We chose to explore virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) due to its recent emergence into the mainstream areas of gaming, mobile applications and various other systems. We felt it important to distinguish between VR and AR in both areas of interaction design and user interface evaluation and creation techniques. As it is a topic of great passion for us we wanted to instill the possibilities that this medium has to offer for interaction designers and UI developers.

1. UIs and User Centred
Design Techniques for AR
+ VR

2. What’s AR and VR?!
Augmented Reality and Virtual reality.
AR: technology that layers over our everyday
VR: technology that transports us to a different
world

3. But They Must be Years
Away?!
https://vimeo.com/104034319

4. How do we design
applications for AR and
VR?

5. IxD for System vs
IxD for
Framework
Designers are even confronted with the obstacle of a
methodology or framework to design the system itself
and quickly iterate through prototypes
Steps are being taken to address these concerns
Few applications / frameworks although commercial +
open source are helping

6. Evaluating VR UI’s
Goals Formation
Navigate the World
Locate Objects
Position for Interaction
Deciding on Action
Manipulating Objects
Recognise Feedback
Interpret Feedback
Decide on New Action

7. VR Related Issues
with Evaluation
Objects can obscure
and may break
interaction cycle
Different modes of
design for navigation
and for environment
driven VR systems
Expert users see the
modes blend together
Feedback should be
multisensory
Can’t see things off
screen or behind a
wall etc.
Environmental cues
are key

8. Evaluation
Techniques
Walkthrough each phase step by step
Ask necessary questions along the way
◇ Aim to uncover breaks in affordances
◇ Questions guided to create generic design
principles (GDPs)
Collect design issues and virtual environment
features
Prioritise them for development

9. UCD Tips for AR
Install on a
familiar device
Choose a design
scenario
Run in an
appropriate setting
Build for two hands
if on mobile
Choose the right
audience
Challenge users
with mental flow
not with physical
strain

10. Issues Overall
Information is often weakly exhibited that link
design problems with design solutions in VR
and AR.
Even some of Norman’s interaction evaluation
techniques can break down when dealt with
navigating 3D space.
Need a tailored methodology for dealing with
emerging issues in hardware and interaction.

11. Virtual Reality
Uses, Current Tech and Design

12. Uses of VREducation
With the leaps in
technology, virtual
reality can be used to
transport people to
other planets, tourist
destinations and the
many jungles and
oceans on earth.
Video Games
Virtual Reality allows
players to be
transported to other
worlds and puts them
in the middle of the
action!
Medical
Virtual reality can allow
surgeons to move
throughout the body and
diagnose problems that
patients have.
Virtual reality is also being
used for therapy for PTSD
veterans and phantom limb
syndrome.
source: openmedical.orgsource: immersivevreducation.com source: military.com

13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBpFx-ixBiM

14. VR Technology available today

15. Designing for VR

16. User Interface design in VR
When designing interfaces in a virtual reality, there are some
considerations which must be taken into account.
● Is there a motion controller used in conjunction with the VR
system?
● What is the nature of the experience?
● Who is the interface being designed for?
● What are the perceptual limitations of the user?

17. Perceptual Limitations
Perceptual limitations occur in the areas that
users find interaction difficult in their field of
view.
Peripheral

18. Perceptual Limitations
Perceptual limitations occur in the areas that
users find interaction difficult in their field of
view.
Peripheral
0.5m
Region where
convergence can
occur

19. How do we design UIs with these
limitations in mind?

20. How do we design UIs with these
limitations in mind?

21. Is this a good UI design or bad UI
design in VR?

22. Augmented Reality
Uses, Current Tech and Design

23. Uses of AR
Notification
AR headsets can notify
you of social media,
texts or email as you
go about your daily life.
Video Games
AR allows players to
have their world
transformed in front of
their very own eyes!
Navigation
AR allows people to find
their destination in a non-
obtrusive way.
source: play.google.comsource: google.com source: nintendo.com

24. AR Technology available today

25. Designing for AR

26. User Interface design in AR
When designing interfaces in a augmented reality, the
considerations taken into account are similar to VR.
But there is one thing that is the utmost importance!
Obscurity / Opacity.

