Augmented reality in education: Three unique characteristics from a user’s perspective

In this paper, three technological characteristics of augmented reality (AR) are reframed from a perceptual, user’s perspective and discussed concerning their potential for education and in the context of research on technology-supported learning. The first characteristic, contextuality, describes that users of AR can experience the real world and virtual elements simultaneously. The second characteristic, interactivity, includes the possibilities to interact with AR through the manipulation of both real objects and virtual properties, which offers novel possibilities for interaction. The third characteristic, spatiality, focusses on the linking of virtual objects to specific points in space and the more realistic three-dimensionality that AR visualizations offer. It is proposed that these three characteristics can provide a way to structure the broad research landscape of AR in education and form a basis for future research projects. Two studies are presented and linked to the three characteristics. In the first study, the comparison of a desktop simulation and an AR simulation in an individual learning setting is linked to the characteristics of interactivity and spatiality. In the second study, the contextuality of AR is systematically varied and exploited to present group awareness information about other learners next to these learners instead of separated from them. The results of the studies are discussed in the context of the three characteristics and the paper concludes that there are a lot of different educational settings in which AR could be beneficial. The classification of and systematic variation in research based on the three characteristics may form a basis to systematize educational AR research. Furthermore, the results of this research and the three characteristics themselves can inform the design of AR applications to support learning.