Engaging the customer with augmented reality and employee services to enhance equity and loyalty

PurposeThis study aims to understand customer equity and loyalty using augmented reality (AR) and employee services in a physical retail environment. The current study investigated how customers' experiences with AR-based and employee service affect their satisfaction, equity and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was developed by reviewing AR and employee services literature. The Smart PLS-SEM technique was used to test the responses of 620 Chinese respondents empirically.FindingsThe findings provided valuable insights into AR and employee services in a physical retail environment. Customers are more inclined to use AR services in the current business climate.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's sample was drawn from a single city, with a total of 620 respondents, which may not be a complete representation of China as a whole. As a result, the results may not be generalizable to a single city.Practical implicationsRetail brand managers should emphasize implementing innovative technologies in the physical retail environment to retain and attract customers. Pandemic consumers are opting for innovative technologies as part of their shopping experience due to changes in business models.Originality/valueThe researchers recognized AR and employee services as innovative domains in physical retail stores because they can increase sales, customer equity and loyalty. As a result, the framework results are precious to practitioners interested in implementing such innovative technologies for retail stores.

Beauty Face: An Android Application for Cosmetic Consumers to Try On and Receive Product Recommendation

Nowadays, the number of smartphone users shopping online over the internet is increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. People need to stay safe at home and work from home according to the social distancing policy. It is difficult for people to go shopping onsite at a physical store. Especially, cosmetic consumers cannot try on cosmetic products, and they are not sure which product is suitable for them. Therefore, to solve these problems, this research project proposes 'Beauty Face', which is an android application for cosmetic consumers who would like to try on products and receive recommendations. The Beauty Face application allows users to find the desired products and view product information. Also, it provides a useful feature for users to try on products by applying augmented reality (AR) technology to simulate cosmetic and beauty products on the user's face. Moreover, the Beauty Face application can recommend products that are appropriate for users by applying machine learning (ML) technology. The Beauty Face application can be helpful for cosmetic users to be more convenient in buying cosmetic and beauty products online and reducing chances of being infected or spreading COVID-19. © 2022 IEEE.

Exploring Users' Behavioral Intention to Adopt Mobile Augmented Reality in Education through an Extended Technology Acceptance Model

Digitalization in education is of great importance, especially in era of COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented Reality can help to this direction, bringing a range of benefits in the field of education. Prior researches reveal that AR enhances the students' learning outcomes offering significant pedagogical affordance when it is used in the tutoring of different domains, such as astronomy, biology, geometry, physics etc. However, the exploration of the factors associated with the acceptance of the technology of AR in education, is yet limited. This article aims to present valuable information to researchers, tutors and AR application developers concerning the learners' behavioral intention to use such technology in the learning process. The motivation of this study is the increasing use of AR in education, offering significant room for future research, and its novelty is the analysis of the most significant factors affecting the actual AR system use. This study is based on a modified Technology Acceptance Model, consisting of the four core constructs and extended by two external variables, namely playfulness and quality output, in order to consider both pedagogy and technology. The population that participated in this research includes 220 secondary school students. The results show that the intention to use AR is positively influenced directly by quality output, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and indirectly by playfulness. The findings help AR developers to understand the factors that maximize the user's experience prior to the application of AR technology in the digital era of education.

Learning Media Application about Covid-19 with Augmented Reality Technology

The Covid-19 pandemic has given many changes to aspects of human life. The spread also occurs quickly and to all groups. Therefore, social interaction must be reduced, especially outdoor activities where many people can meet. To reduce the chain of the spread of Covid-19, education is needed regarding coronavirus and how to prevent Covid-19. Education is intended for the wider community including children. Providing education will be carried out through an application containing information about Covid-19 and how to prevent it. Children will be our main target in carrying out this education. They need to get adequate education so that they can easily understand and participate in efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 which has been proclaimed by the government. This application will take advantage of the technology Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is a combination of technology between the real world and the virtual world that is presented in the real world so that it can be felt directly in the real world. The way AR works in the application is by pointing the camera through the application towards the poster provided by the application, then it will display a Covid-19 prevention pop-up containing an animated video. By utilizing AR technology and animated videos on Covid-19 prevention measures, children will find it easier to understand and apply them. © 2022 IEEE.

