Abstract:

Augmented Reality (AR) interaction in digital cultural tourism has become an important means of influencing tourists’ information acquisition, emotional arousal, and visual engagement. However, the mechanisms through which different interaction modes affect tourists’ emotional experience and visual search behavior remain unclear, and empirical evidence for interaction optimization across different scenarios is still insufficient. To reveal the effects of scenario type and AR interaction mode on tourists’ emotional experience and visual search behavior, a measurement framework combining subjective rating scales and eye-tracking physiological measures was constructed. Two types of scenarios, namely knowledge-oriented learning and entertainment-oriented interaction, were used as experimental contexts. Using a thematic exhibition at the Shaanxi History Museum as the experimental content, four interaction conditions were designed, including traditional browsing, voice interaction, touch interaction, and gesture interaction. A 2 × 4 within-subject experimental with valid data design was adopted. PAD emotional rating data and eye-tracking data were collected from 24 participants under eight experimental conditions. The subjective indicators included pleasure, arousal, and dominance, while the objective indicators included fixation proportion, average pupil diameter, and saccade rate per unit time unit. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the effects of scenario type, interaction mode, and their interaction on the above indicators. The results showed that the effects of AR interaction modes on tourists’ emotional experience and visual search behavior varied across scenarios. In the knowledge-oriented learning scenario, gesture interaction showed certain advantages in arousal and in some pairwise comparisons of dominance. However, the eye-tracking results did not show a consistent advantage in visual attention stability, indicating that interaction optimization in knowledge-oriented tasks should take into account the clarity of information presentation, the stability of operational feedback, and the control of visual load. In the entertainment-oriented interaction scenario, gesture interaction produced a more positive emotional experience than touch interaction. It was also accompanied by a higher fixation proportion, larger average pupil diameter, and higher saccade rate per unit time. These findings suggested that gesture interaction could enhance visual engagement and emotional arousal, but it might also increase the intensity of dynamic content search. For knowledge-oriented scenarios, the organization of information and the stability of interaction should be emphasized. For entertainment-oriented scenarios, embodied operation and dynamic feedback can be moderately strengthened. The results not only revealed the differences in emotional experience and visual behavior characteristics produced by different AR interaction modes in knowledge-oriented and entertainment-oriented scenarios, but also provided empirical evidence and methodological guidance for scenario-based interaction configuration, emotional experience optimization, and design strategy development in digital cultural tourism AR applications.

Key words: augmented reality, emotional experience, pad model, eye tracking, interaction design