branded AR filters, usefulness (determined mainly by interactivity) fostered behavioural intentions towards brands; while enjoyment (determined mainly by aesthetic quality) enhanced behavioural intentions towards social networks. The results offer interesting implications for brand managers and AR filters developers.

Straight cuts are a storytelling tool that is used to direct the viewer’s attention towards the main events of the plot. This research evaluated the effect of frequency of straight cuts that are controlled by the system (rather than by the viewer) on the viewer’s experience of VR (i.e., presence, narrative immersion, sense of agency, simulator sickness, and enjoyment). We used both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the viewer’s experience and understanding of a one-minute long VR movie in three versions (i.e., 15 cuts/min; 8 cuts/min; no cuts). The study illustrates that sense of agency, enjoyment, and understanding of the story are influenced by the frequency of straight cuts. Also, straight cuts focus viewers on events in the story, which in turn helps them understand the plot better. However, we need a balanced frequency of cuts to preserve the sense of agency of users. Finally, the study highlights that the viewers’ experience is a result of an interplay between narrative immersion, sense of agency, and presence.

Performance art is generally physical in nature. In recent years, the development of augmented-reality (AR) technology has enabled the merge of the virtual and the real to present novel visual effects. However, incorporations of AR into performance art are generally shown to audiences on large screens, which designates the audience a passive role. Using the example of ‘Epitome of Time’, a performance at the Da Guan International Performing Arts Festival, the researchers experimented with a smartphone application (app) that can incorporate AR into stage performances. The app features the following functions: (1) A projected image in the performance hall served as the AR recognition target; audience members could scan the image with their smartphones, generating virtual objects that they could interact with in the space around them. (2) The AR served as a marketing method before the performance. (3) Push notifications sent audience members reminders of show times. This study adopted the spiral model of action research method presented by Lewin, the steps of which include planning, action, observation, and reflection. The interactive re-examination of each process forms a feedback loop for app development. We then put forward suggestions to serve as reference for future incorporations of smartphones and AR into large-scale performance art. We also predict which emerging AR equipment could create more possibilities for AR interaction in this field.

This paper aims to test the relationships between technological and functional, and experiential elements of the new realities, developing a conceptual framework based on (Trunfio and Campana, Current Issues in Tourism. 23(9):1053–1058, 2020) visitors’ experience model for mixed reality in the museum to explore how mixed reality functional elements influence visitors’ experiences in museum and post-experiences. Findings validate the influence of mixed reality functional elements on visitors’ experiences, showing traditional experiences as a key museum experience to drive 4.0 experiences and post-experience behaviours. However, some theoretical questions remain open, considering the influence of usability requirements on interaction and 4.0 experience on museum post-experience.

Holographic immersive technology such as ‘Mixed Reality’ is nowadays extending in the cultural heritage sector to open new prospects to engage visitors in museums. This paper investigates the level of engagement in the museum space by conducting observations and time consuming at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. An interactive mixed reality system named ‘MuseumEye’ was developed and used Microsoft HoloLens as a mixed reality head mounted display to boost the level of engagement with the exhibited antiques. This system was experienced by 171 of the Egyptian museum visitors and another observation was conducted to record their behaviours and the time they consumed next to each antique. Results of this study showed the time consumed to engage with holographic visuals and the exhibited has been increased 4 times compared to the time the visitors consumed before without using technological gadgets. The implications of these immersive technologies can be an important vehicle for driving the tourism industries towards achieving successful engaging experiences.

Privacy concerns are an often cited obstacle to consumer adoption of augmented reality (AR) technology, but research has not yet developed a specific measurement scale to capture these concerns. We address this need by drawing on AR and privacy literature to develop a ten-item Augmented Reality Information Privacy Concerns (ARIPC) scale. We follow a systematic scale development process that includes an empirical application of the scale. We offer novel and practically useful insights into consumer privacy concerns towards AR as a novel technology.

The Proteus Effect, introduced by Yee and Bailenson (2007), suggests that users of a virtual environment adapt their behaviour to the characteristics of their respective avatars. Because numerous studies and experiments concerning the Proteus Effect have been published since 2007, we herein provide a literature review and evaluate the theoretical framework. Based on the comparison of their findings and conclusions about the theoretical framework of the effect and its explanatory approaches such as self-perception theory and priming, we classify these studies with regard to self-similarity, wishful identification, and embodied presence. This allows for revealing parallels to the processes of self-identification.

