Marker vs. Markerless: Usability Insights for Indoor Navigation with Handheld Augmented Reality Systems

Indoor navigation or Indoor Positioning System (IPS) is a positioning system specifically for closed areas. IPS is different from positioning systems used in open areas, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), because of the various limitations that GPS has. This limitation encouraged research to find alternatives to GPS to implement high-accuracy positioning in closed areas. Several technologies developed to overcome this problem include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Radio. Augmented Reality (AR) opened an opportunity to solve positioning or localization problems in closed areas using visual data. By utilizing computer vision technology, users can readily conduct scans of their immediate surroundings to determine their current location. In this paper, research was conducted on the usability of the localization system used in the navigation system using AR. This study aimed to determine the usability of a visual-based localization system using Quick Response (QR) Codes (marker-based navigation) and Light Distance and Ranging (LIDAR) point cloud utilizing Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (markerless navigation). Both systems were built using Unity and tested directly by users to determine their usability. Usability determination was conducted using the SUS questionnaire distributed to users. Besides usability, we tested both system’s IPS aspects to measure the system performance. The test results show that LIDAR point cloud localization has higher usability than QR Codes.