Old tradition, new technologies: comprehension and retention using augmented reality

Traditional media, especially printed media, such as newspapers, books, and posters, is static. The increased usage of smart devices has trigged the use of mobile augmented reality (AR) in commercial print media. This technology allows consumers to overlay supplemental multimodal content on the real-world environment through the use of an AR app on a smartphone or tablet. The addition of mobile AR provides an extra dimension through which to absorb or dismiss an advertisement’s content. The main objective of this study is to determine if the use of mobile augmented reality in print affects the customer’s ability to understand and remember the message of an advertisement. Assessing augmented reality’s affect on printed media will help determine the value of investing in this technology and its future potential in the advertising landscape. This experiment was designed to test whether participants in two groups, one that used Layar, an augmented reality application, and one that did not, were still able to understand and remember the messages and content of a Nissan car advertisement featured in the Toronto Star. Through interviews and questionnaires subjects were tested on their recall ability and message comprehension given the passage of time. The results indicate that AR poses no significant advantage or disadvantage when compared to traditional print media. It appears that regardless of the mode of communication the advertisement’s messages are successfully conveyed. The results have shown that over time the viewer is likely to remember what interests them independently of whether augmented reality is used or not.