Understanding the Interplay of Cue Design, User Characteristics, and Environment on Gaze and Navigation in Mixed Reality

Designing effective navigation systems in mixed reality (MR) is a critical challenge that requires a nuanced understanding of how virtual cues interact with user characteristics and the physical environment. To address this, we investigated the impact of two fundamental design choices: the frame of reference for displaying cues (world-fixed vs. screen-fixed) and the use of explicit landmark annotations. An urban environment with local and global landmarks was designed to understand how the visibility of environmental features impacts users’ visual attention and interferes with the formation of spatial knowledge. We assessed the navigation behavior, gaze patterns, and spatial knowledge acquisition of 81 participants (40 female, 41 male). We also analyzed the role of individual differences, including spatial ability and gender. Results show that world-fixed cues aligned better with natural gaze patterns and reduced unnecessary saccades, landmark cues improved learning, particularly for participants with lower spatial ability, and the frequency of utilizing global landmarks during navigation enhances spatial memory. We further observed gender-related differences in gaze–head coordination strategies. These findings advance understanding of how MR navigation cues influence real-time behavior and outcomes in spatial tasks. They provide design recommendations for adaptive MR systems that match cue placement to environmental conditions and user characteristics.