Acta Mechanica Slovaca 2026, 30(1):26-32 | DOI: 10.21496/ams.2026.008

Visual-Inertial Tracking in Augmented Reality: Impacts on Wayfinding Behaviour and User Experience

Tomáš Macháč1, *, Petr Hořejší1, Michal Šimon1
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Univerzitní 2762/22, 301 00 Plzeň 3, Czech Republic

Accurate pose estimation is a prerequisite for usable handheld augmented reality (AR) wayfinding indoors, yet users experience navigation less as a positioning number and more as a sequence of micro-corrections shaped by visual-inertial tracking. This paper examines how inertial measurement unit (IMU)-driven drift, heading instability and re-anchoring events influence spatial orientation, trust and comfort during smartphone-based AR guidance. We introduce a human-computer interaction (HCI)-oriented evaluation approach that couple's sensor diagnostics (e.g., inertial bias indicators, heading stability, and relocalisation frequency) with human measures of wayfinding behaviour (reorientation episodes, stop-and-check patterns, route confidence) and subjective experience (perceived control, workload and discomfort). Using an AR wayfinding prototype as a testbed, we report findings from a controlled navigation study and an in-situ deployment in a large indoor environment. We show that tracking instability systematically increases users' reliance on non-AR cues, disrupts orientation continuity and reduces trust in the guidance. We also demonstrate that simple interaction techniques, such as communicating tracking confidence and providing lightweight re-anchoring prompts, can mitigate these effects. We conclude with design recommendations for IMU-aware AR wayfinding systems and discuss implications for future hands-free and multi-sensor AR navigation.

Keywords: augmented reality; indoor navigation; ARCore; sensor fusion; A* path planning; usability evaluation; system usability scale

