An Evaluation of Virtual Lenses for Object Selection in Augmented Reality

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an experiment to compare three different selection techniques in a tabletop tangible augmented reality interface. Object selection is an important task in all direct manipulation interfaces because it precedes most other manipulation and navigation actions. Previous work on tangible virtual lenses for visualisation has prompted the exploration of how selection techniques can be incorporated into these tools. In this paper a selection technique based on virtual lenses is compared with the traditional approaches of virtual hand and virtual pointer methods. The Lens technique is found to be faster, require less physical effort to use, and is preferred by participants over the other techniques. These results can be useful in guiding the development of future augmented reality interfaces.