Exploration of Techniques for Rapid Activation of Glanceable Information in Head-Worn Augmented Reality

Future augmented reality (AR) glasses may provide pervasive and continuous access to everyday information. However, it remains unclear how to address the issue of virtual information overlaying and occluding real-world objects and information that are of interest to users. One approach is to keep virtual information sources inactive until they are explicitly requested, so that the real world remains visible. In this research, we explored the design of interaction techniques with which users can activate virtual information sources in AR. We studied this issue in the context of Glanceable AR, in which virtual information resides at the periphery of the user’s view. We proposed five techniques and evaluated them in both sitting and walking scenarios. Our results demonstrate the usability, user preference, and social acceptance of each technique, as well as design recommendations to achieve optimal performance. Our findings can inform the design of lightweight techniques to activate virtual information displays in future everyday AR interfaces.