An Exploratory Study of 3D Interaction Techniques in Augmented Reality Environments.

Augmented Reality (AR) interfaces typically involve the overlay of virtual imagery onto the real world. 3D interaction with the virtual scene is a key feature to explore the full potential of AR. Despite the large number of interaction techniques that have been proposed to enable for intuitive 3D interaction in AR environments, little effort has been done to compare these techniques. In addition, many techniques have been arbitrarily used without formative evaluation or without considering the requirements of different AR applications. This paper discusses three interaction techniques with 3D content in AR environments and reports on an experiment that we conducted to compare them. These techniques are: 1) manipulation of hand-held fiducial markers, 2) free hand interaction, and 3) a keypad controller. 18 participants were recruited and asked to perform a series of tasks which involved the manipulation of a 3D object. The study sheds the light on the strengths and limitations of the studied techniques and when it is appropriate to use each of them. We believe that the reported results will help inform the design and customization of 3D interaction techniques for AR applications.