Augmented Reality applications in Cultural Heritage: Technology or Content?

Abstract

New technologies have changed the way we live, work, have fun and mobile phones are now one of the essential tools of work, communication and entertainment. Augmented Reality technology and the rapid spreading of mobile devices in everyday life are shaping new conditions in the culture field as well. Many studies focus on key questions of usability and technical issues without going into further analysis. In order to understand users/visitors needs and expectations as well as the role of technology in depth, the current study will try to answer an important question "what does impress users more, technology or content?". It is an important and a difficult question to be answered due to the diverse user’s profiles, the AR applications and sometimes the indistinct boundaries between the concepts of “like” and “impress”. The current research incorporates an AR app of cultural routes that could be found in every city/site and includes participants representing all ages and the associated categories (technology, theme, general) in order to approach the question in a balanced way. A qualitative research and results showed that more than the half select “both technology and content”, fewer users select only “content” and even less select only “technology”. Therefore, the AR technology continues to have a positive effect on users, content plays a significant key role but the way content and technology are combined emerges as the most important factor. Also, it is highlighted, that as users become more familiar with technology, they are becoming more demanding and more selective in using technology, making the creation of an AR app and generally the technology use more difficult to cover their increasing needs. In addition to, users’ view on the use of technology should not be ignored in order to avoid a negative attitude towards technology and more emphasis should be given on content and on applications that really have something innovative to add both to users and to cultural assets value.