Re-Living Paleontology: Studying How Augmented Reality Immersion and Interaction Impact Engagement and Communicating Science to the Public

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新研究、方法和资源提供资金。这个服务于实践的研究项目将研究增强现实(AR)中的视觉沉浸感和互动性如何影响参观者对科学的参与和理解。这项研究包括创建不同版本的AR展览，以向公众传达来自La Brea焦油坑的古生物学研究。不同版本的展览将进行比较，以了解沉浸式和互动性的设计选择如何影响参观者对科学的参与和理解。这项研究的结果应该是类似的公共展品所遵循的模式，以及推广到更广泛的非正式学习环境中的AR经验的设计原则。该项目还将演示和报告特定的AR机制，帮助参观者了解科学过程并增加关于古生物学研究的知识。这项研究包括以用户为中心的设计和评估过程，包括形成性研究和比较研究。本项目研究了移动增强现实的两个高级设计因素：视觉沉浸感和互动性。这些对学习体验和发展的影响如此广泛，以至于很少对多个版本进行比较。这些因素对于非正式设置也有独特的考虑，例如如何平衡沉浸与情景感知(例如，3D观看者缩小视场)。这个项目的一个目标是系统地比较传达相同科学内容的不同AR设计的质量，并对这些权衡进行经验研究。第二个目标是利用这些发现公开发布增强现实体验，以促进参与，增加对科学的理解，并减少科学误解。这项研究还将有助于理解不同AR设计在公共、户外和非正式环境中的可用性和后勤问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. This Research in Service to Practice project will study how visual immersion and interactivity in augmented reality (AR) affects visitors' engagement and understanding of science. The research involves creating different versions of an AR exhibit to communicate paleontology research from the La Brea Tar Pits to the general public. Different versions of the exhibit will be compared to learn how design choices for immersion and interactivity impact visitors' engagement and understanding of science. The result of this study should be a model to follow for similar public exhibits, as well as design principles that generalize to AR experiences for a broader range of informal learning environments. This project will also demonstrate and report on specific AR mechanisms that help visitors understand the scientific process and increase knowledge about paleontology research. The study includes a user-centered design and evaluation process with both formative and comparative studies. This project investigates two high-level design factors for mobile AR: visual immersion and interactivity. These impact the learning experience and the development so extensively that multiple versions are seldom compared. These factors also have unique considerations for informal settings, such as how to balance immersion against situational awareness (e.g., 3D viewers reduce field of view). One goal of this project is to systematically compare qualitatively different AR designs that convey equivalent science content and study these tradeoffs empirically. The second goal is to leverage these findings to publicly release an AR experience that promotes engagement, increases understanding of science, and reduces scientific misconceptions. This research will also contribute to understanding usability and logistical issues for different AR designs for public, outdoor, informal settings.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.