Hiking is an activity performed by diverse types of people. Tensions can arise in situations where people with distinct objectives and aptitudes are hiking in the same group, and have to adjust their behavior to match the remaining of the group. Situations such as having to take different routes, reduce their pace, or wait for a person behind can lead to a frustrating and tedious experience. We propose the use of augmented reality to promptly provide hikers with information on their peers’ current and previous locations, allowing for deeper freedom of movement while still raising the group awareness. We designed techniques for achieving these objectives, constructed a high-fidelity prototype and conducted analytical evaluations to understand the suitability of our approach. Results show that the concepts are promising, but some details should be observed. We conclude with a couple of recommendations based on the information we gathered.
Some early prototyping: