As consumer-focused Augmented Reality (AR) becomes more commonplace, it is important to investigate interaction techniques that support users in their environment. Using everyday objects as interaction devices is compelling due to the availability of everyday objects and the capacity to provide a variety of passive haptic sensations, however, they typically lack active feedback. To study the addition of active feedback with everyday objects, a within-subjects study was conducted with n = 28 participants, utilising a flowerpot with vibro-tactile feedback to perform dial interactions, with four conditions: haptic only, audio only, both, and no additional feedback. Task completion time, accuracy, immersion, and preference were measured. No significant differences between conditions were found for task completion time or accuracy. Immersion and user preference measures only showed weak differences between haptic and audio feedback, suggesting that there may be little advantage to implement active haptic feedback for AR experiences using everyday objects.

This study investigates Embodied Virtual Agents (EVAs) driven by Large Language Models (LLMs) as mediators in triadic collaboration where two users with conflicting goals must work towards a shared objective. We developed and evaluated an XR system where pairs (n=24) collaborated on an office design task, assessing the impact of agent presence and embodiment. Our findings reveal that agent embodiment significantly enhanced co-presence, which in turn fostered interactions that led to better perceived collaboration and higher user preference, whereas frequent interactions with the disembodied agent was associated with lower user preference. Conversely, agent presence did not improve task efficiency or satisfaction. Notably, our qualitative analysis revealed that the LLM-driven agent spontaneously adopted emergent facilitative and evaluative mediation strategies that align with collaborating and compromising conflict-resolving modes, showcasing its potential as an adaptive collaborative aid without explicit programming. These results highlight that the value of EVAs in complex collaboration lies in their ability to shape social dynamics and provide nuanced, context-aware mediation, a different form of value than traditional productivity enhancement.

Regardless of the style, most western dance is taught in a similar manner. A student comes to a studio, the instructor demonstrates a series of movements that the student attempts to replicate - often in front of a mirror - and the instructor provides corrective feedback. Unfortunately, this approach means that beginners are only able to practice and receive corrective feedback when the instructor is available. This paper reports on a study that assessed whether a Mixed Reality (MR) mirror displaying a virtual instructor overlaid with visual feedback can be used to teach a beginner a simple dance routine, replacing the traditional instructor and mirror method, and making beginners dance training more accessible. Three visual feedback modes to indicate how to achieve a correct pose in a dance sequence were designed, based on findings from a literature review, input from expert interviews and an online survey. These feedback modes, titled Spheres, Rubber Bands, and Arrows, were implemented and used as randomized conditions in a user study where participants learned three simple dance sequences. The user study showed that participants performed best with the Arrows feedback mode, though the preference rank for this feedback mode was the lowest. In contrast, the participants’ most preferred feedback mode was Spheres, though participants performed poorest with this mode. These findings suggest that user preference and performance in MR mirror dance training systems need to be balanced to create a system that is effective and enjoyable.

No abstract available.

In this paper, we present an elicitation study which explores how people use common household objects as props to control virtual objects in augmented reality first-person perspective games. 24 participants were asked to select items from a range of common household objects to use as controllers for three different types of virtual object: a sword, shield, and crossbow. Participants completed short gameplay tasks using their selected items and rated the AR experience using the Augmented Reality Immersion (ARI) questionnaire. Results found no strong consensus linking any specific household object to any virtual object across our test group and, in addition, those who chose the most commonly selected object for each task did not have significantly higher scores on the ARI questionnaire compared to those who did not. A short post-experiment interview indicated a few key factors that were important to participants when selecting their household object, such as shape, size, grip feel and weight distribution. Based on our findings we recommend that developers provide the ability for users to choose which household objects to use as props based on the user's own preferences, and that they design intuitive ways for users to interact with virtual objects.

In order for natural interaction in Augmented Reality (AR) to become widely adopted, the techniques used need to be shown to support precise interaction, and the gestures used proven to be easy to understand and perform. Recent research has explored free-hand gesture interaction with AR interfaces, but there have been few formal evaluations conducted with such systems. In this paper we introduce and evaluate two natural interaction techniques: the free-hand gesture based Grasp-Shell, which provides direct physical manipulation of virtual content; and the multi-modal Gesture-Speech, which combines speech and gesture for indirect natural interaction. These techniques support object selection, 6 degree of freedom movement, uniform scaling, as well as physics-based interaction such as pushing and flinging. We conducted a study evaluating and comparing Grasp-Shell and Gesture-Speech for fundamental manipulation tasks. The results show that Grasp-Shell outperforms Gesture-Speech in both efficiency and user preference for translation and rotation tasks, while Gesture-Speech is better for uniform scaling. They could be good complementary interaction methods in a physics-enabled AR environment, as this combination potentially provides both control and interactivity in one interface. We conclude by discussing implications and future directions of this research.

We demonstrate an Augmented Reality (AR) system that utilizes a combination of direct free hand interaction and indirect multimodal gesture and speech interface. A three-dimensional (3D) design sandbox application, featuring online object creation, has been developed to illustrate the use case of our system that supports dual interaction techniques.

In this paper, we describe the KITE, a mobile Augmented Reality (AR) platform that uses a magnetic tracker and a depth sensor for games and interaction development that is typically only available on a desktop system. We have achieved this using off-the-shelf hardware and efficient software that can be easily assembled and executed. We demonstrate four possible modalities based on hand input to provide a platform that game and interaction designers can use to explore new possibilities for gaming in AR.

In this paper we present a novel interaction framework for augmented reality, and demonstrate its application in an interactive AR exposure treatment system for the fear of spiders. We use data from the Microsoft Kinect to track and model real world objects in the AR environment, enabling realistic interaction between them and virtual content. Objects are tracked in three dimensions using the Iterative Closest Point algorithm and a point cloud model of the objects is incrementally developed. The approximate motion and shape of each object in the scene serve as inputs to the AR application. Very few restrictions are placed on the types of objects that can be used. In particular, we do not require objects to be marked in a certain way in order to be recognized, facilitating natural interaction. To demonstrate our interaction framework we present an AR exposure treatment system where virtual spiders can walk up, around, or behind real objects and can be carried, prodded and occluded by the user. We also discuss improvements we are making to the interaction framework and its potential for use in other applications.

Creating entertaining and educational books not only requires providing visually stimulating content but also means for students to interact, create, and express themselves. In this paper we present a new type of mixed-reality book experience, which augments an educational coloring book with user-generated three dimensional content. We explore a “pop-up book” metaphor and describe a process by which children's drawing and coloring is used as input to generate and change the appearance of the book content. Our system is based on natural feature tracking and image processing techniques that can be easily exploited for other AR publishing applications.