27. User Interface design in VR
Continue 10m

28. User Interface design in VR

29. User Interface design in VR

30. Case Studies
1.
Design and Evaluation of Menu Systems for Immersive Virtual
Environments - Bowman & Wingrave 2001
2.
Experimental Evaluation of User Interfaces for Visual Indoor
Navigation - Moller et al. 2014

31. Key Interaction Tasks VR
Navigation
Selection
Manipulation
System Control

32. TULIP Menu
vs
Floating Menu
vs
Pen and Tablet

33. Pinch Gloves

34. Hardware for TULIP Menu
Pinch Gloves consist of a flexible cloth gloves augmented with conductive cloth
sewn into the tips of each of the fingers.
When two or more pieces of conductive cloth come into contact with one
another, a signal is sent back to the host computer indicating which fingers are
being “pinched”
Virtual Research V8 head-mounted display (HMD) and the head and both
hands are tracked using a Polhemus Fastrak tracking system

35. Evolution of TULIP
Scrolling Menu
Three Up Menu

36. Scrolling Menu

37. Three Up Menu

38. Pilot Study
Evaluating these two menu designs, users had to change a virtual object to
match a target object.
3 parameters could be controlled: the object’s shape, color, and texture. Each
of these corresponded to a top-level menu.
There were 3 shapes to choose from, 8 colors, and 6 textures – these
corresponded to second-level menu items.
Test 4 users - “Think Aloud” - Informal Results

39. Pilot Results
Neither design satisfied the desired requirements.
Users did prefer the Scrolling Menu BUT realized tasks could be completed
with less steps using the Three Up Menu.
Three Up Menu hides options if there is more than 3.
Scrolling Menus prompt users to incorrectly attempt to push palms.
Lack of feedback when items selected and fatigue from hands being raised.

40. RE-DESIGN
T hree
U p
L abels
I n
P alm

41. Summative Evaluation
Compare Ease Of Use
Compare Ease Of Learning
Efficiency
Comfort of all 3 Menus

42. Summative Evaluation
26 users participated
Repeated object matching task
Completed a questionnaire containing demographic information and
information about their experience with computers and VEs
Same equipment used again with added stylus for floating menus and pen
and tablet menus
30 trials of each menu and no help provided after initial briefing

43. Floating Menus
Pen and Tablet Menus

44. Results
Appears that the gloves were the
hardest to learn initially, but
performance was at reasonable
levels for all three types within five
trials.
Reason times for the pen and
tablet menu are initially poor is
that users were not told they
needed to look at the tablet in
their hand

45. Comfort Levels
The main drawback of
the pen and tablet
system is the discomfort
it causes users, which
might be alleviated by
adding an ergonomic
handle.

46. Reflection On Study
Combining the efficiency, comfort, and preference information, it appears that
both the pen and tablet menu and the TULIP menus performed well in the
evaluation
Fifteen users expressed a preference for the TULIP interface, while nine
preferred the pen and tablet, and only two preferred the floating menus
This evaluation reiterated some important heuristics from the traditional
human-computer interaction literature. Menu systems for VEs need to have
good feedback, affordances, and constraints, and items and their actions
should be visible.

47. Evaluation of User
Interfaces for Visual
Indoor Navigation

48. Andreas Moller et al.
Implemented a novel UI for visual localization, consisting of Virtual Reality (VR)
and Augmented Reality (AR) views that actively communicate and ensure
localization accuracy.
Beneficial for large buildings and navigating your way around.
The concept consists of a panorama-based view as a complement to
Augmented Reality and proposes different visualizations for motivating users
to record “good” query images.
Good query images are important

49. Comparing AR vs VR
The users would hold the
phone up as seen in the figure
and look at the phone in order
to see the augmentation i.e.
items superimposed onto their
real life surroundings.
The virtual reality displays pre-
recorded images of the
environment (downloaded from
a server) that are arranged to a
360◦ panorama on the mobile
device

50. Enhancing Visual
Localization
Visual localization can be very dependent on how the device is
being held.
Four indicator types were proposed which were:
- Text Hint
- Blur
- Colour Scale
- Spirit Level

51. Initial Testing
A questionnaire-based survey with mockup videos were used for early testing.
Users did not actually travel through a building.
From initial user evaluations there was an inconsistency. Majority of people
stated that the VR mode helped them orient themselves even if the location
estimate of the system was incorrect yet the subjects still claimed they prefer
the AR mode.
Users preferred the Text Hint and Spirit Level as a means to prompt user to
provide a better quality of image.

