Capturing invisible health threats through augmented reality-based public health messaging: focusing on perceived realism, issue involvement, and message attitudes

Augmented reality (AR) has been extensively applied to health science education. However, a question still remains as to the optimal way to design AR interfaces to enhance users’ understanding of information that is presented in text format. Utilising the context of indoor air pollution, the current study examines the effects of messages about particulate matter (PM) delivered using different modes of AR visualisation (i.e. overlaying AR visuals onto users’ faces [AR-overlay self] vs. overlaying AR visuals onto users’ surroundings [AR-overlay environment] vs. no use of AR [AR control]). A between-subjects online experiment (N = 306) demonstrated that the AR-overlay environment has a pronounced effect on perceived realism toward 3D-rendered PM, which induced powerful effects on increasing both issue involvement and positive attitudes toward the textual information being presented. Compared to the AR control, the AR-overlay environment demonstrated a serial and positive mediation effect on perceived realism, which subsequently influenced issue involvement and message attitudes. However, overlaying 3D-rendered PM onto one’s face turned out to be a less effective means of eliciting perceived realism. Implications are discussed in the context of how to design effective AR interfaces that can best help users understand health science information.