Online retailers are employing interactive technologies to reduce the risk of online purchases. Augmented reality (AR) serves this aim by placing virtual 3D objects (e.g., new furniture) into the consumers’ homes. This study investigates the consumer’s acceptance of AR applications via a modified Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Also, we examined the effect of products associated with either high or low financial risk on the relationship between perceived usefulness and behavioural intention. We conducted a single case study with a field between-subject design. The results confirmed the relationships in the modified TAM. In particular, enjoyment had both a direct and indirect positive effect on the behaviour intention of consumers to use the AR app in the future. However, product type did not have a significant effect.

Simulation is a form of learning that is often used in legal education to teach practical skills that cannot be effectively taught in the traditional classroom environment. Despite its frequent use, its capabilities as a learning tool is limited. Efforts have been made to enhance simulated learning with novel digital technologies. Virtual Reality is an example of a novel technology that has seen an increase in use in the context of education. This paper introduces the literature on legal simulation and VR education and provides theoretical grounding for the potential effect that VR may have in legal simulation.

The use of virtual reality (VR) in the education of nuclear physics students, at the university level, is very rare. This paper aims to present the result of a nuclear physics exercise designed to compare real-world exercise ability (mass of Deuteron’s experimental setup available at the Faculty of Physics) with simulated exercise in VR. Students perform all the functions virtually at the human, atom and subatomic particles scale, in a radiation-free environment and time-saving manner. This research is beneficial for universities that do not have the appropriate equipment to perform nuclear physics exercises.

This study intends to extend the understanding of drivers of student engagement in the educational context and analyse mindfulness as a moderator of the different associations in the proposed model. The proposed model regards VR experiences as stimuli, telepresence, pleasantness of the experience and memory as an organism and student engagement as the response. A sample of 136 participants allowed us to test the model. Findings revealed that all hypotheses were supported except H6 linking pleasantness of the experience with student engagement. Only the relationship between pleasantness and memory is higher for mindful students than non-mindful ones. These findings mean that students do not need to feel pleasure about what they are learning to be engaged

More and more, some business professionals need to engage with some sort of computer programming in their roles. Learning programming requires various skills that most people find difficult to learn. Virtual Reality (VR) has gained high recognition as a virtual training technology due to a myriad of benefits. This study proposes a method for teaching and learning programming in a business context. It uses VR to simulate scenarios in the learners’ working environment to introduce and reinforce programming concepts. A case study is presented and some discussions are made. The proposed method is validated using the Dooyeweerd conceptual framework.

Modern techniques, such as photogrammetry, allows for capturing humans and convert them into realistic looking three-dimensional digital humans. Scanning human faces through photogrammetry and applying them into realistic virtual environments becomes more affordable and easy to use. However, it is unclear whether people differ in recognizing human expressions from 3D photogrammetry faces compared to those captured through traditional media such as photographs. In this study, we compared recognition of ten facial expressions (irritation, hot anger, sadness, despair, disgust, contempt, happiness, elated joy, panic fear, and anxiety) with two intensity levels taken from computer graphic (CG) scanned faces and photographs of two actors. The results, taken from a hundred participants aged between 18–55 years old, showed no differences in facial expression recognition between traditional photographs and computer graphic images. In addition, in line with previous research, the overall recognition of expressions was relatively low (around 50%). These results suggest that CG scanned faces, without any optimization, can already be used within VR environments without risking a loss of expression recognition. However, the results also advocate developers to invest time and money in optimizing the realism in photogrammetry scanned faces to increase the chance of recognizing the right facial expressions when communicating through human faces in virtual reality.

It is important when making 3D virtual cities for virtual reality (VR) that they perform well as a “break in presence” (BIP) might occur when the FPS becomes too low. The key contributions of this research paper are a performance analysis that checks whether two separate virtual cities are “VR ready” on a recommended specification system to qualify for the Oculus Store (i.e., applications must meet a consistent 90 frames per second (FPS)) and several guidelines that are important when rendering large virtual cities for VR. Both virtual cities (Endless City Driver versions) without pedestrians and parked vehicles (but with foliage in the case of the next generation) are VR ready. Reducing the city tile size by half resulted in a much better performance in general.

This paper introduces a method for developing Augmented Urban Digital Twin (A-UDT) for virtual and real Internet-of-Things (IoT) visualization and its benefits. It presents a method for generating virtual data using the Virtual IoT (VI) based on real IoT data, which can be used with cloud services. An urban digital twin is developed to find and simulate various problems arising in the city by extracting and visualizing data of the city. Designing urban digital twin has some challenging issues such as the difficulty of processing environmental information in real-time due to the absence of IoT support. This absence of IoT support can make problems like developing urban digital twin without knowing the types and scope of visualization. To overcome this limitation, we propose the augmented city miniature that uses generation system, process, storage, and network system of the component that generates VI with the same data structure as real IoT to generate and send data, and it simulates information on a 3D geographic map by sending the generated virtual data to the visualization part using Augmented Reality (AR). Urban digital twin based on the virtual data can make various simulations of city visualization that can be performed to discover required IoT and reduce development costs. A-UDT system can be applied to monitor and simulate diverse environmental information such as air quality, energy efficiency, object movements, and temperature distribution.

