Interaction Design and Evaluation of Mobile Guides for the Museum Visit: A Case Study in Multimedia and Mobile Augmented Reality

This thesis examines the context of use of mobile multimedia handheld guides and applications as an alternative interpretation medium in the museum environment. Its main research hypothesis is that the use of mobile Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and the AR metaphor as a principal component for the conceptual and interaction design of mobile museum guide applications could greatly facilitate interaction and navigation, both in the mobile multimedia application and in the sensitive museum ecology. After examining the context of use of mobile multimedia museum guides, proposing a set of classification criteria, redefining the notion of interactivity in the specified research context and examining how AR technologies can shape already existing or future functional requirements, the main research hypothesis is tested through the design, implementation and evaluation of a mobile AR museum guide, conceived for a state Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux Arts), in Rennes, France. The evaluation methodology is then exposed, before carrying on to the evaluation of the AR guide. The latter, mainly qualitative in nature, included the use of direct and indirect observations, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and two focus group sessions and shed light on several issues related with the potential but also the constraints of using AR technologies as an intuitive and easy to understand alternative for geolocalization and orientation in the museum space and the mobile multimedia application. The topic treated appertains in the wider domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with mobile devices and services or Mobile Human Computer Interaction (MHCI). However, because of the specificity of the examined research hypothesis, the thesis also aims to contribute methodologically, but also empirically, in the current state of the art regarding the interaction, interaction design and evaluation of mobile AR applications. Finally, due to the nature of the domain-space in which the experimental interventions took place -the museum environmentthe thesis also sheds light on the ways by which using mobile multimedia guides can alter, transform or enhance the museum visiting experience and the relations of contemporary museums with their public.