Abstract
Mixed-reality technologies are evolving rapidly, allowing for gradually more realistic interaction with digital content while moving freely in real-world environments. In this study, we examined the suitability of the Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality headset for creating locomotor interactions in real-world environments enriched with 3D holographic obstacles. In Experiment 1, we compared the obstacle-avoidance maneuvers of 12 participants stepping over either real or holographic obstacles of different heights and depths. Participants’ avoidance maneuvers were recorded with three spatially and temporally integrated Kinect v2 sensors. Similar to real obstacles, holographic obstacles elicited obstacle-avoidance maneuvers that scaled with obstacle dimensions. However, with holographic obstacles, some participants showed dissimilar trail or lead foot obstacle-avoidance maneuvers compared to real obstacles: they either consistently failed to raise their trail foot or crossed the obstacle with extreme lead-foot margins. In Experiment 2, we examined the efficacy of mixed-reality video feedback in altering such dissimilar avoidance maneuvers. Participants quickly adjusted their trail-foot crossing height and gradually lowered extreme lead-foot crossing heights in the course of mixed-reality video feedback trials, and these improvements were largely retained in subsequent trials without feedback. Participant-specific differences in real and holographic obstacle avoidance notwithstanding, the present results suggest that 3D holographic obstacles supplemented with mixed-reality video feedback may be used for studying and perhaps also training 3D obstacle avoidance.
Highlights
IntroductionFrank Baum, the celebrated author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, alluded to something that we would call augmented reality or mixed reality
In follow-up Experiment 2, we examined the efficacy of mixed-reality video feedback in altering deviating holographic obstacle-avoidance maneuvers observed in Experiment 1 that were dissimilar from real obstacle-avoidance maneuvers in terms of extreme margins and collisions
We found no significant effects of obstacle type, except for a small effect for the lead foot, which could be attributed entirely to three participants with extreme lead-foot margins (Figure 5C, participants 4, 7, and 10, which were identified with the multidimensional scaling (MDS) representation in Figure 4 as participants for which holographic-obstacle crossing was dissimilar from real-obstacle crossing)
Summary
Frank Baum, the celebrated author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, alluded to something that we would call augmented reality or mixed reality. Key” [1], a teenage boy was rewarded by the Demon of Electricity with a unique pair of spectacles, coined the “Character Marker”, which could project a key onto a person’s forehead indicating their character. Frank Baum’s readers might have considered impossible at the time is close to reality. Since the 1950s, remarkable progress has been made in augmenting the real world with layers of digital content: the initial bulky setups have been supplanted by mobile and wearable applications [2,3,4,5]
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