Across the Planets - Playful Approach for Learning the Shortest Path Algorithm for Graphs in Augmented Reality

Nowadays, a diverse array of technologies are used to help students learn in different ways, and augmented reality (AR) stands out as a notable example. AR proves especially beneficial for visualizing concepts more effectively in 3D (three-dimensional) space compared to traditional 2D (two-dimensional) planes. To make the learning process more entertaining, it can be visualized in the form of a game concept. This paper explores the idea of how augmented reality can assist students in learning graph algorithms, specifically learning the algorithm for finding the shortest path in a graph by using visualization playfully. To determine this, a game approach for mobile devices was implemented with the help of the Unity engine that includes three versions of the game: 1) an AR version with 3D graph models, 2) an AR version with 2D graph models, and 3) a non-AR version of the graph models. Subsequently, a user study was conducted to assess the engaging of this approach with 20 participants.