Proposal of the Onion Watch Application for Enjoying a Stroll

In this study, to encourage tourists to visit numerous sightseeing spots, we examine a method of presenting information for sightseeing spots without using a map display and propose the Onion Watch application. It runs on a smartwatch and shows only the distance and direction to registered sightseeing spots and their categories, such as temples, shrines, or monuments. We also test four different methods for presenting the estimated distance remaining to the tourist spot and carry out experiments to verify whether the user is able to predict the distance remaining. The results showed that the logarithmic distance presentation system achieved good results in relation to the user’s sense of approach and sense of distance. Therefore, we carried out a case study using this logarithmic distance presentation system in three sightseeing areas. The results showed that the participants enjoyed using the Onion Watch application. We also found that the characteristics of the sightseeing spots influenced their usability impressions of the Onion Watch application.