Freeze-Set-Go interaction method for handheld mobile augmented reality environments

Mobile computing devices are getting popular as a platform for augmented reality (AR) application, and efficient interaction methods for mobile AR environments are considered necessary. Recently, touch interfaces are getting popular and drawing attention as a future standard interface on mobile computing devices. However, accurate touch interactions are not that easy in mobile AR environments where users tend to move and viewpoints easily get shaky. In this paper, the authors suggest a new interaction method for handheld mobile AR environments, named 'Freeze-Set-Go'. The proposed interaction method lets users to 'freeze' the real world view tentatively, and continue to manipulate virtual entities within the AR scene. According to the user experiment, the proposed method turns out to be helping users to interact with mobile AR environments using touch interfaces in a more accurate and comfortable way.