Hybrid Guided Tours in Museums Using Augmented Reality (AR) Applications: The Case Study οf the Museum οf the Macedonian Struggle and Modern History οf Macedonia (IMMA), Greece

Augmented Reality (AR) applications change the habitual forms of educational and recreational experiences at museums. This paper presents hybrid guided tours at the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and Modern History of Macedonia (IMMA), assessing the role of AR in historical education and interaction with visitors. Three participant groups of a total of 44 students took part in a controlled experiment conducted to evaluate whether or not hybrid human-led and digital AR experiences are better than the traditional museum tour. None of the participants have visited the museum before. The first group was given the traditional guided tour by a historian. The second group took part in a hybrid model where the historian framed the context while inviting engagement with the AR-based application, Treasure Hunt, which composed QR code-activated content and gamified challenges. The third group used only the AR application to move around the museum, and they accessed interactive quizzes and textual explanations through mobile interface. Pre- and post-visit assessments comprised structured questionnaires on knowledge acquisition, usability, user satisfaction, emotional connection, quality of interaction, and engagement. Results showed that guided tours according to tradition retain the most significant amount of factual knowledge. However, the hybrid model proved to be better in terms of engagement, motivation, and interactive learning. The fully digital AR experience improved exploration and enjoyment over the traditional format but achieved lower contextual understanding; this may suggest that human-led guidance is critically needed for historical depth and structured learning. It underlines the educational value of hybrid museum experiences and pushes well-structured integration of AR with expert-led tours.