# Does Augmented Reality Affect Sociability, Entertainment, and Learning? A Field Experiment
## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Procedure  
We conducted a field experiment in the Finnish Heureka Science Centre to investigate the effects of AR technology on visitor experiences and behavior. Using the science center's own quiz related to biotechnology, we developed a quiz game for the AR app, app without AR feature (non-AR app), and pen-and-paper questionnaire. We invited the participants to participate in our study, and then we randomly assigned them to one of the three different conditions in the science center's main exhibition room, which presents multiple themes included in the quiz. All three conditions (AR, non-AR, and pen-and-paper) were carried out simultaneously and there was some variation depending on the day and number of visitors at the exhibition space. Participants received a small candy reward after the experiment. The key feature of the AR app was for the visitors to interact with the quiz using AR. As they start, visitors look around the exhibition through their phone screens and discover the hidden quiz questions, represented as virtual floating question marks, scattered around the exhibition (see Appendix A). When a user approaches a question mark, the quiz questions are shown. Questions are placed near exhibits that are related to the question contents. Altogether, 15 questions were located around the room in eight different places. Therefore, one must tour the entire exhibition room to discover and answer all the quiz questions. Questions can be answered by tapping on one of the four possible answers. Once answered, the questions disappear, as well as the question mark hints. Users can keep track of the number of remaining questions. After all the questions are answered or if the users decide to quit the quiz, they are presented with a quiz score. Within the exhibition, users may also leave comments that will appear as an augmented 3-D object, placed on the museum floor. Other users can immediately see the comments left by others, read them, and post replies. The non-AR app contains the same functionality as the AR app; however, a user solves a quiz on the phone's screen without AR interaction (see Appendix B). In contrast to the AR app, a non-AR app user can immediately browse through and answer all the quiz questions without the need to explore the exhibition. The quiz questions and scoring system are the same for both applications. Non-AR app users can also write comments next to a selected question and reply to comments left by other non-AR app users. They can also read the comments, but because opening the comments section immediately shows all the comments, we did not have a reliable way of determining which comments were actually read by a user and thus we have missing information about the read comments of non-AR app users. Both applications were developed for the Android platform. To implement the AR feature in the AR app, we utilized image-base localization, the ARCore library by Google, and the Unity game engine by Unity Technologies. The non-AR app was developed using Google's Android Software Development Kit. The applications obtain questions and comments from a server and continuously send users' activity information to the server. The activity information indicates times when the quiz was started and finished, quiz scores, and read (for AR app only) and written comments. Furthermore, before and after the quiz, both applications ask users a series of questions that are also sent to the server. We stored all collected data in the database for later analysis. We gave the other control group a pen-and-paper questionnaire with the quiz in the middle and questionnaire items before and after the quiz. We provided additional papers on a side desk next to the starting point and informed them that they could leave comments for other visitors to read and reply to. Similar to non-AR condition, we did not have a reliable way to detect if participants read any comments and thus, we have missing information about the read comments of pen-and-paper participants as well.