Augmented Reality in Interactive Marketing: The State-Of-The-Art and Emerging Trends

Recent years have seen a swift embracement of augmented reality (AR) as an interactive marketing tool, which has been accelerated even more rapidly by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the general attitude toward the technology as well as the factors that inhibit or facilitate its adoption from both, the consumers, and practitioners, remain elusive. This prevents marketers from fully exploiting the potential related to AR marketing. This chapter (1) draws on current literature to conceptualize consumer experience in AR marketing and (2) complements these findings with a practitioner perspective by conducting interviews with small retailers. The results of the present chapter indicate that, from the consumer perspective, AR can give rise to diverse cognitive, affective, and social-psychological outcomes, which can translate into behavioral outcomes, including purchase intentions, word-of-mouth intentions, and brand engagement. From the practitioner's perspective, initial interview results reveal that advancements toward an easy integration of AR within existing IT infrastructures, as well as efficient ways to create virtual product replicas are crucial for the adoption of AR by small retailers. Based on the combined observations from literature and the conducted interviews, a comprehensive framework of interactive AR marketing is provided, and a way forward is discussed by addressing the emergent trends of AR as an interactive marketing technology. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Demystifying and Analysing Metaverse Towards Education 4.0

The word Metaverse has influenced many sectors such as healthcare, education, retail and manufacturing and few more industries are there which will be impacted by 2026 as per the research conducted by Gartner. The word 'Metaverse' especially in education sector came into existence after the COVID-19 epidemic when the humanity were forced to think about the new methodology of educating and teaching. This ecosphere is the combination of technologies which enables multimodal interactions with artificial environment, electronic library and people such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). It is believed that metaverse will improve collaboration, training process will be enhanced and most importantly it will create a happier workplace. This is only the reason that many corporate giants like Nvidia, facebook, apple, epic Games and companies has shifted towards this pedagogical ecosystem. This technology has the potential which enables absolute incorporating user conversation in actual-time and compelling interactivity with digital artifact. In this paper, we are addressing metaverse in education along with a detailed framework of metaverse in education. It includes a comparative study of conventional education, online education and metaverse education based on parameters like place of learning, resources used, teaching methodology, learning experience, learning target and learning assessment. Competency based education, energize student and positive attitude towards learning. The various challenges of the metaverse in educational sector are also debated. This paper will help the researcher's fraternity to get a deeper insight along with a clear perception of this ecosystem in education. © 2023 IEEE.

Artificial Intelligence-Based Smart Tele-Assisting Technology for First-Year Engineering Students

Engineering programs emphasize students career advancement by ensuring that engineering students gain technical and professional capabilities during their four-year study. In a traditional engineering laboratory, students "learn by doing", and laboratory equipment facilitates their discipline-specific knowledge acquisition. Unfortunately, there were significant educational uncertainties, such as COVID-19, which halted laboratory activities for an extended period, causing challenges for students to perform and obtain practical experiments on campus. To overcome these challenges, this research proposes and develops an Artificial Intelligence-based smart tele-assisting technology application to digitalize first-year engineering students practical experience by incorporating Augmented Reality (AR) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms using the HoloLens 2. This application improves virtual procedural demonstrations and assists first-year engineering students in conducting practical activities remotely. This research also applies various machine learning algorithms to identify and classify different images of electronic components and detect the positions of each component on the breadboard (using the HoloLens 2). Based on a comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms, a hybrid CNN-SVM (Convolutional Neural Network - Support Vector Machine) model is developed and is observed that a hybrid model provides the highest average prediction accuracy compared to other machine learning algorithms. With the help of AR (HoloLens 2) and the hybrid CNN-SVM model, this research allows students to reduce component placement errors on a breadboard and increases students competencies, decision-making abilities, and technical skills to conduct simple laboratory practices remotely. © 2023 IEEE.

