Evaluating the Potential of Augmented Reality Interfaces for Exploring Underwater Historical Sites

Underwater cultural heritage sites represent an attractive and exciting experience for diving
tourists, even if often it is complicated for them to understand the signicance and value of the remains that
are usually strongly damaged and covered by the marine organisms. Thanks to the recent advancements in
technologies that overcome these problems, augmented reality is nowadays possible even in such harsh
conditions, opening new possibilities for enhancing the diver's experience. However, no user study has
formally evaluated the usefulness and usability of augmented reality in open sea underwater environments.
This paper presents two novel solutions for underwater augmented reality: a compact marker-based system
for small areas, and a complex acoustic system for large areas. Both of them were deployed at an underwater
cultural heritage site and evaluated by ten divers in experiments analyzing their perception and remembrance,
interests, and user experience. For comparison, the same study was also performed with non-divers assessing
the marker-based system on land. Results show that both systems allow divers to encounter new and exciting
moments and provide valuable insights for underwater augmented reality applications.