Optical see-though head-mounted displays (OST HMDs) are one of the key technologies for merging virtual objects and physical scenes to provide an immersive mixed reality (MR) environment to its user. A fundamental limitation of HMDs is, that the user itself cannot be augmented conveniently as, in casual posture, only the distal upper extremities are within the field of view of the HMD. Consequently, most MR applications that are centered around the user, such as virtual dressing rooms or learning of body movements, cannot be realized with HMDs. In this paper, we propose a novel concept and prototype system that combines OST HMDs and physical mirrors to enable self-augmentation and provide an immersive MR environment centered around the user. Our system, to the best of our knowledge the first of its kind, estimates the user's pose in the virtual image generated by the mirror using an RGBD camera attached to the HMD and anchors virtual objects to the reflection rather than the user directly. We evaluate our system quantitatively with respect to calibration accuracy and infrared signal degradation effects due to the mirror, and show its potential in applications where large mirrors are already an integral part of the facility. Particularly, we demonstrate its use for virtual fitting rooms, gaming applications, anatomy learning, and personal fitness. In contrast to competing devices such as LCD-equipped smart mirrors, the proposed system consists of only an HMD with RGBD camera and, thus, does not require a prepared environment making it very flexible and generic. In future work, we will aim to investigate how the system can be optimally used for physical rehabilitation and personal training as a promising application.
Technologies that augment face-to-face interactions with a digital sense of self have been used to support conversations. That work has employed one homogenous technology, either 'off-the-shelf' or with a bespoke prototype, across all participants. Beyond speculative instances, it is unclear what technology individuals themselves would choose, if any, to augment their social interactions; what influence it may exert; or how use of heterogeneous devices may affect the value of this augmentation. This is important, as the devices that we use directly affect our behaviour, influencing affordances…
Distributed systems technologies supporting 3D visualization and social collaboration will be increasing in frequency and type over time. An emerging type of head-mounted display referred to as the head-mounted projection display (HMPD) was recently developed that only requires ultralight optics (i.e., less than 8 g per eye) that enables immersive multiuser, mobile augmented reality 3D visualization, as well as remote 3D collaborations. In this paper a review of the development of lightweight HMPD technology is provided, together with insight into what makes this technology timely and so uniqu…
An increasing number of consumer-oriented head-mounted displays (HMD) for augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) are capable of finger and hand tracking. We report on the accuracy of off-the-shelf VR and AR HMDs when used for touch-based tasks such as pointing or drawing. Specifically, we report on the finger tracking accuracy of the VR head-mounted displays Oculus Quest, Vive Pro and the Leap Motion controller, when attached to a VR HMD, as well as the finger tracking accuracy of the AR head-mounted displays Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap. We present the results of two experiments in whic…
The augmented-reality head-mounted display (e.g., Microsoft HoloLens) is one of the most innovative technologies in multimedia and human-computer interaction in recent years. Despite the emerging research of its applications on engineering, education, medicines, to name a few, its impact on users' movement behavior is still underexplored. The movement behavior, especially for office workers with sedentary lifestyles, is related to many chronic conditions. Unlike the traditional screens, the augmented-reality head-mounted display (AR-HMD) could enable mobile virtual screens, which might impact …
Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) have been two of the most explosive research topics in the last few years. Head-Mounted Devices (HMDs) are essential intermediums for using AR and MR technology, playing an important role in the research progress in these two areas. Behavioral research with users is one way of evaluating the technical progress and effectiveness of HMDs. In addition, AR and MR technology is dependent upon virtual interactions with the real environment. Thus, conditions in real environments can be a significant factor for AR and MR measurements with users. In this pa…
Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学）；Data61, CSIRO（联邦科学与工业研究组织Data61）；Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University（伯明翰城市大学皇家伯明翰音乐学院）
This work examines how head-mounted AR can be used to build an interactive sonic landscape to engage with a public sculpture. We describe a sonic artwork, "Listening To Listening", that has been designed to accompany a real-world sculpture with two prototype interaction schemes. Our artwork is created for the HoloLens platform so that users can have an individual experience in a mixed reality context. Personal head-mounted AR systems have recently become available and practical for integration into public art projects, however research into sonic sculpture works has yet to account for the affo…
