Effects of position of real-time translation on AR glasses

Augmented reality (AR) provides users with contextually relevant multimedia content by overlaying it on real-world objects. However, overlaying virtual content on real-world objects can cause occlusion. Especially for learning use cases, the occlusion might result in missing real-world information important for learning gain. Therefore, it is important to understand how virtual content should be positioned relative to the related real-world information without negatively affecting the learning experience. Thus, we conducted a study with 12 participants using AR glasses to investigate the position of virtual content using a vocabulary learning task. Participants learned foreign words shown in the surrounding while viewing translations using AR glasses as an overlay, on the right or below the foreign word. We found that showing virtual translations on top of foreign words significantly decreases comprehension and increase users' task load. Insights from our study inform the design of applications for AR glasses supporting vocabulary learning.