Over the past decade, augmented reality (AR) developers have explored a variety of approaches to allow users to interact with the information displayed on smart glasses and head-mounted displays (HMDs). Current interaction modalities such as mid-air gestures, voice commands, or hand-held controllers provide a limited range of interactions with the virtual content. Additionally, these modalities can also be exhausting, uncomfortable, obtrusive, and socially awkward. There is a need to introduce comfortable interaction techniques for smart glasses and HMDS without the need for visual attention. This paper presents StretchAR, wearable straps that exploit touch and stretch as input modalities to interact with the virtual content displayed on smart glasses. StretchAR straps are thin, lightweight, and can be attached to existing garments to enhance users' interactions in AR. StretchAR straps can withstand strains up to 190% while remaining sensitive to touch inputs. The strap allows the effective combination of these inputs as a mode of interaction with the content displayed through AR widgets, maps, menus, social media, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Furthermore, we conducted a user study with 15 participants to determine the potential implications of the use of StretchAR as input modalities when placed on four different body locations (head, chest, forearm, and wrist). This study reveals that StretchAR can be used as an efficient and convenient input modality for smart glasses with a 96% accuracy. Additionally, we provide a collection of 28 interactions enabled by the simultaneous touch-stretch capabilities of StretchAR. Finally, we facilitate recommendation guidelines for the design, fabrication, placement, and possible applications of StretchAR as an interaction modality for AR content displayed on smart glasses.
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Negotiating Dyadic Interactions through the Lens of Augmented Reality Glasses
Augmented Reality (AR) glasses separate dyadic interactions on diferent sides of the lens, where the person wearing the glasses (primary user) sees an AR world overlaid on their partner (secondary actor). The secondary actor interacts with the primary user under- standing they are seeing both physical and virtual worlds. We use grounded theory to study interaction tasks, participatory design ses- sions, and in-depth interviews of 10 participants and explore how AR real-time modifcations afect them. We observe a power imbalance attributed to the: (1) lack of transparency of the primary user’s view, (2) violation of agency over self-presentation, and (3) discreet record- ing capabilities of AR glasses. This information asymmetry leads to a negotiation of behaviors to reach a silently understood equilibrium. This paper addresses underlying design issues that contribute to power imbalances in dyadic interactions and ofers nuanced insights into the dynamics between primary users and secondary actors.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1901151
- PAR ID:
- 10463861
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’23)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 493 to 508
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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