While visual search for targets within a complex scene might benefit from using augmented-reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD) technologies helping to efficiently direct human attention, imperfectly reliable automation support could manifest in occasional errors. The current study examined the effectiveness of different HMD cues that might support visual search performance and their respective consequences following automation errors. Fifty-six participants searched a 3D environment containing 48 objects in a room, in order to locate a target object that was viewed prior to each trial. They…
This article presents a systematic review of optical see-through head mounted display (OST-HMD) usage in augmented reality (AR) surgery applications from 2013 to 2020. Articles were categorised by: OST-HMD device, surgical speciality, surgical application context, visualisation content, experimental design and evaluation, accuracy and human factors of human-computer interaction. 91 articles fulfilled all inclusion criteria. Some clear trends emerge. The Microsoft HoloLens increasingly dominates the field, with orthopaedic surgery being the most popular application (28.6\%). By far the most com…
Coburg University（科堡大学）；Keio University（庆应义塾大学）；Marxent Labs LLC；Mississippi State University（密西西比州立大学）
Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OST HMDs) are a major output medium for Augmented Reality, which have seen significant growth in popularity and usage among the general public due to the growing release of consumer-oriented models, such as the Microsoft Hololens. Unlike Virtual Reality headsets, OST HMDs inherently support the addition of computer-generated graphics directly into the light path between a user's eyes and their view of the physical world. As with most Augmented and Virtual Reality systems, the physical position of an OST HMD is typically determined by an external or em…
University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）
In recent years, head-mounted near-eye display devices have become the key hardware foundation for virtual reality and augmented reality. Thus head-mounted gaze tracking technology has received attention as an essential part of human-computer interaction. However, unavoidable slippage of head-mounted devices (HMD) often results higher gaze tracking errors and hinders the practical usage of HMD. To tackle this problem, we propose a slippage-robust gaze tracking for near-eye display method based on the aspheric eyeball model and accurately compute the eyeball optical axis and rotation center. We…
We propose a novel method to implement an optical see-through head mounted display which renders real aerial images with a wide viewing angle, called an Air Mounted Eyepiece (AME). To achieve the AMD design, we employ an off-the-shelf head mounted display and Transmissive Mirror Device (TMD) which is usually used in aerial real imaging systems. In the proposed method, we replicate the function of the head mounted display (HMD) itself, which is used in the air by using the TMD and presenting a real image of eyepiece in front of the eye. Moreover, it can realize a wide viewing angle 3D display b…
Eyewear devices, such as augmented reality displays, increasingly integrate eye tracking but the first-person camera required to map a user's gaze to the visual scene can pose a significant threat to user and bystander privacy. We present PrivacEye, a method to detect privacy-sensitive everyday situations and automatically enable and disable the eye tracker's first-person camera using a mechanical shutter. To close the shutter in privacy-sensitive situations, the method uses a deep representation of the first-person video combined with rich features that encode users' eye movements. To open th…
We present a user interface (UI) based on augmented reality (AR) with head-mounted display (HMD) for improving situational awareness during critical operation and improve human efficiency on operations. The UI displays contextual information as well as accepts orders given from the headset to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for assisting the rescue team. We established experiments where people had been put in a stressful situation and are asked to resolve a complex mission using a headset and a computer. Comparing both technologies, our results show that augmented reality has the poten…
Hand-based interaction, such as using a handheld controller or making hand gestures, has been widely adopted as the primary method for interacting with both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs). In contrast, hands-free interaction avoids the need for users' hands and although it can afford additional benefits, there has been limited research in exploring and evaluating hands-free techniques for these HMDs. As VR HMDs become ubiquitous, people will need to do text editing, which requires selecting text segments. Similar to hands-free interaction, text sel…
Peripheral vision plays a significant role in human perception and orientation. However, its relevance for human-computer interaction, especially head-mounted displays, has not been fully explored yet. In the past, a few specialized appliances were developed to display visual cues in the periphery, each designed for a single specific use case only. A multi-purpose headset to exclusively augment peripheral vision did not exist yet. We introduce MoPeDT: Modular Peripheral Display Toolkit, a freely available, flexible, reconfigurable, and extendable headset to conduct peripheral vision research. …