A Survey of Human-Computer Interaction Technology in Intelligent Home for Children's Learning

The development of the COVID-19 epidemic has increased the home learning time of children. More researchers began to pay attention to children's learning in home. This survey reviewed the frontier and classic cases in the field of interactive design of children's home learning in the past five years, analyzed tangible user interface, augmented reality, and multimodal interaction in human-computer interaction of children's home learning. This paper reviewed the application of interactive system in children's learning and points out its positive side in development of ability, process of learning, habits of learning, and environment of learning of children. Through analysis, we advise that it is necessary to create home learning applications, link smart home systems, and build an interactive learning environment for smart home learning environment design. Finally, we point out the technical and ethical problems existing in the current research, proposes that intelligent perception, emotion recognition, and expression technologies should be introduced in the future, and looks forward to the development of this field. © 2023 Institute of Computing Technology. All rights reserved.

The Effect of an Augmented Reality App on a Learner's Desire to Use Electronic Resources During the COVID-19 Epidemic

An innovative tool in the field of e-learning, augmented reality applications help students learn more quickly inside of online classrooms. Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, conventional methods of instruction had to be put on hold at the outset of the pandemic. In light of the recent COVID-19 epidemic in Asia, this research explores college students' perspective on online education using augmented reality software. Based on the idea of planned behavior, this research developed a conceptual model to investigate the attitudes and intentions of college students about the use of an augmented reality app for course-related e-learning. Information from 135 Asian college students was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Students' attitudes and a sense of agency over their own actions had the greatest impact on their propensity to embrace augmented reality applications for e-learning, whereas subjective norms had a very little role, as seen by the study's findings. These findings validate students' interest in and acceptance of cutting-edge education methods like augmented reality applications. © 2023 NSP Natural Sciences Publishing Cor.

Identifying institutional barriers when implementing new technologies in the healthcare industry

PurposeVirtual and augmented reality solutions in medicine are generally applied in communication, training, simulation and therapy. However, like most new digital developments, these technologies face a large number of institutional barriers that are inherent to the medical sector.Design/methodology/approachFollowing Richard Scott's view on institutions and organizations, a multiple case study is used to analyze regulatory, normative and cultural-cognitive institutional pillars in the medical industry.FindingsThe results of the study demonstrate that (1) the regulatory pillar inhibits the advancement of new technologies in the approach to treatment, regulation of patient data, educational processes for medical staff, and information and financial flows;(2) the number of barriers increases based on the solution's level of disruption and the number of variable conventional procedures;(3) trust between participants in the medical industry plays an important role in introducing new technologies;(4) new participants need to address certain pillars depending on the area of application.Originality/valueThe authors discuss top-down and bottom-up approaches for overcoming institutional barriers when implementing augmented and virtual reality solutions for companies focusing on the medical market.

VRChoir: Exploring Remote Choir Rehearsals via Virtual Reality

Choral singing is a creative process that involves continuous, organized, nonverbal communication between conductors and singers. Since the COVID pandemic, choirs are moved to videoconferencing systems for rehearsals. However, the limitation of 2D video interfaces restricts the nonverbal communication, spatial awareness, and sense of presence in choral rehearsal. We designed, implemented, and evaluated VRChoir, a VR-based platform for choir rehearsals to improve these pain points. We evaluated VRChoir with conductors and singers with experience rehearsing in a remote environment. Our findings reveal that VR can be a starting point for improving the sense of presence and quality of non-verbal communication in remote music rehearsals. © 2023 IEEE.

Towards Augmented Reality Guiding Systems: An Engineering Design of an Immersive System for Complex 3D Printing Repair Process

Over the past decade, additive manufacturing (AM) has become widely adopted for both prototyping and, more recently, end-use products. In particular, fused deposition modeling (FDM) is the most widespread form of additive manufacturing due to its low cost, ease of use, and versatility. While additive processes are relatively automated, many steps in their operation and repair require trained human operators. Finding such operators can be difficult, as highlighted during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented reality (AR) systems could significantly help address this challenge by automating the training for 3D printer operators. Given multidimensional design choices, however, a research gap exists in the system requirements for such immersive guidance. To address this need, we explore the applicability of AR to guide users through a repair process. In that context, we report on the system design as well as the results of the AR system assessment in a qualitative study with experts. © 2023 IEEE.

Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality: Potential clinical and training applications in pediatrics.

