Audio augmented reality in public transport for exploring tourist sites

Abstract

Audio augmented reality (AR) has a long research tradition in the tourism industry. Audio AR tour guides for urban environments provide location-based, auditory information about nearby sights, minimising distractions from interacting with mobile devices and enabling users to focus on their new surroundings. In this work, we present the design, development, and usability evaluation of AudioTransit, an audio AR tour guide using the public transport network for exploring urban tourist sites with which we investigate the design and implementation of audio AR systems in tourism. Overall, the study indicates very good usability and an altogether positive acceptance of the concept of audio AR in public transport for tourism purposes.