Development of Mobile Butterfly Application-Based Augmented Reality as an Alternative Learning Medium During Post COVID-19

Indonesia experienced a COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020. Limited mobility impacts various sectors, including tourism. Alian Butterfly Park is one of those affected. Alternatives were made to attract visitors, such as developing Augmented Reality applications to educate visitors about the new normal. Previous research developed a similar application, namely butterfly education with Augmented Reality technology, but its implementation still uses markers. It makes the user have to visit in person. This research improves the previous application. The improvement such as adding the interaction in AR butterfly life cycle, a virtual tour to collect butterflies, and the AR object is developed markerless. The application is developed using the agile development method. The application that has been developed is tested on the target user of the application. Testing is done by giving a black box testing. The test method is carried out by the black box testing method on 3 students. From the tests carried out, from a total of 25 test scenarios, there are 23 successful test scenarios and 2 test scenarios that fail due to bugs. The success value of the entire test scenario is 92% and the bugs found are 156 only affect the appearance of the application and do not affect the application critically. In addition, 2 scenarios are successful but are given special note due to environmental factors that can affect the results of the test. © 2022 IEEE.

User Experience Evaluation of Kindteractive Application to Improve User Experience of Kindergarten Interior Introduction

Technological advancements, such as the usage of augmented reality (AR) technology, are increasingly supporting the creation and implementation of more interactive learning media in the field of education. The conditions and scenario of the Covid-19 epidemic are also driving an increase in digital and online schooling. The more diverse the apps generated, the more they must analyze the user experience of the application's design and operation. The User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) tool may be used to measure user experience in apps. With 26 questionnaire points, this test has six rating scales: Attractiveness, perspicuity, efficiency, dependability, stimulation, and novelty. The UEQ Quality findings reveal that the Attractiveness scale is 2.04, the Pragmatic Quality scale is 1.68, and the Hedonic Quality scale is 1.17, all of which indicate good assessment results, implying that users prefer the program in terms of user experience. Users have utilized comparable programs based on this data, yet updates are still absent. Attractiveness, Perspicuity, Efficiency, and Stimulation are good scales. Based on the findings of the respondents' data processing, it was determined that the application's convenience was adequate in the user's opinion. According to the statistics, the user loved the program. © 2022 IEEE.

A Study on the Virtual Delivery of Cultural Courtesy: AR Services for Packaging

For a long time, gift packaging has been a means of conveying the sender’s feeling and message just as important as the gift itself. This has been a part of social communication mean for a long time especially in East Asian societies. Therefore, packaging used to be a form of cultural communication which carries much personal and social meaning by using all kinds of material. In the twenty-first century, under the social atmosphere of sustainability, such cultural communication is regarded as vain, and the use of recycled packaging materials or the omission of packaging itself is increasingly common. Also, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more difficult to meet face-to-face and convey thankful and beloved feelings. The aim of this research is to study how non-material communication can contribute to people’s emotional satisfaction within the object exchange. The purpose is to develop a virtual packaging service using augmented reality (AR) technology, while reflecting people’s cultural and personal needs, as a sustainable user experience (UX) approach. This research analyzes user perceptions and attitudes towards virtual packaging through a quantitative study of 200 participants and evaluates users’ acceptability and cultural needs for immaterial packaging. Based on this, a new AR packaging service is developed which can bring psychological and spiritual satisfaction to people, unlike virtual messages and material packaging which have simple delivery purposes. This research will promote the use of AR technology as a cultural bridge between physical packaging and virtual communication delivering people’s hopes and cheerful minds, as well as a factor for sustainable development and the green economy. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Preliminary Development of Virtual Try-On Platform for Batik Apparel Based on Mobile Augmented Intelligence Technology

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government decided to suspend all arts cultural events to prevent the spread of the virus. This situation is a challenge for batik artisans to survive. This research aims to develop a virtual try-on platform that is an alternative medium for artisans to solve their problems. Development platforms based on augmented reality technology can be an option for the problems. Platform designed based on mobile devices has advantages in the practicality of use that is not limited by space and time. Implementation of human motion capture and hand gesture recognition provides an immersive experience for users. Motion capture is used for a virtual try-on scheme for batik apparel that can make users try batik apparel virtually and can automatically fit the user’s body. In addition, the implementation of hand gesture recognition allows users to apply batik motifs to virtual apparel interactively combined with material fitting function, which can assist users in positioning batik motifs. Apart from technical matters, this platform also provides information about the history of batik motifs. Alpha testing is used in testing the platform and confusion matrix to validate the accuracy of implementing the functions that exist on the platform. The results of testing the accuracy of hand gesture recognition reached 97%, and human motion capture reached 93%, which means the system can run well. This paper describes the initial efforts made to develop a virtual try-on platform for batik apparel based on Augmented Intelligence Technology. © 2022, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