Received: February 3, 2026; Revised: March 14, 2026; Accepted: March 17, 2026; Published: April 1, 2026  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Macháč, T., Hořejší, P., & Šimon, M. (2026). Visual-Inertial Tracking in Augmented Reality: Impacts on Wayfinding Behaviour and User Experience. Acta Mechanica Slovaca, 30(1), 26-32. doi: 10.21496/ams.2026.008
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Romero, D., Bernus, P., Noran, O., Stahre, J. and Fast-Berglund, Å. (2016). The Operator 4.0: Human Cyber-Physical Systems & Adaptive Automation Towards Human-Automation Symbiosis Work Systems. In: Advances in Production Management Systems. Initiatives for a Sustainable World, pp. 677-686. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-51133-7_80 Go to original source...
    2. Neumann, W.P., Winkelhaus, S., Grosse, E.H. and Glock, C.H. (2021). Industry 4.0 and the human factor - A systems framework and analysis methodology for successful development. International Journal of Production Economics, 233, 107992. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107992 Go to original source...
    3. Živičnjak, M., Rogić, K. and Bajor, I. (2025). Augmented reality technologies application in the warehouse system. Transportation Research Procedia, 83, 35-42. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2025.02.007 Go to original source...
    4. Lagorio, A., Di Pasquale, V., Cimini, C., Miranda, S. and Pinto, R. (2022). Augmented Reality in Logistics 4.0: implications for the human work. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(10), 329-334. doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.09.408 Go to original source...
    5. Yahia, E., Magnani, F., Joblot, L., Passalacqua, M. and Pellerin, R. (2024). Exploring the Effects of Industry 4.0/5.0 on Human Factors: A Preliminary Systematic Literature Review. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 58(19), 539-544. doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2024.09.268 Go to original source...
    6. Quandt, M. and Freitag, M. (2021). A Systematic Review of User Acceptance in Industrial Augmented Reality. Frontiers in Education, 6, 700760. doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.700760 Go to original source...
    7. Barbieri, L., Marino, E., Bruno, F., Muzzupappa, M. and Colacino, B. (2025). User-centered design of an augmented reality inspection tool for Industry 4.0 operators. International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM), 19(5), 3321-3333. doi:10.1007/s12008-024-01931-x Go to original source...
    8. Maio, R., Santos, A., Marques, B., Ferreira, C., Almeida, D., Ramalho, P., Batista, J., Dias, P. and Sousa Santos, B. (2023). Pervasive Augmented Reality to support logistics operators in industrial scenarios: a shop floor user study on kit assembly. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 127(3-4), 1631-1649. doi:10.1007/s00170-023-11289-1 Go to original source...
    9. Azuma, R.T. (1997). A Survey of Augmented Reality. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 6(4), 355-385. doi:10.1162/pres.1997.6.4.355 Go to original source...
    10. Tang, S., Wan, J., Li, Y., Huang, H., Wang, W., Guo, R. and Zhang, Y. (2025). BIM-Based Indoor Navigation Using End-to-End Visual Localization and ARCore. Transactions in GIS, 29(1), e13298. doi:10.1111/tgis.13298 Go to original source...
    11. Lu, F., Zhou, H., Guo, L., Chen, J. and Pei, L. (2021). An ARCore-Based Augmented Reality Campus Navigation System. Applied Sciences, 11(16), 7515. doi:10.3390/app11167515 Go to original source...
    12. Hořejší, P., Macháč, T. and Šimon, M. (2024). Reliability and Accuracy of Indoor Warehouse Navigation Using Augmented Reality. IEEE Access, 12, 94506-94519. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3420732 Go to original source...
    13. Li, K.W., Khaday, S. and Peng, L. (2023). Assessments of Order-Picking Tasks Using a Paper List and Augmented Reality Glasses with Different Order Information Displays. Applied Sciences, 13(22), 12222. doi:10.3390/app132212222 Go to original source...
    14. Lakehal, A., Lepreux, S., Efstratiou, C., Kolski, C. and Nicolaou, P. (2020). Investigating Smartphones and AR Glasses for Pedestrian Navigation and their Effects in Spatial Knowledge Acquisition. In: MobileHCI '20: Proceedings of the 22ndInternational Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. ACM, Oldenburg, Germany, pp. 1-7. doi:10.1145/3406324.3410722 Go to original source...
    15. Dutta, R., Mantri, A., Singh, G., Kumar, A. and Kaur, D.P. (2021). Evaluating Usability of Mobile Augmented Reality System for Enhancing the Learning Experience. In: 2021 Sixth International Conference on Image Information Processing (ICIIP). IEEE, Shimla, India, pp. 180-185. doi:10.1109/ICIIP53038.2021.9702603 Go to original source...
    16. Macháč, T., Šimerová, A., Hořejší, P. and Šimon, M. (2025). A Comparative Evaluation of Augmented Reality Indoor Navigation versus Conventional Approaches. Tehnički glasnik, 19(1), 62-72. doi:10.31803/tg-20240514144703 Go to original source...
    17. Lewis, J.R. (2018). The System Usability Scale: Past, Present, and Future. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 34(7), 577-590. doi:10.1080/10447318.2018.1455307 Go to original source...
    18. Lewis, J.R. and Sauro, J. (2009). The Factor Structure of the System Usability Scale. In: Human Centered Design. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 94-103. Springer, Berlin. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-02806-9_12 Go to original source...
    19. Bangor, A., Kortum, P. and Miller, J. (2009). Determining what individual SUS scores mean: adding an adjective rating scale. Journal of Usability Studies, 4(3), 114-123.
    20. Zhang, H., Guo, M., Zhao, W., Huang, J., Meng, Z., Lu, P., Sen, L. and Sheng, B. (2022). Visual Indoor Navigation Using Mobile Augmented Reality. In: Advances in Computer Graphics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 145-156. Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-23473-6_12 Go to original source...
    21. Sato, F. (2018). Indoor Navigation System Based on Augmented Reality Markers. In: Innovative Mobile and Internet Services in Ubiquitous Computing. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, pp. 266-274. Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61542-4_25 Go to original source...
    22. Gang, H.-Seon and Pyun, J.-Young. (2019). A Smartphone Indoor Positioning System Using Hybrid Localization Technology. Energies, 12(19), 3702. doi:10.3390/en12193702 Go to original source...
    23. Sekhavat, Y.A. and Parsons, J. (2018). The effect of tracking technique on the quality of user experience for augmented reality mobile navigation. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 77(10), 11635-11668. doi:10.1007/s11042-017-4810-y Go to original source...
    24. Feigl, T., Porada, A., Steiner, S., Löffler, C., Mutschler, C. and Philippsen, M. (2020). Localization Limitations of ARCore, ARKit, and HoloLens in Dynamic Large-scale Industry Environments. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications (GRAPP). SCITEPRESS, Valletta, Malta, pp. 307-318. doi:10.5220/0008989903070318 Go to original source...
    25. Leins, N., Gonnermann-Müller, J. and Teichmann, M. (2024). Comparing head-mounted and handheld augmented reality for guided assembly. Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, 18(4), 313-328. doi:10.1007/s12193-024-00440-1 Go to original source...
    26. Banadaki, F.D., Rahimian, B., Moraveji, F. and Varmazyar, S. (2024). The impact of smartphone use duration and posture on the prevalence of hand pain among college students. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 25(1), 574. doi:10.1186/s12891-024-07685-7 Go to original source...
    27. Manfredi, G., Capece, N., Di Carlo, R.P. and Erra, U. (2024). A Mixed Reality Application for Multi-Floor Building Evacuation Drills using Real-Time Pathfinding and Dynamic 3D Modeling. In: Caputo, A., Garro, V., Giachetti, A., Castellani, U. and Dulecha, T.G. (eds.), Smart Tools and Applications in Graphics - Eurographics Italian Chapter Conference, Verona, Italy. The Eurographics Association. doi:10.2312/stag.20241331 Go to original source...
    28. de Souza, J. and Tartz, R. (2024). Visual perception and user satisfaction in video see-through head-mounted displays: a mixed-methods evaluation. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 5, 1368721. doi:10.3389/frvir.2024.1368721 Go to original source...
    29. Kováč, J., Malega, P. and Svetlík, J. (2025). Utilization of Augmented Reality for Designing the Layout of a Manufacturing System. MM Science Journal, 2025, No. December, pp. 9043-9048. doi:10.17973/MMSJ.2025_12_2025109 Go to original source...
    30. Malega, P., Kováč, J., Harnicarova, M. and Svetlík, J. (2025). Visualization-based design and optimization of process-oriented management systems. MM Science Journal, 2025, No. November, pp. 8959-8964. doi:10.17973/MMSJ.2025_11_2025108 Go to original source...
    31. Kováč, J., Malega, P., Rudy, V. and Svetlík, J. (2023). Vumark's Method of Production Layout Designing. Applied Sciences, 13(3), 1496. doi:10.3390/app13031496 Go to original source...
    32. Kováč, J., Malega, P., Varjú, E., Svetlík, J. and Stetulič, R. (2025). Reduction of Carbon Footprint in Mechanical Engineering Production Using a Universal Simulation Model. Applied Sciences, 15(10), 5358. doi:10.3390/app15105358 Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content