Halo Content: Context-aware Viewspace Management for Non-invasive Augmented Reality

In mobile augmented reality, text and content placed in a user's immediate field of view through a head worn display can interfere with day to day activities. In particular, messages, notifications, or navigation instructions overlaid in the central field of view can become a barrier to effective face-to-face meetings and everyday conversation. Many text and view management methods attempt to improve text viewability, but fail to provide a non-invasive personal experience for the user. In this paper, we introduce Halo Content, a method that proactively manages movement of multiple elements such as e-mails, texts, and notifications to make sure they do not interfere with interpersonal interactions. Through a unique combination of face detection, integrated layouts, and automated content movement, virtual elements are actively moved so that they do not occlude conversation partners' faces or gestures. Unlike other methods that often require tracking or prior knowledge of the scene, our approach can deal with multiple conversation partners in unknown, dynamic situations. In a preliminary experiment with 14 participants, we show that the Halo Content algorithm results in a 54.8% reduction in the number of times content interfered with conversations compared to standard layouts.