A User Perspective Analysis on Augmented vs 3D Printed Prototypes for Product's Project Design

Although Augmented Reality use in rapid prototyping of digital artifacts is already a reality, its usage in the design of physical artifacts did not reach its full potential and faces an important competitor with the diffusion of 3D printing. This work presents and applies a detailed method to understand and compare the applicability of Augmented Reality and physical prototypes (3D printed) during product's project design. The proposed method was developed based on user's perspective and it was simulated with the development of an alarm clock radio, using expert and non-expert users in the field. Based on the experiments and their analysis, this research discusses the many qualities and drawbacks from Augmented Reality and 3D printing, exposing and validating different aspects of these tools for rapid prototyping.