Low, Han;
Giunchi, Daniele;
Bovo, Riccardo;
Cascarano, Pasquale;
Ritchie, Nick;
Steed, Anthony;
Costanza, Enrico;
(2025)
Embodiment in Smartphone Augmented Reality: Effects on User Performance.
In:
Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia.
AMC (Association for Computing Machinery): Enna, Italy.
(In press).
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Abstract
Embodiment in mixed reality describes the sensation of experiencing a virtual representation as an extension of one’s own body. While research has extensively examined embodiment in virtual reality (VR) and head-mounted augmented reality (AR), its impact on smartphones remains underexplored. This study examines how smartphone-based AR embodiment affects user engagement and cognitive performance in a comprehension task. A study involving 24 participants explored whether using a smartphone AR face-filter to embody a virtual audience member influenced the recall of a historical speech. Findings show that participants in the AR condition scored higher on a factual quiz than those in the control group. At the same time, stronger perceived embodiment, especially self-location, was negatively associated with quiz performance, consistent with Cognitive Load Theory. These results should be interpreted cautiously: our comparison contrasted a static image (no AR) with AR that included facial embodiment, so we did not include an “AR without embodiment” condition to fully separate AR novelty from embodiment. Stimuli were also restricted to a single speech and a single historical scene presented as a static image, limiting generalizability to other content and to dynamic or interactive AR. Finally, the sample was modest (N=24), so estimates are preliminary and warrant replication. We discuss implications for designing smartphone AR that balances engagement with cognitive efficiency.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Embodiment in Smartphone Augmented Reality: Effects on User Performance |
| Event: | 24th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia |
| Location: | Enna, Italy |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1145/3771882.3771908 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1145/3771882.3771908 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. © 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10216584 |
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