Is mobile AR appropriate?

In most instances, end-users such as students, scholars, and members of the general public, are increasingly expectant that their mobile devices will work with any kind of technology. To that end, a project such as SCARLET maintained that the app had to work effectively with a variety of devices. Particularly when working in closed environments, such as Special Collections, or within a museum setting, you want to make sure that individuals can move around and access content easily with something like an iPad, tablet, or smartphone.

One drawback would be the use of those unsightly QR codes; however, Matt Ramirez found a way around that, so that the physical space within the Library would not be affected. Instead of using a QR code, the SCARLET app used pictures of the primary resources themselves: an image of the Dante editions, of the fragment of the Gospel of John, and the Milton texts. The triggers may not have been the “things themselves” but they were much closer than the anonymous codes, and students using them had an idea of what they were looking at prior to using the app.

So, if your project is using a somewhat confined or protected space, where desktop or laptops cannot easily be used, a mobile AR app is certainly something to work toward. Even if those restrictions are not the case, understanding that there will be those expectations is important. One scholar has suggested that the laptop has about three more left, afterwhich most software and applications will be designed specifically for phones.