Eye-tracking technology is an integral component of new display devices such as virtual and augmented reality headsets. Applications of gaze information range from new interaction techniques exploiting eye patterns to gaze-contingent digital content creation. However, system latency is still a significant issue in many of these applications because it breaks the synchronization between the current and measured gaze positions. Consequently, it may lead to unwanted visual artifacts and degradation of user experience. In this work, we focus on foveated rendering applications where the quality of …
We propose augmenting immersive telepresence by adding a virtual body, representing the user's own arm motions, as realized through a head-mounted display and a 360-degree camera. Previous research has shown the effectiveness of having a virtual body in simulated environments; however, research on whether seeing one's own virtual arms increases presence or preference for the user in an immersive telepresence setup is limited. We conducted a study where a host introduced a research lab while participants wore a head-mounted display which allowed them to be telepresent at the host's physical loc…
An augmented reality (AR) environment includes a set of digital elements with which the users interact while performing certain tasks. Recent AR head-mounted displays allow users to select how these elements are presented. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the effect of the way of presenting augmented content on user performance and workload. This study aims to evaluate two methods of presenting augmented content - world-locked and head-locked modes in a data entry task. A total of eighteen participants performed the data entry task in this study. The effectiveness of each mo…
Learning a musical instrument requires a lot of practice, which ideally, should be done every day. During practice sessions, students are on their own in the overwhelming majority of the time, but access to experts that support students "just-in-time" is limited. Therefore, students commonly do not receive any feedback during their practice sessions. Adequate feedback, especially for beginners, is highly important for three particular reasons: (1) preventing the acquirement of wrong motions, (2) avoiding frustration due to a steep learning curve, and (3) potential health problems that arise fr…
Near distances are overestimated in virtual reality, and far distances are underestimated, but an explanation for these distortions remains elusive. One potential concern is that whilst the eye rotates to look at the virtual scene, the virtual cameras remain static. Could using eye-tracking to change the perspective of the virtual cameras as the eye rotates improve depth perception in virtual reality? This paper identifies 14 distinct perspective distortions that could in theory occur from keeping the virtual cameras fixed whilst the eye rotates in the context of near-eye displays. However, th…
Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging field ripe for experimentation, especially when it comes to developing the kinds of applications and experiences that will drive mass adoption of the technology. While we aren't aware of any current consumer product that realize a wearable, wide Field of View (FoV), AR Head Mounted Display (HMD), such devices will certainly come. In order for these sophisticated, likely high-cost hardware products to succeed, it is important they provide a high quality user experience. To that end, we prototyped 4 experimental applications for wide FoV displays that will l…
Text selection is a common and essential activity during text interaction in all interactive systems. As Augmented Reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) become more widespread, they will need to provide effective interaction techniques for text selection that ensure users can complete a range of text manipulation tasks (e.g., to highlight, copy, and paste text, send instant messages, and browse the web). As a relatively new platform, text selection in AR is largely unexplored and the suitability of interaction techniques supported by current AR HMDs for text selection tasks is unclear. Thi…
Virtual and Augmented Reality have the potential to change information work. The ability to modify the workers senses can transform everyday environments into a productive office, using portable head-mounted displays combined with conventional interaction devices, such as keyboards and tablets. While a stream of better, cheaper and lighter HMDs have been introduced for consumers in recent years, there are still many challenges to be addressed to allow this vision to become reality. This chapter summarizes the state of the art in the field of extended reality for knowledge work in everyday envi…
We contribute interaction techniques for augmenting mixed reality (MR) visualizations with smartphone proxies. By combining head-mounted displays (HMDs) with mobile touchscreens, we can augment low-resolution holographic 3D charts with precise touch input, haptics feedback, high-resolution 2D graphics, and physical manipulation. Our approach aims to complement both MR and physical visualizations. Most current MR visualizations suffer from unreliable tracking, low visual resolution, and imprecise input. Data physicalizations on the other hand, although allowing for natural physical manipulation…
