Visual recognition in museum guide apps: do visitors want it?

In this paper, visual recognition (VisRec) is evaluated as a method to access background information on artworks in mobile museum guide applications (apps) by means of a field experiment. While museums and previous research have explored technical aspects, it is unclear whether visitors actually want to use VisRec. A prototype featuring VisRec, QR codes and number codes was developed and assessed with a usability study in two museums (N=89). The prototype confirms the efficacy of the recently introduced ORB-algorithm for VisRec. Compared to previous literature, the results highlight the context-dependency of perceived usability and variability in the importance of usability factors. The results reveal a clear preference for VisRec among participants (53%); only 14% preferred QR codes. Ease of use, enjoyability and distance are identified as the main factors. This provides strong evidence to further explore the potential of VisRec to improve visitors' museum experiences.