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ARiadne

SDK für eine hochpräzise, multimodale, AR-integrierte Fußgängernavigation
SDK for high-precision, multimodal, AR-integrated pedestrian navigation

Logo: ARiadne

ARiadne (08/2024–07/2026) developed an open-source software development kit and demo app for augmented reality (AR) pedestrian navigation, together with SWCode GmbH. The Immersive Reality Lab designed and evaluated the multimodal user interface: in nine user studies and two field tests with more than 330 participants, the team compared visual guidance cues, safety warnings, spatial audio and the display of points of interest, and derived design guidelines for AR navigation that is easy to follow, safe and accessible. SWCode developed localisation, on-device object recognition and content management and released the code under the MIT licence.

  • HSHL subproject Multimodal user interface: requirements definition, concept design, implementation; app validation
  • Funders Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE)
  • Funding program Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM)
  • Funding amount 0.56 Million Euro
  • Duration 2024 - 07/2026

Funding

  • Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE)
  • Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM)

Partners

  • SWCode

Team

Project website →

ARiadne – Multimodal AR Pedestrian Navigation: Results

ARiadne was a cooperation between Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences and SWCode GmbH, funded by the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy with about €565,659, from August 2024 to July 2026. SWCode built the SDK and the Ariadne Demo App for Android and iOS. The Immersive Reality Lab was responsible for the user-centred requirements analysis and for designing, implementing in its own study prototypes and validating the multimodal user interface. The 3D navigation elements and the dog avatar came out of joint brainstorming sessions of both partners.

What the studies showed. A survey (n=21) produced personas and scenarios, among them tourists, locals and people with reduced mobility, and a requirements catalogue grounded in the literature. Each interface aspect was then tested in an online pre-study followed by an outdoor field study:

  • Visual guidance (n=47, n=30): a neon line on the ground led to the lowest mental workload and the fastest completion times. Avatars such as the dog were appealing but more demanding; a ground arrow did worst.
  • Safety warnings (n=69, n=31): a stop-hand sign was the clearest; a barking dog was liked most but distracted most. Holograms and markings on the ground were hard to see in daylight.
  • Audio cues (n=31, n=15, n=27): nature sounds were rated more efficient and pleasant than artificial sounds, on smartphone and headset alike, and people became faster with practice.
  • Points of interest (n=31, with stadtLABOR Soest): virtual people drew the most attention, signs were the easiest to understand, and 3D objects offered the best balance. Footsteps were confused with navigation cues.

A final field test on the Lippstadt campus (N=23) combined the neon line, points of interest and safety warnings: spatial audio raised hedonic quality significantly, and 74% preferred navigating with it, at the cost of a moderate rise in workload. A second field test with guests of the closing event in Soest's old town tried the Ariadne Demo App under real city conditions (n=11).

Design trade-offs. Across all studies five trade-offs recur: immersion versus safety, attention versus comprehensibility, hedonic versus pragmatic quality, personalisation versus consistency, and information density versus cognitive load. In practice this means keeping safety-critical elements familiar and consistent, offering personalisation for the playful parts, and revealing information progressively rather than all at once.

Open source and transfer. The source code of the SDK and app is available under the MIT licence on GitHub. The project was presented to regional business representatives in the lab on 30 March 2026, to NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur on 15 April 2026, and at the closing event in Soest on 15 July 2026. Its methods feed into teaching in Lippstadt, including a bachelor's thesis on 3D cues for secondary inner-city shopping streets.

An image showing the ARiadne logo, with an illustation of the App underneith.

Podcast

Inside Immersion · Episode 2: ARiadne: Finding Your Way with AR, Sound and Touch

ARiadne explores how augmented reality, spatial sound and haptic cues can help pedestrians navigate a city. Juliane Henning explains the project’s approach to inclusive navigation: guidance tailored to different needs, early user research, and how to guide people without competing for their attention.

All episodes of Inside Immersion →

Publications