Core Concepts
Social environment and interaction focus significantly impact the social acceptability and social presence dimensions of user experience in a location-based augmented reality game.
Abstract
The study explored the impact of social environment (crowded vs. uncrowded) and social interaction focus (focused vs. unfocused) on user experience and social acceptability in a location-based augmented reality game.
Key findings:
Social environment had a significant effect on social acceptability, with users reporting higher social acceptability in the uncrowded environment.
Social interaction focus had a significant effect on various social presence dimensions, with users reporting higher overall social presence, perceived psychological engagement, attentional engagement, and emotional contagion in the unfocused interaction conditions compared to the focused interaction conditions.
User experience was not significantly affected by the social environment or interaction focus, though descriptive statistics suggested a preference for the uncrowded environment and focused interaction.
Qualitative feedback indicated that users enjoyed the game and saw potential for it in various social and educational settings, with suggestions for improvements to the game mechanics and design.
The results suggest that social context and interaction dynamics should be carefully considered when designing immersive technological experiences involving social interactions in public spaces.
Stats
The Uncrowded environment conditions (U0: M= 2.46, SD= 0.93; U1: M= 2.60, SD= 0.88) had significantly higher average Social Acceptability scores compared to the Crowded environment conditions (C0: M= 2.20, SD= 1.21; C1: M= 2.10, SD= 1.39).
The Unfocused Interaction conditions had significantly higher average scores for:
Overall Social Presence (U0: M= 0.10, SD= 0.90; C0: M=0.01, SD= 0.95) compared to Focused Interaction (U1: M=-0.53, SD = 0.84; C1: M= -0.65, SD= 0.97).
Perceived Psychological Engagement (U0: M= 0.11, SD= 0.84; C0: M=0.01, SD= 0.96) compared to Focused Interaction (U1: M=-0.53, SD= 0.86; C1: M= -0.68, SD= 1.03).
Perceived Attentional Engagement (U0: M= 0.57, SD= 0.77; C0: M=0.26, SD= 1.14) compared to Focused Interaction (U1: M=-0.50, SD= 1.07; C1: M= -0.86, SD= 1.13).
Perceived Emotional Contagion (U0: M= 0.02, SD = 1.31; C0: M=0.15, SD= 1.41) compared to Focused Interaction (U1: M=-0.63, SD= 1.24; C1: M= -0.67, SD= 1.27).
Quotes
"It's hard to imagine a clearer way to connect gamer and game."
"The game could be used for children's events like birthdays or scavenger hunts organized by the school."
"The game could be used in company events to improve teamwork skills."
"The game could be used in touristic scenarios to find hidden spots or landmarks brought there by riddles."