Evaluating Object Manipulation Interaction Techniques in Mixed Reality: Tangible User Interfaces and Gesture

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) have been widely studied in computer, virtual reality and augmented reality systems and are known to improve user experience in these mediums. However, there have been few evaluations of TUIs in wearable mixed reality (MR). In this study, we present the results from a comparative study evaluating three object manipulation techniques in wearable MR: (1) Space-multiplexed identical-formed TUI (i.e., a physical cube that acted as a dynamic tangible proxy with identical real and virtual forms); (2) Time-multiplexed TUI (i.e., a tangible controller that was used to manipulate virtual content); (3) Hand gesture (i.e., reaching, pinching and moving the hand to manipulate virtual content). The interaction techniques were compared with a user study with 42 participants. Results revealed that the tangible cube and the controller interaction methods were comparative to each other while both being superior to the hand gesture interaction method in terms of user experience, performance, and presence. We also present suggestions for interaction design for MR based on our findings.