25 Aug Coupling Mobile AR with a Virtual Agent for End-User Engagement
Tina Katika, Ioannis Karaseitanidis and Angelos Amditis
Virtual agents are introduced in our daily lives to guide end-users in a variety of tasks, contributing to a convenient user experience and boosting motivation and productivity. Along with the high data availability and modern algorithms, they contribute to the changing way end-users interact with their environment to obtain information, train, and socialize. In this study, we leverage the ability of mobile Augmented Reality (AR) technology to engage end-users to an immersive environment. Given the deep penetration of mobile phones in daily lives, we developed a mobile AR application that offers unique user-environment interaction. The AR application allows media visualizations, content manipulation, educational and gamification functionalities, and a virtual agent ensuring seamless interaction with the technology. The app aims to foster end-user engagement in sustainable practices (i.e., circular economy, water management, etc.) with a great potential to be applied in touristic and cultural appreciation, art and heritage promotion, etc. The purpose and functioning of the AR app, along with the system design and architecture, implementation challenges, and the end-users’ feedback on the interactions with a virtual agent are thoroughly presented.
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