73 Copyright © 2016, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 4 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8659-5.ch004 ABSTRACT In this chapter, we present the main interaction design issues that arise during the development of edutainment scenarios through the use of branded augmented reality (AR) authoring environments. Most proprietary AR systems ofer limited interaction features within their entry-level version, while licens- ing unlocks the desired advanced features. In order to overcome this problem we employ experimental multimedia development methods for the design of content for those platforms, enabling the develop- ment of fully featured case studies where interaction is implemented both physically and virtually. The introduction and literature research sections are complemented by selected experimental case studies that explore the interaction capabilities. It is shown how these may be implemented using limited AR resources. The chapter concludes with the presentation of the social software perspective of the com- munication process, as the application areas and the content domain presented in this work feature clear collaborative potential that needs to be addressed by system design. INTRODUCTION The interest for the development of augmented reality (AR) applications has increased in the last few years, mainly due to the replacement of earlier QR-code technologies (Rowles, 2013) with natural visual tracking recognition (Kerdvibulvech). This feature clearly offers multiple potential uses as it removes the need for visible markers: images, drawings, items and physical spaces can be used as markers that initiate the augmentation. In addition, the wide availability of handheld multimedia-enabled mobile devices (mobile phones, PDA’s), combined with their increasing processing power and Internet con- Developing Augmented Reality Applications Using Branded Authoring Environments Ioannis Deliyannis Interactive Arts Research Lab, Greece Dalila Honorato Interactive Arts Research Lab, Greece