TU Kaiserslautern（凯泽斯劳滕工业大学）；German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence（德国人工智能研究中心）
Natural user interfaces are on the rise. Manufacturers for Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality head mounted displays are increasingly integrating new sensors into their consumer grade products, allowing gesture recognition without additional hardware. This offers new possibilities for bare handed interaction within virtual environments. This work proposes a hand gesture authoring tool for object specific grab gestures allowing virtual objects to be grabbed as in the real world. The presented solution uses template matching for gesture recognition and requires no technical knowledge to design…
Impact of Hand Impairment and Occlusions on Hand Pose Estimation Accuracy in Augmented Reality Applications
KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network（大学健康网络多伦多康复研究所KITE研究所）；Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto（多伦多大学生物医学工程研究所）；Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院健康科学与技术系）；Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto（多伦多大学职业科学与职业治疗系及康复科学研究所）
In this work we propose the combination of large interactive displays with personal head-mounted Augmented Reality (AR) for information visualization to facilitate data exploration and analysis. Even though large displays provide more display space, they are challenging with regard to perception, effective multi-user support, and managing data density and complexity. To address these issues and illustrate our proposed setup, we contribute an extensive design space comprising first, the spatial alignment of display, visualizations, and objects in AR space. Next, we discuss which parts of a visu…
X-ray vision, a technique that allows users to see through walls and other obstacles, is a popular technique for Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR). In this paper, we demonstrate a dynamic X-ray vision window that is rendered in real-time based on the user's current position and changes with movement in the physical environment. Moreover, the location and transparency of the window are also dynamically rendered based on the user's eye gaze. We build this X-ray vision window for a current state-of-the-art MR Head-Mounted Device (HMD) -- HoloLens 2 by integrating several different fea…
Non-invasive steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) based brain-computer interface (BCI) systems offer high bandwidth compared to other BCI types and require only minimal calibration and training. Virtual reality (VR) has been already validated as effective, safe, affordable and motivating feedback modality for BCI experiments. Augmented reality (AR) enhances the physical world by superimposing informative, context sensitive, computer generated content. In the context of BCI, AR can be used as a friendlier and more intuitive real-world user interface, thereby facilitating a more seamless…
Recent technological advances have made head-mounted displays (HMDs) smaller and untethered, fostering the vision of ubiquitous interaction with information in a digitally augmented physical world. For interacting with such devices, three main types of input - besides not very intuitive finger gestures - have emerged so far: 1) Touch input on the frame of the devices or 2) on accessories (controller) as well as 3) voice input. While these techniques have both advantages and disadvantages depending on the current situation of the user, they largely ignore the skills and dexterity that we show w…
Immersive Analytics (IA) and consumer adoption of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) are both rapidly growing. When used in conjunction, stereoscopic IA environments can offer improved user understanding and engagement; however, it is unclear how the choice of stereoscopic display impacts user interactions within an IA environment. This paper presents a pilot study that examines the impact of stereoscopic display type on object manipulation and environmental navigation using consumer-available AR and VR displays. This work finds that the display type c…
Locomotion is one of the most essential interaction tasks in virtual reality (VR) with teleportation being widely accepted as the state-of-the-art locomotion technique at the time of this writing. A major draw-back of teleportation is the accompanying physical rotation that is necessary to adjust the users' orientation either before or after teleportation. This is a limiting factor for tethered head-mounted displays (HMDs) and static body postures and can induce additional simulator sickness for HMDs with three degrees-of-freedom (DOF) due to missing parallax cues. To avoid physical rotation, …
The information provided to a person's visual system by extended reality (XR) displays is not a veridical match to the information provided by the real world. Due in part to graphical limitations in XR head-mounted displays (HMDs), which vary by device, our perception of space may be altered. However, we do not yet know which properties of virtual objects rendered by HMDs -- particularly augmented reality displays -- influence our ability to understand space. In the current research, we evaluate how immersive graphics affect spatial perception across three unique XR displays: virtual reality (…
