Mobile augmented reality

As mobile devices are enhanced with more sensors, powerful embedded cameras, and increased processing power and features, new user experiences become possible. A good example is the recent emergence of Augmented Reality (AR) applications that are designed for personal use while people are on-the-go. However, designing effective and usable AR experiences for mobile devices poses challenges for the design process. In this paper we outline reasons why simulating a compelling, mobile AR experience with sufficient veracity for effective formative design is a challenge, and present our work on prototyping and evaluation techniques for mobile AR. An experiment within the context of an ongoing design project (Friend Radar) is presented along with resulting findings and guidelines. We reflect on the benefits and drawbacks of low, mixed and high fidelity prototypes for mobile AR by framing them into a set of analytic categories extracted from the existing literature on prototyping and design.