Augmented Reality Awareness and Latest Applications in Education: A Review

Abstract

Several advances in technology have touched the educational sector, where improvements and enhancements are always a surge for innovative learning. Augmented Reality (AR) is considered an efficient and promising technology capable of enhancing the educational sector. AR is a visualization technology that allows human interaction by providing users with a perception of reality using virtual information. In other words, AR adds to the existing real-world environment some extra virtual information generated by computer techniques that can enhance the overall experience. This promising technology can be applied in different sectors such as education, healthcare, banks, tourism, etc. Despite the great work available in the literature about this topic, deep insights and extensive research are still needed before the actual implementation in the real world. The aim of this work is to highlight the importance of AR in improving the educational sector and increase awareness of using such an approach. A review is conducted to prove the validity of AR in increasing learning outcomes, students’ motivation, and engagement in classrooms, as well as improving the understanding level. Several papers were analyzed based on different application areas under various interdisciplinary databases. As a result, the papers were collected in a table-based format to provide researchers with better and easier insights on how to improve the use of AR in education before real implementation. This study helped in highlighting potential future work, discussing limitations, advantages, disadvantages, and the latest advances in this technology.