Augmented Reality Indoor Wayfinding in Hospital Environments An Empirical Study on Navigation Efficiency, User Experience, and Cognitive Load

TL;DR

This study compares AR-based indoor navigation to paper maps in hospitals, showing AR improves navigation speed and reduces cognitive load, but paper maps enhance spatial memory, informing future inclusive design strategies.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on AR navigation's effectiveness in hospitals, highlighting benefits and trade-offs for real-time efficiency and spatial learning.

Findings

AR users navigate faster with fewer errors

AR reduces cognitive workload and anxiety

Paper maps improve spatial memory

Abstract

Hospitals are among the most cognitively demanding indoor environments, especially for patients and visitors unfamiliar with their layout. This study investigates the effectiveness of an augmented reality (AR)-based handheld navigation system compared to traditional paper maps in a large hospital setting. Through a mixed-methods experiment with 32 participants, we measured navigation performance, cognitive workload (NASA-TLX), situational anxiety (STAI-State), spatial behavior, and user satisfaction. Results show that AR users completed navigation tasks significantly faster, made fewer errors, and reported lower anxiety and workload. However, paper map users demonstrated stronger spatial memory in sketch-based recall tasks, highlighting a trade-off between real-time efficiency and long-term spatial learning. We discuss implications for inclusive AR design, spatial cognition, and healthcare accessibility, offering actionable design strategies for adaptive indoor navigation tools.