The aim of this study is twofold: provide an overview of the virtual reality and artificial intelligence conceptualization and applications and propose a framework of consumer -firm experience process in the context of smart cities. The framework will give a novel perspective on the topic and provide theoretical and contributions.

The birth of the Industry 4.0 is linked to “enabling technologies”, which provide significant advantages to both industry and users. Among these, a particular role is played by Augmented and Virtual Reality, which, by combining real and digital world, can optimize production, sales and user experiences. This is the goal behind ETT's AR/VR projects in the Industrial Field: immersive technologies that guarantee engagement, safe environments and innovation. Four case studies exemplify how these technologies can support the industry sector. Area X for Intesa San Paolo and NIA VR app for the National Fire Brigade bring the user into a safe and totally digital world; while the automotive production and rental service Car Server apps merge real and digital world.

The purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical framework for a digital twin-based smart science tourism system using augmented reality in Gwanghwamun Square. To date, smart tourism service was not sufficiently developed for the provision of relevant tourism information to visitors as tourism contents were managed by the separated information system of each institution. The tourists could not receive ideal tourism routes based on their preferences and also according to congestion of each institution. Moreover, the business model using existing tourism services was not well developed, and thus the current tourism services have not sufficiently contributed to the revitalization of the regional economy. We designed a digital twin-based tourism content management system that provides integrated management of tourism information, and augmented reality (AR) science tour services which are included with contents recommendation, best path finding, contents sharing and gamification. We also adopted a business model using the AR tourism platform based on digital twin technology which could contribute to the invigoration of the local economy.

Within the industry of architecture, interior design and construction, stakeholders and clients can differ significantly in their level of spatial understanding. Traditional media and new media, such as Virtual Reality (VR), are used to visualize spaces to create a bridge between professionals and non-professionals in the understanding of space. However, it remains unclear which medium increases spatial understanding for non-professionals more effectively. In this study we compared spatial understanding among non-professionals of a real space, an apartment, using three conditions: (a) being in the real space, (b) being in VR and (c) through a traditional desktop screen. Forty-five participants estimated spatial measures such as height, length and depth of a room and its furniture (objective spatial understanding). The results revealed that objective spatial understanding did not differ significantly between the three conditions. However, non-professionals revealed that VR made it easier to estimate the measurements of complex and less familiar objects and made them feel more confident about the accuracy of the estimated measures. The feeling of engagement was found to be a possible predictor for this effect. In addition the possibility to make use of one's own body as a reference point in VR, increased confidence as well. The results indicate that VR may improve the communication between clients and architects and interior designers, but only when it concerns complicated spaces and unfamiliar objects.

Virtual Reality (VR) has been applied in several business scenarios. The tourism industry is one of the sectors that have great potential to take advantage of VR technology. Especially the marketing strategy and the tourism-travel which has tremendous opportunities in recent studies in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Self-Determination Theory in combination with Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). However, few attempts have been made in Educational Tourism to examine the factors that enhance the visitor experience by using new methods of the trending technology regarding VR interactive application in combination with Augmented Virtuality (AV). This research aims to better understand the elements that can influence the flow-state and presence of the participants in the VR experience based on studies and how educational tourism and the industry can benefit from the trending technology. We cover the VR App development focused on the educational travel for the touristic region of the International Biological Station of Duero-Douro and its consideration to the visitors of the Bragança Ciência Viva Science Center (Centro Ciência Viva de Bragança—CCVB). Although the research is still under development we aim to analyze the impact on the attitude of the visitors towards the destination of the cross-border region between Portugal and Spain, and the validation of the facts related to theories addressed in this paper.

Interviews with experts and visitors conducted using a convenience sampling method were combined with archival research to understand the effect of adding VR technology to Korean theme park attractions, as well as to look at how nostalgic attributes in animation content can enhance the immersive experiences of the visitors. The interviews showed that having sophisticated, narrative driven, high-quality content is more important to visitors than the extent to which the VR technology is state-of-the-art. Findings also suggest that adopting existing well-known animation content to VR attractions will result in visitors experiencing better emotional connectedness, enhanced presence, and fuller immersion. Finally, ensuring that the quality-driven VR content evokes nostalgia will lead to repeat visitation by visitors.