Augmented Reality Manuals: Competition of Mobile Platforms

Abstrakt

Augmented reality manuals — applications that overlay step-by-step instructions onto physical equipment — are a promising alternative to printed and video-based guides, but the choice of mobile platform matters more than it might seem. ARKit (iOS) and ARCore (Android) differ in tracking algorithms, supported scene understanding features, and available hardware, which translates into real differences in application quality and development effort.

This paper presents a structured comparison of the two platforms in the context of AR instruction manuals. Both platforms were used to implement the same reference application, and the results were evaluated across tracking accuracy, plane detection reliability, developer experience, and the practical constraints of enterprise deployment (device management, app distribution, hardware standardization).

The findings inform platform selection for organizations building AR maintenance tools and identify the specific scenarios where each platform has a meaningful advantage.