How do users organize virtual tools around their body in immersive virtual and augmented environments ? : An exploratory study of egocentric spatial mapping of virtual tools in the mobile infosphere

In the manipulation of physical and virtual objects, users organize information spatially to simplify perception and choice, and to minimize internal computation. The Mobile Infosphere, an immersive augmented reality environment for mobile users, seeks to leverage human spatial cognition to support high amounts of interface functionality, collaboration, and data access. To guide the design of the Mobile Infosphere, a human-computer interaction experiment was conducted to explore how users organize virtual tools in a body-stabilized virtual environment. The within-subjects experiment exposed subjects to non-task and task conditions in which the participants were asked to organize virtual tools to repair a piece of equipment in a virtual environment. The organization and manipulation of the virtual tools showed clear patterns reflecting the users' attempts to simplify perception, choice, and object manipulation. The study also found a relationship between spatial ability, presence, and tool organization and manipulation. Guidelines for the design layout of virtual tools are suggested based on the results.

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