Virtual medical training and its clinical application have gained importance following the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The advantages of novel technology, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), have allowed medical professionals to overcome the limitations of time and space with personalized programs intended for education and medical services. We aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the use of VR, AR, and MR in clinical pediatric medical settings and pediatric medical training. We conducted a literature search for studies using these technologies with pediatric patients for clinical application and training pediatric medical professionals, and we retrieved 58 studies published between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022, from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Scopus. The review was conducted according to the PRISMA guideline. Among 58 studies, 40 studies investigated the clinical applications of VR (n = 37) or AR (n = 3) with pediatric patients, and 18 studies investigated the applications of VR (n = 15), AR (n = 2), or MR (n = 1) for training medical professionals. A total of 23 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for clinical application (n = 19) and medical training (n = 5) were retrieved. Among the RCTs, there were 23 studies that reported significant improvements in clinical application (n = 19) and medical training (n = 4). Although there are still some limitations to conducting research on innovative technology, such research has rapidly expanded recently, indicating that an increasing number of researchers are involved in pediatric research using these technologies.

Intention to Adopt Online Food Delivery Using Augmented Reality Mobile Apps: A Perspective of SOR Framework

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all sectors, including the food and beverage industry. The pandemic has changed customers' behavior from dine-in services to online food ordering systems. Technology advancements make ordering food easier with Online Food Delivery (OFD) service. However, before buying food online, consumers require a physical assessment to decide to buy the food or beverage. Augmented Reality (AR) is a popular technology to show 3D virtual elements. Meanwhile, the stimulus organism response (SOR) framework can be used to analyze consumers' behavior. More specifically, the SOR model has been used to evaluate the user's behavior intention to accept online shopping apps. However, in the OFD context, there is a lack of research investigating the customer's intention to use the AR app based on the SOR perspective. This study aims to assess the factors influencing consumers' intention to adopt augmented reality apps. 52 AR OFD app customers participate in this study. Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and SMARTPLS 3 was used to analyze the research model. This study evaluated from measurement and structural model. The measurement model using factor loading, Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio. The structural model assessed the variance inflation factor (VIF), R2, path coefficient (β), f2, and p-value. The results showed the significance of food image on hedonic, utilitarianism, and perceived informativeness. Furthermore, hedonism was the only determinant that positively influenced the customers' intention to use the AR OFD apps. © IJASEIT is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Augmented, Virtual and Immersive Reality as Learning Support in TEC21 Educational Model

Virtual, augmented, and immersive reality opens a world of possibilities in education by allowing students to recreate authentic situations, such as operating machinery, assembling a product, or training tool handling, to mention a few. In the TEC21 educational model, the core is the challenge: A project with a real-world challenge assigned by the training partner results in students offering solution proposals.The trigger that accelerated the development of virtual, augmented, and immersive reality activities in distance learning was COVID-19 confinement. During this, these technologies recreated the laboratory and its facilities' learning through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences.Using these technologies in the classroom allows students to achieve a great learning experience and develop skills for postgraduate studies and professional futures.Furthermore, now that we have returned to our physical facilities and laboratories, we can accelerate the learning obtained at the training partners' facilities, recreating processes and machinery through these immersive technologies and a hybrid experience for our students.The present research shows the activity learning design process and the statistical treatment of the data to provide continuous feedback during the activity;we examine the three transcendental variables in the educational process: The learning (academic rigor), the development of competencies, and the involvement or immersion of the students in the classroom. © 2023 IEEE.

Playful Co-Design: Creating an AR-Prototype with Nurses in Interlocking Remote and On-Site Workshops

Deeply engaging nurses in a participatory co-design process, especially in times of COVID-19, is challenging. In this case study, we shed light on the process of developing a prototype for AR-glasses in nursing. We show the challenges we faced, the methods we used and how they contribute to the core principles of participatory design. A special focus is laid on small-scale interventions with high-impact, that helped us to truly engage users. We introduce empathetic ways to connect contrasting work environments, establish mutual understanding, make the more graspable with playful tools like PLAYMOBIL®, and support co-design development with online formats. Finally, we discuss the transferability to other projects. © 2023 Owner/Author.

