VisTorch: Interacting with Situated Visualizations using Handheld Projectors

Spatial data is best analyzed in situ, but existing mixed reality technologies can be bulky, expensive, or unsuitable for collaboration. We present VisTorch: a handheld device for projected situated analytics consisting of a pico-projector, a multi-spectrum camera, and a touch surface. VisTorch enables viewing charts situated in physical space by simply pointing the device at a surface to reveal visualizations in that location. We evaluated the approach using both a user study and an expert review. In the former, we asked 20 participants to first organize charts in space and then refer to these charts to answer questions. We observed three spatial and one temporal pattern in participant analyses. In the latter, four experts—a museum designer, a statistical software developer, a theater stage designer, and an environmental educator—utilized VisTorch to derive practical usage scenarios. Results from our study showcase the utility of situated visualizations for memory and recall.