Desktop vs. mobile: A comparative study of augmented reality systems for engineering visualizations in education

This paper describes the results of a comparative pilot study of three different approaches to deliver three-dimensional content in an Engineering Design Graphics textbook using Augmented Reality: Desktop Augmented Reality, Mobile Augmented Reality, and an interactive 3D viewer. This work builds on a previous version of our augmented book, which only implements Desktop Augmented Reality. In this extended version, two new visualization mechanisms for mobiles devices were incorporated with the purpose of improving the students´ visualization skills. A small group of users was selected to evaluate the usability of the technology and the effectiveness of the materials. In general, participants showed mixed reactions in terms of their preferred method to interact with the content. Nevertheless, we observed a general positive attitude, excitement, and a high level of user satisfaction, which suggests that augmented reality can be a valuable method for self-directed learning and self-assessment.