A Thematic Review of Narrative-based Augmented Reality in Cultural Heritage

HRMARS - The dissemination of traditional cultural heritage has traditionally relied on on-site visits, but AR technology presents historical and cultural narratives digitally, making the content more interactive and immersive. Current research primarily focuses on AR technology itself, while there remains a lack of in-depth exploration regarding the impact of narrative elements in AR applications on user experience. Given this research gap, this review analyzes the impact of narrative and non-narrative AR on user experience and learning outcomes in cultural heritage applications between 2018 and 2025. A search of the Web of Science yielded 23 articles that met the inclusion criteria for comprehensive analysis. ATLAS.ti 9 was used as the analysis software to generate quantitative results, revealing trends in the relevant research. Concurrently, qualitative analysis identified four major themes in this field: (1) cultural dissemination and educational applications; (2) digital storytelling and immersive experiences; (3) technical systems and interaction design; and (4) user experience and cognitive research. Ultimately, these findings underscore the importance of integrating narrative elements into augmented reality (AR) applications to create more immersive and effective educational tools.