Mobile Augmented Reality Elements for Museum Hearing Impaired Visitors’ Engagement

Abstract

There is an increase attention on the provision of the ideal learning environment for museum visitors. This has made researchers to employ the concept of engagement in designing Mobile Augmented Reality application in order to attract museum visitors’ interest and ensure a more effective learning environment. However, most of the Mobile Augmented Reality applications for museum visitors are largely tailored to normal hearing visitors while the hearing-impaired visitors are not supported. This makes hearing-impaired visitors to go through unpalatable experiences and eventually dissatisfy with their visit to the museum. This experience is making learning impossible for hearing-impaired visitors at the museum sites. Therefore, this study explored engagement Mobile Augmented Reality elements that are needed for the design of an efficient museum Mobile Augmented Reality application for hearing impaired visitors’. The study employed both systematic literature review and expert opinion methods. The findings revealed that there are eleven major elements of engagement Mobile Augmented Reality needed for the design of an efficient museum Mobile Augmented Reality app for hearing impaired visitors’. These eleven elements include Aesthetics, Curiosity, Usability, Interaction, Motivation, Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, Perceived Control, Enjoyment, Focused Attention and Interest. This paper argues that for an efficient and engaged Mobile Augmented Reality app for the hearing-impaired community most especially hearing-impaired visitors to museum sites these eleven elements are critical. This finding will help Mobile Augmented Reality designers and developers on how to design an efficient and engaged Mobile Augmented Reality app for the hearing-impaired community at large and museum hearing-impaired visitors’ specifically.