The Impact of the Scientific Metaverse on the Biotech Industry: How Virtual Reality Helped Researchers Fight Back Against COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic not only precipitated a digital revolution but also led to one of the largest scientific collaborative open-source initiatives. The EXaSCale smArt pLatform Against paThogEns for CoronaVirus (EXSCALATE4CoV) consortium, led by Dompé farmaceutici S.p.A., brought together 18 global organizations to counter international pandemics more rapidly and efficiently. The consortium also partnered with Nanome, an extended reality software company whose software facilitates the visualization, modification, and simulation of molecules via augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality applications. To characterize the molecular structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and to identify promising drug targets, the EXSCALATE4CoV team utilized methods such as homology modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, high-throughput virtual screening, docking, and other computational procedures. Nanome provided analysis of those computational procedures and supplied virtual reality headsets to help scientists better understand and interact with the molecular dynamics and key chemical interactions of SARS-CoV-2. Nanome's collaborative ideation platform enables scientific breakthroughs across research institutions in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and other diseases. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Comparison of Student Achievement in Electricity Using Augmented Reality between Offline and Online Classes

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected education in Indonesia. The government has suggested alternatives to solve the learning problems during the pandemic. Offline and online classes were used to fulfil the various learning needs of students. This study investigated the effect of using augmented reality-assisted media in offline and online classes on student achievement amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a quasi-experimental design by utilising augmented reality (AR) in each class for eight weeks. Validated test questions were used fol-lowing the use of AR. According to the results of the independent t-test in the current study, student achievement from offline (n = 63, M = 74.71) and online (n = 64, M= 71.46) classes increased drastically with t = 1.994, p = 0.048. However, in terms of differences in achievement improvement between the two classes, students in of-fline classes had higher achievement compared to those in online classes. Thus, it can be concluded that student achievement in Physics has improved with the help of augmented reality-assisted media amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through offline learning mode. This study contributes to the development of AR for future education, particularly how to enhance student achievement in Physics. Future AR studies can be carried out in more classes from various regions or countries, considering that the 3D models in AR are useful to aid the learning of other subjects with concepts. © 2023 Science Education Study Program FMIPA UNNES Semarang.

Metaverse: An Innovative Model for Healthcare Domain

Present situation after the Coronavirus has made every one of us understand the deficiencies and the impediments of India's medical services area. There was an intense shortage of clinical staff, beds, and other such essential things, which made us believe this is the future to be lived with, and provided that this is true, then, at that point, it is a significant eye-opener for specialists, designers, government and each capable individual to think of an answer for this. This occasion touched off the inclination for the tracking down the arrangement or possibly a stage towards settling or, in any event, restricting this destruction. Metaverse, and its ground-breaking capacities are the same old thing to the world. It's been anticipated that it will revolutionize gaming, association with companions, shopping, and whatnot. But this paper is kept to spotlight the most deserving space, the healthcare sector. Metaverse can change the fortunes of the medical care area. This paper will examine all the potential ways this innovation can be valuable. It can work on obsolete facilities for treatment and educational purposes, and numerous such up-sides have been highlighted beneath. © 2023 IEEE.

The Development And Applications Of Augmented And Virtual Reality Technology In Spine Surgery Training: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growing global interest in the role of augmented and virtual reality in surgical training. While this technology grows at a rapid rate, its efficacy remains unclear. To that end, we offer a systematic review of the literature summarizing the role of virtual and augmented reality on spine surgery training. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted on May 13th, 2022. PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, and Embase were reviewed for relevant studies. Studies from both orthopedic and neurosurgical spine programs were considered. There were no restrictions placed on the type of study, virtual/augmented reality modality, nor type of procedure. Qualitative data analysis was performed, and all studies were assigned a Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) score. RESULTS: The initial review identified 6752 studies, of which 16 were deemed relevant and included in the final review, examining a total of nine unique augmented/virtual reality systems. These studies had a moderate methodological quality with a MERSQI score of 12.1 + 1.8; most studies were conducted at single-center institutions, and unclear response rates. Statistical pooling of the data was limited by the heterogeneity of the study designs. CONCLUSION: This review examined the applications of augmented and virtual reality systems for training residents in various spine procedures. As this technology continues to advance, higher-quality, multi-center, and long-term studies are required to further the adaptation of VR/AR technologies in spine surgery training programs.

