Comparing principally imagination and interaction versions of a play anywhere mobile AR location-based story

Augmented Reality (AR) allows virtual elements to be overlaid on the real world, providing new opportunities for location-based storytelling, by offering blended environments to more closely resemble those in a story. However, there is limited research considering how different interaction opportunities with such augmented surroundings, affect user engagement and immersion in such a story. A mobile AR app, Map Story 2, was developed to investigate this, offering a guided story-walk around a user's chosen location, either interacting with overlaid virtual objects to progress the story, or being asked to imagine the same events playing out at each augmented location.