Wearable AR in Everyday Contexts: Insights from a Digital Ethnography of YouTube Videos

2025-02-10

AI Summary

Despite growing interest in wearable augmented reality (AR), there remains a critical research gap regarding its transition from controlled or niche settings into everyday life. Method: This study conducts the first large-scale, digital-anthropological ethnographic analysis of real-world AR usage, systematically examining 112 authentic YouTube videos (27 hours total) documenting daily practices of end users. Contribution/Results: Findings reveal media consumption and gaming as dominant use cases, while productivity applications remain constrained by hardware limitations and ecosystem fragmentation. Users exhibit both continuous and intermittent interaction patterns, with strong demand for cross-device experience continuity. The study identifies three primary adoption barriers: hardware constraints, application scarcity, and low social acceptability. Based on these insights, we propose design principles grounded in social embeddedness and ethical safety—offering empirically validated guidance for iterative product development and evidence-informed policy formulation.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Interaction Techniques and Devices
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Applications

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Personalized, context-aware and across-device search

Abstract

With growing investment in consumer augmented reality (AR) headsets and glasses, wearable AR is moving from niche applications to everyday use. However, current research primarily examines AR in controlled settings, offering limited insights into its use in real-world daily life. To address this gap, we adopt a digital ethnographic approach, analysing 27 hours of 112 YouTube videos featuring early adopters. These videos capture usage ranging from continuous periods of hours to intermittent use over weeks and months. Our analysis shows that currently, wearable AR is primarily used for media consumption and gaming. While productivity is a desired use case, frequent use is constrained by current hardware limitations and the nascent application ecosystem. Users seek continuity in their digital experience, desiring functionalities similar to those on smartphones, tablets, or computers. We propose implications for everyday AR development that promote adoption while ensuring safe, ethical, and socially-aware integration into daily life.

Problem

• Explores wearable AR in real-world daily life.
• Identifies hardware and ecosystem limitations.
• Proposes ethical integration of AR into everyday contexts.

Innovation

• Digital ethnography for AR analysis
• YouTube videos as data source
• Focus on everyday AR usage