Enhancing Early Learning with an Augmented Reality Zoo App

This study presents the preliminary design, development, and evaluation of an Augmented Reality (AR) Zoo application, intended as an interactive tool for children science education. The COVID-19 pandemic restricted children’s mobility for nearly two years, limiting opportunities for outdoor exploration, including visits to zoos, and shifting most learning into the home environment. This disruption highlighted the need for innovative, home-accessible educational tools to support experiential learning. To address this gap, this preliminary work explored the potential of AR technology for children’s learning by developing and testing an AR application using the Unity platform. The AR Zoo prototype was created in Unity3D with marker-based AR technology via the Vuforia SDK, selected for its robust and stable object tracking to ensure a reliable and distraction-free experience suitable for children. Designed for Android devices (versions 5.0–12.0), the application currently includes four 3D animal models namely tiger, horse, elephant, and zebra, accompanied by descriptive text and realistic animal sounds to foster multisensory learning and curiosity. A child-friendly interface was intentionally designed to minimize cognitive load, featuring only two main functions; ‘Play’ and ‘Quit’ buttons within a visually engaging, flashcard-style layout. Usability was evaluated using a modified System Usability Scale (SUS), resulting in a mean score of 76.25, which exceeds the benchmark of 70 and indicating good usability. Participants reported increased interest in learning about animals and rated the interface as easy to use and child-friendly. As this work represents an initial stage, future development will focus on expanding the animal library, integrating interactive quizzes and mini-games, enhancing animations and enabling cross-platform deployment to further enrich engagement and educational value.