Evaluation of augmented reality technology in global urologic surgery.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic drastically reduced opportunities for surgical skill sharing between high-income and low to middle-income countries. Augmented reality (AR) technology allows mentors in one country to virtually train a mentee in another country during surgical cases without international travel. We hypothesize that AR technology is an effective live surgical training and mentorship modality. METHODS: Three senior urologic surgeons in the US and UK worked with four urologic surgeon trainees across the continent of Africa using AR systems. Trainers and trainees individually completed post-operative questionnaires evaluating their experience. RESULTS: Trainees rated the quality of virtual training as equivalent to in-person training in 83% of cases (N = 5 of 6 responses). Trainers reported the technology's visual quality as "acceptable" in 67% of cases (N = 12 of 18 responses). The audiovisual capabilities of the technology had a "high" impact in the majority of the cases. CONCLUSION: AR technology can effectively facilitate surgical training when in-person training is limited or unavailable.

Virtual field trips in hydrological field laboratories: The potential of virtual reality for conveying hydrological engineering content.

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting contact restrictions, conducting field trips to hydrological research basins became close to impossible. Hydrological field knowledge is an essential part of hydrological education and research. In order to impart this knowledge to students of hydrological engineering subjects in times or situations where on-site exploration is not possible, the VR4Hydro tool was developed. VR4Hydro is a virtual reality platform built from 360° panoramas that allows users to interactively explore the Gersprenz River basin in Germany. The following study seeks to investigate the applicability of performing virtual field trips in the context of hydrological education by evaluating user experience. Sixteen students of the subject engineering hydrology were asked to document their experiences with VR4Hydro using a qualitative approach by answering a series of multiple-choice questions as well as long-answer text questions. The analysis and discussion of the results showed that virtual excursions generally met with great interest among users. The majority rated the virtual tour as a valuable addition to traditional teaching methods. All students found the tool particularly appealing in cases where external circumstances did not allow for a real excursion. The findings of this study show that the application of virtual field trips (VFT) in hydrological engineering can be a valuable supplement to real field trips to improve the interest and learning outcome of students.

Investigating the Relationship between Users' Behavioral Intentions and Learning Effects of VR System for Sustainable Tourism Development

Macao is a tourist city. It is home to the Ruins of Saint Paul's, a unique 100-year-old landmark, which is still standing with manual maintenance, even after three fires and reconstruction events. Therefore, the continuous preservation of its culture, heritage education, and construction are important issues for Macao. With the development of digital technology in recent years, users can quickly search historical sites and save two-dimensional and three-dimensional images and videos through smartphones. These methods also enhance the communication power of culture. Virtual browsing on a smartphone requires computing power and storage space;yet, virtual reality devices are not widely used. Therefore, augmented reality and virtual reality are rarely used simultaneously for three-dimensional interactive guided tours and operation experiences on the same theme. However, by quickly creating virtual reality scenarios and preserving historical sites on mobile devices, 4DAGE's 4DKanKan technology can provide augmented reality and metaverse virtual reality experiences. 4DKanKan can also integrate mobile guides and navigation software to connect mobile devices and assist in cultural inheritance and conduct sustainable education. This research linked this technology to the web by incorporating augmented reality and virtual reality technology to make designs and discussed the influences among service design, behavioral intentions, and learning effects. We collated and analyzed relevant data and text materials through systematic testing, observation, operation processes, and semi-structured interviews. The PLS multigroup structural model was used to explore and analyze the degree of influence and explanatory power of system quality, information quality, behavioral intention, and learning effects among themselves. The results of this study show that most users accepted the proposed innovative mode of operation and found it to be interesting and fun. Augmented reality is not limited by space or time;however, virtual reality devices taking too long to operate, switching too frequently, and having too many functional interfaces can cause operational problems. This study identified and modified the influencing factors and problems of the proposed system, with the aim of continuing to expand the applications of 4DKanKan to other cultural attractions or museums in the future. In addition, the research results can provide a reference for the sustainable development of related cultural sites.