52. Prototype
A prototype was built using Android 2.3
Had both the AR and VR modes
Wizard Of Oz technique - experimenter would play a role
The navigation interface on the subject’s device was implemented with
OpenGL ES 2.0.
For the automatic trigger, they used a FAST feature detector from the OpenCV
framework for Android to detect the number of features in the camera’s live
image.

53. Experiments
So the goal of the experiment was to verify results from earlier mock-ups.
Three experiments took place to test:
1. Efficiency, perception and convenience of AR and VR under different
accuracy conditions.
2. Effectivity of UI elements specific to vision-based localization.
3. Convenience and distraction of object highlighting.
12 participants took part most of which were students but none were involved
in the project.

54. Hardware
Subjects used a Samsung Galaxy S II (4.3- inch screen, 8 megapixel camera)
The WOz app ran on a Samsung Nexus S (4-inch screen).
Both devices had a screen resolution of 480×800 pixels.

55. UIs Implemented (subject)

56. UIs Implemented (WoZ)

57. Experiment 1- Navigation using AR and
VR
Subjects performed a navigation task in a university building on a path of 220
meters length, using both the AR and the VR mode. Each user traversed the
path eight times and was asked to rely only on the given instructions.
Navigation instructions were fed into the subject’s phone by the experimenter
(Wizard of Oz).
Sent the appropriate panoramas in VR mode (and directional arrows in AR
mode) to the subject’s phone using the WOz interface.
Users were encouraged to think allowed

59. Results
Subjects were in average 25
seconds faster to reach their
destination with VR (averagely
2:39 minutes for the 220 m path)
than with AR (averagely 3:04
minutes). The experiment also
proved that AR was worse with
regards to orientation errors.
Subjects found carrying the
phone more convenient in VR.
The required upright position for
carrying the phone in AR was
physically constraining

60. Experiment 2 Vision Specific UI Elements
Subjects performed a navigation task on the path shown in figure, but in
opposite direction as in Experiment 1, so that the path was not already too
familiar.
Three times during the walk, a relocalization procedure was simulated.
The experimenter triggered a spirit level visualization to appear on the
subjects’ device. This indicator told subjects to collect enough features for
relocalization.

61. Results
Reliable localization requires 100 to 150 features in the image. While the
indicator was visible, the average number of detected features per frame rose
from 42 to 101.
The experiment also showed that subjects preferred the lower carrying
position for VR mode, compared to the upright pose for AR mode

62. Experiment 3 Object Highlighting Methods
There were two ways to highlight objects: Frame and Soft Hightlight
The algorithm was optimized to detect square, feature-rich objects out of a
uniform background. This applies to, e.g., a poster on a wall.
Subjects pointed at the posters using both highlighting visualizations.
Feedback was afterwards collected by a questionnaire.

63. Results
On a Likert scale from -3 to +3,
subjects indicated that Frame
drew more attention to the
poster (M = 3) than Soft
Highlight (M = 1). The semi-
transparency of Soft Highlight
complicated readability of text
on the poster. Regarding
distraction, the visible contours
of the Frame visualization were
perceived as unstable.

64. Reflection on Experiments
VR mode turned out to be advantageous in several ways.
Contrary to initial feedback, AR UI appeared far more appealing in theory.
AR UI does have it strengths though; It can help to improve feature collection
using the feature indicator i.e. spirit level prompt to probability of reliable re-
localization.
Subjects reported that the frequent updates of the panorama images in VR
mode were partly irritating, especially when not permanently looking at the
screen
Further studies are required in the field to strengthen these UI concepts,
particularly with regards to AR and seeking more reliable localization.

65. Soooo what’s the activity?
Considering the revised User Centred Design
Model, we’re going design some augmented
reality applications.
● Navigation
● Notification System
● Photo and Video
● Messaging System

66. thanks!
ANY QUESTIONS?

67. References
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Alger, M., n.d. VR Interface Design Pre-Visualisation Methods.
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for Immersive Virtual Environments", in Proceedings Of The Virtual Reality
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TEDx Talks.
Hsu, C., Shiau, H., 2013. The Visual Web User Interface Design in
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68. References
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69. References
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