A Wearable Warning System Design for Mask Recognition via AR Smart Glasses

Under the influence of COVID-19, various studies have shown that the most important transmission of the epidemic is droplet infection, it is the most effective way to control the epidemic by wearing a mask in a safe range. To confirm the situation of masks-wearing in public, a useful way is to use image-recognition technology to detect the people in the field. On the other hand, with the continued development of wearable devices, smart glasses have been widely used in many files such as handicapped person support. Based on the previous researches, it is already possible to incorporate facial recognition technology into smart glasses. Especially, the application of Augmented Reality (AR) technology on smart glasses can provide users with a lot of additional information, for example, to highlight the targets who been identified. Therefore, to identify the people who are not wearing masks more effectively, in this paper we try to design and wearable mask recognition warning system by using the AR smart glasses. The system can supply the warning messages about the person without masks in both visual and auditory way to the user to support the users including the handicapped persons who not being able to hear or see. The results of this study may provide guidelines to develop the epidemic prevention system and offers useful insights for the supporting of handicapped persons. © 2021 IEEE.

AREDAPPS: Mobile Augmented Reality Development and Learning Framework Based on Augmented Reality Technology for Engineering Drawing Course

Technology in teaching and learning is crucial as we are now focusing on 21st Century Learning. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected many sectors, including education sectors, where most educators are continuously looking for approach and tools to enhance their teaching deliveries to ensure students can still learn effectively even though most of the classes are currently conducted online. Other than that, students also have problems with their visualization skills when learning engineering drawing, which caused a lack of understanding of the content, thus making it even harder for them to learn in this situation. Technology such as augmented reality is a well-received technology application due to its benefit in enhancing users’ learning experiences, enhancing visualization skills, and supplementing materials more effectively. Thus, this paper aims to describe Augmented Reality Engineering Drawing Apps (AREDApps) development process, a mobile augmented reality apps for orthographic projection topic in engineering drawing subject, highlight the students’ perception when using AREDApps during learning and introduce the engineering drawing learning framework based on AREDApps implementation in the classroom. The result indicates that students were mostly satisfied with augmented reality technology to learn orthographic projection. This is because AREDApps helps them supplement the information that cannot be delivered by using modules or PowerPoint presentation such as the three-dimensional representations of the task given to them. The findings of this paper strengthen the facts that augmented reality is a suitable technology to teach complex technical subjects, which requires supplementary materials that can help students to be able to visualize the task effectively. © 2022, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

New approach in assembly, disassembly and maintenance processes I4.0 by displaying in augmented reality environment

In the current ever-accelerating time of deployment of new production systems associated by various manipulating, technological and maintenance procedures, there is a demand from the point of view of the industrial sphere for shortening these operations and efficiency of the selected processes. It is the ability to visualize these processes using modern augmented reality (AR) technology that is the way to achieve the desired aspects. Visualization via smartphones, tablets, headsets in the AR environment allows users to provide comprehensive information with the exact procedure and information about the required tasks (assembly, disassembly, service operations, maintenance, wiring diagrams, etc.). The use of AR technology, also in view of the ongoing pandemic situation Covid 19, makes possible to involve less qualified operators in the industrial sphere. Deployment of the less skilled operators in the production sphere, using AR technology, can make up for the shortage of skilled labour that is currently lacking in every industry. In this way, it is also possible to keep the industrial sector in good condition without undesirable factors such as production shutdowns, long service operations, and poorly trained service personnel. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Expansion augmented reality technology applied to the maintenance and diagnosis of equipment

This study uses the expansion augmented reality technology combined with the virtual integration networking platform to realize the maintenance and diagnosis of equipment guarantee for engineers in the factory production line, as well as the establishment of the basic process of equipment operation, regular inspection of equipment to maintain the normal operation of production line equipment major tasks. Equipment operators in factory production lines are subject to rigorous education and training, with varying quality differences among employees, and some require experienced operators to be effective in achieving operational efficiency. In addition, in response to the rapid changes in the global pneumonia epidemic (COVID-19) and the mature development of Internet of Things technology to change the operating mode of most industries in Taiwan, the problem of personnel diversion to work groups, the data adjustment of traditional production line equipment parameters depended on paper records, data experience is not easy to pass on. © 2021 IEEE.