Children's Interaction with augmented reality storybooks

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that enhances user perception and experience, and allows users to see and experience the real world with virtual content embedded into it. The majority of research related to AR books has been focusing on improving underlying technology rather than exploring areas within the research field of human-computer interaction (HCI). This thesis reports an HCI study where the main focus is on different aspects of children's interaction with an AR storybook. A prototype of an AR book was developed through an iterative design process and consists of a physical storybook and virtual 3D models. An empirical evaluation of the prototype was conducted, where children were observed interacting with the prototype. Findings suggest that children were able to interact with the prototype of the AR storybook quite easily and most children understood how to interact with the prototype in order to solve the various tasks. Findings also indicate that the children benefitted from having a partner and most children expressed positive emotions while interacting with the prototype of the AR storybook.