6. Mobile Augmented Reality: A Design Perspective

As mobile devices are enhanced with more sensors, powerful embedded cameras, and increased processing power and features, new user experiences become possible. A good example is the recent emergence of mobile augmented reality (MAR) applications that are designed for personal use while people are on-the-go. However, the majority of the existing literature and research on MAR focuses on technical considerations and on the development of new services and features. Only recently, since the advent of augmented reality services and applications for mainstream mobile users, have researchers and practitioners become more fully engaged with how to design and evaluate the effectiveness, usefulness and usability of AR experiences for mobile devices. In this chapter we offer a review of relevant research papers, and tease out challenges for existing formative and summative design methods in the development of MAR services and applications. We describe our own design approach which focuses on the creation of low-, medium- and high-fidelity prototypes for end-user evaluation and for the design of MAR. We offer a cost–benefit analysis of the various levels of prototype fidelity and offer readers insights into when to use which kind of prototype.