A few years back, augmented reality was a thing of the future, today, a lot of people have already experienced it to different degrees. With headsets and fancy computers, augmented reality is now reaching users directly through their mobile phones. Since AR is a relatively new field, designers have to think it out well, before creating their user experience.
This content has come about after spending time going through basics. That information was then processed through the requirements for the mobile version AR. Below is a list of some of the difficulties and constraints to keep in mind when designing for mobile are:
Cell phone constraint
Ideally, most of the experience is handled through the user’s phone, using a bunch of features, such as the camera, the real world location for digital objects, touch screen and proximity sensors. Mobile AR experiences would need the phone to be held, which means interacting with digital objects would have to be using one hand, or directly. Further, this would have to be handled properly for different screen sizes.
Mobile models and dimension shifts
Wouldn’t life be a lot easier if we lived in a world where all phones were of the same dimension and had the same specs? Making sure that the experience matches the different models of phones is another consideration. 2D UI patterns have a more stuck down look so changes have to be made to create a more world locked experience on such a device.
Environmental limitations
Developers have to make sure their work matches the environment their user is going to be in. The physical space and the range of motion required by the app make up the experience space. Visual cues and instructions can assist users with moving around their physical space.
Visual affordance
The latest versions of screens make displayed objects look natural as if they are a part of the surrounding. This is done with the high-end display and lighting technology that is now present in newer versions of smartphones.
Mobile AR immersive interactions
To get the audience to feel like they were immersed in the app, it made sense to focus on interacting with different objects, browsing, display of information, and visual guidance throughout the experience. Finding the right mix of scaling digital objects and using fixed positions allows users to feel like readability, scale and usability have been optimized.
Keeping these pointers in mind, developing for Android AR should be a breeze and help create a better user experience for users as well.