Won by a Head: A Platform Comparison of Smart Object Linking in Virtual Environments

Abstract

Mixed -reality platforms and toolkits are now more accessible than ever, bringing a renewed interest in interactive mixed-reality applications. However, more research is required to determine which available platforms are best suited for different situated tasks. This paper presents a user study that compares headworn and handheld platforms with a smart object linking task in interactive virtual environments. These platforms both have potential benefits for supporting spatial interaction for uses situated in the spatial context of the objects being connected. Results show that the immersive, headworn platform has several benefits over the handheld tablet, including better performance and user experience. Findings also show that semantic knowledge about a spatial environment can provide advantages over abstract object identifiers.