Augmented Reality User Interfaces for First Responders: A Scoping Literature Review

TL;DR

This scoping review analyzes the current state of augmented reality user interfaces in public safety, highlighting key trends, challenges, and gaps to guide future research and development for first responder applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive taxonomy and analysis of AR UI research for first responders, identifying key design considerations and research gaps.

Findings

Identified 90 relevant papers out of 1,751

Developed a taxonomy categorizing AR UIs for public safety

Highlighted key challenges and future research directions

Abstract

During the past decade, there has been a significant increase in research focused on integrating AR User Interfaces into public safety applications, particularly for first responders in the domains of Emergency Medical Services, Firefighting, and Law Enforcement. This paper presents the results of a scoping review involving the application of AR user interfaces in the public safety domain and applies an established systematic review methodology to provide a comprehensive analysis of the current research landscape, identifying key trends, challenges, and gaps in the literature. This review includes peer-reviewed publications indexed by the major scientific databases up to April 2025. A basic keyword search retrieved 1,751 papers, of which 90 were deemed relevant for this review. An in-depth analysis of the literature allowed the development of a faceted taxonomy that categorizes AR user interfaces for public safety. This classification lays a solid foundation for future research, while also highlighting key design considerations, challenges, and gaps in the literature. This review serves as a valuable resource for researchers and developers, offering insights that can drive further advances in the field.