Cited by 7Augmented Reality ApplicationsSpatial Cognition and NavigationVirtual Reality Applications and Impacts

Effectiveness of augmented reality technology in improving navigation performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Open access
Man, Siu Shing, Su, Peiqi, Xiao, Chang, Yun, Hong, Chan, Alan Hoi Shou·2026·Ergonomics

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) integrates virtual objects in the real world, allowing users to interact intuitively with navigation information. This study systematically reviewed 13 articles on AR technology published from 2005 to 2024 through meta-analysis, comprising a total of 400 participants, to examine its effectiveness in enhancing navigation performance. Compared with traditional navigation tools, the results showed that AR technology more effectively enhances navigation performance, with the overall effect size calculated as 0.554 (95% CI = 0.404–0.704; p < 0.001). The effect on wayfinding performance (SMD = 0.992) was considerably larger compared to driving navigation performance (SMD = 0.246) and spatial knowledge performance (SMD = 0.274). The mean age significantly positively affected the effectiveness of AR technology (Z = 2.670; p < 0.05). The results promote the development and application of AR technology and increase its adoption amongst the elderly.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/00140139.2025.2554243

Cites

78 of 78 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Global therapeutic studies were actively exploring innovative strategies to aid in the treatment of SAD, with particular emphasis on leveraging augmented reality (AR) technology as an effective auxiliary therapeutic tool.

    “Global therapeutic studies were actively exploring innovative strategies to aid in the treatment of SAD, with particular emphasis on leveraging augmented reality (AR) technology as an effective auxiliary therapeutic tool [23,24].”

    From Advancing Undergraduate Student Mental Healthcare of Social Anxiety Disorder: Evaluating the Acceptance of AR-Assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Through TAM-Based Constructs. (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

    The Introduction and Results discuss AR for navigation and wayfinding, not treatment. Searches for SAD, therapy, and therapeutic use found no passage addressing AR as an auxiliary treatment for SAD. The cited paper therefore does not verify the therapeutic claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Al Rabbaa, J., Morris, A., & Somanath, S. (2019). MRsive: An augmented reality tool for enhancing wayfinding and engagement with art in Museums. In International Conference on Human-computer Interaction (pp. 535- 542). Springer International Publishing.
  2. Montello, D. R. (2005). Navigation. In The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking (pp. 257-294). Cambridge University Press.
  3. Montuwy, A., Cahour, B., & Dommes, A. (2018). Older Pedestrians Navigating With AR Glasses and Bone Conduction Headset. In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-6).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Man, S. S., Su, P., Xiao, C., Yun, H., & Chan, A. H. S.
Affiliations
  • South China University of Technology (CN)
  • City University of Hong Kong (HK)
Corresponding author
Yun, Hong
Venue
Ergonomics
Published
2025-09-06
Volume
69
Issue
10
Pages
1983-1998
ISSN
  • 0014-0139 (ISSN-L)
  • 1366-5847
OpenAlex
W4414038520
Cited by
7
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 7
FWCI
0.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Ergonomics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CityU Scholars (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB4500604)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (72301110)
  • Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project of Guangdong Province (GD25YYS35, GD23XLN31)
  • Philosophy and Social Science Developing Project of Guangzhou City (2022GZQN48)
  • Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (2024A04J2279)
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (QNMS202418)
  • Guangdong Provincial General College Youth Innovation Talent Project (2023WQNCX006)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Augmented Reality Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
Keywords
augmented reality, navigation performance, wayfinding, spatial knowledge, age effects, elderly users, navigation tools
MeSH terms
Augmented Reality, Humans, User-Computer Interface, Spatial Navigation

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review