Mobile AR in the Wild: Exploring an Augmented Reality Concept for a Nature Discovery Path and evaluating its Serious Game Elements

This short paper presents the concept for an Augmented Reality (AR) nature trail application aimed at enhancing the user's experience and interaction with the natural environment. The app leverages the capabilities of modern smartphones and AR technology to overlay digital elements onto the real world, providing users with an immersive and educational experience. The research focuses on evaluating the concept and the app prototype itself with its different elements and games. A main goal of the app is to appeal to a teenage target group in order to interest them in visiting the nature discovery trail. Our results show that they enjoy using the app when being on site as part of a school trip for example. But for most teenage participants it is unlikely to visit the nature trail in their free time because of the app. The study serves as a first step to gather an overall concept how the different app elements are perceived. Initial findings indicate that different user groups have preferences relating the app elements and games. For example, the above average tech-savvy participants in our experiment rated the implemented quiz significantly better than the below average tech-savvy group. The paper also presents the subjective assessment of the participants how much they learned with the app, if they thought the app to be distracting them from the surroundings and more. The paper also highlights some challenges encountered during the development process and outlines future directions for improvement and expansion. Overall, this study presents an encouraging glimpse into the potential of AR technology to enhance nature experiences and promote environmental education.