From Emotional Activation to Cultural Identity: A Multimodal Study of Simulated AR Guidance in Architectural Heritage

Augmented reality (AR) guidance is reshaping architectural heritage interpretation, yet multimodal evidence remains limited on how it affects users’ emotions, cognitive processing, and cultural identity. Using a one-factor within-subject design, 60 participants experienced both audio guidance and simulated AR guidance. Subjective questionnaires, electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate variability (HRV), and electroencephalography (EEG) were collected to compare the two guidance modes in terms of emotion, the EEG-based flow indicator, cognitive load, and cultural identity. Mediation analyses examined the affective and experiential pathways linking simulated AR guidance to cultural identity responses. Results showed simulated AR guidance significantly increased subjective emotional valence, subjective emotional arousal, and dominance, elevated physiological arousal, reduced cognitive load, and enhanced overall cultural identity scores, especially affective, perceptual, and behavioral identity aspects. Mediation analyses showed that subjective emotional arousal and valence were main pathways through which simulated AR guidance elicited stronger cultural identity responses. Skin conductance level (SCL) also showed a positive mediating effect on behavioral identity, whereas the EEG-based flow indicator did not show a significant mediating effect. The results provide multimodal evidence for mechanisms underlying stronger cultural identity responses under simulated AR guidance and highlight the need to differentiate experiential goals in future AR heritage design.